DW 5x06, "The Vampires of Venice"
May. 8th, 2010 04:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kindkitThis is my favorite episode of the season so far. It's the kind of thing I've been hoping to see in new New Who--a reasonably exciting plot that isn't full of giant holes, a sharp script with good dialogue and character development, and a nuanced mix of fun stuff and serious moral choices that have consequences. Interesting that it wasn't Steven Moffat but Toby Whitehouse (whose only previous DW story was "School Reunion") who finally delivered.
I love the Doctor-Amy-Rory dynamic. I prefer multiple companions in the TARDIS anyway, and I'm hoping that this shift from the Doctor-companion dyad will put to rest any hints of Doctor/Amy romance. Rory was given some tin-dog moments that I thought were unfortunate (I didn't like when Mickey was written as dumb and incompetent either), but he won me over with this spot-on observation about the Doctor: "You know what's dangerous about you? It's not that you make people take risks, it's that you make them want to impress you. You, you make it so they don't want to let you down. You have no idea how dangerous you make people to themselves when you're around." He's exactly right, and I'm delighted both that he said it and that he clearly likes the Doctor anyway and is not unaffected by the charisma he so distrusts. It's a nice counterbalance to Amy, for whom traveling with the Doctor is literally a childhood wish come true. I hope we'll keep Rory around for a good long while.
I also really liked the way the episode referred to both the Gallifrey Thing and on the Giant Crack of Doom without sacrificing its own integrity as a story. Continuity with a light touch, yay! And, unlike the star whale episode, the moral problems weren't wrapped up too tidily. I think Rosanna's suicide and everything it implied--the destruction of yet another species as a consequence of the Doctor's choices, both immediate (not letting the aliens take over Venice) and more distant (the GCoD that lost the Saturnines [sp?] their home is probably connected to the Gallifrey Thing somehow)--really will haunt the Doctor.
Matt Smith was especially good in this episode. This is the first time he really felt like the Doctor to me. Apparently these episodes were filmed out of sequence, and some of his less-convincing performances (e.g. "Victory of the Daleks" and "The Time of Angels") were shot quite early, when he was still figuring out the role. In this one, which I assume was shot later, it feels like he's inhabiting the Doctor rather than pastiching bits of other actors' performances. The writing helped too--his dialogue was all very Doctory, with that peculiar combination of cleverness, enthusiasm, crankiness, and obliviousness to human social norms.
Between last week's episode and this one, my optimism is fully restored. And next week looks very, very cool.
I love the Doctor-Amy-Rory dynamic. I prefer multiple companions in the TARDIS anyway, and I'm hoping that this shift from the Doctor-companion dyad will put to rest any hints of Doctor/Amy romance. Rory was given some tin-dog moments that I thought were unfortunate (I didn't like when Mickey was written as dumb and incompetent either), but he won me over with this spot-on observation about the Doctor: "You know what's dangerous about you? It's not that you make people take risks, it's that you make them want to impress you. You, you make it so they don't want to let you down. You have no idea how dangerous you make people to themselves when you're around." He's exactly right, and I'm delighted both that he said it and that he clearly likes the Doctor anyway and is not unaffected by the charisma he so distrusts. It's a nice counterbalance to Amy, for whom traveling with the Doctor is literally a childhood wish come true. I hope we'll keep Rory around for a good long while.
I also really liked the way the episode referred to both the Gallifrey Thing and on the Giant Crack of Doom without sacrificing its own integrity as a story. Continuity with a light touch, yay! And, unlike the star whale episode, the moral problems weren't wrapped up too tidily. I think Rosanna's suicide and everything it implied--the destruction of yet another species as a consequence of the Doctor's choices, both immediate (not letting the aliens take over Venice) and more distant (the GCoD that lost the Saturnines [sp?] their home is probably connected to the Gallifrey Thing somehow)--really will haunt the Doctor.
Matt Smith was especially good in this episode. This is the first time he really felt like the Doctor to me. Apparently these episodes were filmed out of sequence, and some of his less-convincing performances (e.g. "Victory of the Daleks" and "The Time of Angels") were shot quite early, when he was still figuring out the role. In this one, which I assume was shot later, it feels like he's inhabiting the Doctor rather than pastiching bits of other actors' performances. The writing helped too--his dialogue was all very Doctory, with that peculiar combination of cleverness, enthusiasm, crankiness, and obliviousness to human social norms.
Between last week's episode and this one, my optimism is fully restored. And next week looks very, very cool.
no subject
Date: 2010-05-09 06:02 am (UTC)Did you get the feeling that Rory knew more about the Doctor than he was letting on? I am wondering if the two timeline theory means he's had contact off screen that's given him more information.
I really got the Time Lord vibe off him today, especially that ability to point at one small and excruciating thing, like not knowing Isabella's name.
In conclusion, the Doctor burst out of a cake. Epic.
no subject
Date: 2010-05-09 10:52 pm (UTC)I love this idea. I'd been assuming that he knew a fair amount about the Doctor because of what Amy had told him, but then Amy herself didn't know that much until the Doctor came back.
In conclusion, the Doctor burst out of a cake.
Yes, that's about all an episode really needs to be a thing of beauty and a joy forever.