Every subject I can think of is spoilery

[trouble]

My jaw, she has dropped.

I should say something intelligent.

I'm very fond of the way Karen Gillan played the scene both with Rory's death, the realisation that he was going to be eaten by the Crack, and the forgetting. I don't know if that's any one else's cup of tea, but I liked it a lot. You know, except for the bit where I cried.

Damn it. I know I wanted to see a Companion die and how the Doctor reacted to it, but... arg. ARG. Rory. :( He's not just dead, he never existed.

(I suspect it'll be fixed, right? Right? ....)

In pleasant things, I'm glad that Elliot's dyslexia was just... dyslexia. For once. No secret sign of his impending evil, no secret code to indicate he's actually alien, he's just a kid, who lives in England, and has dyslexia.

As a Nice White Lady who lives in Canada, I feel the general Fail about Race that's gone on in Doctor Who the past four seasons is getting better, but I admit I may just be wearing Anna-coloured glasses of ignorance.

I have no smart thoughts. :(

Comments

[dorianisms]

Karen Gillan is a really good actress, I am thinking! I am glad she is getting some fairly serious stuff to work with, as well as zany!Amy (who is also a lot of fun).

And yeah, Rory's death was rough. And it was nice to see Elliot's dyslexia as a nonissue--I was really scared they'd do something irritating with it. (When he came out of suspended animation or whatever, part of me was like "PLEASE GOD NO MIRACLE CURE". And there wasn't! So that was alright).

I don't know what to say about RaceFail generally, because I feel like that is one area in which I definitely need to learn more. But Nasreen in this episode was a delightful character, and she did not die! And I liked that she and Tony had their little not-young-and-conventionally-hot romance going on. I liked that a lot.

[trouble]

If you'd like some links to discussion of Doctor Who and Race Fail, I can link you. I know spiralsheep has written about it, and I think that shewhohashope has as well.

[dorianisms]

That would be absolutely delightful, thanks so much.

[metonymy]

I think he HAS to come back. The fact that the engagement-ring box fell in front of the Doctor after that shudder, the fact that it's Amy's wedding day when the explosion happens... and the fact that one of the big conflicts for Amy going with the Doctor in the first place was her wedding? I can't believe they'd just wipe all that away so easily and not bring it up again.

I also think Arthur and Karen and Matt were all magnificent, BUT I AM STILL PRETTY PISSED OFF, SHOW. >:(

And seriously I was so glad that Nasreen didn't die! I am so pleased to be wrong about that! (I want her to be an ambassador to the reptoids in the future and then travel with the Doctor!)

[trouble]

I'm all for Nasreen going on awesome adventures! Fic writers, take note!

Oh yeah, Rory's going to come back. I still think the ultimate crack is going to have to be solved by Amy making a choice, and I now think the thing is going to be about choosing Rory even though she doesn't remember him.

[ironed_orchid]

In pleasant things, I'm glad that Elliot's dyslexia was just... dyslexia.

I did think of you when I realised this.

[trouble]

Wasn't it awesome? :)

[shirasade]

I thought that whole scene was just incredibly effective - Karen Gillan was really great in making us 'get' the effect of the crack in all its devastation. I personally think that we'll see Rory again, though.

I also really liked Nasreen - she was pretty awesome, she survived, and she even had a lovely little romance!

[trouble]

I love your icon!

Yeah, she was quite awesome, I enjoyed watching her... well, you know, the suffering. I was never very attached to Rory, but watching Amy's pain really brought home to me that he was gone, and he was important.

Nasreen was ace. I hope someone is right now writing the fic where the Doctor meets up with her again!

[lauredhel]

That scene, with the Doctor holding Amy's face and trying to help her hold on to her memories, was so reminiscent of the scene with Donna's mind-wipe. Argh argh argh! Is this Moffat's way of making RTD's Doctor atone?

[zaftig46.livejournal.com]

Smart thoughts don't have to be critical ones and don't let academia tell you otherwise.
In other news: ditto re:Rory.

[troubleinchina.livejournal.com]

:) ♥

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

Nasreen is love. I was so happy with her smartness and her enthusiasm and her general being reasonable about stuff and being hard-nosed at the diplomacy table but also being ready to see reason the moment it was presented to her, and also that lovely bit with "My life's work? You want to blow it up? ... Well, okay then."

I am not entirely confident that we are out of the racefail (or disabilism) woods yet, but like you, after these episodes I feel hopeful that the show is going in the right direction. I was starting to get a little worried about the "All The PoC Die Heroically" motif that was happening in the earlier episodes of this season, but perhaps we've seen the end of it now?

[troubleinchina.livejournal.com]

I'm hoping so! I think it's moving forward in some interesting ways.

[sabotabby.livejournal.com]

I think Rory's death is totally going to be fixed.

I liked that these episodes had disability!win (just dyslexia, no big deal made about it), and race!win (Nasreen is awesome and smart and heroic, and gets the guy, and gets to fulfill her life's work in a cool way, and doesn't get killed).

There haven't really been stand-out episodes for me yet this season, but the overall quality seems to have very much improved.

[troubleinchina.livejournal.com]

Yes, I loved her story in this, and she was so well-acted. :D