Well, I'll hope this is a general discussion of Doctor Who, Season 5 to date, but I had to get you interested with that topic. As per my promise, I shall deliver with the relevant lines from today's episode:

DOCTOR: Amy, what does the scanner say?
AMY: It's all nines!

CAUTION: SPOILERS. I'll try to keep them to a minimum, but no promises

Down to business. I know that many of you share my love of Doctor Who, and I know that many of you share my general opinions on Season 5 thus far, but I look forward to discussing and debating, including the quality of the plots, cinematography, etc so far, thoughts on the season arc and where it's going, and guesses about what exactly the deal with River Song is. I'll start by stating that I was a big fan of David Tennant as the Doctor. I felt he played the part with a good mix of gravity, humor, and drama when appropriate, with that quirky Doctor quality that's so important to the character. I liked Rose as a companion, I thought Martha did a good job, and I like Donna as well. My three favorite episodes in the first four seasons were, ironically, three of the episodes that were written by Stephen Moffat instead of Russel T. Davies: Blink, Silence in the Library, and Forest of the Dead.

My initial opinions of Season 5 under Moffat with Matt Smith as the Doctor #11 and Karen Gillan as Amy Pond, the companion, was very poor. I thought the first episode was very odd and weak. I thought Matt Smith played the Doctor well but a bit too quirky, Amy Pond was too over-the-top, and the enemy (and non-enemies) were way too non-scientific and outright weird (flying eyes? What's that about?). The second episode was not much better, and I thought the third one was the worst of all. Without giving too much away, it seemed pretty obviously very very low-budget, was merely a vehicle to re-introduce the Daleks, and seemed to have a mind-bogglingly thin plot and method of preventing yet another explosion of the planet (convince him he's a REAL BOY!). Luckily, by the end of the fourth episode, I felt that there was a bit of light at the end of the tunnel, and as we went through the second of the two-parter reintroducing the Weeping Angels, encountered the excellent Venice episode, met Homo Reptilius, raced through the streets with Vincent Van Gogh, and most recently saw the Doctor do his best to act normal, I realized that Doctor Who was pulling itself out of the muck once again and building up a good head of steam. I felt that the fourth episode was the first to make any attempts to tie into Doctor Who canon before the beginning of the fifth season, which I think is important to keep the continuity and flow from Doctor to Doctor that's so vital to the show. River Song came back, an old enemy returned with some new tricks, and the fourth episode ended on a classic nail-biting cliffhanger. The fifth episode brought more hall-dashing along with a final elaboration and fascinating plot twist about the mysterious cracks in the walls.

Let's sidetrack and talk about these cracks, which so far have played the role of a sort-of enemy in several episodes, especially in episode 9, the second of the Homo Reptilia / mining episodes, in which a crack stole a rather important character. The cracks are among the first Doctor Who arcs from the new series to be addressed throughout the season. In Season 1, the Bad Wolf motif was subtly brought up in many episodes, from the callsign of the helicopter owned by the billionaire who invented broadband, to the Welsh name of a disastrous nuclear power plant project, to a phrase spoken by a nineteenth-century housemaid. The final reveal of Bad Wolf spraypainted in giant letters at the end of the penultimate episode of Season 1 was a powerful moment for me, and sent shivers down my spine, even on the second, third, and fifth viewing. Season 2's arc was of course Torchwood, a different kind of arc but still a well-hidden one, in the sense that in the Werewolf episode it was not clear that Queen Elizabeth's vendetta against the Doctor would bear any significance later in the series. Big bad Torchwood comes, Rose dies, tears fall, roll credits. In Season 3, we were supposed to notice all the VOTE SAXON posters with their checkmarks, then in the Professor Lazarus (how's that for an allegorical name) episode we were supposed to use our anagram skills and turn "Mister Saxon" into "Master No. Six" or something along those lines. Again, he appears, big reveal on the fact that he's been there all along, tragedy and redemption as they usually go in Doctor Who. I'd have to say that in Season 4, the arc was Rose Tyler, and it might actually have been the most powerful moment in the entire reintroduced series for me when we saw Rose for a few brief seconds at the end of Season 4, Episode 1, and the music shifts to a supremely ominous rendition of Rose's death theme from Season 2. Once again, I felt this arc was handled well and professionally, finally breaking into the spotlight in Turn Left with Donna's alternate timeline. Even the interstitial Season 4.5, the year of specials, had its arc in the form of "He Will Knock Four Times," with its heartbreaking realization at the end of The End of Time as to who exactly would knock four times, and why.

