He's captured because (spoilers ahoy!) The silents have been controlling humans with pre-hypnotic suggestion since the dawn of man, I think the capture was a scheme devised by Delaware and The Doctor so they can build that room out that substance we've somehow never heard of before, so they can set their plan into action. There's a ton of plotholes with that i'm unable to explain (was this really the only way they could convince agents to get enough of this magic blocks?), and I would love to find out what Amy, Rory, Dr. Song and (prior to his "capture") The Doctor were doing for three months, but it was damn entertaining nonetheless. My big question out of the episode is "why can Amy's daughter regenerate?" Because "Doctor Who" is basically a kid's show (not in America obviously), I doubt she (knowingly, anyway) cheated on Rory, who she adores, with The Doctor. Is it River? or a reborn Romana? Or both?

On the subject of "Love & Monsters", when I first saw that episode, I hated it. Upon later viewings, I now believe its charming and adorable, despite its flaws. We get to see, for once (or at least in further details. "Rose" did have that nerd with that website after all), how the Doctor is seen by the average humans he doesn't directly interact with (like companions, or UNIT, or his friends-of-the-week): He's basically a myth that is surrounded by uncertainty, a man who keeps popping up in history, someone who it would be reasonable for a tinhat society made up of lovable misfits to obsess over.

"Fear Her" was pretty dumb and far too didactic. The only merit i give it is that the villain wasn't really a villain at all (or at least the root cause of the thing), which kinda blurred the good vs evil thing, but in the end they still tried to make a pointless monster with the black girl's dad. And any emotional resonance through loneliness and alienation was wiped clean by trying to work in an explanation of things that was kinda uninteresting to begin with. I know you said this was one of your least faves Ryan, and I happily have to agree.

That's one of the weaker ones, but it does have one of my all-time favorite scenes in it, the one that culminates with the Doctor saying, "Yes, I can."

I figured that was it, after my second viewing, but it seems like quite a stretch despite the entertainment factor. And they could have done with some exposition to make that clear. Hard to believe the Doctor would put himself through that voluntarily.

"Fear Her" is one of the last true clunkers you'll have to endure. The 2nd season finale and "The Runaway Bride" are top notch, as is most of the third season. There's a few episodes in the first half of that season that are pretty good/very good, but pale in comparison to some really fantastic episodes in the second half.

Doomsday/Finale-
How in the hell did this near-masterpiece come out of the mostly weak pen of Terrence Davies? I can’t think of an episode he has written so far that actually climbed steadily up to a poignant emotional peak as this one surely did. I think what gets to you here is the ultimate sense of loss that’s been frequently displayed throughout past episodes quite well, but not to the levels here which reached an operatic and epic degree. Parallel worlds kinda scare me personally. Maybe cuz they remind me of some drug trips I had where I was in the world, but I really wasn’t in the world simultaneously. It’s super scary when you can’t really confirm that where you are is the ultimate true reality that you belong to. And I think Davies recognized the power in this fear and kept the switching to parallel worlds near the end very similar in drop locations, but just a little different, and that little is just enough to make the mind and heart go crazy, especially when you’re on the other side without someone you care about indefinitely. There was even a sense of claustrophobic tightness in how the shots were framed, also concentrating on the eyes for both the doctor and Rose (her mom and “dad” too), so that it would hit us hard when it wanted to emotionally downpour on our candyasses. I originally criticized it immediately after for pushing a little too hard at the end, especially with the somewhat eye-rolling doctor hologram disintegrating right at the last second before he tells Rose. I like to be moved, I just don’t like to be pushed. But then I thought, well you know, this is Doctor Who and it wouldn’t be Doctor Who if it didn’t go balls to the wall, as this show for the most part wants to do whatever it can to evoke the feelings it wants you to express, even if they don’t really know how to do it.

Without anymore emotional blabbering about the epi, I just thought the villains were handled very well and Daleks just keep getting funnier and more likeable every time they’re in an episode. Cybermen are still kinda lame to me (can’t help it), but the play off between them and the Daleks was some of the funniest and best shit ever. The action itself was kept (thankfully) in moderation and if there as a battle shown, it had a purpose to keep the plot moving forward and not be kept at a standstill which I’ve seen a lot of Davies scripts go, who manages to cram so much shit in an episode, yet say absolutely nothing important and so dense to the point of “shit just happening on screen” type of action boredom.

So hats off to you Mr. Davies for finally making a good episode. Lol

Can’t wait for Runaway Bride, which will have to wait a bit till after finals. Overall I liked season 2 a lot, which was consistently better than season 1, but season 1 had some of my favorite episodes personally. I’ll probably do a ranking of the first two seasons later on a bit. Also Season 3, I’m comin for you!

Sweet. Glad you liked it, wanta. Yeah, the finale of season two is a heart-wrencher. That emotional climax with Rose and the Doctor pressed against the wall, further away from each other than is even comprehensible, is some of the most moving television I've ever seen. Props to Billie Piper. Her anguish was palpable.

These two episodes were among the few Dalek episodes that didn't ruin their appearance by having word "Dalek" in the title ("The Parting of the Ways" is another).

oh yeah clash, that wall scene in particular was what hit home the most, the beach went a tad overboard but didn't tarnish anything overall



this shit had me rolling

yeah so something like this so far

1. Father's Day
2. The Girl in the Fireplace
3. Dalek
4. Doomsday
5. The Satan Pit
6. Empty Child/Doctor Dances


actually i feel uncomfortable with that ranking, all i know is father's day is #1 for me.

Yeah, that dialogue is 'instant classic' material.

Yes! I think their appearances should always be a surprise.

The most recent episode is another clunker.

Eh, classic Third Episode of the season breather historical episode. Apparently the captain, Henry Avery, is a real historical figure who really did rob a couple ships and then disappeared into thin air.

The next episode is written by Neil Gaiman. I hope it doesn't disappoint some very high expectations I have.

It took the show back to its roots, but I am not sure I liked it. It was a bit Star Trekky...those morals.