Doctor Who Review, Series 6 Episode 1: "The Impossible Astronaut"

Welcome to my first Doctor Who Review! I am posting this a day late because . . . well, I didn’t do much writing on Easter! But in future I think I’ll aim to post my reviews every Monday. This is kind of a recap as well as a review, where I just go through the episode bit by bit and talk about how I saw it. It’s also ridiculously long. I’m clearly not practiced at this yet XD

Okay, and off we go: Welcome to Series Six, everyone, and don't forget to look behind you!


I have to admit that I was less than thrilled with the opening of the episode. It was too slyly risque; Moffat moments like that stick out of the show like a sore thumb, in my opinion. But he then immediately followed it up with a delightful peek of Amy and Rory all settled down and domestic, and then a few seconds of the Doctor on video dancing with Laurel and Hardy, which was so amazing I couldn’t stay disgruntled. I’ll just pretend that opening fifty seconds or so didn’t happen; it seemed way out of character.

The mysterious summons which Amy, Rory, and River received were appropriately exhilarating; we, like them, have been newly summoned to rejoin the Doctor in his adventuring, so I shared their excitement, though seriously--the guards at the Storm Hold Prison must be the worst in the universe. How many times has River broken out now?

An interesting aspect of this episode is its setting in America and how that setting is handled by the British cast and crew. Mostly it works well; the accents were actually pretty fine, and the Oval Office was a great set. I wish I knew what the British audience thought of it; I imagine it is a lot different for American viewers like me. There was definitely a different feel to the episodes though, which I think came from them being set in America: the Oval Office set, though nice, felt really foreign to the world of “Doctor Who”. Strange that that should be so, when I’ve seen the Police Box land on all sorts of alien planets and locales around Britain and rock quarry after rock quarry without blinking an eye! What did you think of the American setting? One thing it had going for it was the sight of the Doctor wearing a Stetson hat (not a common hat in my area of America anyway, but still great).

Let’s pause here for a moment of silence for that very fine Stetson gone, alas, all too soon.

Okay, moving on.

The Doctor invited his friends to share a meal with him, and after they had all eaten and had drunk wine (or, in the Doctor’s case, spat the wine out in disgust) he went alone to meet with a bizarrely creepy astronaut which just strode out of the Lake they had been picnicking beside. Matt Smith’s acting in this whole scene was just sublime--sad, weary, and resigned but steeled. The look on his face when he looked at the Astronaut’s blank visor was heart-wrenching in its gentle, sad empathy: 'Hello. It's okay, I know it's you.' I watched the lifting of the visor three times, but was unable to make out what’s inside. A face? An emptiness? Who knows? Well, I have a feeling we will know by the ending of this Series, but never mind that for now.

The Doctor/Astronaut conversation continues for a little while as his three disciples waited and kept watch, little knowing that they had just partaken of their Last Supper with their soon-to-be-killed leader--VERY SUBTLE, MOFFAT. Maybe I’m just reading too much into it since this is Easter weekend, after all; or maybe airing the episodes on Easter weekend was very deliberate. Who knows?

Disciples or companions, whatever you want to call them, Rory, Amy, and River are very shortly watching in horror as the Doctor is shot. Shot twice. By the creepy Astronaut. It was excruciating to watch. To see the Doctor shot once is horrible enough--remember Ten’s near-regeneration?--but twice? As River herself says a little bit later, that’s cold.

So he staggers to his feet and looks, numbly and wide-eyed, at his hands as they light up with the flames of regeneration. He turns towards Amy, where she’s screaming for him just like all the traumatized kids watching the episode (as well as the little Amelia inside her and the little Doctor-loving kid inside me) are, apologizes as his face is obscured by the golden mist and he begins regenerating, we are all watching with bated breath and disbelief, and then that disbelief is increased about tenfold as we see the Astronaut shoot him yet again and he drops to the lakeshore stone dead.

This was beautifully shocking. Just the fact that it gets so much of an emotional response from me is marvelous. Consider:

1) Logically, the Doctor cannot regenerate yet. I’ve seen the series trailers and keep up-to-date on Doctor Who-related news, and know there has not been any word of Matt Smith ending his run yet (and thank goodness for that, too!)

2) Logically, the Doctor cannot be permanently dead. This is simple enough; the show is Doctor Who, after all.

3) Logically, this’ll all get cleared up in a complicated, Moffat-y timey-wimey way, and the show will go on.

And despite all this cold logic I still got emotional and worried for the Doctor?

Take that, Spock!

Meanwhile, a fourth person has arrived: An elderly, white-bearded man who I for a moment thought was Nicholas Courtney, but wasn’t. Of course he wasn’t; the Brig has left with Sarah Jane for that big Unit HQ in the Sky, alas. It was Canton Delaware III, an American with his own invitation in a TARDIS-blue (that should be a paint color) envelope and a can of gasoline. The gasoline was for the Doctor’s body, which Amy was currently sobbing over like a heartbroken child. Yes, that’s right: the children of America, Britain, and Canada were all treated with the sight of their beloved Doctor getting cremated today. Also to some nice music-work by Murray Gold. I liked the detail of Rory choosing to setting the Doctor’s body afloat on the lake to burn, like a proper Viking funeral.

Delaware leaves fairly quickly, pausing only to deliver this wonderful line in his wonderfully gravelly voice: 'I won't be seeing you again, but you'll be seeing me.'

River notices that there’s a typewritten number 4 on his envelope; there’s a 2 on hers, and a 3 on the Williams’/Ponds’. This, she explains as the trio head back to the diner from earlier, is because the Doctor invited four different groups, not just the three that showed. What was the Doctor playing at? He had mentioned the year 1969 and the moon landing. Did he have a plan? Was it a clue? Were they supposed to save him? Rory is willing to help her figure things out; Amy refuses because in her eyes it’s too late. She hisses 'He’s deaaaaad' with the perfect amount of flat despair. I’m really liking Karen Gillan’s performance in this episode. She’s grieving, but not as though she loved the Doctor romantically, not like when Rory was killed last season. That distinction is really important to me.

Then Rory notices the blue number 1 envelope sitting on an empty table, the trio mill about in confusion a moment, and then who should come waltzing into the room with his 'special straw which adds more fizz.' but the Doctor himself, quite cheerful and not-dead. Amy hugs him. River slaps him. Rory pokes him, just like the Doctor poked the seemingly-resurrected Rory during the last series episode “The Pandorica Opens”. Did anyone else catch that? I couldn’t stop giggling.

The Doctor is confused by these reactions, as he knows nothing about his having just been murdered, of course. In fact, this version of the Doctor is approximately two hundred years younger than that version which was just killed. He was also invited by envelope, presumably by his future self. The plot thickens.

River, Amy, and Rory, although appropriately weirded out, tell the Doctor nothing about his recent demise-in-the-future and instead convince him that he needs to find someone named Canton Everett Delaware III in the year 1969. No problem, he says, that’s an easy year.

'Canton Everett Delaware the Third. That was his name, yeah? How many of those can there be? Well . . . three, I suppose.' Actually, only one. There were three Canton Everett Delawares, but only one can be called the Third, right?

While the Doctor fiddles with the controls and complains that no one is watching how clever he is being, the rest of them huddle under the console and guiltily discuss what to do. River is adamant the Doctor cannot be told about his death, as that would rip a hole in the universe due to time paradoxes, etc. Amy is extremely reluctant to go along with this. Rory does his lovable best to do what seems most sensible. Amy’s Ten-ish dislike of listening to warnings of fixed events and time paradoxes will be important later.

After the Doctor rants a little about the nature of time (I loved how he snarled 'Thursday afternoons'; I don’t like them either, Doctor) he informs the others that he’s not going through with hunting down Delaware after all; he doesn’t trust the mysterious messenger, and he doesn’t trust them. And suddenly everything gets even more intense and compelling. The Doctor finally challenges River Song to tell him who she is, no more games, and I’m delighted that he’s getting fed up with her ‘Spoilers’ act now and standing his ground; he doesn’t even really pay any attention to poor Rory; and then it’s up to Amy to persuade him to embark on this adventure that she knows will somehow, someday, lead to his death. This was some beautiful acting by both Smith and Gillan; Just watch both their faces when she says she swears by 'fish fingers and custard', the myriad emotions flitting across their faces and the Doctor’s faint, twisted little smile. Amazing. Only DW could make that ridiculous phrase bear so much emotional power and dramatic weight; that’s part of why I love it so.

One last note on this scene: I loved how quick and concerned the Doctor was when he asked Amy whether she was threatened. It reminded me of how his future self had seemed so concerned to put his Astronaut assassin at ease, too. Oh the empathetic Doctor. You gotta love him.

Wait, another last note: After the Doctor puts his trust with Amy and tells her he puts his life in her hands, she manages to hold herself together until he turns away, whereupon she falters a bit dangerously close to how devastated she feels at knowing she has that trust and is betraying it. And then, in the background, Rory reaches out to silently console her. It’s such a sweet moment for the characters, and again highlights how they’ve both changed since the first series and how close they are. D’awww.

