1621

I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. I thought the parallel they drew between Jex and the Doctor was a nice touch. It worked as both a standalone episode AND as an examination of the doctor at the same time.

1622

I liked it as well. I like seeing Matt Smith be dark and haunted (though I don’t think he does it as well as Eccleston or Tennant).

The season as a whole does feel “off” to me, though, but I think this is due to the structure of it. In previous seasons, episodes felt very connected (even though we must assume that there were adventures between each episode). These episodes are very isolated from one another, and it feels off. The “Doctor drops in when he feels like it” schtick is very different.

Future episode rumors

There are others online who have also noticed that the episodes are very isolated, and the theory that I like the most is that we’re seeing the episodes in reverse order, and that the Doctor is doing what he can to visit Amy and Rory before something (presumably) horrible happens to them in the fifth episode. I don’t know if that’s what will happen, but I think there will be some explanation when Amy and Rory leave that paints the first four episodes in a different light.

1623

I like that theory. Hopefully that’s the case.

1624

I enjoyed it and this is probably as close as I’ll ever get to Ben Browder showing up in “Firefly,” so I’m good. I do hope we get past the “filler” episodes, though; last season left us dangling with the “Doctor who?” bit etc., but so far they haven’t followed that up at all (…or have they?!).

1625

Personally, I’m all for a little less grand story behind it all with my Doctor Who. The season-long stories were starting to get out of control, and I think they hurt last season as they crowded out the standalone story elements.

As for following up on the “Doctor who?” theme, keep in mind that 2013 will be the 50th anniversary season (First episode: November 23rd, 1963), so it’s likely to be a lead-in to that.

1626

Looks like the latest s the special guest edition with cameos from Prof. Brian Cox and Alan Sugar. I thought it was pretty good. It seems that the series plot this time is Amy and Rory deciding whether to settle down to ;normal’ life.

1627

It was OK, but not that great. There wasn’t a very good meshing of the meta-story (stay at home vs. keep travelling w/ The Doctor) and the front plot of the cubes. The latter felt very tacked on and haphazard. Normally the writers do a better job of interweaving things. Additionally, the ending was so completely hand-wavy, even by DW standards, that it was downright jarring.

1628

It felt like a bad redux of the old episode where people think the spirits of their relatives are coming to communicate with them but it turns out to be transdimensional Cybermen.

Why leave millions of boxes everywhere when you can leave millions of bombs everywhere or millions of nerve gas canisters? Why did the medical bad guys kidnap like, 6 people? To what end?

1629

Yeah I didn’t understand the kidnapping but I still really liked this episode. The reason you leave cubes everywhere is that you don’t know much about humans so the cubes first gather information to find the best way to kill them and then when they figure out how to kill people you turn them on. You don’t bomb or use nerve gas because you’re not trying to kill the puppies and the birds, just the people. These aliens are apparently very precise.

I mean, it’s silly and all but for a Dr Who story I don’t really have a problem with it.

1630

I always find the shows more interesting when they involve a mystery. Seeing all those innocuous cubes strewn everywhere had me wondering what was going on up until the reveal. I thought the ending was a bit abrupt, but the build up was fun.

1631

This reminded me a lot of an RTD episode, where the character beats are good and the plot doesn’t make a ton of sense. The only thing I can figure is that the kidnapping aspect will come into play somewhere down the line with Brian (or Rory).

I’m really enjoying this different take on how the companions interact with The Doctor and how it impacts their normal lives. I think there’s a lot that could be mined out of this set up, so I’m sad to know it’s ending soon.

Favorite moment of the episode: The Savoy aftermath. Hilarious.

1632

Rory’s dad is pretty great. I love how he is diving into everything so earnestly.

1633

I really, really like to have an overarching plot behind each season. Even a little nod towards it, like the cracks in time in the first Smith season is fine. But so far, this last season has been entertaining, but it hasn’t really struck me as good, or even close to the best. I honestly don’t particularly like Moffat’s writing as much; I really liked David Tennant, and while I do like Matt Smith, the over the top, completely random, not going anywhere writing just throws me way off and leaves me thinking “What the hell just happened there?” I’m still not entirely sure what the fuck the last season was about. I’m also really glad that Amy and Rory are leaving; they focused way too much on them, and I’d honestly rather see more of the Doctor.

1634

Today we say goodbye to The Ponds. :(

1635

Well that was a fucking bummer.

1636

Awwwww…

1637

Well, at least they got a long happy ‘normal’ life.

1638

Didn’t they still have their timey-wimey cell phones? Anyways–when they …uh…spoilers…

…still here?

…got zapped back, wouldn’t they be imprisoned?

1639

no

They blew up the prison when they created the paradox. If they didn’t they wouldn’t have been thrown forward back into the ‘present’. So it is safe to assume they got sent back in time to live a normal life like the people in ‘Blink’.

Where that straggler lone angle came from is what I don’t understand.

1640

What about Rory’s dad???