Going Down the River
Ok. I promise. As you may have noticed, TV is not my life, and I try not to make it a habit of bitching about television shows. I would much rather leave my fantasy life with my fantasies… and, as Bastian’s father told him way back in the day, “keep [my] feet on the ground,” but something is really bothering me about the latest Doctor Who episode… and I think I’ve got to vent. For those of you who don’t care… eh, whatever, skip to something more interesting. For those of you who haven’t seen “Silence in the Library,” or her companion, “The Forest of Death,” I shall endeavor to keep spoilers (AGH!!! EVEN THAT WORD HAS BEEN TAINTED!!!) to a minimum with plenty of warning/preventatives if I can. (Actually… I tried… and I can’t… but I can strike through to make it harder)
So, as most of the Whovians already know… or have been finding out, Russell T Davies- the person responsible for creating Rose, and making the Doctor the wonderful, spunky character we all know and love- is leaving his duties as show runner at the end of this season… and Doctor Who will be taken over by Steven Moffat. Now, unlike many other Whovians who love Rose, and the Doctor and Rose, I actually enjoy Steven Moffat’s stories because they are usually thrillers… and I like spooky stuff. But this episode, while thrilling, has given me a lot to think about, and I’m worried about the direction the Doctor is taking.
1) I admit my Rose/Doctor shipper status, so this “River Song” person is giving me a bit of trouble. Not that I don’t think the Doctor could care for someone like he does Rose. I mean, he’s going to be around a long time, and perhaps, since he may not be able to be with Rose, he might have learned his lesson to not keep his feelings to himself… but does it have to be HER… and played by Alex Kingston. I mean… seriously… the character is arrogant… and so is her description of him.I agree with Elizabeth that I’m not sure I like the way she sees him. Hopefully, it’s just a phase… hopefully, it’s a future that will be re-written.
2) Another point that Elizabeth made, which I also noticed… and does bother me… If she knows him so well, if she cared about him so much why the hell did she let him watch her die!!! What a horrible thing to do! I can’t think of a worse action to do to someone I supposedly cared about… and since she supposedly has spent so much time with him… knows his freaking name bullshit …she’s got to know his guilt complex… I mean, he’s guilty over Rose, guilty over Martha… and we all know the huge blinkin’ guilt chip on his shoulder about the War and Gallifrey… Does she just want to make herself important or something?
3) Who was this Doctor that we saw in this episode? If this is the sign of the Doctor to come, I’m not sure I’m impressed. Granted, he’s been through a lot of pain and suffering. He’s lost his people, he’s lost his home, and the first person he opened his heart to is seemingly lost forever in a parallel universe… and who knows what Davies is going to do to her before he leaves. That said, there’s a little too much arrogance in this Doctor… one who snaps his fingers to open the Tardis, who boasts of being a time-traveler and of his range of skills and abilities to complete strangers of five minutes. So, in short… I’m not sure what to think about an episode which has an interesting, if creapy concept… I’m still spooked by a similar episode from the early X-Files… I believe it was called “The Darkness”… But, instead of welcoming the change of scene… I’m dreading it.