Doctor Who Series 6.1 'The Impossible Astronaut' SPOILERS!

[AfroTree]

Wait, what? Dies?

AHH! WHY DID I CLICK THE LINK! WHY?!?!?!

Spoilers

I'm a screamer.
Now that's a spoiler. XD

OT: It was a good episode. I also hate the fact it's a fucking cliffhanger. I haaaaaaaaaaaate cliffhangers.
But yeah, it was pretty much what I expected.

And also, dear The Sun. Fuck you for spoiling the first ten minutes, you bastards.

You do realise that the episodes in between the mid series break are a 2 parter right? Massive 3 month cliffhanger

...

WHAT.

>:|

 

[team star pug]

I really just can't stand the new directorial team and cast. Some lines actually make me cringe, and the plots aren't as scary, dramatic or interesting. I miss Russel T. Davis and his team, but now they will remain golden, rather than stale. Also respects to Elisabeth Sladen.

 

[Melon Hunter]

When I saw the date on the invitation (22/04/2011), I assumed that having the episode start on Good Friday, the Doctor would come back (perhaps in the second part) on Easter Sunday, in the style of another person who was quite good at resurrection. Guess I thought about that one a bit too much...

 

[Togs]

Episode was awesome- dark, sinister and intelligent.

However the American fetishism rampant throughout was dissappointing and midly rage inducing.

I know that the yanks love it, but can we please keep it British? cheers love....

 

[Jamie0190]

Those aliens really reminded me of the Ood, for some reason... appearance-wise anyway. Not really sure why they're dressed up as government agents.

I also thought that watching, at first glance I thought that they because of the black suits.

I thought it was a good episode on whole, a few minor details I found a little odd, but nothing that detracted from it in particular. I'm looking forward to next week's episode.

 

[Agent Larkin]

It has Mark Sheppard.

That almost makes up for the existence of River Song.

 

[Tharwen]

The silence reminds me of slenderman.

That's what I was going to say!

It's really annoying watching people forget about them all the time though... I wonder if that photo Amy took will still have one in it when she looks next episode.

 

[drbarno]

The silence reminds me of slenderman.

That's what I was going to say!

It's really annoying watching people forget about them all the time though... I wonder if that photo Amy took will still have one in it when she looks next episode.

I assumed that was going to be used as a chekovs gun in the second part or something, looking at the preview though, I'm not too sure.

 

[YesIPlayTheBagpipes]

"The Founding Fathers, great guys, two of them fancied me..."

 

[Woodsey]

Based of the Scream painting?

Doesn't explain the dildos strapped to their hands and the cock-eye shaped mouths.

Also, who saw the fourth wall breaking!

First was the Doctor saying that all the really cool stuff happens on a SATURDAY and second was Rory commenting on the reason why the Doctor was able to interfere with his own timeline last time. "The universe did explode"

That's them being self-referential, breaking the 4th wall is when you address the audience directly.

 

[Varya]

It was ok for the most part. Although I had a few gripes.

The silence or whatever they are, are just the weeping angels but with memory wipes. Bit of a lazy idea just to make them creepy. Also a bit to much like 'the Gentlemen' from Buffy.

The new fad of the Doctor interfering in his own timeline is always irritating and something DW fans know he cannot do. River Song is also becoming like the TV show Lost, a character whom they haven't written a reasonable ending or explanation for yet but keep dragging out until they do.

Matt Smith was watchable as always but for an opener to a second series it could've been alot better.

Regarding River Song:
Except that of course, they have. Firstly, Steven Moffat has specifically stated that he knew the story of her from the get-go.
Also in the first episode with River, you know the one with "the ending of River Song" in it, they make mentions of at least "Time of The Angels" while she is "doing the books", further supporting that yes, he has always known her story.
Lastly, Moffat has on several occasions stated that we will get "the Truth" about her in this season, supported by the fact that in series 5 they hinted to it as subtly as a sledgehammer to the face.
Regarding him interfering in his own timeline:
No, we know he SHOULDN'T, that's a whole different cup of tea. But on several occasions he has. Amongst other, episodes like "the 5 doctors", "the 2 doctors" etc, comes to mind.
They even bring it up in the episode.
And lastly, in my humble (well...) opinion, if you have to nudge the rules to bring us these spectacular episodes, go for it Mr. Moffat, you have my support. Give us a wibbely-wobbely explanation and move on, because you can't keep a show going for 50 years if you don't shake up the rules now and then. The show is a platform to tell amazing stories, and if the platform stands in the way of the stories, you got it the wrong way around.

 

[blarghblarghhhhh]

Snipped again, sorry

While I agree with you completely, its something that I think just needs to be overlooked as I don't think a lot of people (especially the target audience of kids and parents) would pick up on it. People with a more casual attitude towards film/TV only really notice these tropes when pointed out in retrospect so it probably was a shock for most people. I was also tempted to bring up the double subversion arguement but I couldn't make myself believe it.

snip.

