Doctor Who Season 5
Dec. 7th, 2010 01:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
frameofmind6Just finished episode 6 ("Vampires in Venice," something like that...?). Haven't fallen in love yet...
I want it to win me over -- really I do. I'm not making it easy, I know (how can I?), but I do actually want the show to win me over in the end. So far it's not succeeding. I mean, it's fine and all, there's nothing horribly wrong with it -- I just don't feel particularly attached to it. And I don't think it's just because I'm more attached to the other version -- I don't think I would be particularly drawn in by it at this point if I were seeing it fresh either, without having seen the previous seasons. There's just nothing in particular about it that hits any of the key buttons that usually cause me to fall in love with things. In other words, there isn't a character I'm madly in love with, and there isn't a romance I'm hugely invested in. A bit shallow and simplistic, I know, and not to say I don't come to appreciate a wide variety of other things about many shows (not only those I "fall in love" with, but others that I very much enjoy) -- but I know myself well. Those two elements tend to be the main things that reel me in to any particular show -- I can't think of anything I've ever really loved that didn't begin with one or both of those. The moment I decided to actually give Doctor Who a shot in the first place was when I happened to stumble across "Doomsday" and discovered there was a decent romance at the heart of it. I just knew that would be my way in.
Not that I'm rooting for the Doctor and Amy to suddenly start falling in love -- not particularly interested in seeing this Doctor fall in love with anyone, really. Partly because, well, he is technically still in some sense the same being that was recently in love with Rose, and I'd rather not skirt that issue too closely -- but also because I just don't find him that attractive. And I don't just mean he's not "hot" (I didn't find Christopher Eccleston physically attractive initially, but he became more attractive via his personality) -- I'm just not attracted to him in general. I have trouble seeing him in a romantic light. Anyway, I've been down that road, and it's fraught with temporal and biological complications. One of my favorite things about season 4 was that they managed to create a fantastic, fun, and close relationship between Doc and Donna without there ever being any romantic tension. That's a rare thing -- and it was such a relaxing change of pace.
I'm also finding I'm having trouble getting over Matt Smith's age. I keep finding myself watching a scene here and there and thinking in the back of my mind, "What is it that's bothering me? Why don't I buy this?" -- and then I sort of mentally flick back to DT's rendition of the character in comparison and suddenly go, "Oh, duh -- I'm used to a grown-up playing this role." No offense to Matt Smith or anything -- hell, he's three years older than me, so it's not like I'm looking down on him -- but I just can't take him seriously as someone who's 900 years old. I just don't see the age of the character in him. Not that DT was old-looking either -- but he was old enough to be believable in those moments where the years all seemed to pile up on him at once, and you could see every single one of them reflected in his eyes -- and yet he also had that youthful, boyish energy and excitement to balance it out. A perfect combination. In Matt Smith I see the energy and the curiosity (though I miss the cheeky sense of humor), but I don't see the weight. I see the places in the script where it should be, but it's not there.
Ah well -- keep pluggin away. I am interested to see how the series turns out, at least, because the one thing I'm genuinely invested in is this whole "crack in time" storyline -- because it apparently might have repercussions for things I actually do care about, like the whole "planets in the sky," "Journey's End" storyline. That one matters to me a lot... ;)
(*goes back to watching "Tooth and Claw"...because, of course*)
I want it to win me over -- really I do. I'm not making it easy, I know (how can I?), but I do actually want the show to win me over in the end. So far it's not succeeding. I mean, it's fine and all, there's nothing horribly wrong with it -- I just don't feel particularly attached to it. And I don't think it's just because I'm more attached to the other version -- I don't think I would be particularly drawn in by it at this point if I were seeing it fresh either, without having seen the previous seasons. There's just nothing in particular about it that hits any of the key buttons that usually cause me to fall in love with things. In other words, there isn't a character I'm madly in love with, and there isn't a romance I'm hugely invested in. A bit shallow and simplistic, I know, and not to say I don't come to appreciate a wide variety of other things about many shows (not only those I "fall in love" with, but others that I very much enjoy) -- but I know myself well. Those two elements tend to be the main things that reel me in to any particular show -- I can't think of anything I've ever really loved that didn't begin with one or both of those. The moment I decided to actually give Doctor Who a shot in the first place was when I happened to stumble across "Doomsday" and discovered there was a decent romance at the heart of it. I just knew that would be my way in.
Not that I'm rooting for the Doctor and Amy to suddenly start falling in love -- not particularly interested in seeing this Doctor fall in love with anyone, really. Partly because, well, he is technically still in some sense the same being that was recently in love with Rose, and I'd rather not skirt that issue too closely -- but also because I just don't find him that attractive. And I don't just mean he's not "hot" (I didn't find Christopher Eccleston physically attractive initially, but he became more attractive via his personality) -- I'm just not attracted to him in general. I have trouble seeing him in a romantic light. Anyway, I've been down that road, and it's fraught with temporal and biological complications. One of my favorite things about season 4 was that they managed to create a fantastic, fun, and close relationship between Doc and Donna without there ever being any romantic tension. That's a rare thing -- and it was such a relaxing change of pace.
I'm also finding I'm having trouble getting over Matt Smith's age. I keep finding myself watching a scene here and there and thinking in the back of my mind, "What is it that's bothering me? Why don't I buy this?" -- and then I sort of mentally flick back to DT's rendition of the character in comparison and suddenly go, "Oh, duh -- I'm used to a grown-up playing this role." No offense to Matt Smith or anything -- hell, he's three years older than me, so it's not like I'm looking down on him -- but I just can't take him seriously as someone who's 900 years old. I just don't see the age of the character in him. Not that DT was old-looking either -- but he was old enough to be believable in those moments where the years all seemed to pile up on him at once, and you could see every single one of them reflected in his eyes -- and yet he also had that youthful, boyish energy and excitement to balance it out. A perfect combination. In Matt Smith I see the energy and the curiosity (though I miss the cheeky sense of humor), but I don't see the weight. I see the places in the script where it should be, but it's not there.
Ah well -- keep pluggin away. I am interested to see how the series turns out, at least, because the one thing I'm genuinely invested in is this whole "crack in time" storyline -- because it apparently might have repercussions for things I actually do care about, like the whole "planets in the sky," "Journey's End" storyline. That one matters to me a lot... ;)
(*goes back to watching "Tooth and Claw"...because, of course*)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-12-07 07:51 am (UTC)Still, I really think that the second half of the season is better than the first. "Amy's Choice" is really touching - it made me love both Amy and Rory a lot. And "Vincent and the Doctor" actually brought tears to my eyes.
But... yeah, I know. It's weird and unsettling at times.
no subject
Date: 2010-12-07 06:47 pm (UTC)And yeah, the flirting between her and Matt Smith was pretty awkward -- she's easily old enough to be his mother. In principle I don't object to an older woman/younger man any more than the other way around, but it just seems weird when I see it. I think for me it's more that I don't get why a woman would want a younger man. Doesn't appeal to me. Don't particularly understand why a man would want a significantly younger woman either, but as I'm not a man myself I guess I defer to their authority on the matter. In general I really prefer the characters to be roughly the same age (that was another thing I liked about Donna, actually -- she was more of a "grown-up," less of an ingenue), but I can overlook an age difference if the romance is good enough.
Anyway, good to know it gets better from here -- who knows, it may win me over yet... ;)
no subject
Date: 2010-12-08 05:21 am (UTC)