The Doctor meeting Richard Nixon was a hoot: 'Oh LOOK, it’s the Oval Office! I was looking for the . . . Oblong Room . . .' *walks into the side of the invisible TARDIS and topples over* Hilarious.

Once a gang of overly enthusiastic Secret Service Agents are appeased, he then offers to clear up Nixon’s problem. The President’s been getting nightly phone calls from a creepy little girl (well, Nixon thinks it’s a boy, but of course he’s wrong) and wants to know where they’re coming from and what to do about them. 'I’ll take the case!' The Doctor says breezily, channeling his inner Sherlock, and then continuing to say that he’s a consultant for Scotland Yard. Yep, definitely Sherlock. Keep your shows straight, Moffat.

The Secret Service guys aren’t impressed, and start pointing guns at everything that moves, eg. The Doctor and Co. The Doctor tries to talk them out of shooting anything; River exasperatedly cuts him short with an exclamation of 'They’re Americans!', a phrase which here clearly means 'Save your breath, they’re Americans and therefore there’s no reasoning with their violent tendencies.' I wasn’t sure whether to be offended or amused. This was probably the most awkward British vs. American moment of the episode. As the episode was written the British view of Americans seemed to be one of awe but also a feeling of British superiority, which is strange. Luckily it didn’t come up much.

Ex-FBI agent Delaware, who had been meeting with the President at the time of the Doctor’s appearance, is both impressed and amused by the Doctor and gets the SS to stand down, while the Doctor introduces his crew with one of the best lines of the entire show: 'These are my top operatives. The Legs, the Nose, and Mrs. Robinson.' The SS get some great one-liners too, my favorite being “Do not COMPLIMENT the INTRUDER!”

I’ll take a moment here to say that I adore Mark Sheppard in this role as Delaware. He’s hilarious and manages to be cool, even though he wears no bow tie and refuses to fetch the Doctor a fez. Poor Doctor. He’s remarkably hat-unlucky in this episode.

My next note is an all-caps ‘IS AMY PREGNANT??????’ Was my question answered by the end of the episode? Maaaaybe. For now though all we know is that Mrs. Rory Pond is feeling sick and is escorted to the nearest restroom by a SS guy, who waits outside the door. She enters the bathroom--

--AND RUNS STRAIGHT INTO A SILENCE! SILENT! WHATEVER YOU CALL ONE OF THESE THINGS IN THE SINGULAR!

Now, I have this weird paranoia about entering public restrooms on my own, especially when they’re seemingly empty. So thanks for playing off of that fear, Moffat. Thanks so much. Now I can’t blink, visit the library, step in a shadow, see something moving in the corner of my eye, or enter a public restroom without thinking of one Doctor Who monster or another. This show is going to make me a nervous wreck.

Silence aside, it looked like a pretty nice bathroom. Reminded me of the ones at fancy hotels I dance at. My brother marveled at how fancy it looked; apparently men’s restrooms aren’t anywhere near as dolled up. No flowers or anything.

Now, for hilarity’s sake, I’m just going to copy and paste what my original notes, which I typed out as I watched the episode for the first time, said about the next scene, in which we both said hello and goodbye to Random Victim No. 1 of this story:

‘star trek thing!’ haha . . . OH THE FREAKINESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSAAAAAAAAAH OHMYGOSHHOWITMOVESITSMOUTHISOPENINGAAAAAAAAAAHE’SSILENTSCREAMINGFORHEROHMYGOSHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! OHHHNOWITSGOTAVOICEOHMYGOSHHHHHH

I was surprisingly scared and suitably impressed.

What I failed to mention in my original notes is:

1) I really liked the ‘memory editing’ concept and how it was played with here; terrifying

2) “Joy. Her name was Joy.”--Why is this so frightening? My brother agrees with me. Also, the Silence/Silent (I think I’m going to use Silent as the singular) attacks by shooting electricity out of its hands and has a deep voice, two ‘scary’ things that are somewhat cliche in my opinion, but somehow they way it happens and the way that voice sounds makes it completely scary. The tired ‘seen it before’ cliche doesn’t apply here somehow.

I wonder whether the photo Amy snapped on her phone is erased or whether she’ll see it again later. I also wonder what the Silent meant when it told her to tell the Doctor about what he doesn’t know and what he must never know? Is it trying to manipulate her towards its own end? Another question: Why does the SS guy not know what a phone looks like?

Once Amy looks leaves the bathroom she no longer remembers the Silent, of course, just as she has forgotten her previous sightings of this creature twice before in the episode. The Doctor meanwhile has very cleverly pinpointed where the little girl on the telephone is calling from, and when she calls again pleading for help and saying the mysterious “Spaceman” is with her, he dashes into the TARDIS along with his companions, flippantly calling out “Canton, on no account follow me into this box and close the door behind you.” Best invitation into the TARDIS ever? Probably.

Canton’s reaction to the inside of the TARDIS was amusing, as was Rory’s reaction to his reaction (In my notes I have a scribbled ‘Nonchalant Rory, O how I love thee’ which was written about this scene I believe). It seemed like Canton was intended to be standing in for the clueless American newbie viewer right then, and if his out-loud thinking was a bit too blatantly explanatory at times (“So we’re in a box that’s bigger on the inside and it moves through time and space?”) it was also blatant enough to be a cheeky joke directed at those of us who know the show, so I guess I can forgive that. The rest of the episode is extremely newbie-unfriendly, though. Timey-wimey and multilayered almost to a fault, I can’t even imagine what it’d be like trying to start on Doctor Who with “The Impossible Astronaut”. I imagine it’d be massively confusing, but would it make the viewer want to come back for more? I don’t know. Start your friend with “The Eleventh Hour”; it’ll make them appreciate this episode way more when they finally get to it,

The rest of us, meanwhile, after chuckling at Canton’s ‘How long has Scotland Yard had this?’ query, are busily shuddering at the disgusting alien glop hanging off of mysterious alien tech that’s scattered about the Floridian warehouse the Doctor has tracked the little girl’s phonecalls to. The Doctor and River are back to their normal jokey, sniping-with-words antics again at this point, which I’m not sure I like. I’m not a big fan of River Song--I love her in the “Silence in the Library” two-parter, and her death remains one of my favorite DW moments ever, but her attitude in Series 5 really got on my nerves. I loved the Doctor’s ‘I’m tired of your games’ moment with her earlier in this episode, and the fact that the banter is back so quickly--right after we’ve seen the depth of the distrust behind it--was a bit unbelievable to me. Still, this is the Doctor we’re talking about, whose entire character in recent series has been built around his doing and talking about zany, lighthearted, silly things to belie the darkness within, so am not too bothered.

While the banter is ongoing, there is a brief shot showing that the group is being watched by none other than our old NOT-friend the Impossible Astronaut itself. This is interesting, given a later revelation that I will discuss in a moment.

River climbs down a hatch into an underground tunnel to scout for danger. The shot of her clambering down the ladder reminded me of the Second Doctor and Jamie climbing down a ladder into London’s sewer system, I think? Didn’t they do that to find a nest of Cybermen living down there under the city, or are my memories playing me false? Anyway, I couldn’t help but think of Jamie, possibly because I’ve been re-watching a lot of his episodes lately, possibly because he and the Doctor climbed up and down so many ladders they’ve become irrevocably connected in my mind. River quickly stumbles upon a . . . . nest? of Silents. Silence. Silences. They’re doing a lot of wonderfully creepy posing. She scrambles back up the ladder to tell the others, and then--”All clear”, she says calmly enough, though still gasping a little with adrenaline that she can’t remember the cause of. “Nothing down there . . . I want to take another look around.”

AUGH, MOFFAT!

She pops back down, and the Doctor sends Rory after her:

The Doctor: “Rory, would you mind going with her?”
Rory: “Yeah, a bit.”
The Doctor: “Then I appreciate it more.”

Oh, Doctor. Rory’s unenthusiastic and long-suffering “Coming, River,” made me laugh. Also, I was suddenly much more nervous because Rory does have a track record for dying, and splitting up the group is never a good idea.

When he catches up to River, she complains of feeling a bit queasy. Wait, so she’s pregnant too? . . . Nah, of course not. I think the sickness is a side-effect of seeing the Silence. So I guess Moffat was just messing with us hyper-observant fans and trying to make us think that Amy is pregnant even though she was just feeling the effects of one-too-many Silent sightings. All right then, moving on. The two bravely go forward, following the tunnels, and unaware that they’re surrounded and followed by creepy suit-wearing aliens. I care about Rory’s welfare more than River’s at this point.

They reach a locked door. River decides to break it open; Rory is disapproving because he’s the sensible one. Always.

Then, we get the single most emotional scene in the entire episode--yes, more even than the Doctor’s death earlier, because that’s equally as much a puzzle as a tragedy and so works on a few different levels which distracts from the emotional core.