It's not the fact that he died. Everyone knew he would come back. It's how they brought him back, that it was a future version of the current Doctor and our Doctor just walked through the door while they are mourning him.

I'm gonna come back to my 'cliche' stamp again. River holds up the fourth envelope 'Who would the Doctor trust more than anyone in the whole world?'

I can't have been the only one rolling my eyes and asking "So is the Doctor going to be waiting outside or will he just walk through the door?" It had no emotional impact at all. Also, see previous points about how the permanent death of the Doctor will never ever happen, thus there is no tension from that moment, which makes the overwrought characters seem like a cynical attempt to tug our heartstrings instead of genuine tugging like Tenant's exit.

TVTropes calls it 'Like You Really Would.' And the moment that the episode opened with something that fit the mold of that trope perfectly, it pretty much sets the tone of the whole proceedings.

this is coming out of left field for you, but here it goes. people like you really piss me off. By people like you, I mean people who obsess over tv tropes. You can not honestly complain that nothing surprises you if your constantly looking at the cheat sheets. tropes exist because they work and if your not constantly over-analyzing the thing your supposed to be enjoying then most of the time you will be surprised. I did not see a single thing coming in this episode. If I would have stopped and thought about scenes that youve mentioned then I would have, but I like most people watch television to be entertained not to play "spot the trope" or whatever it is you do for a good time.

 

[SomeBritishDude]

I enjoyed it, but generally it was a mixed bag.

Good
-Very cool opening with the Doctors death. They'll probably ruin it later with a ridiculous loop hole but all in all, still cool
-Couple of really funny moments. I couldn't stop laughing at naked doctor hiding under the dress.
-Creepy villains, interesting premise.

Bad
-Pacing was all over the place. It felt like they were trying to jam 3 or 4 episodes into the first 5 minutes.
-I don't like a two parter from the very beginning. I've been waiting for Who for yonks, don't give me a snippit of a story then send me back to waiting again. Give us one complete juicy story before you start pulling out the big guns. This feels like it's all come WAY too soon.
-The silence look a lot like the Gentlemen from Buffy. In fact I can think of about 4 or 5 villains that look way too much like them. Sure they're creepy but it's not an original look.

Still, it's got be excited for the next episode.

 

[Loop Stricken]

It has Mark Sheppard.

That almost makes up for the existence of River Song.

It's funny that the first time I read that, I read it as 'the absence of River Tam'.

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

Snipped again, sorry

snip.

snip.

snip.

snip.

this is coming out of left field for you, but here it goes. people like you really piss me off. By people like you, I mean people who obsess over tv tropes. You can not honestly complain that nothing surprises you if your constantly looking at the cheat sheets. tropes exist because they work and if your not constantly over-analyzing the thing your supposed to be enjoying then most of the time you will be surprised. I did not see a single thing coming in this episode. If I would have stopped and thought about scenes that youve mentioned then I would have, but I like most people watch television to be entertained not to play "spot the trope" or whatever it is you do for a good time.

Sorry, the use of TVTropes was just to provide a common ground from which the laypeople not familiar with the terms could go for a simple introduction. I do visit TVTropes, but mainly just for a laugh.

I'm a third year English Literature and Creative Writing University student with a first year minor in Film and Television (it was easy, sue me). All I do all day and all I have done for three years now is analyse media, mainly literature, and then go away and write my own stories, trying to avoid the pitfalls of other writers.

Basically when the episode started spewing up things I had been specifically told to avoid in Lecture One of Year One of my University course, that was when I got suspicious. Tropes are not confined to TVTropes, they're a part of everyday writing (as any first year student could tell you), and there comes a point where a trope becomes a cliche, and that was the thrust of my annoyance with Moffat and the episode. It didn't use tropes (a usage of figurative language in literature if you want to be specific) it used cliche, in the writing, in the plot, and even in the direction and musical cues.

I didn't even find TVTropes until I was halfway through my second year, but I could have called that episode in my first year. In fact I could probably have predicted it while I was still in High School, it was junior amateurish writing that would have been kicked out of any of my seminars for being so awful.

 

[Agent Larkin]

It has Mark Sheppard.

That almost makes up for the existence of River Song.

It's funny that the first time I read that, I read it as 'the absence of River Tam'.

And now all I can think of is River Tam as the doctors next companion.

 

[Aetera]

It has Mark Sheppard.

That almost makes up for the existence of River Song.

I was thinking this exact same thing! There was definitely a "holy shit, it's Crowley!" moment.

River Song really annoys me. She's a borderline Mary Sue.

 

[ZeoAssassin]

so maybe i was just seeing things (ill have to rematch to double check) but i thought of Amy being pregnant the moment she started holding her stomach in the white-house...

and yet no one has mentioned that River did the very same thing later on in the episode?

at least i am pretty sure she did that.. did anyone else notice that or am i just crazy?

anyway pretty good episode but making it a 2-parter in incredibly annoying for a season premiere unless you air both on the same night. i don't hate cliffhangers but if i waited months and months for the new Doctor Who doing that us just mean.