Dr Who - 310 - Blink

[retro_eidas]

Oh that was good. That was very very good. I loves me a good haunted house story. This was like Galatea meets Wes Craven (minus the gore). As if funerary angel statues needed to get any creepier.

Really enjoyed Sally Sparrow and all her companions. She was win she was.

Sally/Billy fic after this episode, pls?? It's sad, Billy was a detective and Sally Sparrow is such a female gumshoe name. Not to mention, chemistry liek whoa. They had, what? 4 min of screentime and I still want to see their wedding (Sally Shipton, indeed)? They must be cast in something else together (maybe in Who? Hey! It can happen! We've had identical cousins already... perhaps we have identical grandpa/sons?) Although it seems Moff didn't get over his Reinette mourning, he actually got his protagonist to meet the oh-so-brief lover before death this time.

"Angels stole my TARDIS". I want that t-shirt.

"All of space and time he promised me and now I've got a job in a shop! I've got to support him!!" HEEE!! Oh Martha. Even with like 10 seconds of screentime.... Although, really, if this wasn't a big ol' hint to the DVD makers to include some (whizbang, cutesy, silly) extras? Perhaps earlier versions of Ten trying to record the easter eggs with Martha adding decidedly more colorful background commentary? heeee And they're so married. But really? Saw the moon landing "four times"? Now they're stuck in mod London for however long? Then there's the months of HN/FoB. How long have these two been together? And my god, did Martha's hair look really long holding those arrows? Extensions?

"It's a bit confusing at times. Especially at weddings... especially my own." And there we have the S3 "I was a dad once" of anvilicious non-background info on the Doctor (and that, to me, implied plural. Would make sense, 925-yrs-old and all. Either they die on him, again would make sense, or Gallifreyans are down with the Big Love thing?). But I must say.... Weddings, weddings and more weddings. What IS IT with weddings/marriage (then comes the baby in the baby carriage) this season? The recurring daddy thing for Rose got her a daddy. The recurring weddings/marriages thing this series... is Martha going to get herself a husband (and most likely, by way of the Doctor)? By the looks of Frank and Riley, she certainly seems to be heading in the right direction. *waits for more Aliens Made Them Do It / Get Married fic for the Fic Cliches challenge*

Laurence Nightingale? He had a tough time in school, didn't he? Heh, but gumshoe Sparrow (with her long brown coat and scarf) and Laurence Nightingale (the famous female nurse)? Hmmm? Parallel perhaps? I did thoroughly love all the, "Dammit!! Walk backwards, keep your eyes on the statue" and "Dammit woman!! Open the damn door already!!" moments. They were quality and make stories like this (oh the suspense!!). I also love how Moff makes the eps so easily accessible / rec-able to your non-Who posse. If Rusty is the chairman of Who, Moff is the head marketing director... he sells the show, by the sheer, uncontainable force of his writing skillz. If HN/FoB don't sweep the awards, this is yet another fine contender... and we haven't gotten to the finale (OR JACK!) yet (you better have put in extra time Rusty, Cornell and Moff are decidedly in the lead at the mo'. I'm kind of afraid now the finale won't live up to this kind of build-up *sighs malcontendedly at Heroes finale*).

"We just run a shop, that's all." ="That was a genetic transfer." Then after she self-fulfills her own past thus bringing things full circle, she takes his hand (and they're going to get married and have babiez as handpr0n=sex and marriage be repetitive this season. Also convert their shop into crime fighting/paranormal investigative agency and put those "Most Haunted" monkeys out of bizness cuz they be efficient *and* cuter). awwww Ditto Kathy and Mr. Holt. Billy and Sally-not-Sally. However, it could just be me, but could life goes on be a theme this season (o bla di! o bla da!)? Maybe. just. maybe.?? [/has a black belt in obvious championing]

Martha's next blog entry, shooting arrows at lizards, yes?

Next week: "Doctor." "Captain." *DED* (thus why the delay with this review, I was dead at the time!). Although I wonder, who gets to ask, "Who runs Barter Town?" first?

Comments

[eido.livejournal.com]

ps - Matrix = S3 Who? All I've got is that Ten/Martha is kind of Neo/Trinity with all the I'll save your live they you save mine one upping. And the trusting each other with their lives.

