is it my fridge? are there aliens in my fridge?

[falling_voices]

Guys, if you haven't read errantcomment's glorious Bridget Jones!Sherlock story yet, don't wait another minute — it's hilarious, and stunningly believable, and has a scrumptious Molly. And, apparently, there's more coming. There are no words for how much I'm looking forward to it.

Secondly, Closing Time. ALL MY FEELINGS, in no sense of order whatsoever.

• I downright cheered at 'Amelia Pond'. 'Amy Williams' had broken my heart in The God Complex, much as I knew that it was part of the Doctor's method to break down Amy's faith in him; but this reunites her character with the fairytale again. (Petrichor! it sounds like the name of a secret spell.)

• OH RIVER. One thing I've really liked about her this season (apart from her character arc, which is getting overdone and boring) is that we've seen River stripped of her smugness and all-encompassing knowledge, so that she feels more human, easier to communicate with. We've seen her shocked and sad and miserable after the Doctor was killed in The Impossible Astronaut; shy and hesitant when she tells Amy and Rory that she's their daughter in A Good Man Goes To War; newly-born and frightened in the TARDIS in Let's Kill Hitler. And now we're seeing her terrified at the thought that she'll have to kill the Doctor. Quite apart from the focus the narrative is giving her this season, which is tedious and sloppy and repetitive and ugh Moffat deal with that please — we do have some interesting character development in those episodes.

• Craig and the Doctor's magnificent chemistry really made the heart of this episode — it's funny as hell, much like The Lodger, but there's also the story of a beautiful friendship, a beautiful relationship between these two men who are absolutely nothing alike and yet bond perfectly over a baby. They snark at each other, make fun of each other, get mistaken for a gay couple (and that was lovely, Val's hearty little 'it's good for a baby to have two daddies who love each other' — I loved that) and they love and rely on each other utterly. I'm especially thinking of this wonderful piece of dialogue:

Craig (leaving for the grocery store): Going off to buy milk, you know what to do with the baby if he cries!
The Doctor (looking suddenly panicked): No...
Craig (shouting, before slamming the door behind him): Me neither!

• the emotional climax, though very very predictable and frankly cliché, still raises a few questions. It's the second episode this season in which a father's love for his child defeats the supernatural threat that would destroy them. It's especially interesting in sight of Amy&Rory's own parenthood, which is pretty much stolen from underneath them: where they never really got to raise Melody (sorry, Moffat, the 'but they grew up with her' bit doesn't convince me at all), and now that she's become River there is not much way for them to be parents to her, the show still insists on showing us parental and filial love, and how it can defeat every obstacle in its way. It's important, I think, to this season's continuity.

• Eleven and Alfie, ohmaaaan. Matt Smith rocked the Stars Speech to hell and back, and Stormageddon, Dark Lord Of All, stole every scene. I love that the Doctor laughs genuinely at Alfie's children books, and air-kisses his baby cheeks to say goodbye, and they have actual conversations because of course the Doctor speaks baby, it wasn't just a throwaway line in A Good Man Goes To War. And when Eleven kisses the baby's fuzzy little head his nose smushes against it a little, which I find the most adorable thing in the show since Ten picked up a kitten way back in Gridlock.

• as for the Doctor's upcoming death, it was a very bittersweet episode, which is why the lightness and childishness of some sequences was so brilliant. Seeing Eleven slowly coming to grips with the knowledge that he'd be gone tomorrow was heartwrenching in a pretty fantastic way. But he steals the blue envelopes from Sophie, whom I wish we'd had more of, and Craig gives him the Stetson, oh yes. And then there's this:

The Doctor (stroking the TARDIS's door with his knuckles): One more trip, old girl.

And I didn't think I'd be crying, not for this episode, not after the We defeated the Cybermen with Love! climax — and then I did, anyway.

(Whatever happens to Eleven and his death in the finale, however Moffat intends to resolve the loose ends — and he'd better tie them up proper — I hope that his actual departure from the show, whenever it is after the 50th anniversary, will come the way Nine's did. Without bucketloads of angst and resignation. I hope he goes laughing.)

