Posted on: July 24th, 2010 DOCTOR WHO’s Big Bang
Series five of Doctor Who felt like it went by really fast, probably because the wonderful people in the UK, (as well as wonderful pirates) spoiled it for me three weeks in advance. The season finale is this Saturday, but I feel like all of nerd-dom has already watched it. I am waiting. This is not a moral stance. I have no morals. I just don’t want the series to end, and it can only go one of two ways. It can be hugely disappointing and I’ll end the season with a ‘meh’, or it will be a super awesome cliffhanger and I’ll be holding my breath until….well.. Christmas?
I’ve already written on how much I love Amy Pond, the new companion. I think she did really well this series, and I am looking forward to seeing more of her. I went in to Matt Smith as the eleventh Doctor with an open mind and was richly rewarded. I felt he was able to switch really easily from being vulnerable and goofy, to being incredibly sad and morbidly dark. Tennant could do this, but even in the saddest moments of his run, you kind of felt like his goofy grin would come back at any moment. With the eleventh Doctor, I was legitimately worried at times that he would never ever smile again.
I had to keep reminding myself of the general theory of who-niverse silliness relativism. The last series ended on such a dark note, I was at times taken aback by how silly the show can be, but I just had to remind myself that the last Doctor saved the world with an orange that happened to be in his pocket. It’s a silly show.
I think it was the guest characters that I found to be profoundly lacking, ie. there was no one to the caliber of Jack Harkness. Liz 10, the future Queen of England, was the highlight for me, while I find River Song to be a dingbat on all accounts. Winston Churchill was good, if a little over done, and the whole Van Gogh episode was mildly entertaining but sophomoric.
I always find that the boyfriend of the companion is a really tough character to write. I think, should I be picked up by the TARDIS, I should be allowed to ditch any mere mortal I may be dating in favor of crazy Doctor sex, BUT, the mythos of the show involves the companion having a soft spot for the old boyfriend. This works because it makes the relationship with the Doctor deeper, but usually leaves the boyfriend character pouting in a corner. Amy’s fiance Rory annoyed me, but in a pitiful sort of way.
By far, my favorite episode of the series was ‘The Lodger’. Raw human love wins over murderous automated invaders. Yeah, I’m a sap. And I was really impressed by some of the scary bits this seasn. I was screaming during the weeping angels episode and plugging my ears whenever they’d tease Dalek attacks. Writers smacked you over the head with the ‘cracks in the wall’ foreshadowing. I can’t even say foreshadowing, more like waving their arms saying ‘this is going to be resolved in the finale somehow!’. Still a nice reminder of the Doctor’s internal tension about how he tries to do good, but wonders if he’s really doing any good at all.
So may I set up the season finale for you? All of the Doctor’s enemies are convinced that the Doctor will, somehow, cause the end of the universe, so they gang up on him to keep him contained for the rest of time. We get to see all the wonderful baddies, including the pride Daleks, the Cybermen, and my favorite, the Judoon! The future looks bleak for Amy, River Song, the TARDIS, and the poor Doctor.
The Doctor Who series five finale airs Saturday night on BBC America and the SPACE Channel.