It could all very well be induced by late night delerium (c/o insomnia) and one too many viewings of The Animatrix, so take this all with a huge grain of salt but... I have found several possible similarities. The motorists trapped underground (aka the hope of humanity) in Gridlock = Zion. They're also kept there (as the humans in the Matrix) in part by false messages from a machine (Sally Calypso). The Matrix also needed humans alive for it's own purpose, even if it's as batteries = the empty human husks in DIM/EOTD. Not to mention the whole balance between man & machine (the Time War, Time Lords vs Daleks, spilling onto Earth thus we've had Daleks/Cybermen vs humanity) and What does it mean to be (or not be) human? ("To be or not to be... too pretentious?") in both stories. Also in Gridlock/Who and The Matrix there's the dead, post-apocalyptic worlds (dead New Earth and dead Gallifrey). We have the whole messianic, monomythic, often self-sacrificing, heroes in both stories (The Doctor, Boe, Hame, Martha... Neo, Morpheus, Trinity). The nemeses who want to go beyond their perceived limitations and gain more life/power, often by way of the hero (Lazarus, Baines/The Family wanting the Time Lord essence.... Mr. Smith trying to go beyond his programming, try to assimilate/gain Neo's power & vision). The Doctor is blinded by "42" leaving it to Martha to save everyone = Neo is blinded in Matrix Revolutions leaving it to Trinity to fly the ship to the heart of the Matrix. John Smith in HN/FOB = Mr. Anderson. HN/FOB also hit hard with the fantasy vs. reality themes (very big one in The Matrix). The Red and Blue color schemes this season (often specifically to do with the dynamic between the Doctor and Martha) and the Red and Blue pills of The Matrix.

RTD has embraced the big ol' Gnostic overtones in the past. Parting of the Ways had some major Gnostic symbolism going on. The Matrix also gets major influence from Gnosticism (as well as Buddhism... I've been suspecting New Who may also have a bit of Buddhist influence. Buddha found enlightenment meditating under a Bo Tree... Bo(e)? Face of Bo(e) = Buddha, while The Doctor = Gnostic Christ?). It's possible RTD has held on to those same symbols through S3 (and thus probably why I'm getting the big Matrixy vibes).

I might make a post with other similarities, but the above are the few at the top of my head. If there are distinct similarities to The Matrix - and since I'm rolling with the crack I might as well continue - I'd wonder if Martha's reality may be just as false as Mr. Anderson's (HN-FOB!John Smith's) or Trinity's had been prior their awakenings? Martha just hasn't awaken yet?

[eido.livejournal.com]

In addendum, I don't so much think S3 may be taking direct inspiration from The Matrix movies perse (perhaps some, Rusty does love his pop-culty references, doesn't he?), but more of what they (http://www.amazon.com/Matrix-Philosophy-Welcome-Popular-Culture/dp/081269502X) were based (http://www.unomaha.edu/jrf/gnostic.htm) upon (http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~rgs/alice-table.html). Possibly the same things the Human Nature novel may have also taken influence from (as the HN novel predates the first Matrix movie by four years, yet nevertheless you can see several similarites between The Matrix movies and the HN novel, possibly because they are utilizing similar influences). Philosophy (namely Baudrillard, Socrates, Plato.... fantasy vs. reality, What does it mean to be or not be human?), religion (mainly Gnosticism and Buddhism) and plethora of lit and pop-culture.

[juanitadark.livejournal.com]

Ha, I noticed the Matrix-y stuff in Gridlock but decided not to mention it because I must be the last person on LJ that still likes all three of those films.

[eido.livejournal.com]

I like them, but... not to say some better scripts and acting couldn't have gone a long (long) way.

One quick thing and I'll shut up about it, but about Gnosticism (and the whole Blindness vs. Seeing/Gnosis and Dream/Illusion vs. Reality things). Haven't there been a lot of instances where the Doctor either admits not being able to See Something (the anvilly line in TSC), he's literally blinded (42) or he's in caught in a dream (John Smith in HN/FOB) this season? I suppose it's not a stretch to imagine that if the Doctor is somehow unable to See, it's Martha who will open his eyes? Basically, help give him the Gnosis he's so desperately seeking. How she's going to do that, I don't know, but she seems to be all lined up for it one way or another.