Comments

[kim47.livejournal.com]

I hope he goes laughing.

SO MUCH. I really did not like Ten's departure, and I'm hoping Eleven goes out in a (literal) blaze of glory.

Also Sherlock Holmes' Diary = greatest thing I've read in a long time.

[falling-voices.livejournal.com]

I don't dislike Ten's departure quite as much as most people do, but it was still pretty angst-ridden and overdone. Eleven has always been laughing at everything, including himself, and the TARDIS was already burning down the first time we met him. I hope he goes out grandly. :D

I found Sherlock Holmes' Diary through your tumblr, actually! many thanks for that. It's fantastic.

[katty008.livejournal.com]

I love Alfie, forever and ever. Stormageddon, Dark Lord of All, and Not Mum, and Peasants. And "Doctor," you know Sophie's going to demand to know everything.

As for the Cybermen, yeah, disappointing. They're Cybermen, I was expecting a lot more death and destruction from this episode. Also, Moffat, explain the whole Mondas thing on screen please, some people somewhere are probably very confused and it's probably not helping your case. (Also, jumping Cybermat CG fail much? Boo. That was like Merlin-level bad.)

In short, cannot believe this season is almost over, breaking it up makes it all seem far too short. As for the finale, I'm expecting some sort of epic paradox just because of the Season 6b theory. Between Series 6 being split into two parts and Matt Smith's love for Second Doctor, it seems a bit like fate.

[falling-voices.livejournal.com]

I've seen people on tumblr argue that Alfie will end up with Gwen and Rhys's kid — have you been watching Miracle Day? she's all but laughing while her mum is gunning down a fucking helicopter — and that together they will rule the world someday. :D

I've never really liked the Cybermen. I always thought they looked too fake to be taken seriously... (give me Daleks anyday, though.) So, um, I wasn't too disappointed by all that because I wasn't expecting that much at all.

Oh! did you see the schedule for the next two seasons, though?

[katty008.livejournal.com]

I continue to watch Torchwood, even though I'm sure it will only continue to disappoint. It could be such a great show, they just need to stop. killing. absolutely. everyone. And oh man, Alfie and Anwen would be the greatest thing ever (and it's alliterative!). Especially if they both become companions in twenty years and the Doctor calls him Stormy, and Alfie has no idea why. Because I daydream about Doctor Who lasting another twenty years, and his companions become the children of previous companions. (I also think Clyde and Santiago from SJA should get promoted, but that's probably just me.)

I've got a bit of a soft spot for the Cybermen really. First episode I ever watched and all. Yeah not on par with the Daleks, but for some reason they're stuck in my head as one of the big three villains (the third's the Master).

NO WHAT WHERE?

[falling-voices.livejournal.com]

Torchwood has vastly disappointed me this season. Tosh and Owen's death had already ruined the show a bit for me, and then Ianto's clinched it, so now I find it difficult to even like the new protagonists. (I like bits and pieces of Gwen's story and character well enough, but Jack has been butchered over the years. Give me the old Jack, the one from DW. I loved him.) How did Miracle Day even end, anyway? I didn't watch the last few episodes, couldn't be bothered.

HERE. SO MANY EPISODES, SO LITTLE TIME. LOOK AT THE SCHEDULE FOR 2013. /flaily hands

[katty008.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I just watched it through to know how it ended. I'm not kidding, by the way. Every single new character dies except for Gwen's mother, daughter, and Rex. EVERYONE. I'm pretty sure Gwen's family only got a free pass because they're relatives, and Rex is special. Turns out there were two giant cracks at opposite ends of the world, and they had to feed each crack mortal blood at the same time to get things back to normal. So Jack went to China and Esther and Rex took a bunch of Jack's blood to Argentina, but because there were people after them they took advantage of the immortality to give Rex a full transfusion of Jack's blood, so they blew up bags of Rex's blood instead of bags of Jack's blood. So they throw a bunch of Jack's blood into the cracks, things are reversed back, and because he is full of Jack's mortal blood Rex becomes full of Jack's immortal blood. In short, Rex is now like Jack.