I feel the cracks have been much less of an arc, per se, and more of an in-your-face problem to be avoided and anxious about. They were handily explained away in the first episode, and I was indeed curious when they recurred in the second and third episodes. The fourth and fifth episodes together gave another explanation, and the ninth brought the revelation that chunks of an important prop were in the explosion of the cracks. Finally, at the end of episode 11, yesterday's episode, Amy's thought processes seemed to be the catalyst for increased crack activity. So what exactly is the deal? What's going to cause this massive time-rending explosion? What does Amy have to do with it, and why it the TARDIS going to be part of the explosion?

So let's discuss. We'll have to deal with Matt Smith's successes and failures as the Doctor. I hope we'll debate whether Amy is a floozy after Rose, Donna, and Martha, or something less negative. Talk about your thoughts on Stephen Moffat as the head writer after Russel T. Davies. Try to figure out who exactly River Song is.
They've been getting steadily better all season. I thought The Lodger was flipping hilarious, and I really loved the Van Gogh episode and the Silurian episodes as well (though the ending of Cold Blood felt a bit rushed). I think Matt Smith is finally hitting his stride.
elfprince13 wrote:
They've been getting steadily better all season. I thought The Lodger was flipping hilarious, and I really loved the Van Gogh episode and the Silurian episodes as well (though the ending of Cold Blood felt a bit rushed). I think Matt Smith is finally hitting his stride.
Indeed, agreed. I finished fleshing out my first post of the topic for now, so I hope we can discuss it more thoroughly. Any thoughts on the pieces I just added?
The bees disappearing and the missing planets were more of the hidden arc in season 4. Rose coming back was pretty hard to miss for anyone who watched season 2.

I think we have to realize with the cracks this season that they are a story arc, but they are intended as a stronger connecting theme than the subtle hints of previous seasons....for example, go back and rewatch the scene where the Doctor leaves Amy alone in the woods, and then comes back to tell to remember what he said when she was seven. I'm pretty sure the apparent continuity gaffe in that scene is intentional and a hint at things to come. Moffat definitely has a different style than RTD, and is more willing to use the effects of manipulating time as a part of the story and not just as a transition between episodes. I also like the increasing homage to classic Who since the Sontarans in season 4.

Finally, I thought this year's season opener was actually a lot sweeter and less campy than pretty much every previous season openers. Go rewatch Rose, New Earth, Smith and Jones, Partners in Crime and use those as your standard of comparison for Eleventh Hour. I find it telling that I *never* introduce people to Doctor Who at the beginning of a season. I also don't mind the strong camp factor in episodes like Victory of the Daleks, since classic Who is the definition of camp, and for me the one thing that really sets even modern Who apart from being standard B-grade sci-fi is not the writing (at least 50% of the episodes in any given season so far in the modern series have had pretty questionable plots), but the acting.

I was a little bothered by Amy's attempt to kiss the Doctor when he brought her home, but he responded in character, and she has developed a lot since then in realizing her feelings for Rory.
Some thoughts on season 5 as it stands so far:

I think Amy might end up being the Crack in the walls. Somehow, she doesn't remember the Daleks at all, or when the planet itself was moved, etc. As we have also noted, anytime Amy seems to get a bit emotional, the crack widens and becomes more active. Thinking in the episode with the lizard peoples underground, when Rori died, she subconsciously wanted a way for the pain to end, so the crack did her bidding. Might be a long shot, but we don't have all the pieces yet, so we shall see.