Rory: What did you mean--what you said to Amy? ‘There's a worse day coming for you’?
River: When I first met the Doctor—a long, long time ago--he knew all about me. Think about that. Impressionable young girl and suddenly this man just drops out of the sky. He's clever and mad and wonderful. And he knows every last thing about her. Imagine what that does to a girl.
Rory: I don't really have to.
River: Trouble is, it's all back to front. My past is his future. We're traveling in opposite directions. Every time we meet I know him more, he knows me less. I live for the days when I see him. But I know that every time I do he'll be one step further away. The day's coming when I'll look into that man's eyes—my Doctor—and he won't have the faintest idea who I am . . . And I think it's going to kill me.

With this short conversation we get insight into both Rory and River’s characters. Rory I already understood fairly well, ever since his great lines in “Vampires of Venice” about how dangerous the Doctor makes folks to themselves, but what I felt I learned about River here was wonderfully profound. This woman is brash and often irritating and full of bravado and sassiness--that’s why some like her, that’s why I am just meh about her--but her over-the-top behavior gets monotonous really quickly. She needs vulnerability. And here I finally got a glimpse of the depth of her character hiding behind that sassy exterior, something I haven’t seen since her first appearance with Ten. Suddenly her crazy behavior is pitiful instead of irritating; her frantically living up as much as she can while she’s with the Doctor, to make up for and store for all the lonely and empty stretches of her life between her encounters. Unlike other companions, the more she travels with the Doctor, the less fulfilling it is and the more she wants it. Once given a glimpse of the hollowness at her core and that terrible, prophetic fear of the day the Doctor won’t know her at all (which we have of course already experienced and know will happen just as she says) I still don’t exactly like her, but I do empathize with her again and care about her character for the first time in a long time. And I wanted to smirk ‘Spoilers!’ at her. Really, the whole scene is a beautiful--and essential--piece of acting by Darvill and Kingston. Without the emotional wallop it packed and the slow breather it provided in the midst of all the crazy, creepy, frantically-paced madness, the episode would have been much the poorer for it.

Okay, gushing over. As River finishes speaking the door opens to reveal the interior of the pseudo-TARDIS from “The Lodger” last season! I knew it would be making a reappearance! Neither character realizes its significance, which is understandable since they weren’t in “The Lodger”, but I think River should have recognized a TARDIS, shouldn’t she, seeing as how she’s so adept at piloting the Doctor’s? While she examines the tech, Rory keeps watch at the door. River realizes the tunnels are incredibly ancient and extend across the entire earth, but I don’t see why the revelation surprised her so much: I mean, we’ve already seen the Silurians underground, for goodness sakes, so it’s not the first time. There’s probably a billion other societies living down there too, it’s like we’re living on the outer shell of a swarming beehive of evil!

Speaking of swarming evil, Rory looks out of the door to see a swarm of Silence approaching, looking as creepy as ever--or creepier, even, these underground Silence looked more glisten-y than the bathroom one did. Horrorstruck, he whips around to call out to River, and the words change in his mouth so that he instead calls out that the coast is clear. Augh, you Silence and your memory-editing skills!

We get to look through a Silence’s eyes as it creeps up behind Rory, see the whitely flashing electricity light that means its attacking, and see River look around wildly, and yell Rory’s name. And there we are left for a whole week. Augh, Steven Moffat and his film-editing skills!

Meanwhile, back in the dark warehouse, Amy is getting better acquainted with Delaware, and the Doctor is sticking his head in a box. (Forgot to mention this earlier, but I loved when he was geeking out about the earth space tech he found in the warehouse.) Suddenly the little girl’s voice, the same as in the telephone calls, is heard. The trio go racing off in search of the source; the girl’s wailing that the ‘spaceman’ is going to eat her. Delaware gets ahead, yells, and when the Doctor and Amy catch up they find him knocked out cold. Amy, feeling nauseous again, tells the Doctor insistently that she needs to tell him something important. He rightly points out that now is not the best time, but she insists, and blurts out her secret: She’s pregnant.

The Doctor’s expression mirrors mine. Things start going slo-mo, haunting music plays, echoing footsteps sound, and dreamlike they look up to see the Astronaut walking slowly through the doorway towards them. The Doctor is bewildered; he of course hasn’t seen the thing before. Amy is horrified as it raises its hand just like it did when it killed the Doctor earlier.

Amy lunges for fallen Delaware’s gun! Her hair looks gorgeous in slow motion! The Doctor doesn’t notice, because he’s still focused on the Astronaut and has just seen that the visor is clear and the face behind it is that of the terrified little girl, who is crying for help! His wide-eyed disbelief is unnerving; it takes a lot to shock a Time Lord. He notices Amy now and asks her what she’s dooooooinggg, as the slow motion makes it sound; Saaaaaaving your life! she replies as she whirls around, gun in hand.

The Doctor screams Noooooooooooooo! Amy fires the gun, then screams as she realizes what exactly she’s shooting at! She and the Doctor both stare in slack-jawed horror at . . . . something! In slow motion!

Cue credits!

As you might be able to tell, I’m not sure if I liked this ending or not. It seemed really abrupt and kind of forced, and the slow motion, though dramatic, was also just a little humorous. Slow-mo talking is just inherently funny. This episode was so packed with stuff, without any filler at all except for that irritating scene at the very beginning, that I guess they just couldn’t find a good place to end. I have a hunch that the story will work much better when we can watch both “The Impossible Astronaut” and next week’s episode, “The Day of the Moon”, together.

This episode really felt like a Part One. So much was set up: The Silence, the Doctor’s death, the introduction of Delaware, the return of the pseudo-TARDIS, Amy’s pregnancy, the Astronaut and the girl--but did we get any pay-off at all? Well, not really. We don’t know what the Silence are up to or what kind of threat they pose. We don’t know why the Doctor died or how his death is going to be prevented. I have no idea yet why Delaware is going to be considered the Doctor’s fourth-most trusted friend. Why is the pseudo-TARDIS back? Is Amy pregnant? Has the Astronaut eaten the girl? I DON’T KNOW!

I can speculate, though! I don’t think Amy’s pregnant. I think the Silent manipulated her mind when it wiped it of all memory of itself, and so when she felt the sickness and the suppressed urge to tell the Doctor some important secret (about the Silence and his death) her mind supplied its own answers: she’s pregnant! Seeing as how she drank wine earlier in the episode and River also felt the nausea, I think it’s just a false alarm.

Also, who’s in the Astronaut suit? It was standing silently, watching the Doctor and co., stalking them through the warehouse--was it being worn by the girl then, or empty? Was the girl elsewhere in the warehouse? If so, why didn’t she call out? And is the Spaceman the Astronaut? What if it’s actually the Doctor and the girl’s calling from the future, scared of him? Or something? (That sounds a bit far-fetched even to me, but whenever I hear ‘Spaceman’ I can’t help but think of Donna Noble’s nickname for the Doctor.)

Who shot the Doctor? I don’t think the little girl killed the Doctor. I’m not sure who did. BUT--The mysterious being rising from and then descending into the Lake reminded me a lot of the Lady of the Lake, except the figure within the suit was not necessarily female. Still, I think that the imagery just might be deliberate. Think about it: River Song is a murderess. Who did she kill? The obvious answer would seem to be the Doctor. The Doctor recognized who kills him, and he almost seemed to be forgiving and reassuring whoever it is. The astronaut comes from a Lake. What is Song’s first name? River. What is Amy’s last name? Pond. Pond, River, Lake. Coincidence? Maaaaaybe, but I like to think there’s something going on here. I don’t think it’s as simple as ‘River’s in the suit’ because she was already incarcerated for murder and yet seemed really shocked when the Doctor was killed (so she didn’t recognize the suit as her past self) but what do you lot think?

As to the Silence--I don’t really know what their deal is at all. All I can say for certain is that their existence adds a whole other layer of creepiness to the Series 4 episode title “Silence in the Library”.

I enjoyed the episode, but it was so very full of laying down the bones of the story it didn’t really offer any emotional or intellectual reward except for a few notable scenes that I already gushed about. It served as a brilliant first-half to what seems to be a first-rate story, but just how good this Part One is depends entirely on how good Part Two is. Which means I guess I’ve written just a lot of waffle without coming to a proper conclusion or opinion, but oh, well. Let me know what you think of both the episode and the review: Would you like my reviews to be shorter in the future, or to focus on something more or something less? Do you have any theories about where this episode is going? River Song: like her or dislike her? How about Amy Pond this episode? Do you think she’s pregnant? And something I forgot to mention earlier: River Song claiming that the Easter Island heads were all carved to look like the Doctor’s. I find this incredibly hilarious . . .

I’m looking forward to “The Day of the Moon” and hope that it has many more wonderful character moments like the River/Rory conversation--as well as that it really scares me :D

Heads Up, Whovians!

