Lets cut to the chase shall we?
I was…kind of disappointed. Not because it was bad! No. There was wonderful jokes and spine tingling characterisation1. There was dialogue to die for and Doctor by the bucket loud. The Silence (or Silents or whatever, hoping they’re going to clear that little homophone discrepancy up for us soon) are sleep-with-the-lights-on terrifying2. And I am oh so looking forward to Jim the Fish and his dam3.
But what I wanted was warm honey and magic. And warm honey and magic that this was not4.
The Impossible Astronaut was way more ’There are Crocodiles5’ than ’The Eleventh Hour.’ It wasn’t at all what I was expecting. From the first two seconds and the French man shoe buckles it wasn’t what I was expecting.
Obviously that isn’t a bad thing but its also kind of odd. Its like when you put something in your mouth that you expect to be sweet but it turns out to be kind of cold and salty. You know what I mean? Your brain just can’t quite deal with the surprise and so it freaks out a little bit.
Watching it last night it honestly felt like a dream6. Admittedly that was, at least in part, because we watched it in the wee early hours of the morning. But it was more than that. Like a dream it leapt all over the place and went too quickly. I was confused and more than a little disorientated. It seemed to make some kind of sense at the time but not a kind of sense I could really grasp.
The Doctor’s sudden and shocking death didn’t really affect me. Like when something really serious happens in a dream but you can’t react. Like when someone gets killed and you know you should cry but there’s no emotion there. That moment should have been punch in the gut material. But it wasn’t.
I have no doubt the Moff will pull this off.7 He’s going to pull it off in ways I can’t even begin to imagine but right now…I’m not really sure how I feel about it. I’m all for delayed gratification but can’t we have some honey and magic as well?
1- Yes, spine tingling characterisation. Like as in so good it gave me chills. Shut up. It makes sense.
2- Assuming of course you weren’t already sleeping with the lights on for fear of Vashtaverada.
3-Moff has sacrificed the right to make throw away references during diary checks. Diary checks are established plot points now. Its his own fault.
4-My life could do with a little more warm honey and magic.
5-Does anyone actually get my Press Gang references? I’m not going to stop making them or anything, just curious.
6- Like those dreams that are just an imaginary episode of Doctor Who? Everyone dreams whole episodes of Doctor Who right?
7- I know he will because Moffat is God and Moffat knows all.
PS- I have the ability to delete comments. I shall use this ability on both spoilers and smug ‘one episode ahead’ remarks. You have been warned.
PPS- Also- that annoying ‘my name is Amelia Pond’ bullshit before the credits?! WHAT WAS THAT?! I felt like I was having my intelligence raped. Or at least seriously insulted. If that was just for the sake of the bloody Americans they can damn well catch up on the last 50 years* of Doctor Who like everyone else in the known world had to.
*So its not QUITE 50 years yet. Close enough.
