As usually is the case when doing a review/recap of a thing, SPOILERS HAPPEN HERE. So you should probably go watch the episode being reviewed before reading any further. Just saying...
This week's episode features one of my favorite artists: Vincent van Gogh (played brilliantly by Tony Curran). Anyone who thought they recognized the actor might remember him from Underworld: Evolution (he played Marcus) or any number of guest appearances on various shows (The Mentalist, 24, and Numb3rs being among them). Full list of credits can be found here.
Van Gogh may be one of the most famous painters today, but back in his day he was not so fortunate. It's a shame really, because his work is actually quite good. One of my favorite paintings of all time is his Starry Night. (For those who care, my other favorite is Portrait of a German Officer by Marsden Hartley). But that really has nothing to do with van Gogh or Doctor Who, so I should probably move along to something more relevant…
Van Gogh suffered from mental illness, something I am quite interested in as a Psychology student. Even without that psychological background though, you could still tell it was going to be interesting to see how crazy old van Gogh would interact with The Doctor. I definitely was not disappointed. Especially not with invisible creatures that only the crazy painter can see running around. (Sidebar: loved The Doctor's gadget that made it so he could see the beast-y as well). Armed with "overconfidence, this [referring to a briefcase holding gadget-of-the-day] and a small screwdriver" he finds said beast-y inside the church that van Gogh is painting and goes after it.
A word to The Doctor - you should know that when you tell Amy to wait somewhere, she is NOT GOING TO LISTEN TO YOU. So really you should just stop trying and let her do her own thing.
Because she's going to anyway.
Whether you like it or not.
So there.
Moving right along then…
Beast-y bites the dust thanks to a lethal case of the stabs brought on by Vincent, and thus ends that part of the story. Favorite moment for me came right after when we saw through van Gogh's eyes and into the heart and soul of previously mentioned favorite painting, Starry Night. Yes, I am an art geek (among other things). No, I am not ashamed of this. In fact, I hope this inspires others to go check out an art museum sometime and experience some of his work (and others) for themselves.
Second favorite moment was van Gogh getting a peek inside the TARDIS. I love everyone's usual reaction of "OMG it's bigger on the inside" but his was especially good - "How is it I'm the crazy one and you've remained sane". And thank you very very much to The Doctor for showing Vincent van Gogh how important his work is going to become to future generations. He may be about ready to die in his time, but now he knows that his work will live forever. It reminded me of when he did a similar thing for Charles Dickens in letting him know his books would be timeless. I only can wish that someone like The Doctor really comes around and lets these greats know how truly special they were.
Showing posts with label spoilers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spoilers. Show all posts
Monday, June 28, 2010
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Doctor Who - The Time Of Angels
As River Song would say... Spoilers!
OK, two really big milestones in this episode: the return of the Weeping Angels and River Song. Two of Steven Moffat's greatest creations in one fantastic adventure.
Right off the bat we see River being her awesome self. It's cool watching her do her thing as The Doctor discovers her message. Also cool: watching her school The Doctor in how to drive his TARDIS. Why does she seem to know more about this than he does? Unless she was just around when he made all these discoveries for himself the first time. Regardless, watching these two match wits is priceless. At the same time, it's weird how their timelines keep crossing over in the wrong order and watching them navigate this problem. But more about the mysterious Dr. Song later.
The Weeping Angels are possibly the creepiest monsters The Doctor has ever faced. They were bad enough when there were just a few of them trying to survive. Now we learn all new things about them that make them even worse. At first we just get a four second clip of one on a loop. Then Amy discovers that the Angel in the recording moves. This just as The Doctor and River make their own discovery - "That which holds the image of an Angel becomes itself an Angel". The recording comes to life with Amy locked inside with it. She manages to freeze the recording in just the right spot to stop it, but this is only the beginning.
The other thing we find out about the Angels is that you are not supposed to look the Angels in the eye. This comes into play later in the episode. At this point I realized - this might be an old monster but we are putting a fresh spin on it here.
Our V-8 moment for the evening comes in the last 15 minutes or so. If the statues in the cave were made by a species with two heads, then why don't the statues have two heads? Answer: because they are all Weeping Angels. They have been slowly dying in the caves for years. The ship crashing down on the planet was a rescue mission to save an army of them. But why are they killing people off instead of displacing them in time like they normally do? Oh, and remember Amy looking into the eye of the one Angel? Now would be the time for this to come into play. The gang is all ready to run, but Amy says her hand has turned to stone and she can't move. The Doctor tells her it is all in her mind and she is really not turning into stone. She doesn't believe him so he bites her hand to prove it. "Ow, you bit me!" she exclaims. "And you're alive. Did I mention...?" he replies. Even in the darkest of moments, he is still able to bring some light to the situation.