I'm going to try to publish reviews of this series' episodes (that's Doctor Who, Series 6, starting today if you didn't know, look it up on BBC America if you have the channel) as they're aired. As I've never really done anything like this before, this is going to be a little adventure, but that's good! I'm still kind of figuring out how this is going to go, but if you are interested, read on. Here's a few pointers on how this reviewing business is going to be run.

1. My reviews will be spoilery. There's no real point in reviewing an episode if I'm not allowed to discuss the details of said episode, right? Therefore you probably shouldn't check out my reviews unless you have already watched the episodes. Unless you really want to.

2. Pictures? It's always fun to read reviews with screencaps, isn't it? I'm toying with the idea of including relevant photographs in each review. It'd be a bit more complicated and more work for me, but it also might be more fun. If you have a preference, let me know!

3. My review; my thoughts only. I'll write my reviews before reading anyone else's, because otherwise I'd probably be tempted to explore other people's ideas and what they took from the episode instead of just my reaction. My reviews will be my honest first reaction to what I just watched, so if that means I miss something obvious that all other reviewers on the internet noticed then I'll just be honestly ignorant . . . we can all laugh about it later XD

4. Classic Who, New Who, it's all just Doctor Who. I am a fan of the show as a whole, and so I don't really differentiate between the old episodes and the new episodes; they're all a part of the same canon and I have favorites all over the place. So I'm not going to restrict my digressions to just New Who episodes; I might mention things from Classic Who if parts of the new episodes remind me of something, like Eleven's adorable Troughton handrubbing in 'Victory of the Daleks'. If you haven't seen any Classic Who, you should, but I don't think my occasional references will be too confusing :)

5. Talk back! Feel free to argue with what I say/geek out/list your favorite quotes of the episode/ask for clarification/correct my mistakes/etc. in the comments! I'm going to be doing this for fun, but also because I love Doctor Who, and I know some of you who read my blog love the show as well. Let's all have fun together!

And with all that said, I am not sure what the posting schedule will be yet--maybe every Sunday, maybe every Monday--but I will be doing by best to keep the schedule regular. My first review, for "The Impossible Astronaut", will be up soon.

(PS: Happy Easter, everyone!!)

My life's shifting again . . .

On Monday I begin registering for my Fall classes, and as simply as that I am back in the university-going game. It's been a long time, and my life feels somewhat surreal at the moment: I devote my time to my writing and my family and my dance right now, and yet begin to feel subconsciously the pull of Hawaii and the duties of academia that await me there. There is a great pall of impermanence over everything I do at the moment, which is somewhat disheartening. I hate feeling the sand slipping under my feet.

Another event which has reminded me of how fragile things are is the sad news of the passing of Elisabeth Sladen, our Whovians' own Sarah Jane Smith. The character she played (along with Donna Noble and Tegan Jovanka) was my favorite female Doctor Who companion. The fact that her death comes so soon after that of Nicholas Courtney a.k.a. The Brigadier (who was, along with Jamie McCrimmon, Harry Sullivan, and Rory Williams my favorite male DW companion) just compounds the tragedy. If you haven't watched any episodes with these two, do so as soon as possible, you don't know what you're missing.

On the subject of Doctor Who, is anyone else excited about the new series beginning tomorrow? Well, okay, I know that there are many, many excited people out there, but HOW excited are you? I am absolutely bursting. I'm also very proud that I've managed to keep away from spoilers all this time--no mean feat for me, alas. There's some fish fingers in the fridge; I should make custard tomorrow and take video of me giving the combo a go, that'd be a laugh!

I've probably read over 2,000 pages this month already, which is fantastic. I'll have lots of books to talk about in my next Book Review post. Speaking of which, I'm open to suggestions on what to post about in this blog, since I'm usually either too busy or too lazy to come up with interesting topics on my own (yes, I'm a woman of extremes). A monthly writing update? More in-depth book reviews, perhaps a post for each book (I can always delve deeper when discussing the written word)? More artwork? Television or film discussions? Random day-in-my-life posts? Let me know in the comments!

Well, I'd best be getting to bed now. Tomorrow I have to get up early--maybe make that custard--clean up a bit--dance--maybe run, if this dratted cough will let me--paint--write--and read some more. Good Friday is always very quiet, a time for staying at home with family, for busying oneself with good works, and for a little bit of private contemplation. Then comes Holy Saturday--I've promised my younger sister I'll help her make a cake for Easter, or rather supervise as she attempts to bake one for the very first time, and then of course there's Doctor Who! And then comes wonderful Easter, a holiday I have not celebrated at home with my family for two years now.

. . . And first thing in the morning on Monday is my class registration. See what a jumble of the future and the present my life is contorting itself into at the moment? I need a TARDIS.

PS: I am currently again obsessed with the amazingness that is Jamie McCrimmon. Thanks for that, Linden :D

The Dinosaurs Are Coming Back!

I just found out that the British television show 'Primeval' will be returning on New Year's Day! I am so ridiculously excited about this, because series 3 ended long ago and on a cliffhanger, the show was canceled for a little while, and then was resurrected, and basically it's been a long time of waiting for more of it. It's not the best show out there, but it is one of the ones I'm most fond of, because--uh, it's got humor, geekery, and dinosaurs! As I've mentioned in a past post, dinosaurs rampaging through the modern world was a frequent nightmare of mine when I was a kid, so I adore watching it on television now, hehehehe.

I'm of course worried about the new characters and whether they'll be as good as all the other ones have been so far, but I'm so excited I don't even really care. Becker, Connor, Lester, and Abby will be back, so it should be good :D

And did I mention the dinosaurs?

The Hobbit!

Aaaaah, so 'The Hobbit' is FINALLY greenlit, and yesterday the first round of casting was announced. We now know who our Bilbo, Thorin, Fili, Kili, Dwalin, Gloin, Ori, and Bombur are. I, being a devoted Tolkien fan and scholar, am absolutely thrilled. I read 'The Hobbit' for the first time when I was five, so it's been a dear friend of mine for a long time. Can't wait to see what the films are going to be like! My only difficulty now is not going onto spoiler-y sites to look up set photos, clips, interviews, etc; I want to see the two movies relatively unspoiled, but I also have zilch patience. I guess I'll just see what happens and how much I can resist the siren call of theonering.net. I'm even debating with myself about whether I want to look up the rest of the casting announcements when they arrive or whether I want to remain blind about the rest of the cast. I don't know!

Anyway, Martin Freeman is Bilbo. I was, originally, rooting for James McAvoy to have the role, but then he got cast in a X-Men movie of some sort so I figured that was out of the question now . . . And I also watched the new BBC miniseries 'Sherlock' over the summer. In 'Sherlock', Freeman plays John Watson, and it was my first time watching him act. Basically, based on his performance in the miniseries, I'm absolutely happy with him as Bilbo, and think he will do a great job. If you haven't watched the series, maybe check it out (I think it premieres in America soon) so you can craft your own opinion.

Also, Richard Armitage is Thorin. Something I'm loving about the casting so far is how varied all the actors look, not only physically but also age-wise. The thirteen dwarves will really be an ensemble of thirteen characters who will hopefully be all distinct and nuanced persons we can really connect with, and not just thirteen Gimli-clones, which I'm very pleased about. I liked Rhys-Davies as Gimli in LotR, but he mostly left the emotional weight of the story to other characters like Aragorn or Sam, and so dwarves based solely around his character just wouldn't work in 'The Hobbit'. Armitage is actually a tall, stately-looking fellow, but I love that he'll be Thorin. He's a great actor. If you like period costume dramas in the tradition of 'Pride and Prejudice' or 'Jane Eyre', do yourself a favor and check out the 2004 BBC production 'North and South'. It's a beautifully done miniseries, and the male lead is played by Armitage. Although the performance is a little old now, it'll still give you an idea of his capabilities.

I made a pact with some friends that when 'The Hobbit' comes out I'm going in costume, dressed as the Lonely Mountain, so now I can actually look forward to that, hahaha. Not sure how I'll pull it off yet, but I'll do it! It's a little sad that my most-anticipated film is still two years away, but at least it's finally getting made now after so many years of stagnancy. It'll be twelve years since FotR first opened in theatres, can you believe it? Wow.

Speaking of movies I'm looking forward to, there's a few left this year that I'm eagerly anticipating:

• Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I love the Narnia books, and have liked both Narnia films pretty well so far, so I really want to see this. I've heard rumors about plot changes that are a bit weird though, and I doubt it can beat the awesomeness of the original BBC miniseries from years ago. Still, I want to watch it, partially because I hope it'll be good anyway, and partly because I just want to support the Narnia franchise so that later books in the series--most notably The Horse and his Boy and my favorite, The Silver Chair--will also get the film treatment. I really like the Edmund and Lucy actors, and Eustace looks like he'll be great, so hopefully it'll be a fun film!
  
