Some thouhts on Who, mainly The Lodger
Jun. 17th, 2010 12:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
onomatopoetryConclusion 1: I like season 5 more than I've liked any season of NuWho. 1 has been my favourite so far, but it had Aliens in London, which, honestly? Also, while Father's Day was fun, it was hardly Pulizer-level writing. Season 2 had Rose's stupid crush, and in retrospect, I never really enjoyed Ten as much as I could have. Season 3 could have been great, but Martha's character was grossly mistreated, Ten was annoying, it had the Dalek two-parter, and the worst finale in the history of everything. Yes, there was Blink and Family of Blood, but it doesn't make up. In season 4 I was so tired of Ten that even Donna couldn't even make me watch it in real, and other than Library, no episode sticks.
But season 5 hasn't really had any similar low point; I personally did not enjoy any of the two double-eppers, but that didn't mean they were bad, just not my cup of tea (River Song, while a huge fav of mine in Silence in the Library, somehow grated me. Not sure why.) Eleven is bow-tie-wearing, weirder-than-ever awesome. Amy is quirky Scottish awesome. Rory, bless him, *is* (not was) smarter-than-he-knows, grounded awesome.
This is a fic bylizbee , Amy (/Rory, except not), that will make you cry: (he wasn't there again today)
But now. The Lodger.
Someone somewhere (I think it may be io9) compares this episode to Love and Monsters, which... what? Other than being a companion-light, they had nothing in common. In fact, if anything, it made me think of the Five episode The Black Orchid, less, I realize, for thematic reasons and more because a) The Doctor plays sports (and is good at it) (cricket in Orchid, football in The Lodger), and b) The Doctor is undressed and walking about in some variation of a towel (in Orchid, it was a robe.) I don't know, but I enjoy those particular details.
What I enjoy even more, however, was love as a positive force. There's been so much love-is-the-antithesis-of-adventure, relationships-tie-you-down, twosomeness-prohibits-exciting-stuff in NuWho, so when Craig said to Sophie (and I paraphrase) "I can see the point of anywhere as long as it's with you", it made me really happy. Sure, he liked his safety, he didn't feel any need to leave, but it was mainly insecurity in his connection to her that caused him to mark it so strongly (and be snippy; "are you going to go live with monkeys now?") Once they're secure with one another, adventure was a real possibility.
This reflects, platonically of course, on Amy and the Doctor, I really hope it comes to reflect on Amy and Rory (I don't think he's dead-dead, not really), but, and here comes the stream-of-consciousness part of writing, on the Doctor and the TARDIS (there's been more "she" than ever before in this season). In instances when he loses her, he's literally unable to go anywhere. So what happens if/when she goes boom?
But mainly, I just FUCKING LOVE Eleven. Sometimes he really reminds me of Five, but the more he tried to appear normal, the weirder he got, and it was glorious. Ten was *always* over the top, but Eleven waxes and wanes in a much more pleasant way (also, and this is hard to define to me, but there's something much less frantic/hyper about his madness.) Sometimes almost Four-like. I like Eleven kind of for the same reason I like Nine; he gets better. Ten always appeared lovely, and then got progressively more dangerous/annoying/angsty/destructive. Nine starts out (the season and each relationship) in an aggressive manner, but mellows. Eleven starts out mad, remains mad, but a softer mad. I read a wonderful meta about how Ten hugged people because he needed to hug people (friends, strangers, starship captains), but when Eleven hugs people, it's because they, at that moment, need to be hugged.
ETA: found it!
Final thoughts: there's been a LOT of themes this season: perception filter, pictures/photography/seeing, memory, the Doctor being unable to cope with linear time (more than usual -- prime examples in Vincent and the Doctor and The Lodger) aaaand I hope that plays into the finale.
But season 5 hasn't really had any similar low point; I personally did not enjoy any of the two double-eppers, but that didn't mean they were bad, just not my cup of tea (River Song, while a huge fav of mine in Silence in the Library, somehow grated me. Not sure why.) Eleven is bow-tie-wearing, weirder-than-ever awesome. Amy is quirky Scottish awesome. Rory, bless him, *is* (not was) smarter-than-he-knows, grounded awesome.
This is a fic by
lizbee , Amy (/Rory, except not), that will make you cry: (he wasn't there again today)But now. The Lodger.
Someone somewhere (I think it may be io9) compares this episode to Love and Monsters, which... what? Other than being a companion-light, they had nothing in common. In fact, if anything, it made me think of the Five episode The Black Orchid, less, I realize, for thematic reasons and more because a) The Doctor plays sports (and is good at it) (cricket in Orchid, football in The Lodger), and b) The Doctor is undressed and walking about in some variation of a towel (in Orchid, it was a robe.) I don't know, but I enjoy those particular details.
What I enjoy even more, however, was love as a positive force. There's been so much love-is-the-antithesis-of-adventure, relationships-tie-you-down, twosomeness-prohibits-exciting-stuff in NuWho, so when Craig said to Sophie (and I paraphrase) "I can see the point of anywhere as long as it's with you", it made me really happy. Sure, he liked his safety, he didn't feel any need to leave, but it was mainly insecurity in his connection to her that caused him to mark it so strongly (and be snippy; "are you going to go live with monkeys now?") Once they're secure with one another, adventure was a real possibility.
This reflects, platonically of course, on Amy and the Doctor, I really hope it comes to reflect on Amy and Rory (I don't think he's dead-dead, not really), but, and here comes the stream-of-consciousness part of writing, on the Doctor and the TARDIS (there's been more "she" than ever before in this season). In instances when he loses her, he's literally unable to go anywhere. So what happens if/when she goes boom?
But mainly, I just FUCKING LOVE Eleven. Sometimes he really reminds me of Five, but the more he tried to appear normal, the weirder he got, and it was glorious. Ten was *always* over the top, but Eleven waxes and wanes in a much more pleasant way (also, and this is hard to define to me, but there's something much less frantic/hyper about his madness.) Sometimes almost Four-like. I like Eleven kind of for the same reason I like Nine; he gets better. Ten always appeared lovely, and then got progressively more dangerous/annoying/angsty/destructive. Nine starts out (the season and each relationship) in an aggressive manner, but mellows. Eleven starts out mad, remains mad, but a softer mad. I read a wonderful meta about how Ten hugged people because he needed to hug people (friends, strangers, starship captains), but when Eleven hugs people, it's because they, at that moment, need to be hugged.
ETA: found it!
"Ten hugged and touched because he wanted to be demonstrative of his feelings, but sometimes I'm not sure it mattered who it was he hugged. Maybe it's too harsh to say the nearest person he could cling to would do, and I don't think that's true every time he hugs someone, but sometimes maybe it is. Eleven's little gestures gestures come off to me as generally lingering and focused very much on the person in front of him. "Full essay on depression in Who here. Oh, Elebenty <3
Final thoughts: there's been a LOT of themes this season: perception filter, pictures/photography/seeing, memory, the Doctor being unable to cope with linear time (more than usual -- prime examples in Vincent and the Doctor and The Lodger) aaaand I hope that plays into the finale.
