Before I start this
review of the final episode of Doctor
Who
until the 50th
Anniversary Special on November 23, I need to notify you of the
conditions that surrounded my viewing of the episode. I don’t think
they affected my opinion of “The Name of the Doctor”, but they
might have. I am writing this after only one viewing on the morning
after I watched.
I was cautiously
optimistic about “The Name of the Doctor”. Series 7 has had high
highs and low lows – some of my least favorite stories since Colin
Baker’s run, as a matter of fact. And the wildest thing is how
widely varied opinions seem to be on individual stories. But it
occurs to me that I can get a whole other post out of that subject
(and that it’s going to be the subject on Earth Station Who
in two weeks) so I’m just going to say that my faith that Moffat
had a brilliant plan for Clara and the Doctor wavered but was never
entirely lost.
We got back to the house
between 8:30 and 9:00. It was just past 9:00 when we got settled and
were ready to watch Doctor
Who. I
pulled up the menu of recorded shows and it wasn’t there. For some
reason the DVR had just decided not to record the most important hour
of television so far this year (I have since discovered that the
Troublemaker household was not alone in this problem). And yes –
BBC America replays Doctor
Who at
11 PM. But that would mean I’d be getting to bed after midnight and
getting about three hours of sleep. I didn’t care. I wasn’t going
to have this thing spoiled, so I stayed up and watched it. I’m
having a little trouble focusing this morning, but avoiding possible
spoilers made it worthwhile.
Actually, part of
watching it last night was to avoid opinions, as well. Even
spoiler-free opinions can taint a viewing experience. I usually don’t
want to know what other people think about something before I see it.
Actually, more often than not I don’t care what other people think
after
I’ve seen something. I hold my opinions in the highest regard.
Side
Note: I just spoke to Mrs. Troublemaker and she loved
the episode. We had a twenty minute conversation about it and we do
not have twenty minute conversations about dorkery. She loves Clara
and feels like all of the past plot points have been wrapped up and
is intrigued with what happened at the end, which I’ll get to in a
minute.
Okay, I just decided I am
going to watch “The Name of the Doctor” again before I finish
writing this. Right now I am not satisfied with a number of things. I
loved
the opening with all of the Classic Doctors (though I didn’t notice
Eight or Ten – doesn’t mean they weren’t there). I had a
feeling I knew what was going on and I didn’t like that,
but it was a thrill actually seeing them running around.
This was another episode
that started off with a distinct lack of Doctor. Let’s keep that to
a minimum in the future.
I feel like Clara is a
Mary Sue for Stephen Moffat. I think he is fulfilling a need to make
his own mark on the franchise and has done it by inserting a
character that is retroactively the most important character in the
history of the show. She literally saves all
of the Doctors. This initially came off to me as fan fiction of the
worst kind, but I’m in a nasty mood lately and may not be in a fair
state of mind.
I loved Richard E. Grant
returning as The Great Intelligence. But here’s part of my issue
with the whole story, and I think it may well be my
issue – this is clearly meant to feel like an epic story that was
centuries in the making. The Great Intelligence’s feud with the
Doctor goes back that long in storylines and literally goes back to
the beginnings of the franchise. But I don’t feel like the
narrative has imparted that weight. For some reason – and this may
be me – it just felt like it was wrapping up six or seven episodes
worth of story. As has often been the case with Moffat’s run, I
love the idea, but find the execution lacking.
I don’t feel like Clara
was developed properly. Much like River Song, the only reason we as
the audience had to value her was the Doctor telling us to value her.
She started off very strong in “Asylum of the Daleks” and “The
Snowmen”. But aside from brief moments of awesome, Clara hasn’t
really been important or worthwhile – aside from the Doctor telling
us she is – until “Nightmare in Silver” and last Saturday’s
finale. I think if we could have spent a whole season with her it
would have made a huge difference. And it is a credit to Jenna Louise
Coleman’s charm and abilities that I do like Clara because the
writers for the most part have not given me much reason to.
So given that last point
I did not react well to Clara being inserted into the Doctor’s
history. If Lil’ Troublemaker hadn’t been sitting there with me
(he liked the episode too) I would have cursed.
I also felt like we
watched the introductory scene about thrity-seven times. I do not,
however, care that the scenes with Clara and the Doctors looked kind
of shitty because they were awesome. And I guess that’s a good
thing – I actually don’t even have a problem with the idea of a
companion saving the Doctor through time. I just don’t feel like
Clara has earned the right, narrative and character development-wise,
to be that companion.
I loved the giant TARDIS
and the Doctor’s timelines/soul.
I did not like the
rhyming of the Whispering Gentlemen. Initially I didn’t like their
outfits either because I am a little tired of the anachronistic
suit-wearing monsters thing (The Gentlemen from Buffy owned it –
everybody else should avoid it), but we got a totally acceptable
reason for it at the end of the episode. The rhyming was still
stupid, though. I’m just glad Richard E. Grant wasn’t doing it
too.
Totally stoked that River
Song seems to be permanently gone and I was even a little touched by
her last interaction with the Doctor, even though we were never shown
a good reason why he would love her. I will say that Alex Kingston
always
effectively
emoted love for the Doctor.
Why did Madame Vastra,
Strax, and Jenny just stand there and watch while The Great
Intelligence jumped into the Doctor’s timeline? They had quite a
bit of time to try and grab him or something. Why didn’t the folks
in charge just have the Whispering Gentlemen hold them? Instead their
characters came off looking slightly dumb or cowardly.