• Tron: Legacy. I like the original 'Tron', and so I'm stoked about this. I'm not usually one to put visuals over story, but--The effects look amazing in this movie! That's all I'm going on at the moment because I don't know much about the plot, but hopefully with Pixar helping out it'll be worth watching. Anyway: Cool music, cool visuals, fun actors, sequel to a film I already like--Yeah, I wanna see this one.
• Tangled. This is a later addition to the 'I want to watch this' party, but I'm actually more excited for it now than I am for the other two. The reason? I have chosen to believe the directors, numerous early reviewers, and the evidence of my own eyes from reading an already released junior novelization of the film that this movie is going to be a humorous fairytale musical but in the tradition of classic Disney, instead of choosing to believe it will be the kind of Shrek-esque movie that the trailers apparently want viewers to think it is. I am so in love with the movie I hope this movie to ultimately be, I'm worried I'll be disappointed even if it's good. But anyway. Do I wish it was animated in traditional 2d? Well, yeah. Am I going to hold that against it? Not at all. I'm hoping they managed to get an artistic look from their 3d animation, since art is of course not limited to one dimension specifically. I linked to a trailer even though I think the trailers are doing an atrocious job of teasing what the film will actually be like (I mean, pop music? What??), but I'm also going to link to some interviews and reviews (here, here, and here) so you can get an idea of why I'm actually excited for this film. Also, Alan Menken's score is apparently a fusion of medieval style and 1960's folk rock. YES.

What do you think of 'The Hobbit' casting? And are there any films you're excited to see in the last few months of this year, or does nothing look appealing? Leave a comment! ^_^

MORE Videos (And Links)!

Ain't you all just the luckiest blog-readers in the world? Hehe.

I'll get the link out of the way first. This is a really awesome reimagining of the "Fringe" theme music played on piano. It's about 6 minutes long, and available for download (for a price), but listening to it on the website is absolutely free. Go to the following link:

http://torley.com/the-fringe-equation-new-piano-performance-of-that-theme

To have a listen and a download if you like it. As a person who wishes she could play the piano but aside from teaching herself 'Scarborough Fair' has no gift with the instrument whatsoever, I really enjoyed it.

I also found a remix of the "Fringe" theme that was pretty good, if a bit long:



This vid makes me sad every time I watch it, the editing's great. Spoilers if you haven't watched "Supernatural", though.


A pretty cool "Primeval" fanvid set to a song by one of my favorite bands on the planet ("Poets of the Fall", if you were wondering ^_^):

Man, I miss Nick Cutter. Still looking forward to when the show returns, though.

And lastly, one of my favorite songs after watching "500 Days of Summer":


In other news: My eye finally started getting better today! I am almost pain-free for the first time in over a week! Which might account for my excessive vid-posting tonight. I'll wake up tomorrow and wonder what I was thinking as I posted this, probably. Definitely one of my more random posts.

I finished making a birthday card for my second brother yesterday, and it turned out really well! I'm excited to give it to him, because it's a bit of a prank card, hehehe. I'll post photographs of the card later; it'd need a full post to explain itself, I think. Cheers, all!

"Sherlock"

Well, my eye's still extremely painful and swollen, but I went to the doctor's today and was prescribed some eyedrops. I desperately hope they work, because I don't know how much more of this I can take. On the plus-side, my fingers are pretty much healed now. The thumb's still bleeding, but it's hurting less. It's been a crazy, crazy week.

I didn't know the BBC was making a modernized Sherlock Holmes series until a few days ago, and when I did find out, I was pretty skeptical. I'm something of a Sherlockian, and modernizing classics usually just feels cheap and gimmicky to me--not something I can enjoy. I was also a bit intrigued though, for a few reasons:

1) The actors playing Holmes and Watson
2) Stephen Moffat is one of the series creators
3) The preview didn't actually look that bad. In fact, it looked . . . good?

So, last night, when unable to sleep due to my eye hurting so much, I tracked the first episode (which apparently aired on the BBC on Sunday) down and watched it. And I actually really, really enjoyed it! It wasn't perfect by any means, but it was extremely good. The dialogue is quick, witty, and well-written as well as well-delivered. Both Holmes and Watson are spot-on, and I think I can say with confidence that they are the best Holmes-Watson duo I have ever seen on screen, save only perhaps the Soviet version. Although living in the present-day, their personalities are perfect, as well as their mannerisms, ways of speaking . . . I loved it.

I didn't appreciate the few 'Holmes might be gay!' gags in the script. Sure, they were just intended as humorous nods towards those fans who maintain it's the truth, but I cannot stand that viewpoint which is irreverent to the characters and canon. I was able to ignore them for the sake of the rest of the story's excellence, and luckily there aren't that many. There were other, more welcome shout-outs to canon-fans, like a surprise appearance from one Mycroft Holmes and a tantalizing hint at the future appearance of Moriarty.

The story itself was very predictable to me, and probably to anyone who's read "A Study in Scarlet", but the actors' performances as well as the style with which the episode was told kept it from being dull. I don't know if it'd be predictable for anyone who hasn't read the story, but anyways. By the end I was both impressed and amused at how the writers changed and updated the canon and yet kept the spirit and the characters the same. Watson isn't an idiot, and instead is a very capable doctor, war veteran, and excellent shot with a gun, as in the original stories (even if he is missing his mustache), and Holmes may not smoke a pipe in this version but he has the perfect blend of charisma, arrogance, and cold intellect, as well as a glimpse or two of an emotional vulnerability which is entirely canon. All in all, the episode (entitled "A Study in Pink") was a perfect opening to a new Sherlock Holmes saga, I can't wait to see the next episode this Sunday, and I hope more episodes are made after these three.

Interested? Then watch these:

Trailer:


Scene from "A Study in Pink":

I was going to go to bed early . . .

. . . but instead had a quarrel with my younger brother that left me feeling angry, frustrated, and bitter, so I decided to stay up all night instead watching the rest of "Fringe" in an attempt to blow off steam. The result is that it's almost dawn and I've finished the entire second season. Am I feeling happier? Um, well, no, because the finale was infuriating. This show is very fond of switcheroo-ing characters, I've caught onto that by now. So I was pretty irritated at the main characters for being so dense as to not realize they had been made victims of a trick-swap, when it was almost painfully obvious to me. Especially since the team's been fragmented for so long, I really want them together again. It just isn't as fun when they're separate. I almost cheered aloud when that character who died earlier (and who I mentioned in an earlier post, I think) reappeared, albeit changed, but was pretty upset when the whiz-kids were killed off so flippantly--especially the guy who manipulates sickness, I was so happy to see him back. Sigh.

I'm so torn. I really wanted to see Peter and Olivia happy together at last, but I also really want to see more of Alt-Charlie.

Anyway, I thought the "Brown Betty" episode was utterly loopy and ridiculous but somehow very charming, though not quite as fun as "Supernatural"'s spoof episodes. I actually wanted more singing *shrugs*! And the finale was well-paced and enjoyable, basically non-stop adrenaline, but I was pretty frustrated by it too, haha. How much I ultimately like it will depend on how next season goes, I think. The doomsday Peter-cyborg(???) idea seemed like it was dismissed way too quickly, so I suppose it'll be back later. Which I guess means there'll be more universe-hopping in the future? Hm.

Oh, and I loved, loved, loved the "White Tulip" ep. I was dizzy with all the time-travel-y twistiness by the end of it, but that means I had a good time :)

I'll be heading to bed at last now, and with a headache, too, as well as with my eye-doctor appointment waiting for me later today--joy. I hate it when my anger just simmers and drives me mad, because it makes me do strange things to exorcise it. Like watch "Fringe" all night. I can't bear to sleep while angry; it makes for such unpleasant dreams.

Final verdict: Yes, I will be watching "Fringe" when episodes air in the Fall. I'm curious as to how the show writers are going to balance all the craziness that's now set to happen, and whether a story so filled with duplicate characters and multiple plotlines can really be as good as it needs to be. It is similar to "Primeval", but more intellectual, and less cartoon-y fun, so both are great. I wouldn't say I like it as much as "Doctor Who" or "Lost", but I do like it a lot, enough to keep watching. Yay John Noble!

Also, favorite quote? "Death! Delicious, strawberry-flavored death!"

Awesome.

Hello Again

So I'm on episode 2.17 of "Fringe" now, and the second season is miles better than the first. Not that the first was bad, but the characters are more comfortable to watch now for some reason, perhaps because they've finally settled into themselves, grown comfortable with their own personalities. I'm seriously loving all the 'alternate reality' stuff.

Today I took the siblings out to play on a grassy field by my house. My youngest brother begged me to take him, so I did, and then only a few minutes after arriving at the grass he threw an enormous tantrum because he wasn't chosen as the first person to be 'it' in our sibling game of freeze tag, so I had to cart him back to the house. I think he's napping now; he was in need of a bit of sleep, I think. It was pretty embarrassing to be walking down the street carrying a squirming, shrieking child who kept yelling 'NONONONO' at the top of his very-strong lungs. He's had a piercing scream he can summon at will ever since he was very small, though he hadn't used it in a while . . . not until today, anyway. I was afraid someone would think I was kidnapping the kid.

