The End of Time: brief reaction post
Aug. 22nd, 2010 11:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
peroxidepirateOk, I finally finished watching Doctor Who: The End of Time.
Quick reactions:
I really want to dislike the montage that takes up 15 of the last 20 minutes of it -- you know, the Doctor going around visiting his friends, saving their lives, helping them hook up, etc. I think it destroys the flow of the piece, having absolutely nothing to do with the story that came before. It's pure fan service. And, since part of the mythology of the show is that every Doctor is the same Doctor, I dislike anything that treats regeneration as the end of the(that) Doctor's life. It seems redundant for the (Tenth) Doctor to say goodbye to his friends when he'll still be The Doctor.
But, well. For all that, it was touching and sweet and totally made me cry.
Otherwise... I enjoyed watching it, sure, but it wasn't exceptional. The story is kind of random and weirdly plotted and unevenly paced. But the acting is so good, the actors do actually carry the questionable writing.
Though, as a finale for the RTD era of Doctor Who, and a last appearance by David Tennant, it was a bit of a let down. I think every season finale so far is better than The End of Time.
And.... you know I think Matt Smith is fantastic. I think the Eleventh Doctor is the only one who could've drawn me completely into the show so fast. But I don't much like his appearance in The End of Time. I suppose they were making a point -- Tennant's angst and contemplativeness, in contrast to Smith's manicness and (is it![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
boredsvunut or boosette who put it this way?) frenetic languidity. As a viewer, though, it's hard to go from the intensity of what is essentially (whether I want to see it that way or not) a death scene, directly to, "Ooh, look! I have legs!"
As I said, I still like the Eleventh Doctor a lot -- possibly best, of the three I've seen -- but for the first time, I understand why someone who started at the beginning (er... 2005) might not.
And now I want to do a big dam rewatch.
Quick reactions:
I really want to dislike the montage that takes up 15 of the last 20 minutes of it -- you know, the Doctor going around visiting his friends, saving their lives, helping them hook up, etc. I think it destroys the flow of the piece, having absolutely nothing to do with the story that came before. It's pure fan service. And, since part of the mythology of the show is that every Doctor is the same Doctor, I dislike anything that treats regeneration as the end of the(that) Doctor's life. It seems redundant for the (Tenth) Doctor to say goodbye to his friends when he'll still be The Doctor.
But, well. For all that, it was touching and sweet and totally made me cry.
Otherwise... I enjoyed watching it, sure, but it wasn't exceptional. The story is kind of random and weirdly plotted and unevenly paced. But the acting is so good, the actors do actually carry the questionable writing.
Though, as a finale for the RTD era of Doctor Who, and a last appearance by David Tennant, it was a bit of a let down. I think every season finale so far is better than The End of Time.
And.... you know I think Matt Smith is fantastic. I think the Eleventh Doctor is the only one who could've drawn me completely into the show so fast. But I don't much like his appearance in The End of Time. I suppose they were making a point -- Tennant's angst and contemplativeness, in contrast to Smith's manicness and (is it
boredsvunut or boosette who put it this way?) frenetic languidity. As a viewer, though, it's hard to go from the intensity of what is essentially (whether I want to see it that way or not) a death scene, directly to, "Ooh, look! I have legs!"As I said, I still like the Eleventh Doctor a lot -- possibly best, of the three I've seen -- but for the first time, I understand why someone who started at the beginning (er... 2005) might not.
And now I want to do a big dam rewatch.
