The Wedding of River Song
Oct. 13th, 2011 05:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
purplecatIn an abstract way I can appreciate what Moffat was attempting to do here but I didn't really care. I don't even feel strongly enough about The Wedding of River Song to dislike it which probably makes the episode a failure.
I liked the fact that the episode wasn't afraid to commit to River Song being exactly what she's always appeared to be - i.e. the Doctor's wife. This was also the first time I've really bought into Alex Kingston's performance. I thought the fine line between River's sense of mischief and her devotion to the Doctor and psychosis was extremely well portrayed. I liked that Rory didn't die, that the good man River killed was exactly the good man the hints had lead us to believe she killed. I was amused by the eyepatch joke (which isn't really worth explaning to the non-cognoscenti but if you really need to know I suggest you Google "Nicholas Courtney eyepatch story") and impressed by the way it was both a joke and a plot point and I liked the madness of the opening sequence. So, yes, lots to like in this episode.
On the other hand I didn't like the get out for "The Doctor's going to die! No! Really! he's going to die! No get outs this time! Oh no!" was that the Doctor switched a double into his place. This get out has been obvious since at least The Rebel Flesh, even if the nature of the switch hasn't, and really just served to make all the emphasis placed on the inevitability of the moment look silly. I was also left with a feeling that this didn't really adequately mesh with the season opener. I'd have to go back and rewatch, but I'm not sure we ever got good explanations for what River was doing in that children's home, nor how she escaped, nor what was going on, at various points with the astronaut's suit. Nor even why River was necessary at all for the Silence's plan if they had an automated astronaut suit that would do just as well. It all felt a little clumsy, which is unusual for a Moffat plot. In fact I would say it displayed a lot of the flaws of Davies' writing in that Moffat was more interested in the emotional story in which River's love for the Doctor emperils the universe than in the internal logic of the events that lead up to that point. Sadly Moffat lacks the sense of confidant chutzpah in his writing which often carried even the most nonsensical of Davies' plots.
In fact I think the episode's basic problem is that I didn't actually much care about the season arc. I never doubted that the Doctor would survive, so the question "How will the Doctor get out of this?" was sufficiently pointless that I was never interested enough in it to even try to follow the clues, let alone be either pleased or disappointed by the reveal.
I liked the fact that the episode wasn't afraid to commit to River Song being exactly what she's always appeared to be - i.e. the Doctor's wife. This was also the first time I've really bought into Alex Kingston's performance. I thought the fine line between River's sense of mischief and her devotion to the Doctor and psychosis was extremely well portrayed. I liked that Rory didn't die, that the good man River killed was exactly the good man the hints had lead us to believe she killed. I was amused by the eyepatch joke (which isn't really worth explaning to the non-cognoscenti but if you really need to know I suggest you Google "Nicholas Courtney eyepatch story") and impressed by the way it was both a joke and a plot point and I liked the madness of the opening sequence. So, yes, lots to like in this episode.
On the other hand I didn't like the get out for "The Doctor's going to die! No! Really! he's going to die! No get outs this time! Oh no!" was that the Doctor switched a double into his place. This get out has been obvious since at least The Rebel Flesh, even if the nature of the switch hasn't, and really just served to make all the emphasis placed on the inevitability of the moment look silly. I was also left with a feeling that this didn't really adequately mesh with the season opener. I'd have to go back and rewatch, but I'm not sure we ever got good explanations for what River was doing in that children's home, nor how she escaped, nor what was going on, at various points with the astronaut's suit. Nor even why River was necessary at all for the Silence's plan if they had an automated astronaut suit that would do just as well. It all felt a little clumsy, which is unusual for a Moffat plot. In fact I would say it displayed a lot of the flaws of Davies' writing in that Moffat was more interested in the emotional story in which River's love for the Doctor emperils the universe than in the internal logic of the events that lead up to that point. Sadly Moffat lacks the sense of confidant chutzpah in his writing which often carried even the most nonsensical of Davies' plots.
In fact I think the episode's basic problem is that I didn't actually much care about the season arc. I never doubted that the Doctor would survive, so the question "How will the Doctor get out of this?" was sufficiently pointless that I was never interested enough in it to even try to follow the clues, let alone be either pleased or disappointed by the reveal.