I'm typing this at my desk, which is situated right beside my bedroom window. Outside the sky is pink and purple with sunset, but it's a bruised and dusty sort of sunset, not a glorious one. There isn't any wind. It's been very hot the past few days.

I'm pretty tired myself, actually. I haven't been getting as much sleep as I should; I'll try to rectify that tonight. Just remembered that I have an optometrist appointment tomorrow, and I don't want to have weary eyes for that!

And the Days Go By . . .

I seriously need to start working on my novel. I mean, I've been writing, sure, but not as much as I should. Starting tomorrow, I'm determined to treat this like it's my full-time job. The fairytale is coming along nicely; I hope to have the next part posted tomorrow, but we'll see; I have dance and things tomorrow that will take up time.

Dance is actually taking up a lot of time lately; I'm determined to get into the best condition possible for Regionals this year. Of course the practicing and training is hard work, but to my own surprise I'm finding it rather fun. Not that I don't usually enjoy dance anyway, but it can be wearisome to drill and work and work like that. Now, however, I'm enjoying the hard work. I think it's a side-effect of being forced to be largely inactive for long periods of time. After not being able to practice every day while in Hawaii, I better appreciate the simple fact that I CAN train hard, and am thus more likely to make use of that fact.

This week I finally got around to watching "Fringe", something I've been considering for a while. The first couple of episodes didn't really grab me, but I kept at it and, eleven episodes in, I'm enjoying the show a lot more than initially. It took a bit of time for me to warm up to the characters, I guess . . . or something, maybe the show's tone or pacing. (By the way, I was both delighted with and distracted by the usage of music from "Sunshine" in the Pilot episode. One of my favorite science fiction films ever!) Anyway, I'm having fun with it now. Even if I keep squealing "Denethor! Denethor!" every few minutes, hahaha . . . Still, this Walter Bishop fellow seems like the sort of guy Denethor might have been reincarnated into if such things happened . . . father-son issues, high intelligence, a dangerous interest in dangerous and weird powers/sciences . . . need I go on?

Anyway, now that I've wrested the keyboard back from my inner geek, I can turn my attention to other recent news. Nothing really important, I suppose: I stayed up until 3 AM baking cookies a few days ago, painted my younger sisters' nails, am now almost halfway through "Portrait of a Lady", and have been drawing a lot lately. I've also taught myself to crochet, so perhaps I can finally make those Doctor Who dolls! I made a little mad scientist already; I will post a photograph or two of him later. I still need new charcoal, drawing paper, and calligraphy ink. This weekend I hope to see "Inception", after looking forward to it for months. But first, of course, I need to attend to that writing. So much life to do, but so little time to do it in! Life sometimes just doesn't seem big enough for itself. But I'm sure it is; it's just I have to train my mind to use it properly and to its full potential.

Yay, I was right

Today's episode of "Doctor Who" was definitely one of the best of the new series, and perhaps even my favorite--it felt so like classic Who! But again, what a PITY that they're sticking with individual 45-minute stories! The story ideas are so good, I want them to be four-parters, then they'd be brilliant. Still, this just might be my favorite of the series so far. I love Rory.

And the promo for next week? TERRIFIC. And I'll be watching it in California, because when it's made available, I'll be somewhere flying above the Pacific. Just how surreal is that, huh? Still unbelievable.

I've been doing a lot of boring painting today, and now I'm doing Russian. I need to get started on planning my exam essays too, though. Augh, it's so frustrating to have so much to do and so little time. I need a time machine of my own.

It's also frustrating to think this is my last Saturday in Hawaii for over a year, and I can't go out and simply enjoy the island. That makes me very sad. For I will miss this place, even though I'll be glad to be back with my family and my dancing again. Hawaii's part of my home now, too.

Wow :)

Tonight's "Supernatural" episode was just as perfect as "Lost"'s this week. What a great week for my television shows in general then--I hope "Doctor Who" on Saturday is up to par! The episode looks good from the trailer though, so I'm looking forward to it and trusting it to not break this perfect 3-for-3 record. And Rory will be back!

Seriously, though, "Supernatural" continues to amaze me. While I don't agree with much of the theology, I don't mind it because it's fiction and I enjoy thinking about what I do believe in connection with what's presented in the show--where it lines up, and how, when it deviates, I can compare the two and pick out the truths in the fiction. It doesn't attack beliefs so much as choose to do its own thing for the sake of its fictional universe and the story, and since I can therefore easily separate it from the 'real world', it's okay in my book. So it's like I get good fodder for meditative reflection, which is always nice; I get a fantastic apocalyptic storyline that is impressive in the consistency of its quality; I get absolutely awesome characters to both root for and root against (the acting as well as how the characters are written is almost universally perfect); I get top-notch dialogue that can be both hilarious and heartbreaking with effortless ease--this show has jumped into my small and select group of favorites so quickly, it's ridiculous. But that's okay. I'm super excited (and worried and in suspense!) about the finale next week. And I'm super excited for the next "Lost" episode too. This kind of convergence of excellence does not happen often, so I'm just kinda basking in it right now. I mean, that whole submarine thing on "Lost" and the Horseman of Death making eating pizza in Chicago look chilling on "Supernatural" all happening in one week? Awesome.

I got a letter from one of my besties today, which was wonderful. I'm in the middle of writing one back already, but I'm almost out of calligraphy ink, so I have to tip the bottle whenever I dip my pen in. Hopefully it'll last for the whole missive. Also, it's my brother's sixteenth birthday today. That's bizarre. I shouldn't be old enough to have a sixteen year old brother.

Of course, I'm kind of using this entire post to ignore the elephant in the room, so I'll stop ignoring right now and get straight to it: Yes, my final exams are all next week. Keeping me in your prayers would be appreciated. Yes. It's hard to believe that this time next week it will all be almost over, but there we are. Time is such a fickle beast. It slows down, it speeds up, it casts illusion over me.

I'd best be getting back to studying then. And then a quick shower before bed. Tomorrow I have no classes, but my Russian professor agreed to have a final exam study session/review and I fully intend on being there.

(PS: Yes, I included a photo, because it's been way too long since I put any photos on this blog and I'm getting tired of just words, haha.)

jkabsfv;aeol;kfjwoklfrwo;pq!!!!!!!!!!!!Kj1!!!! (Or, My Reaction to "The Candidate"

This entire post, of course,--or at least most of it--is SPOILERS.

1) I'm ashamed to admit that I seriously screamed at the television a few times, haha, that rarely happens. Especially when Sawyer was about to do . . . that one thing. Toward the end. Yes.

2) So--Many--Parallels--To--Earlier--Episodes--Mind--Explodey--

3) SAYID. 'Nuff said ;(

4) I didn't lose it until that shot of the two hands letting go. If you saw it, you know what I'm talking about.

5) LAPIDUS??? Is he still in the game? He's been useless, but he's so charismatic anyway, I hope he's okay.

6) I want to go back to Team Richard/Ben/Miles, which will be happy perhaps to know that the whole blowing-things-up idea has been taken care of without them.

7) I'm liking Jack more and more and more with every episode! This is a good thing.

8) I'm letting my island-feelings interfere with how I see characters in Sideways World. Not only was I happy when Sideways-Desmond ran Sideways-Locke over in the school parking lot a few episodes ago, during this episode when Sideways-Locke was telling Jack his sad story about crashing the plane and injuring his father, I could only think that I wanted Jack to call up Sideways-Desmond and tell him to finish the job. Grrrr.

9) I was RIGHT all along, Team Jacob for the win!


. . . And good night. I have art homework to finish. My only consolation right now is that after what Sayid said we have more Desmond on the way. Whether alive or dead remains to be seen, but at least he'll be back.

Busy, busy, busy (Sort of)

So, in three weeks, I have watched the entire aired five season run of "Supernatural", worked on my final art project, kept up with all my homework, nabbed an A+ on my latest English 321 exam, exercised thrice weekly at the school gym, practiced my dance weekly, kept up with my regular work schedule, eaten my first popsicle in years, volunteered at my church's huli huli chicken sale, finally bashed out a few more pages of my novel, and finished reading three library books as well as As I Lay Dying, which was assigned reading, but which I finished early because I liked it so much.

Basically, yes, I am magic! Or slightly deranged. Take your pick. I'm also very tired right now and think I am coming down with a nasty cold, which is just perfect considering final exams are a mere two weeks away now, and I have my final art project and portfolio due in precisely one week. Cough, cough. I drank three cups of tea tonight, which did ease my throat, although the caffeine didn't really wake me up. Instead I feel like my head just got packed with wet cement. Yaaaaaawn.

Two more weeks, two more weeks, two more weeks.

Tomorrow, PBS is gonna air David Tennant's performance as "Hamlet". I strongly recommend y'all watch it, okay?

