DW "Flesh and Stone"

[rivendellrose]

Well, that was, erm... different.



So, I liked it? I liked the Angels, and I liked that River will apparently kill the Doctor, possibly even Eleven? I'd be happy with that, if the Eleven died of River. He seems so faintly afraid of her that it would oddly apropos. I'm curious why she'll kill him (except in hopes of getting someone who doesn't look way to young for her to sex up, in which case I'll be right there with her on that one).

Amy is still wonderful and neat, even though she was forced to spend most of the episode with her eyes closed.

On the other hand... oh, Amy, must you really fall in love with the Doctor? Or even want to sex him? Because... I mean, really? We've been down that road before, recently, and frankly I've had too much of it. After the whole Rose saga, and then the mess with Martha, I'd be happy never again to see a companion in love with the Doctor. At least Eleven has some sense and is all "OMG, no, you were little girl five minutes ago!!!" about it, which I hope sticks. Be strong, Doctor! Be sensible! Think of her like Susan, please!

In all seriousness, it was kind of amusing and fairly well-handled, but I am leery of the whole Doctor/companion romance thing after RTD-era, and wish it had not come to this. But hopefully it will go well in the end.

Anyway. Next week, Doctor Who vs. Anne Rice, apparently. And Mickey 2.0. AKA Sally Sparrow's boyfriend 2.0. Hopefully he will manage to be more immediately useful than either of those two (although, I admit, Mickey turned out quite bad-ass eventually, and got the hottest of the NewWho companions, in the end, so there). Aaaanyway. I was not overly enthused with this episode, even though I loved River (of course I loved River - I was breathing, wasn't I? I always love River). Overall, it was fairly "meh." My hopes are not much higher for next week. *Sigh* Ah well. The whole erasing time thing has me intrigued, makes me wonder if they're planning to erase the RTD era wholesale (I think I would be shockingly okay with this idea), and wonder if perhaps if Eleven stood at the edge of it for a while, he might rewrite himself into Nine? Just kidding (mostly). I really do like Eleven, now. He's grown on me remarkably fast, and I love how he sometimes simply cannot cope under stress, but still is not all annoying about it like Ten was sometimes.

Also, we can be getting the Time Lords back by erasing the Time War, perhaps? That would be one answer... they can help him fix the rift, right? And give him a new set of regenerations, too... he's going to be needing those sometime in the future.

Additionally... somebody by now must have written something like Ten Ways River Song Could Kill Eleven, right? I can't wait to read that. ♥

Comments

[deborah-judge.livejournal.com]

Yes, River/Doctor was amazingly hot...which I agree made Amy's attempted seduction all the more baffling. I mean, I know she wasn't looking for most of the episode, but even blind she'd have seen that she wasn't the one the Doctor was going to be jumping.

I'm also fond of Eleven, which is surprising me, since it took me a season and a half to like Ten.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

River's just awesome, and, yes, also hot. I really felt badly for Amy - I mean, it must be hard to know that your childhood imaginary friend is a real person, not to mention a crazy old alien who saves the universe and is frequently damned annoying. But yeah, anybody could see that he wasn't going to ending up with her. Which, for the record, I approve of - considering he met her when she was bitty, that would have been awful creepy if they'd gone the shippy route with her.

I took less time to like Ten, but I'm still shocked by how much I like Eleven. He's surprisingly endearing.

[deborah-judge.livejournal.com]

I do like, though, that Amy got confirmation from River that she'll be with the Doctor for a while. I can see that making her feel confident enough to take a risk.

But oh, I don't want another unrequited love storyline. Please no.

[cordeliadelayne]

See, the way I read the "seduction" scene was that something was wrong with Amy and that's why she was behaving like that. Admittedly the clips for next week don't seem to bear that out, but the scene just felt deliberately off, if you see what I mean.

[platoapproved.livejournal.com]

I really don't see Amy as falling in love with the Doctor based on that scene. I mean, much less so than it appeared they were going for in "Victory of the Daleks". I really liked her attempted seduction if only because it assuaged my worries about the kissing clip that had been in the previews. I know now that it didn't go anywhere and wasn't a big deal and won't come to define their relationship, and I like that.

For me, it seemed like an impulsive, post-adrenaline-rush, I-don't-want-to-get-married attempted seduction. I feel like the fact that she's not in love with the Doctor is demonstrably shown in her lack of respect for his objections (remember, Amy, consent is sexy and no means no). She's honestly just using him at that moment - not in a way that is deliberately malicious, just selfish (not necessarily in a bad way). She wasn't trying to sex the Doctor up because she thinks of him as a fully formed person - he's her fantasy man from when she was kid, and she's grown up ascribing all the best qualities to him. I don't think, despite the whole star-whale monologue, that she really understands the Doctor as a person yet. Otherwise she would realize that he is not as casual with his sexuality.

Not to say that I disapprove of Amy's frankness. I thought her straight-forwardness was refreshing, honestly. I don't know how I'll feel if next week she is any way pouting about the fact that the Doctor turned her down. I think, and most likely this is my optimism showing, I think she will get over it and they will go back to the current dynamic, without her making a big deal of it or mooning.

River is pure, undiluted awesome.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Gods, I hope that's the truth of it. Really, I don't mind the frankness, I love how straight-forward she is about it, I just have leftover "oh god not again" when it comes to Doctor/Companion issues, and that pinged my panic button. Looking back, you're probably right that this is more about her still trying to figure out that the Doctor is a person, not her imaginary friend made tangible.

I think she will get over it and they will go back to the current dynamic, without her making a big deal of it or mooning.

Crossing fingers for this. I really do love both Eleven and Amy (so much sooner than I thought I would!), and I would hate to see their dynamic get all messed up. Please, please, please, no awkward Ten-and-Martha type crap, please. ♥

And yes, River is like, awesomeness in its purest form. I adore her. ♥