Doctor Who - Bells of Saint John (SPOILERS)

[smileyeagle1021]

I found this interesting theory about who/what Clara is.

mind=blown

And it totally makes sense too... I actually kind of hope this is what it is... but I'm not sure that Moffat could come up with that

[KhirasHY]

It WOULD explain a lot of the Rose references to Clara...maybe we'll find out more tomorrow/tonight.

[KabeRinnaul]

Finally got to watch "Heart of the TARDIS" on DVR.

Pacing is still bad, and we're still trying to do too much. We're also developing a bad habit of building up emotion for a scene, and then dropping it and changing scenes. It just wastes the investment we put into that scene, and does nothing to set up the next one.

Disappointment with this season is ongoing.

[KhirasHY]

I dunno, I kinda liked this one. They did a lot of cool things (though the Deus Ex ending, naturally, screwed it all up), but I had just one question the whole time: (white text) If Clara was the lava monster, why was she trying to kill herself the whole time, thus preventing her from existing in the first place, thus not killing herself, thus making her the lava monster, thus...and so on. I know, I'm nitpicking, but it didn't make sense

[smileyeagle1021]

Khiras, that actually makes sense... I'm assuming that it was painful and that she wanted to stop it from ever happening by any means possible, even if it meant her death.
Alternatively, it could be a radiation thing, that the massive dose of radiation just done screwed her up (why look for complicated reasons when a simple one will normally do)

[Jester]

So others know, there were two shorts that precede this episode.

Where would one find said shorts? I've seen the one on the swings, but not the other one, and would love to see it.

The Doctor has a "daughter" cloned from his DNA who can regenerate. She's still out there somewhere...

Jenny. No straight male can remember her without a smile on his face. Just saying.

The one thing I will give the most recent episode is it gave Matt Smith a chance to do what he does best, and that is to make an epic speech. Say what you will about the story, hell, say what you will about the content of the speech, Matt Smith is a great orator and put a long string of words in front of him and he will turn it into a masterful piece of art.

Agreed, he has his moments with speeches. But--and I say this as a Matt Smith fan, mind you--he doesn't hold half a melted candle to David Tennant in that category.

Feels like they're stretching this season. And I'm getting tired of Clara constantly looking at the doctor for approval. The first two times we saw her, she was self assured and strong. Now she's kind of a scaredy cat and seems to do things only because he expects them. Where's the bright light that we saw in those first two episodes?

Just because those were the first episodes we saw her in doesn't mean those were earlier in her timeline. Our first views of Clara could well be views of a later, smarter, more experienced, more confident Clara. And now we could be seeing her beginning, the genesis of the Dalek and Victorian Clara.

That's a good point, Jay. Every season since the first with Chris Eccleston have all had some kind of subtle story arc that has left everyone thinking and guessing. This season hasn't.

This may not be a failure of the writers so much as an intentional direction by the producers. It was clearly stated by Moffat and others that they were changing the direction of Doctor Who from thematic to episodic. In other words, they wanted to focus on each episode and its actions, rather than having an overall story arc. You may well be looking for an expecting something that isn't there and isn't coming.

[Moirae]

If Moffat is doing that, its a mistake. The big success has been thematic, not episodic. Episodic works for things like Supernatural, but not for something as big as Doctor Who.

[Kheldarson]

Brilliant summary of why this season seems lackluster (and most of the complaints we've been airing here anyway...): http://www.hypable.com/2013/04/30/st...ho-showrunner/

[Jay 2K Winger]

I tend to agree with some of the points in that article. It seems like the Grand Moff shot his quiver for season arcs with the cracks in time and then the Silence/death of the Doctor. It probably also doesn't help that there's this gap in the seasons by splitting them in two with a hiatus of several months between season halves. Really, Season 6 and Season 7 should have been split into four seasons. Season 6 culminating with the battle of Demon's Run ("A Good Man Goes To War"), Season 7 (6.5) with "The Wedding of River Song," Season 8 (7.0) with "The Angels Take Manhattan" and then into Season 9 (7.5 - the part we're in now).

Regardless, I'm cautiously looking forward to this week's episode, because STRAX! I love the Paternoster Gang, but especially that psychotic potato dwarf.

[cinema guy]

The Crimson Horror - the best episode in the run so far. Diana Rigg was good, madame Vastra and Jenny were great, it didn't feel rushed, the plot made sense (mostly) and even Strax got a funny joke. The Doctor as the monster was great.

Ok, it wasn't Family of Blood or The Empty Child, there was the whole issue of where the rocket came from, Strax's endless wittering about weapons, Thomas Thomas, the slighty naff leech.

[Jester]

I have to say, the Thomas Thomas thing gave me a good laugh. Much of the rest of the episode, however, was a bit lost on me. And for me, anyways, it was one of the oddest episodes, and not in q good way.

[Jay 2K Winger]

I think I have a good sense of the closest thing to an "arc" this half-season has-- apart from the nature of who/what Clara is.

The Doctor as a 'monster.'

It's a stretch, I'll admit, and not every episode quite fits.

"The Bells of Saint John" -- Spoonhead Doctor

"The Rings of Akhaten" -- The Doctor attempts to invoke this to burn out Grandfather-- "And I know things. Secrets that must never be told. Knowledge that must never be spoken. Knowledge that will make parasite gods BLAZE!"

"Cold War" -- I'll admit, there's nothing to fit this theory for this episode.

"Hide" -- Clara gets freaked out at seeing the birth and death of Earth when the Doctor goes time-hopping to take pictures of the "ghost." Closest thing to Doctor-as-a-monster.

"Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS" -- The Doctor's burned-to-madness future self is one of the monsters stalking the crew.

"The Crimson Horror" -- Ada cared for the crimson-frozen Doctor and called him her "monster."

And now with "Nightmare in Silver" suggesting that the Doctor gets partially Cyber-converted, we definitely seem to be furthering that potential angle.

[KhirasHY]

"Cold War" -- I'll admit, there's nothing to fit this theory for this episode.

Possibly the redemption of a soldier? Could apply to him as well.

I may be stretching.

[smileyeagle1021]

My biggest disappointment was that I was hoping that the plot of this was going to somehow involve the Great Inteligence... I mean, they had him in The Snowmen and in The Bells of St. John... when are we going to see him again? They set it up so perfectly for him to be the theme of the season and to have a season long arc revolving around the Great Inteligence, but then we never see him again.

[Kheldarson]

The Great Intelligence doesn't operate that way. Which is why setting him up like that in the first episode didn't make sense.

I will say, having finally seen Crimson Horror, it's about damn time. Now there was an enjoyable episode. I loved it.

Madame Vastra, Jenny, and Strax make a great background and foreground trio. Their chemistry is amazing. And the Doctor and Clara finally had a strong moment together ("A chimney that blows no smoke").

Oh and we had climax that wasn't in the last 10 minutes with a forced wrap up! YAY!!