And that's all for now! Eyes hurt. I'm going to go wash my hair with cold water or something to try to wake myself up a little, and then I'm going to write an essay or two before turning in. Russian studying can wait until tomorrow. Yeah.

MIND. BLOWN.

OH. MY. SILMARIL.

I don't even want to admit how many times I screamed aloud while watching this week's episode of Lost, ha ha. So. Much. Craziness. And while I was always against FakeLocke to begin with, now I'm dead set against him! FakeLocke = Evil, and I don't care what anybody else says!!!

SPOILERS BELOW:

1) I can't wait to get back to the Richard/Ben/Miles group, because they're gonna be like a walking comedy troupe. Their personalities are gold together.
2) I laughed when Ilana blew up.
3) I was yelling "Run him over!" at Des when he's in the car at the end, and then was totally surprised but pleased when HE DID.
4) I was terrified from the moment I saw that well that I knew where Desmond was gonna end up--and sure enough, I was right again. That was one of the scream moments, btw.
5) I'm secretly happy that mad freak-out Richard is back again. He's gone through more emotions in the past two days of his life than he has for two centuries, methinketh.
6) FakeLocke's weird head-tilty thing when he looks at people scares me. I get scared by the weirdest things.
7) I was sad to see Black Rock go.
8) Imagining Desmond eating fried chicken is one of the funniest things ever. So is his new "I'm wearing sunglasses" attitude. Melikey. But get him out of the well.
9) OHMIGOSH CHOCOLATE FACTORY:



And that is all. I am gonna watch that again. And again. And then watch "The Constant" to cheer myself up. Bwaaah . . . .

Things are finally moving, and that's proving to be nothing short of pure awesome. I'm going to go do homework now because I'm too excited to sleep. I'll take this opportunity to thank Professor Littman and Anna for persuading me to watch this show over a year ago. Consider yourselves each gifted with a virtual cookie and sonic screwdriver.

9 Weeks

Yes, Nine weeks of this semester have been successfully survived, so now I'm over halfway to Summer Break! What a pleasant thought. It helps keep me cheerful in the face of next week, which promises to contain two important homework assignments, three essays, three midterm exams, and a Russian quiz. Ai.

I'm currently sitting in my room, which is swamped in library books. And when I say 'swamped', I mean that in the quite literal sense that a person could be in danger of sinking beneath them and remaining trapped forever. I have six books from the state library, and over a dozen from my school library, along with nearly twenty books that my father bought me for my birthday. I do love having stacks of unread books around the place; life seems so much brighter for them.

Nothing much of import happened last week, aside from the SyFy channel decided to air "The Prestige" and "Sunshine" back to back, late at night when I was supposed to be doing homework. I managed to finish the homework after all, but ended up staying awake ridiculously late, and what with having to wake up at 6 AM every school day . . . well, I finally managed to catch up on my sleep today by sleeping until half-past noon. And I'm still tired. But I got to watch "The Prestige" and "Sunshine" back to back, so I don't mind.

I also purchased my first "Doctor Who" dvd, thanks to "Tombs of the Cybermen" being on sale at Barnes and Noble! And the complete "Firefly" series, because a fundraiser at my school was selling it for only twelve dollars. That's some birthday money spent well, I think.

Now I am going to spend my weekend studying Russian in preparation for the aforementioned quiz and for the Russian midterm that's waiting for me like a ravening dragon on Friday. Oh dear. I should also clean my room and organize that swamp of books, and also turn my energy back to thrashing this horrific writers' block I've been laboring under for the past few months. I've tried writing so many things, and nothing is working. Unbelievably frustrating. I've been reading a lot, but it isn't helping. Oh well--This too shall pass, right?

MUCH Bettah!

Oh yeah, that's more like it. This week's episode ("The Substitute") is waaay better than last week's! It fulfilled almost all of my previously stated requirements as far as what characters to include, after all :) I'm going to add Smoke Monster to my list though, because he's turning out to be brilliant.

My only gripe is that Desmond is still mysteriously absent from, uh, just about everywhere, and there's only about thirteen hours left now, right? His absence is distracting me! And for some reason these flash-sideways things aren't that interesting to me. I'm not sure why. I really want to like them, and I liked the first one because of the mystery and weirdness and nostalgia, but these past two episodes they've been only mildly entertaining, not particularly compelling. Though that might be just me, because I know most folks I've talked to seem to like them a lot *shrugs*

Anyhow . . . I got my Art portfolio back today, and apparently got the best marks in my class, which makes me happy, as I'm not even an Art major. I'm tempted to double-major, but honestly? A double-major in Art and English? That's just like a double-whammy of the most useless majors you can get, alas. Why are all my interests so artsy?

In other news, my birthday's less than two weeks away now, as I suddenly realized yesterday. It's a bit rattling. I'm not used to the idea of being 18 yet, let alone 19! And then I'll be leaving my teens behind forever. It's a bit amusing and a bit sad, this whole growing up and getting older business. I'll probably go out to tea for my birthday, but other than that I have not the foggiest notion. Library trip, perhaps?

I hope you are all having a good week so far. Week six of the semester already, wow. Soon I'll be halfway done!

"Lost" Premiere!

So I discovered last week that the premiere of the first episode of the last season of "Lost" was to be held at Queen's beach here on Oahu, during a "Sunset on the Beach" screening. I was instantly interested, but unsure if I would be able to go, or if I wanted to put aside my homework for one day so that I could go.

Well, I ultimately went, and thank goodness I did! It was amazing.

If you're looking for spoilers about the episode, I have to tell you now that you aren't going to find any here. I don't want to ruin anything for you. I CAN say, however, that I enjoyed it. And that the "Lost" recap shown right beforehand was hilarious. It didn't do much to help my grandmother (who came along but has never watched the show) understand what was going on, but it got a lot of appreciative laughs and cheers from the crowd.

That's an important aspect of the day, too: Pretty much everyone I met was really friendly and nice. A large amount of people were dressed up in "Lost in Hawaii" shirts, or shirts sporting the Dharma logo or the Numbers, but I didn't see any outrageous costumes. Which doesn't mean there wasn't any, of course. The crowd was enormous--supposedly 20,000 people were expected to show up.

I managed to position myself and my camera right up against one of the railings by the walkway where the cast members who were attending the screening would walk by on their way to the stage. This meant I had to arrive about five hours before the actual screening time, but it was worth it. The weather was mildly warm, the ocean waves were rhythmic and hypnotic, and there was just enough cloud-cover to provide shelter from the sun without being gloomy. I mostly just read a library book while I waited, although I also walked along the shoreline and ventured knee-deep into the water a few times.

When the cast members started arriving, I and people around me would be alerted by screaming away by where the limos drew up, and eventually I got to see every member of the cast who arrived, and get photos too--some good, some not so good. Unfortunately my camera was feeling tempermental and sometimes refused to focus at the worst possible times. So it is that I missed out on getting a photograph of John Locke--I mean Terry O'Quinn, of course!--pulling a goofy face and giving me "thumbs up". Oh, well. That's what old-fashioned memories are for.

After the cast had all stopped doing rounds and the sky was much darker, I left my spot by the railing and managed to thread my way between towels and beach chairs to reach where my Grandmother was sitting, which was only about seven feet away from the VIP section, a bit to the right of the 30-ft projector screen. It was from here that I watched the episode itself (or, rather, the first hour of the episode, as that was all that was premiered).

The experience was unforgettable. Looking up, I could see almost impossibly clear stars; close upon my right, the waves rushed and ebbed, rushed and ebbed, the sand was cool, and the air smelled like salt brine. The best atmosphere, I suppose, for watching "Lost", as it's about an island and all :)

So, here's some of my 300 photographs!

1. Michael Emerson.

One of the two people I was really hoping would be there, and he was first of all the cast members to arrive! He has a really nice smile, which I found slightly funny, because he gets so little chance to show it on the show. He was pretty friendly, and posed for the cameras in my section of the crowd, but again--camera refused to take the picture. I don't know why. He also thanked us for coming--in that awesome voice of his--and told us very sincerely that he hoped we would enjoy the episode, which I thought was nice of him.

2. Ken Leung.
Second to arrive. This was the only smile I caught him at the entire evening. I'm not that big a fan of his character on the show, but it was neat seeing him anyway. He still had the persona of Miles going, perhaps he's just like that naturally? Haha.


3. Daniel Dae Kim
I love Jin's character, so it was awesome to see Kim. He was one of the most chatty of the stars, as he'd call back replies when people in the crowd yelled 'JIIIIIIIIN', and seemed to be having a great time. I got a good picture of him shrugging and grinning when he apologized to us for having to leave to go to the stage ("Sorry, I gotta go!"), and yeah, it was weird hearing him speak without the accent ^_^


4. Jeff Fahey
I wasn't expecting Lapidus to show up! Love him on the show, but he seemed to have little time for the crowd by the time he reached my section. I don't know how many autographs he signed further back. He walked by pretty quickly, and though he did flash a smile once, my photo was blurry. Sigh.


