Vincent and The Doctor

I’m reading mixed reviews about this episode of Doctor Who.  I’ll say it though; this is my favorite episode of the season so far.  It’s also been a couple of years since I’ve written a Who Review.  This one is worthy.

Vincent and The Doctor

For most of the episode we’re following The Doctor, Amy and Vincent Van Gogh around.  We learn early on that Van Gogh is being tormented by some invisible monster.  Turns out it is an actual creature that only Van Gogh can see.  This renders The Doctor only able to see it when using a random device he found in the TARDIS.  It sort of works like a rear view mirror for seeing monsters?

Now, I understood, right off, the purpose of the beast.  Van Gogh is fighting these ‘things’ that no one else can see.  The metaphor is there.  Some of us battle demons that others can’t see.  The creature seemed out of place at times and I wasn’t sure how it would tie in at the end.  Despite that slight out of place feeling, it did fit well enough to get the point across.  I think some shadowy faceless figure might have been better.  That’s one ONE nitpick.

Matt Smith is really setting in with me as being The Doctor.  Tennant was amazing but Smith isn’t shabby at all.  Hats off to him.  The character of Amy is really growing on me too.  Forget that she’s an attractive red head.  Her character seems to really test The Doctor almost to the point of bossing him around at times.  Tony Curran really smacked the nail on the head in his portrayal of Van Gogh.  I really love the scene where they all hold hands and he actually describes the Starry Night.

Where did this episode really hit it out of the park for me?  The end.  It’s not to say the whole thing was bust except the end.  The end is where it really just snapped together.  You feel yourself in the position of Van Gogh and how he must have been absolutely floored.  I’m not sure why but it struck a nerve with me. I’m not afraid to admit that scene in the art gallery had me fighting back tears.  Really, there isn’t a way to describe it for it to have the same impact.  You’ll just have to see the episode.  The ending will stick with you.

So, from what I read, there are people that thought it was just ‘ok’.  Other reviews I read say it had them bawling.  If the ending doesn’t make you even a bit emotional – you’re some kind of evil robot bent on world domination.  Dalek perhaps?

The Fires of Pompeii

Here’s my review of the latest episode of Doctor Who (Sci-Fi 9pm EST)

We begin in the city of Pompeii and the Doctor & Donna soonn realize that it is “volcano day”.  This episode moves and a nice comfy pace but I find Donna hard to understand at times.  She has some major cockney(sp?) going on.  I still like Rose and Martha better but I’ll give Donna more time to grow on me.

The bad guys in this one were pretty cool, actually, very hot.  They were a race of fire/stone creatures called Pyroviles.  They’ve awakened and the Doctor is faced with a painful decision in the end, as is often the case.

Supporting cast in Doctor Who is always good I think.  They bring in a range of rookie and seasoned people to fill parts because they’re almost always limited to one or two episodes.  There are no commitments and it seems like good fun to be part of a good story.

I enjoyed this one a lot as there was plenty of humor and a good mix of dramatic moments.  There were also a couple of neat twists and turns.  We also get to see a darker side of the life of a Time Lord as well.  I find that interesting because it’s not always about popping in and out of time eras.  It sometimes comes down to creating or altering history.

This is my favorite so far of the season and they’ve progressively gotten better.  The first episode had it’s moments but the supporting role (Kylie Minogue) was really blah I think.  David Tennant is great as usual.  The second episode was much better and the most recent, better yet.  I hope for a good “Blink” type episode this season!

The Angels Have The Phone Box

Ok there is something about me that some might not know: I don’t follow television shows.  Lost.  What?  American Idol. Who? 24. When? The Sopranos. Why?  Survivor. Where?   Ok I’m not THAT out of it.  I know about all of these shows but I just can’t get into following shows, until now.

The new Dr. Who is just frickin wowtastic awesome.  First of all it’s Sci-Fi which is cool and on top of that it’s British which is cool too.  The newest Doctor is played by David Tennant and he fits the part so well it’s just hard to imagine any other person doing it.  Now I’d seen Dr. Who in the past and it was decent enough.  The writing for the series now is just damn good.

The episode I reference in the title of this post is called Blink and it was just simply amazing.  It was bizarre and creepy and had a very good ending.  It’s a stand alone episode, meaning, you can watch it independent of the rest of the series and it still makes sense.  I’m sure it will get referenced again in the future.   Statues in an old house aren’t really statues.  They’re ancient beings with a very strange defense mechanism which also allows them to prey on their victims.  They kill in a very peculiar way as well.  The feed on your potential time energy by zapping you back in time any number of years.  By the end of the episode you’re thoroughly terrified of statues especially when the main players come face to face with the statues true forms.  The strobe light scene at the end was wicked.  The last time I saw sci-fi that good was Serenity.

The Doctor routinely references pop culture too.  He’s referenced Harry Potter more than once.  Which is funny because David Tennant was actually in The Goblet of Fire as Barty Crouch Jr.  He’s referenced  This is Spinal Tap by once turning a pipe organ up to “11″. 

It’s fun, cooky, great one-liners, good characters and good stories.  I highly recommend it.