The Mono

but he was my Doctor, too.

I'm not sure Moffat wrote that last piece of dialogue there... it sounded a lot like Tennant himself. Either way, I almost cheered.

"Utopia". I could kiss Russell T. Davies right now.

My throat still hurts a little... I wasn't quite loud enough to disturb the neighbors. I think.

That was so. much. better. than "Father's Day".

Paul Cornell wrote both that and the more recent "Human Nature/The Family of Blood". The latter was apparenty adapted from a novel that he wrote. I wasn't incredibly impressed by "Father's Day" -- it had an okay gimmick, but it just didn't grab me... this was different. Oh, it was beautiful. Right up there with Steven Moffat's stories (his "The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances" won a Hugo award, rightfully so).

"Human Nature" had a delightful hook, and it didn't slow down for an instant. ( Neither do the spoilers. )


Time to move on.

I can see that Steven Moffat's latest is coming up. He'll be hard pressed to top this, but if anyone can, it's him.

Am I the only one who listens to "The Statue Got Me High" and thinks of the Melkur?

(Talk about geek confluence... not sure how many people out there would even get both references.)

Edit: Apparently no, I'm not the only one.

Well, I had been warned that the finale of the first David Tennant season was more painful than the one at the end of Eccleston. I didn't think so, though... it had a good bit of humor and "Look at that!" moments, and a face-off that I'm sure old Whovians have been speculating about for decades. It was fun.

There was a lot of Torchwood in this one. I still have no idea how on earth Captain Jack is supposed to end up in 21st century London Cardiff again -- maybe hijack another time-travel ship and crash there -- but I'm really looking forward to the series in the fall. They could do some interesting stuff with that institute, and Jack (despite the fact that he's an American calling canned goods "tins") is quite charismatic enough to hang a series on.

The hook for the Christmas Special was odd.

Anyway... quite happy with the result, A+ and two thumbs up, all of that.

Many thanks to brynndragon, who owns the original -- after rewatching "The Christmas Invasion", I just had to make a slightly altered version. Jackie Tyler and her thermos, and all that.

I just watched "The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit" for the second time. Caught a couple more bits. The only issue I have with it -- if I have an issue -- is that the Doctor goes a little overboard with the "humans are fantastic" thing. Otherwise, the writing is brilliant. The pace never flags, and it's a beautiful example of modern shrinking horror in the first half, suspense/action in the second.

I don't do real spoilers -- it takes away all the fun of seeing people as they watch it unfold -- but I want to make comments. I know I'm more sensitive about spoilers than most, so I'll cut it as I would like it to be cut, and those with more lenient sensibilities can just ( read on. )

It's interesting that after 900 years, the Doctor is still put in situations where he has to search his soul, and find out what he believes in. He's still looking for answers to the questions people unwittingly ask him, not knowing that his answers are rather deeper than most humans'. He's always been a coward, though, as his predecessor admitted -- afraid of what he is deep down, and what he is capable of doing, perhaps more than he fears any external thing.

David Tennant is a very passionate Doctor, in a different sense than Eccleston was -- the 9th was bottled up, frustration and grief and anger. The 10th has come to some sort of terms with who he is now, and is more free to feel joy, enthusiasm, and passion, as well as fury and grief. He's a good balance between the genius and the poet, and I like him a great deal.

So, that's our episode of Analysis of a Fictional Character for today. In a way, I grew up with the Doctor, and I feel like I know him as well as anyone does; he's as real to me as the characters in my head, and I've known him about as long. It makes for a deep sort of attachment... and it's good to see him out there and doing well.

That was one of the most beautiful stories I've seen -- or read -- in a very long time.

A metaphor of his life, in short form.





Oh, Doctor.

Saw "School Reunion".

...

wow.

Now that's fan service.

He does pick strong women, indeed, and two strong women circling each other and trying to figure out their positions was interesting... it was inevitable that they would eventually figure out how much they had in common, but good heavens, if he had to deal with both of them at once all the time he'd end up getting torn into little bits. In the best way possible.

As a viewer: it was a pretty good episode, about on par with the rest of the recent ones.
As a longtime fan: it was one of the best episodes I've ever seen.

So much that had been left unspoken, unsaid, finally brought into the light of day. A sense of full-circle and closure that both of them needed. And seeing old friends that no one who didn't grow up always on the verge of hearing that sound could ever know so well.

I was worried about this one when I heard about it. I was mildly let down by the two other episodes of the season. All reservations have been wiped away -- I'm ready to take off again on that wild, wild ride. :)