I wouldn't even mind the crap plots nearly as much so long as new characters bothered to stick around. That's twice now a new season has introduced potential replacements for fallen comrades, only to kill them too.

OH. MY. GOD. THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION IS GOING TO BE FUCKING EPIC. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BET THE ODDS ARE THAT SERIES 8 WILL END EPICALLY ON NOVEMBER 23? CAN HAS FOREMAN'S JUNKYARD ON TOTTER'S LANE?

[errantcomment]

Oh goodness, thank you for the rec.

Also also. I liked the bit at the end, with the kids. I love that Moffat is so into this living legends thing, and how the Doctor has kind of outlived his own legend.

[falling-voices.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! ♥

So did I. 'Hello. I'm the Doctor. I was here to help.' And the first two kids think something very insightful and sad and tear-jerking that will make a journey through the ages ooooo, and the third is just like, I liked his hat. What.

[errantcomment]

Hey man, sometimes when you meet someone amazing, the most mad things come out of your mouth. For example. I went to see Bill Bailey. I told him I wanted to touch his hair. He was creeped out.

[falling-voices.livejournal.com]

But Bill Bailey's hair is faaaaabulous, I'm not surprised you focused on that. :D Bill Bailey, though! how was it?

[errantcomment]

Not bad. He's a lot bigger in real life. It was at a show he did, and it was very cool.

[falling-voices.livejournal.com]

Bigger, uh. That's... a bit weird, I can't imagine that. Glad the show was good, though, I'm told he's really better-known in English-speaking countries than he is here. And he's appearing in the DW christmas special, which'll be nice.

[errantcomment]

You're in France right? Yeah, I suppose he would be.
I'm looking forward to the DW Christmas special, looks like it's gonna be mental lol. In a good way.

[falling-voices.livejournal.com]

Yep. They don't even know Eddie Izzard here.

I loved the promo pics. They tell us the Doctor will be killed in the finale by an impossible astronaut, and then they show us pictures of the next episode — with the Doctor in an astronaut suit. Trollin' trolls.

[errantcomment]

My god. But he speaks French and everything.
Ikr. I like that they're all OH NOES THE DOCTOR but there he is, just chillin at Christmas.

[falling-voices.livejournal.com]

Well, I might have to amend that; they didn't know him until last summer. But he's done a show near where I live, back in July, which was amazing — entirely in French, too, which made for a pleasant sort of interaction with the audience — and now I think people are getting more aware of him. It was a brilliant show.

I AM TERRIBLY EXCITED FOR ALL THE SPECIALS. Easter too!

[errantcomment]

Wow, was his French any good? He seemed to be pretty okay at it in the show I saw.

I will actually be in England for the specials. I'm all flaily about it lol.

[falling-voices.livejournal.com]

He was pretty good, yeah. He needed to stop and ask for translations from time to time, but considering that a lot of his stand-up act relies on improvisation, the way he managed to make an entire theatre howl with laughter was rather brilliant.

Hee, lucky you. I was in an hotel room in London for LKH, it's pretty cool to get to watch it directly.

[errantcomment]

Haha when you put it like that it makes it sound like something illicit, like there are these dive-bars of pale-faced nerdlings huddled round televisions. To get in you have to knock four times...

[falling-voices.livejournal.com]

Secret nerd clubssssss. I approve. :D you need to wear fezzes and bowties or else you just don't fit in.

... which I think is my clue to go to sleep, aha.

[errantcomment]

Although more recently there's been a rise in nostalgia outfits- long scarves, suits and Chucks etc...

[maikichelorrain.livejournal.com]

J'ai beaucoup aimé l'épisode. Craig et le Docteur étaient juste... parfaits, je te rejoins là dessus!

[falling-voices.livejournal.com]

Moi aussi, de manière générale. Les Cybermen étaient franchement pas très intéressants; je n'étais vraiment investie que dans la relation entre Craig et le Doctor et Stormageddon. Qui était géniale. Deux hommes et un bébé!