Strax turning on Vastra
due to the absence of the Doctor’s influence was a very nice touch.
I enjoyed that.
The final scene was
absolutely mind-blowing. Well done, Moffat. But I hated the credit
hanging there in the air beside John Hurt. That’s the kind of stuff
that’s been bugging me this season – they need to cut out the
cutesy little graphics that take me out of the story and remind me
I’m watching television. They should have shown Hurt and then cut
to black and then
popped up that credit.
I will say that this
episode was one hundred percent successful at increasing my
anticipation for the Anniversary episode. And that’s no small task.
I feel like Moffat sort of cheaply and artificially tied up (or cut
off) all of the loose ends from his run thus far with the whole
“Clara fixed everything” deal, but if it leads to a fresh start
and new, exciting stories I’ll just go ahead and accept it.
I’m going to stop right
there, go home and watch “The Name of the Doctor” again, and
write some more tomorrow. So I’ll give Moffat credit for that, too
– he’s making me think about what he’s done.
Post-Second Viewing Thoughts
I watched it again last
night with the whole family. Lil’ Troublemaker sat through it a
second time and still liked it. And the pacing wasn’t nearly as
slow as I thought the first time. I realized while watching that this
was because I had no time shift for the initial viewing. Watching
commercials is absolute torture now that I am used to not having to.
It was nice being able to
discuss the episode with the family while watching. Mrs. Troublemaker
had some good insights about Moffat’s run and I found out that Lil’
Troublemaker really liked and misses Amy and Rory.
Mrs. Troublemaker feels
like Moffat handles women perfectly, which completely goes against
many of the theories that Moffat is a misogynist. Well, it doesn’t
actually contradict those theories so much as clarify that he might
present a somewhat unflattering view of females from time to time;
but that he is right. She says that every female that has been on the
show since Moffat took over has been portrayed very realistically as
far as their behavior and actions. It’s one of the reasons why she
loves the show. They aren’t idealized or the typical “strong
women” that are seen on TV. They are flawed and sometimes petty or
moody. If you want to discuss that more, head over to her Mrs.Troublemaker Facebook page.
I can’t really speak for her beyond that.
Lil’ Troublemaker kept
asking where Amy and Rory were. He remembered that the Angel got
them, but has already been trained by TV and comics that characters
tend to not go away.
For my part I enjoyed the
episode a lot more the second time. The things that bugged me the
first time still bugged me, but the things I liked resonated much
more strongly and overshadowed the bad. I was also more able to
relate this story to the rest of the season and even the franchise as
a whole the second time. I think a lot of Moffat era episodes improve
on the second viewing when you have a little perspective. Once I knew
the outcome of the finale I was able to relate what came before it to
the past a bit more.
Also – still no Eight
or Ten. I looked very carefully and there was no visual trace of
those two. Clara did mention that she had seen the faces of all
eleven Doctors, but only One through Seven and Nine were actually
shown during her flashbacks (or whatever). And since that sequence
was replayed two or three times I had ample opportunity to
investigate. I have no idea what this means, but I will have a
violently happy nerd reaction if Paul McGann shows up on my TV screen
on November 23rd.
On its own “The Name of
the Doctor” isn’t the best episode in the world. But held up
against the televised history of Doctor
Who in
its entirety it is fantastic. I still feel like there are fanboy/Mary
Sue elements, but I can overlook them in favor of the sheer scale of
what is promised.
Weird wrestling metaphor
time.
Back in the day,
WrestleMania used to be the conclusion of all that had gone before
and the beginning of a new set of storylines, possibilities, and
characters. For a very long time this was masterfully done. All of
the existing feuds and angles were tied up in a satisfying manner.
New potential stories might be suggested. And on top of all that it
was the biggest spectacle of the year. WWF would pull out all the
stops to make sure that it was the one production that everybody was
talking about both before and after it happened. But the stage was
always set for a fresh start and that’s the bottom line (because
Stone Cold said so).
I sure hope Moffat is
looking at the 50th
Anniversary special as his WrestleMania.
I could go on and compare
“The Name of the Doctor” to the Royal Rumble (no, I really
could), but I don’t want to leave you with a headache or belabor my
metaphor.
So I suppose it’s score
time. On its own this episode would probably garner a 3 out of 5. But
I simply can’t view it as a single story unto itself because it is
the precursor to the culmination of fifty years of storytelling. And
its effectiveness on that front overshadows every single flaw I
perceived. The job of “The Name of the Doctor” was to get me
hyped up for the 50th
Anniversary Special and it did that amazingly well.
5 out of 5
If you want to hear me
discuss this and many other Doctor Who stories with a bunch of fellow
Whovians (and you do), be sure and check out
-Phantom
Great review Phantom really enjoyed reading it.
ReplyDeleteI got to watch the show yesterday 22.5.13 due to been away in Spain and enjoyed the episode, and I will share my thoughts with you and and rest of the ESW guys after my second watch. I also want to listen to the thoughts on the ESW show as I have a theory on John Hurts Doctor, but im interested if any of you guys are thinking on the same lines as I am?
Definitely looking forward to hearing what you think. I don't comment on the ESW page as much as I should, but I love reading what you, Lucas, and Mark post.
Deletewhen clara sees the second doctor run by, just before that you see a figure running the other was, for a second.
ReplyDeleteit' the 8th doctor.
almost to fast to cacth, you have to pause, and frame advance
I've had a couple of folks point that out. I still think it's weird that Eight got such a small spot when everybody else was so thoroughly represented.
Delete