Doctor Who

[BatmAngelus]

I think "A Town Called Mercy" was the best Season 7 episode so far.  Both Asylum and Dinosaurs felt rushed for me, but the pacing here was much better, in my opinion.  It wasn't flawless, but I feel like it's put the show back on track.

Does it seem weird how Amy had just caught onto the fact that The Doctor kills?  Earlier this season, he took out the Daleks in the Asylum and he left Solomon to get blown up.

[greggbray]

I think in both Asylum and in Dinosaurs, there was a bit of turning the villain's plan onto themselves.  An 'us or them' paradox.  In the case of 'Mercy,' it was the apparent execution of an unarmed man.   It's never really been stated (or observed, in fact) that the Doctor does not kill.  But he doesn't kill unless there seems to be a close-to-airtight justification for it.  Here it seemed to be lacking, especially with how docile the 'alien doctor' was behaving.  I can buy Amy having this reaction as The Alien Doctor seemed to be repaying his debt by keeping the town disease free and safe. 

[Bobthegoon89]

Love Doctor Who too (classic and modern). However my interest in the series began to wane in 2010. For me there has been a 2 year drought period of pretty crap stories and characters.

The current series however has restored my faith. It's event tv again for me. Still not great as it used to be but it's on the mend. I never liked Amy and Rory. Glad their going and I know already Jenna Louise Coleman will be miles better. If only they had Rory's dad straight from the word go. Things might have been different in my appreciation of those Ponds. Too late now.

If the Ponds are goners I really think it is time to ditch River Song also. She was WAY too intrusive last year. I'd hate her coming in and creating confusion with a new companion next year.

[The Dark Knight]

I really think it is time to ditch River Song also. She was WAY too intrusive last year. I'd hate her coming in and creating confusion with a new companion next year.

Disagree. She's my favourite non Doctor character and Alex Kingston is gorgeous. 

[greggbray]

Yeah, I think Series 6 is some of the  best NuWho, in great part due to River's character development.  I thought it was a terrific season long arc, and substantially better than most of Series 5. 

That said, there are very few recent Who episodes I would skip upon revisiting the series.  Oh, I'd skip any Slyveen episodes and Love and Monsters.  Maybe a few others.  But over all, there is very little I'm not enjoying.  Even on its weakest day it's stronger than nearly all of American television (save for series such as Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Louie, Booth at the End on Hulu--we'll call these a draw for now). 

[greggbray]

Not sure how to post about Angels in Manhattan without giving major (as Dr. Song would have it) 'spoilers.'  My initial reaction is heartbreak.  I haven't been keeping up with any scuttlebutt, so I didn't realize this episode would have major events take place within them.  I guess it was handled quite well, though I would rather have a happier ending for our companions.  Still, terrific and scary episode.

[BatmAngelus]

I'm not sure how I feel about it.  The emotion was certainly there and it was interesting to see these as the end of each of their character arcs.  Rory's multiple resurrections gave him the courage to risk it all on the rooftop and Amy's final act proved Rory's "The truth of our relationship is, I love you more than you love me" (line from Asylum of the Daleks) completely wrong.  It certainly completes the growth of the relationship.  Contrast Amy and Rory with their introductions in The Eleventh Hour, when she refused to even acknowledge he was her boyfriend and ran off with the Doctor at the end to delay from having to marry Rory.

As much as I love the Weeping Angels, the ep also feels as if Moffat forgot the rules he established in "Blink."  As emotional as the final graveyard scene was...it just doesn't seem possible for the Angel to have done that with all those people looking in its direction.  I also felt it was kinda cheap to do a  fakeout farewell scene only to immediately follow up with the real farewell scene.  And the ending, with River's promise and the final shot, opens up a ton of plot questions, timeline-wise.

Curious about the Christmas Special now that we've got a recently traumatized Doctor, who will be going up against, technically, another Doctor- Richard E. Grant, the Doctor from the animated webseries Scream of Shalka!

[Bobthegoon89]

I really think it is time to ditch River Song also. She was WAY too intrusive last year. I'd hate her coming in and creating confusion with a new companion next year.

Disagree. She's my favourite non Doctor character and Alex Kingston is gorgeous. 

I find her irritating with all her flirting and such with The Doctor lol And her constant sucking up to him as being "the greatest man in the universe" kind of thing. Talk about pretentious. The critics and public seem to be getting fed up of her too. My family boo her everytime she appears on screen with the "Hello Sweetie" line 

Either way I think the end has been set in motion for Dr Song. In "Angels Take Manhattan" it has been established she's now a Professor. So it's only a matter of time before she jets off to The Library planet and meets her end. I'm interested in seeing that kind of story as it would be great to have a prequel to the David Tennant tale "Silence in the Library". Maybe they could go so far as returning a few of those other characters from that story.

Thank goodness this year it felt more like "Doctor Who" again and less "The River Song Odyssey".

[ElCuervoMuerto]

Now I have a reason to post here. My wife an I have been burning through all of NuWho since late September, thanks to it all being on Netflix streaming (series 7 we had to find via not so legal means). All in all I have to agree with what Gregg said, series 6 is most definitively my favorite. While Tennant is still my favorite Doctor (don't they say your first is always your favorite?), I think Moffat is a better writer than RTD, havign written my favorite episodes of all of NuWho. And I freaking love River Song.

As for "The Snowmen" itself, I was actually kind of disappointed, because the resolution at the end was just way to easy and well cheesy. I know this happens sometimes with Doctor Who, but it was a little hard to swallow. I think another 30-45 minutes to the story would've helped the resolution quite a bit. That said I loved all the set-up and explanation of the Doctor's retirement, and I'm really interested in the resolution of the new companion's storyline. I think my favorite of the Christmas Specials is "A Christmas Carol", since well a) it actually feels "Christmasy", and b) it features all of the weird time travel paradoxes that I enjoy about the Doctor.

[BatmAngelus]

^ I agree that the resolution was lacking and the Snowmen, in general, were a bit disappointing, mainly 'cause I'd hoped we'd actually hear them speak in Ian McKellen's voice.  But he was the giant snowglobe instead.  I thought the endings of Moffat's other Christmas Specials were far better, with Christmas Carol being my overall favorite special as well.

Still, there were some great scenes in The Snowmen that made up for the weaker plot.  The comic relief with Strax.  The "one word" test ending with "Pond."  The Sherlock Holmes scene.  The moments with the bowtie.  The reveal of the new TARDIS.

Can't wait to see the next part of the season!