Dr. Who Series 5 - Flesh and Stone
Added 2022-12-03 15:01:00 +0000 UTCWhat a great episode. :) And that ending, what was that?
Comments
The ending scene with Amy kissing the doctor clearly against his will really sat unwell with a friend of mine, but I do really agree with her about it, had the roles been reversed, as in, a man trying to force himself on a woman, then Dr.Who would've possibly been shut down from the outcry, but because it's a girl that's overly flirty it's "funny" and "quirky" which in hindsight disgusts me. I like Amy, but after my friend pointed it out, Amy got a bit bumped down on my favourite companions list for sure, it's a really icky rape-like behaviour and I'd hope no one wants stuff like that to be portrayed as funny or quirky.
Linus Marjeta
2022-12-10 08:17:06 +0000 UTCMatt is indeed a really good actor and I also noticed his talent of changing his faciall expression in a split second. I really like that. :) "I suspect that when he shouted angrily at River he was meant to be really angry with himself for leaving Amy in danger and it all just burst out of him. " That´s exactly what I thought in that moment, but I loved how fast Matt was also able to change his voice, from beeing super angry and shouting to this very soft spoken voice with Amy. :) Yes the episode is really good. I liked the suspense throughout the whole episode. I guess in a short cut Youtube video, it´s impossible to recreate that kind of tensity. It was very sudden to be honest. But than again, it really wasn´t. because we had so many hints in the previous episodes, that we kind of already knew she was into the doctor. But her beeing so open about it from one moment to the other. That was very sudden. :) I like River, too. But it´s not easy to really put her in one corner, if I don´t really know her, yet. :)
Nicologik
2022-12-05 10:07:51 +0000 UTCI agree with you on the fact, that some things don´t really get explained. The one second eye openeing of Amy felt like it was a decision that was made, to make the scene look more dramatic. But I don´t really know. I had no idea fans do not really like the ending. But I can understand why. It was very sudden but not really unexpected. We had hints here and there before. But her beeing so open about it, from one second to the other, that was quite surprising. :) Thank you for the music link. I really like it. :) I´m listening to it while replying to your comment :) Thank you for the eplanation about the doctors companions. I really liked that scene, it was so funny :D
Nicologik
2022-12-05 10:05:08 +0000 UTCThank you for this post Andrew, I like reading your opinion, and at the same time getting additional information to the story. I noticed that the Angels were handled different in this story, but it didn´t really bother me to be honest. But I understand why it would bother other viewers. The crack is something that I didn´t really mention in my review, although I know that it´s very important. But since I don´t really understand what is going on with it, I don´t want to sound stupid making false statements about it. That´s why I really appreciate clarification in the commens. :) Also thank you for the callback to Jack in "The doctor dances", :) And the "one second issue" is something I noticed, but I thought they were just portraying it that way, to make it seem more dramatic. I didn´t really think about wether the doctor was telling the truth or lying, but that´s an interesting concept, too. :) Thank you for clarifying the date. I already thought it might be something like this, so thanks you for confirming :)
Nicologik
2022-12-05 09:55:31 +0000 UTC"Nobody panic! ... Oh, just me then." - The Doctor, "Flesh and Stone" Let me start by saying it's a good story - but I'm not really sure why the Angels are in it. For me, the really interesting threat is from the crack and how it affects the history of the people who get too close - they are removed from time and forgotten by their comrades - scary threat. There's also the threat that Amy has to walk past monsters with her eyes closed. But what are the Angels doing here? The threat of the Angels appear to have changed a lot from "Blink". [I realize it is briefly explained that the Angels are afraid of the crack so may be reacting differently.] Before we had to keep our eyes OPEN or the Angels would move really FAST and get to you (and when they were being observed they were actually stone). Now the threat is that Amy, because she has an Angel in her eye/mind, has to walk past the Angels while keeping her eyes CLOSED - and the Angels SLOWLY turn as she is near them . That's a completely different mode of suspense - as if it were a completely different monster that you had to creep past while they were cowering from the danger of the crack. And then it seems that the whole "time" threat of the Angels is absent - until the resolution of the story where the crack is closed by all the time-complicated Angels falling into it. So NOW, they're time-complicated? - that's convenient. Amy is saved by River using a teleport to extract her from danger - we saw Captain Jack do the same thing for the Doctor and Rose in "The Doctor Dances" (same writer of course). Amy's over-long look at the crack: if we can trust the Doctor that she cannot open her eyes for more than a second, then Amy's eyes are clearly open for too long. So either the Doctor's warning was exagerated to keep Amy from pushing the limits and she actually had a bit more time, or we're meant to understand that the look was extended in the program merely as a TV device. I don't think there's any viewer out there that thought "Well, I'm really glad Amy was able to see everything she wanted in less than a second - that was good". The date shown on the device - 26 June 2010 - would be the broadcast date of the last episode in this series. "I made him say 'comfy chairs'!", The Doctor, "Flesh and Stone"
Andrew Vignaux
2022-12-05 01:51:53 +0000 UTCI struggle with this episode. What I need to do some time is actually sit down and watch both episodes together and try to get my head round it all, because I've always felt that certain things aren't properly explained or don't make sense. For example, in the previous episode we were told that the Angels needed the clerics' bodies, but I don't believe this episode offers an explanation for that. Amy keeping her eyes open for much longer than 1 second is possibly another thing that Moffat thought he explained, or which can be explained away with "headcanon", but it's too close to lazy Hollywood cliché for my taste. There is definitely some good stuff here, but as a whole I find it confusing, partly because you're never given much opportunity to absorb anything before another lot of stuff is thrown at you. It would be fair to say that the ending has always been controversial. I've never liked it, even though with hindsight I can partially understand the rationale for it. A lot of fans hate it, occasionally for reasons that make no sense to me, but I'm glad you were able to take it in your stride! But I've always felt the scene undermined Amy's character to no benefit. Karen Gillan and Steven Moffat have both, in different ways, said over the years that they wish it had been handled differently. The music you briefly commented on was from "I am the Doctor", which is the epic theme for the Eleventh Doctor that first played during "The Eleventh Hour". Here's the full piece: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7VmOZ4Ppj8 In the minisode Moffat is being mischievous again. All those faces that you saw on the Tardis screen were past companions, but the male companions were completely omitted! During the 1960s it was usual for the Doctor to have companions of both sexes; it was only during the 1970s that there was a shift to having a single female companion, and that's been the popular perception ever since, despite exceptions that you've already seen in both modern and classic Who.
Andrew Gwilliam
2022-12-03 20:28:39 +0000 UTCMatt Smith is brilliant at going from one mood to another in an instant and making them both convincing. He's also regarded by many people as an old man in a young body. He seems to be both. Sometimes a puppy and sometimes deadly serious. It really is the beginning of another cycle. Not sure about each new Doctor, start to think they are quite good really, start to love them, react furiously or tearfully when it's time for them to go and make a point of hating the new guy. I suspect that when he shouted angrily at River he was meant to be really angry with himself for leaving Amy in danger and it all just burst out of him. I haven't watched a full length version of this episode for ages, just edited YT reactions, and I had forgotten just how tense and gripping it is. And just how much information is packed into it. Including things we don't understand at the time. A lot of people have said that they hated the scene at the end where Amy tries to seduce the Doctor. I find it a bit awkward to watch but I'm ok with it. I love and adore Alex Kingston as River Song. Not just the mystery of seeing her in the wrong order and not knowing what she has done yet, but everything about the character and the performance. I dd once claim that she was my favourite character in fiction but on reflection that might be going too far. Only a bit though.
Stephen Males
2022-12-03 18:16:28 +0000 UTC