5. Harold Perrineau
The guy standing next to me bellowed 'MICHAEL!' loud enough to startle Perrineau into looking in our direction. This happened multiple times, but he took it in good grace, and even seemed amused. Again, I wasn't expecting him to be there, and he isn't my favorite character on the show, but he seemed nice enough.


6. Jorge Garcia
It'd be pretty hard to miss Jorge. He also really interacted with fans, and even stopped to pet one fan's dog, haha, and to write a reply to a note that got flung at him before tossing it back into the crowd. I got more photos of him than practically any other cast member.


7. Naveen Andrews
Naveen was a bit confusing--one minute he'd be walking towards my section, the next he'd turn back, or turn aside, and vanish, and then he'd appear again, and then he'd vanish again. Eventually some people even started chanting 'Say-id' until he reappeared. He was really great, though, when he was around. Eventually he stopped doing the rounds and pulled out a cigarette right in front of my section, so I got to breathe Sayid's second-hand smoke, y'all! Woo-hoo!

8. Terry O'Quinn
The crowd went crazy for O'Quinn. It was pretty awesome to see him in person, and he went back and forth along the railings a few times, so I got a few good shots. Although not the one aforementioned. He had a nifty dress-shirt on--black and neon green.

9. Yunjin Kim
I hardly saw her, she went by so fast, and unlike many of the other cast members, she didn't reappear. Still, she somehow managed to appear so gracious in the three seconds that she whizzed past, that I couldn't feel that slighted. She's even prettier in person than she is on the show.

10. Henry Ian Cusick
Henry Ian Cusick is the main reason why I attended the premiere. I love this guy. Or, to be precise, I love Desmond Hume! Desmond's been my favorite character ever since his first appearance on the show, and he's just been getting better and better. I mean, he's practically Doctor Who now, all he needs is a police box to do his time traveling in. He's already got the super long scarf and the beautiful accent . . . But I'm sure Cusick's a marvelous fellow too. I was desperately hoping he'd be one of the stars to show up, but the ironic thing is, I was so busy trying to get a good picture of Naveen, I nearly missed noticing him when he did walk by, leading to shoddy photography >.< But it was still an epic moment!!! He's got a positively radiant smile, and is just as charismatic in person as he is as Desmond. And isn't that shade of blue familiar?

11. Evangeline Lilly
I can't honestly say that I like the character of Kate very much. So I wasn't as excited as I could have been about seeing Lilly. The crowd as a whole, however, was almost as excited as it had been when O'Quinn went by. Lilly's outfit was gorgeous, but she, like Yunjin Kim, went past pretty quickly.


12. Matthew Fox
He went past even faster than Kim and Lilly did. He seemed to reconsider and did pause to smile for photographs, but that was unfortunately after he had passed my section of the crowd. So I got very few pictures of him, and most of those are distant profiles.


13. Josh Holloway
Of course all my photographs of Holloway turned out blurry. Aaaaagh! Still, I can report that he was extremely friendly, seemed to be having a blast, and has a great laugh. His outfit was pretty awesome too. While most of the stars seemed to be really enjoying themselves, he seemed the most excited, like a kid in a candy store, but not arrogant at all. Just a really pleasant guy.


14. Nestor Carbonell
Out of all the stars, Nestor wins the pure awesomeness award. He actually arrived before half the cast did, and spent a long time signing autographs and posing for pictures further up the line, and then was called away for press duties right before he reached my section, which made everyone moan with disappointment. When he returned, people were screaming for him to come over, but he replied by waving and saying apologetically 'I've got to go over there [pointing to other side of the grass], but I'll come back later.' And though it took a while, he kept his word, and not only kept it, but went one better. You see, where I was standing there were two railings set up between crowd and stars, so we were too far away to get autographs. He, seeing this, simply vaulted over the taller-than-waist-high railings and signed autographs, posed for pictures, and chatted for over five minutes. He, like Emerson, thanked us all for coming, and was just really nice. Not to mention he's RICHARD ALPERT . . . I didn't manage to get an autograph, but I got a lot of fantastic photos, and really just him caring enough to make sure we poor double-barred fans were able to spend some time in closer quarters with a star was better than any autograph. Thanks, Nestor, you're fantastic!

That's it for the cast! Damon Lindelof, Carlton Cuse, and Jack Bender were also there, as was the woman who's playing that new character, what's her name? The mysterious woman from the Russian hospital. Anyway. There was so much more, but I don't want to post photos here. I'm going to post all my photos in a Facebook album, so if you're interested, come by and visit!

I'm exhausted, sunburned, and had to take medicine for a massive headache I had afterwards, caused either by tiredness or sunstroke or a bit of both. But it was all very worth it. Thanks to everyone who helped me talk myself into going, and here's to the final season!

"The Waters of Mars": My Review

Note: I'm trying to keep this post spoiler-free. Minor spoilers, such as brief talk of characters and interesting themes, will be discussed, but no significant plot devices or happenings will be given away.

 

I just finished watching "The Waters of Mars", the newest Doctor Who special and the last one before Tennant's final two-part story later this year. Now, I have to say that while I've been eagerly anticipating watching this episode ever since it was first announced last year, I did go into it a bit wary. I absolutely hated the Easter special, "Planet of the Dead". It was really boring, lacked any real substance, and even Tennant's marvelous-as-ever portrayal of the Doctor and a few cute one-liners couldn't save the fact that it was nothing but fluff. So, since "WoM" has been hyped for months now as a super-scary story and a lead in to the Christmas special "End of Time", I was desperately hoping it would be superior to the last special.

Was it? 

I answer with a great, resounding "YES!", thank goodness.

Not that it was perfect. I love a 'base under siege' story just as much as the next gal, but as far as that scare factor goes this one didn't really affect me as much as the classic ones did. The robot was, frankly, annoying (though the fact that the Doctor says as much at one point was enough to make me endure it for the entirety of the episode). And the monsters weren't at all as scary as I had hoped they would be, but that's probably due to the fact that I had watched my own fair share of promos and such in the days leading up to the actual release of the episode, and therefore the shock-factor was gone. I have learned my lesson, and as tortuous as it will be, I will refrain from watching any promotional footage of the Christmas and New Year's specials now.

I did not mind that the monsters themselves were not super scary, though, because I still finished watching the episode with my heart pounding like mad with fear. The monsters were fine, but the real scares here were psychological--the scariness of having to come to grips with difficult moral quandaries, and of suddenly having accepted rules of the character and show I've loved for so long turned briefly on their head in a sense--and the scariness of it still making sense in a horrid way. In the end, what really scared me was the nature of time itself, and most surprisingly, the Doctor himself. Which, in my opinion, is absolutely brilliant. Enormous kudos and applause to Tennant for his breathtaking acting throughout the episode, but especially towards the end.

Because it was the last five minutes that really elevated this story from a regular 'good' episode with slightly superior psychological play to a really fantastic episode. Those five minutes were flawlessly done. I was left on the edge of my seat (figuratively speaking; I watched the whole episode while sprawling on my bedroom floor, haha) and holding my breath and very nearly crying. And I don't cry often for filmed stuff, and certainly not for television. I am left waiting for "The End of Time" with bated breath and am making a mental note to stock up on the tissues, because if merely that last five minutes leading into the final story could sucker-punch me so hard, I'm going to be a bucket case come New Year's, alas. David Tennant, I'm going to hate to see you go.

To put my Tennant-praise aside for a moment, I must add that all the supporting actors did fine jobs as well, and as a second-year Russian student in particular it was rather enjoyable to have a Russian character. Also, that this is not an episode to show your kiddies if you are trying to get them to eat their vegetables. If you watch the episode, you'll see what I mean.

If you haven't already, I insist you go to Combom's Doctor Who blog (which you will find a link to in my sidebar) and follow the link he has there and go watch the episode! It's dark, thought-provoking, and definitely one of the better ones thus far. I am left with both extremely high hopes as to the quality of the Tenth Doctor's final story, and absolutely shattered, because now there's nothing between us poor viewers and the end of an era, and the sense of swift-incoming, crushing doom was beautifully built until it was almost palpable at the end of "WoM".

To sum up: Stellar acting by Tennant, good supporting acting, decent monsters, original and compelling psychological drama, and a killer last few minutes. This doesn't equal my top three favorite classic episodes of all time ("The War Games", "Caves of Androzani", and "Genesis of the Daleks"), but it's definitely among my favorite episodes of the new series. If it had been filmed in the style of the classics, with four separate installments, it would probably have been up there in quality. Sigh . . . a pox on the modern audience's lack of a proper attention span.

And a last note: "WoM" was not entirely a doom-and-gloom episode, it did produce this jewel of dialogue:

Adelaide: "State your name, rank, and intention."

Ten: "The Doctor . . . Doctor . . . Fun."

Go watch, and let me know what you think, mmkay?