River Song. This lady is a bit odd. Yes we know that she and the Doctor had a thing, because she knows things that she shouldn't. She also makes mention in the episode where she 'dies in' that that particular Doctor was his early years. She also has intimate knowledge on how to fly the TARDIS, knowing things that even the Doctor didn't in the weeping angels episode.

We also know that at the end of that 2 parter, that she has admitted to 'killing a good man' and she looks up at him sadly. At the time, I thought she might be looking for forgiveness. Now that I give more thought to it, and that there was a piece of the TARDIS stuck in the crack in the wall, it makes me wonder if River isn't somehow tied to the explosion.

I dunno, just some random theories that we will have to see play out I guess, I will most likely be wrong on all counts. :p
tifreak8x wrote:
I think Amy might end up being the Crack in the walls. Somehow, she doesn't remember the Daleks at all, or when the planet itself was moved, etc. As we have also noted, anytime Amy seems to get a bit emotional, the crack widens and becomes more active. Thinking in the episode with the lizard peoples underground, when Rori died, she subconsciously wanted a way for the pain to end, so the crack did her bidding. Might be a long shot, but we don't have all the pieces yet, so we shall see.
I definitely agree that Amy is in some way directly related to the cracks, either a cause, effect (!!), or the cracks themselves. Are you implying that the crack ate Rory because she subconsciously didn't want to be with him? Or that the crack made her forget about Rory because she didn't want to deal with the pain of losing him? The only thing I got from that sequence was that she wasn't strong enough to hold onto his memory. I was also keenly aware that Rory put the ring into the center of a piece of machinery of some sort on the console in the first half of the Silurian duet of episodes. I'm not sure the significance, but maybe that will come up later?

tifreak8x wrote:
River Song. This lady is a bit odd. Yes we know that she and the Doctor had a thing, because she knows things that she shouldn't. She also makes mention in the episode where she 'dies in' that that particular Doctor was his early years. She also has intimate knowledge on how to fly the TARDIS, knowing things that even the Doctor didn't in the weeping angels episode.
But did she and the Doctor actually have a thing? That just seems like way too easy of a solution to their relationship with me. The way she's being all mysterious about it, I would actually be quite disappointed if it was as simple as that.

tifreak8x wrote:
We also know that at the end of that 2 parter, that she has admitted to 'killing a good man' and she looks up at him sadly. At the time, I thought she might be looking for forgiveness. Now that I give more thought to it, and that there was a piece of the TARDIS stuck in the crack in the wall, it makes me wonder if River isn't somehow tied to the explosion.
What if it's something more (or less) sinister than that? For example, what if she killed a "very good man" to prevent something even worse from happening? Also, it seems to me that she doesn't actually have her own time machine, so the cracks and their resolution would be in her personal future? But then again, she was at the Pandora Core already, and the pattern so far is that they encounter each other in precisely opposite order.
KermMartian wrote:
But then again, she was at the Pandora Core already, and the pattern so far is that they encounter each other in precisely opposite order.


*cough* Pandorica
elfprince13 wrote:
KermMartian wrote:
But then again, she was at the Pandora Core already, and the pattern so far is that they encounter each other in precisely opposite order.


*cough* Pandorica
Whoops, my mistake. I thought it was Pandora Core.

elfprince13 wrote:
I was a little bothered by Amy's attempt to kiss the Doctor when he brought her home, but he responded in character, and she has developed a lot since then in realizing her feelings for Rory.
Me too, I thought there was an unwritten rule that companions aren't supposed to show physical affection towards the Doctor (unless they're cloned Doctors, like in the end of Season 4). Razz
I'm pretty sure it's even a written rule, or at least was for the classic show. I think the new show is more comfortable portraying sexuality (*cough*Jack*cough*), but the Doctor himself is still basically asexual. His response to Amy's attempt at kissing was remarkably in-character - i.e. popping up through the cake at rory's bachelor party and asking the guys to get the stripper outside some clothes.
elfprince13 wrote:
I'm pretty sure it's even a written rule, or at least was for the classic show. I think the new show is more comfortable portraying sexuality (*cough*Jack*cough*), but the Doctor himself is still basically asexual. His response to Amy's attempt at kissing was remarkably in-character - i.e. popping up through the cake at rory's bachelor party and asking the guys to get the stripper outside some clothes.
That's a good point, but I don't think anyone would deny that they're pushing the boundaries further and further, and I don't know if that's a good thing or not.
I still don't think they've quite touched this boundary from season 1:
Yeah, but that's Captain Jack, anything goes for him. Smile And thoughts on the piece of the TARDIS that the Doctor found? What about the fact that the second floor of The Boarder's house was described as "an attempt at a TARDIS" or something along those lines?
i used to watch it haha...
now i just dont bother anymore... since they dont play it on tv anymore Smile