We leave things with everyone seemingly very much trapped by the army of Angels. "No way back, no way up no way out." Ah, but this is The Doctor we are talking about here, River. "There's always a way out." Cue inspirational speech by The Doctor that gets everyone to trust him and follow whatever crazy plan he comes up with next.
The Doctor: Big, big mistake. Really huge. Didn't anyone ever tell you? There's one thing you never put in a trap. If you're smart, if you value your continued existence, if you have any plans about seeing tomorrow, there is one thing you never, ever put in a trap.
Bob: And what would that be, sir?
The Doctor: Me
Our final scene is him shooting a gun up into the air after this moment of pure awesome.
Questions that still need answering:
Why are the Weeping Angels killing people?
What was up with the convo between River and Father Octavian where he asks her "He doesn't know yet? who and what you are?" And she says something about having "no intention of going back to prison"...say what?! Prison?! We knew there was a huge mystery surrounding this character but this takes it to a whole new level. She also said something to Amy about things not being as simple as they seem and wouldn't confirm that she and The Doctor were married even though he seems to think this is the case... or will be eventually. He also doesn't seem too sure how he feels about this. Notice how he was ready to just leave her on the planet to fend for herself?
I think that is quite enough questioning for this episode. Next week we get the conclusion, and based on previews it looks like we may be connecting this to the cracks in time that keep appearing everywhere. You're not gonna want to miss a single second of the adventure that awaits. (No fair downloading it online though. River would not be pleased with the Spoilers.)
OK, two really big milestones in this episode: the return of the Weeping Angels and River Song. Two of Steven Moffat's greatest creations in one fantastic adventure.
Right off the bat we see River being her awesome self. It's cool watching her do her thing as The Doctor discovers her message. Also cool: watching her school The Doctor in how to drive his TARDIS. Why does she seem to know more about this than he does? Unless she was just around when he made all these discoveries for himself the first time. Regardless, watching these two match wits is priceless. At the same time, it's weird how their timelines keep crossing over in the wrong order and watching them navigate this problem. But more about the mysterious Dr. Song later.
The Weeping Angels are possibly the creepiest monsters The Doctor has ever faced. They were bad enough when there were just a few of them trying to survive. Now we learn all new things about them that make them even worse. At first we just get a four second clip of one on a loop. Then Amy discovers that the Angel in the recording moves. This just as The Doctor and River make their own discovery - "That which holds the image of an Angel becomes itself an Angel". The recording comes to life with Amy locked inside with it. She manages to freeze the recording in just the right spot to stop it, but this is only the beginning.
The other thing we find out about the Angels is that you are not supposed to look the Angels in the eye. This comes into play later in the episode. At this point I realized - this might be an old monster but we are putting a fresh spin on it here.
Our V-8 moment for the evening comes in the last 15 minutes or so. If the statues in the cave were made by a species with two heads, then why don't the statues have two heads? Answer: because they are all Weeping Angels. They have been slowly dying in the caves for years. The ship crashing down on the planet was a rescue mission to save an army of them. But why are they killing people off instead of displacing them in time like they normally do? Oh, and remember Amy looking into the eye of the one Angel? Now would be the time for this to come into play. The gang is all ready to run, but Amy says her hand has turned to stone and she can't move. The Doctor tells her it is all in her mind and she is really not turning into stone. She doesn't believe him so he bites her hand to prove it. "Ow, you bit me!" she exclaims. "And you're alive. Did I mention...?" he replies. Even in the darkest of moments, he is still able to bring some light to the situation.
We leave things with everyone seemingly very much trapped by the army of Angels. "No way back, no way up no way out." Ah, but this is The Doctor we are talking about here, River. "There's always a way out." Cue inspirational speech by The Doctor that gets everyone to trust him and follow whatever crazy plan he comes up with next.
The Doctor: Big, big mistake. Really huge. Didn't anyone ever tell you? There's one thing you never put in a trap. If you're smart, if you value your continued existence, if you have any plans about seeing tomorrow, there is one thing you never, ever put in a trap.
Bob: And what would that be, sir?
The Doctor: Me
Our final scene is him shooting a gun up into the air after this moment of pure awesome.
Questions that still need answering:
Why are the Weeping Angels killing people?
What was up with the convo between River and Father Octavian where he asks her "He doesn't know yet? who and what you are?" And she says something about having "no intention of going back to prison"...say what?! Prison?! We knew there was a huge mystery surrounding this character but this takes it to a whole new level. She also said something to Amy about things not being as simple as they seem and wouldn't confirm that she and The Doctor were married even though he seems to think this is the case... or will be eventually. He also doesn't seem too sure how he feels about this. Notice how he was ready to just leave her on the planet to fend for herself?
I think that is quite enough questioning for this episode. Next week we get the conclusion, and based on previews it looks like we may be connecting this to the cracks in time that keep appearing everywhere. You're not gonna want to miss a single second of the adventure that awaits. (No fair downloading it online though. River would not be pleased with the Spoilers.)
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