Tuesday, May 25, 2010

After the last entry I had my shake and rewatched the recent Weeping Angel episodes of Doctor Who...and I did enjoy them more the 2nd time. A lot of the problems I had with the episodes were bits that were explained that I missed the first time, which isn't that surprising with the amount of new information you're given here; these episodes feel like 4 episodes crammed into 2 installments...and that's one of the reasons they don't rate 4 stars, though there are many scenes that FEEL like a 4 star episode to me. There are just too many scenes that don't mesh or feel quite right...like the pace is fucked up. I orginally gave them 2 ** but I'm raising them to 3 *** and noting that they're nearly 4 **** but are dragged down a bit by some script problems. I had a similar reaction to 5x02 "The Beast Below", which often feels like a 3 *** episode...except it 1) talks down to the audience by explaining the twist ending TWICE for no apparent reason, making both the DOCTOR (!?!) and the audience come off as stupid and the writer coming off as patronizing. 2) There are plot holes galore! Most of them having more to do with the edit than the script, though there are 1 or 2 script problems also; my reaction to all 3 of these stories is that they could have been better but feel rushed; like they needed just a bit more attention to have blossomed, but instead we got these versions...which is a shame. Still, I'm enjoying the season quite a lot more now.

5 ***** = Excellent
4 **** = Above Average
3 *** = Average or Quite Good
2 ** = Almost There...But Not Quite
1 * = Crap

5x01 The Eleventh Hour ****

Still the best episode of the season IMO. It feels epic yet small, and accomplishes a LOT but makes it look easy and natural.

5x02 The Beast Below **

The lovely 2nd story which could have been 3 or possibly 4 stars but is held back by script and edit problems. It's hard for me to express how much I actually like this story, yet the problems with it, that could have easily been fixed, just drag it down because they pull me out of the story. Which is too bad...yet it's not terrible.

5x03 Victory of the Daleks *

This is terrible. It's dull. The production design is often laughable. The Dalek ship interior just looks like a really cheap set. The one plot thread that has real potential is RUINED by a completely unbelievable solution that's just tacked onto the end that is just SOOOOO horrible that it ruins what could have been a 2 or 3 star outing if they'd JUST handled that one plot thread correctly. It still would have been mostly dull with cheap looking sets and a pointless return from an alien menace we've seen far too much of on Who but it would have had something interesting to contribute; instead we got this shit.

5x04 The Time of Angels [Part I] ***
5x05 Flesh and Stone [Part II] ***

Very nearly 4 stars. These episodes often sparkle with brilliance, yet the pace feels so off and the story is all over the place, plus the 'changes' to the Weeping Angels while mostly explained in the episodes are mostly pointless and IMO make the villains less terrifying; not more. The River Song bits are probably the strongest, which pleases me.

5x06 The Vampires of Venice ***

Quite good. I don't think there are any script problems here. This isn't an episode that was nearly 4 or 5 stars; it is what it is, and for that it's the best scripted / edited episode since the season premiere; it only rates lower than that episode for having smaller goals and so there's less of a payoff. There is a sequence that the effects look sort of lame, but there are others that are the best of the season so far. These are the kinds of episodes Who usually produces...this is what I expect to get every week, while hoping for a 4 or 5 star episode. There have been no 5 star episodes this season.

5x07 Amy's Choice ***

Another quite good episode with nothing wrong with it, yet nothing great, minus an excellent twist that gives us some juicy insight into The Doctor & his companions. Some more fun effects work helps. And what I suspected might be a 2 ** episode comes out a ***. Nice.

5x08 The Hungry Earth [Part I] ***

Hard to rate a 2-Part story based on 1 part alone, but this is another episode that seems to have nothing wrong with it, though it's mostly set-up for things to come. What will Part II bring? It airs on Saturday.

After Who I slept. Woke up around 1:30pm feeling slighly off. Might have another shake with food this time and possibly some vitamins. For those reading my blog that don't know, my shakes are already packed with vitamins, but sometimes I feel the need for more.

   posted by Bald Jason at 02:37 PM
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