and i am just too lazy to download it on the computer...
schoolhacker wrote:
i used to watch it haha...
now i just dont bother anymore... since they dont play it on tv anymore Smile
It plays on BBC in England (obviously) and BBC America in the United States; neither of those are an option for you? You really should watch it again, it's really a most excellent show.
KermMartian wrote:
schoolhacker wrote:
i used to watch it haha...
now i just dont bother anymore... since they dont play it on tv anymore Smile
It plays on BBC in England (obviously) and BBC America in the United States; neither of those are an option for you? You really should watch it again, it's really a most excellent show.

i know... but we dont get BBC in Canada here...
(cough.. Canada sucks... -.-)

btw... are they still making the series?
or has it ended already?
schoolhacker wrote:
KermMartian wrote:
schoolhacker wrote:
i used to watch it haha...
now i just dont bother anymore... since they dont play it on tv anymore Smile
It plays on BBC in England (obviously) and BBC America in the United States; neither of those are an option for you? You really should watch it again, it's really a most excellent show.

i know... but we dont get BBC in Canada here...
(cough.. Canada sucks... -.-)

btw... are they still making the series?
or has it ended already?
Yup, they're still making it. Season 1 in 2005, ..., Season 4 in 2008, an interstitial season of specials in 2009, and we're up to the 11th episode of Season 5 in 2010.
KermMartian wrote:
tifreak8x wrote:
I think Amy might end up being the Crack in the walls. Somehow, she doesn't remember the Daleks at all, or when the planet itself was moved, etc. As we have also noted, anytime Amy seems to get a bit emotional, the crack widens and becomes more active. Thinking in the episode with the lizard peoples underground, when Rori died, she subconsciously wanted a way for the pain to end, so the crack did her bidding. Might be a long shot, but we don't have all the pieces yet, so we shall see.
I definitely agree that Amy is in some way directly related to the cracks, either a cause, effect (!!), or the cracks themselves. Are you implying that the crack ate Rory because she subconsciously didn't want to be with him? Or that the crack made her forget about Rory because she didn't want to deal with the pain of losing him? The only thing I got from that sequence was that she wasn't strong enough to hold onto his memory. I was also keenly aware that Rory put the ring into the center of a piece of machinery of some sort on the console in the first half of the Silurian duet of episodes. I'm not sure the significance, but maybe that will come up later?


How are you all forgetting that snaky monster thing in the first episode of series 5? Maybe this creature is the one that brought together the alliance? From the beginning it seemed that River was behind this beast if I am not mistaken.
Whoa, seriously? Where did you get that River had anything to do with that snake creature? I must have totally missed something.
KermMartian wrote:
Whoa, seriously? Where did you get that River had anything to do with that snake creature? I must have totally missed something.


Blah, I could have sworn I remember something like that. Maybe I am completely wrong. What ever happened to that beast though?
Mexi1010 wrote:
KermMartian wrote:
Whoa, seriously? Where did you get that River had anything to do with that snake creature? I must have totally missed something.


Blah, I could have sworn I remember something like that. Maybe I am completely wrong. What ever happened to that beast though?
The last I checked, Prisoner Zero was recaptured by those flying eyes (I forget their species designation) and sent it back into captivity. Actually, do you remember what the jail was? Was it related to River's "stormcage" prison?
  
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