(no subject)

[rynne]

velesia and I went to the Earth Day celebration at the park today. Fun stuff, even if it was bloody cold. There was a really good turn out, and it was nice to see so many people there.

Both of my remixees liked the stories I wrote, so that makes me happy. And one of my stories is doing pretty well, comment-wise--certainly better than I was expecting, and better than last year. It's interesting, since Remix is usually a low-feedback ficathon. Well, I can't wait to claim them as mine, since I'm pretty proud of both. :D

Now for the real point of this post. :p velesia and I have slowly been making our way through New Who. Last time we watched Bad Wolf/Parting of the Ways/The Christmas Invasion (note to self: make that post I've been meaning to do about PotW), so now we're getting into S2.

I like New Earth and School Reunion, and I can sit through Tooth and Claw, but then there's Girl in the Fireplace.


I do not want to watch Girl in the Fireplace. Really don't. So I'm tempted to ask Vel if we can skip it--and honestly, it's not like she'd be missing anything if we did skip it, since it has pretty much no real bearing on the rest of the series.

On the other hand, though, GitF is a real episode, however much I wish it wasn't. It's part of the series. And I don't want to deprive Vel of an episode just because I don't like it. I know there are people who do, even D/R shippers, and she might like it too. I don't want to influence her negatively. Mostly I'm leaning towards watching it and trying to keep my mouth shut.

I just...really don't like that episode. I got most of my reasons for that out in this conversation with thunderemerald, as well as this post, so I won't go into everything here or this post would be really damn long. :p

I've been talking a lot throughout this rewatch with Vel. Mostly pointing out things I like, along with the occasional squee about how cute the Doctor and Rose are, and the occasional odd noise at significant moments (like an almost-whimper at Emergency Program One :(). I'm not sure I'd be able to keep my mouth shut during GitF, and even then, Vel might be able to hear my teeth grinding. :p I don't want to watch this episode, but neither do I want to influence her about it. The solution to that seems to be that we shouldn't want the episode, but I don't like the idea of skipping something, even if it is GitF.

I'm sure I've still got time to think about it, since we're both busy students (her more than me though, since I'm only part-time right now, and I don't have a job), and next time we do have some time, I doubt we'll get to GitF. But we'll get there soon enough, and I'm not sure what I should do.

Comments

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

I had much the same problem when I came to watching GitF with my roommate (jic) and then with my new-soon-to-be roommate (thegrungediva) that my roommate and I are moving in with -- what to do about GitF? I watched it with jic but seriously could not bear to watch it yet again with thegrungediva. And jic hates the episode while thegrungediva quite enjoyed it and I can't help but wonder if I had some influence on that.

It's a hard call. But it certainly is true that you can skip it and you won't need to explain anything about the rest of the series because it's absolutely unimportant in the grand scheme of things (which is part of why I dislike it).

[rynne.livejournal.com]

The continuity issue is one of the things that drives me crazy about it. Frankly, the continuity makes more sense if you skip it, and less if you watch it. This is not a good thing, and makes me very frustrated with the producers for allowing it, and Steven Moffat for writing it that way.

I might just tell velesia to watch it without me, but we're both really into analyzing things, and I'm sure she'd want to talk about it afterwards, if only to know why I didn't want to watch it when she knows how much I love this show. It's very possible that she'll end up disliking the episode on her own, since she's very feminist, but if she doesn't pick up on the undertones herself, she might end up liking it. I don't want to taint the experience for her, but I don't know if she'll let me get away with just making cryptic comments. :p

[tsukara.livejournal.com]

Well, you could always leave it up to her. She could watch it on her own, if you decide you can't stand to watch it again. That way she might have a more unbiased opinion on it afterwards.

And while it is certainly possible as far as the show's continuity goes to skip it, peopl emake reference to it in fandom quite a bit. So if she's eventually going to be involved in fandom, skipping it might become confusing. Or you could give her the brief, sarcastic synopsis I give people and go from there! :D

Really, the only good bit is the horse.

[rynne.livejournal.com]

Well, letting her know that I'm willing to skip it, after all the squeeing I've done about this show, is an indication that I don't think it's very good, and that might make her more critical than she would otherwise be.

I doubt she'll be getting involved with fandom (in terms of participation), but she does read fic, so I guess it would be helpful to know what happens. What's the brief, sarcastic synopsis you give people? *g*

I love the horse! It's too bad the "rule one: don't wander off" was cut. XD

[tsukara.livejournal.com]

Well, being critical about that episode is, I think, a good thing. Most of the problems I have wth it came upon subsequent, more careful viewings, and after reading some of Moffat's remarks.

Bitch in the Barbeque (TM principia_coh) is this episode that's a bit like an episode of some completely different show that the BBC stuck in there on accident. The Doctor meets Madame de Pompadour (while of course managing to ignore basically everything else going on in France at the time), has a snog, and a Vulcan mind-meld; there are clockwork robots stalking MdP for her brain, but not to eat; Moffat cheapens his own dancing inneuendo; the Doctor swans off leaving Rose in danger, rescung her in the nick of time, gets trapped in France in his rush to save the DiD (Damsel in Distress) and gets back by way of a fireplace, aka Narnia with a Fire Hazard (again, Prin). Oh, and there's a horse named Arthur who's honestly the best part of the episode. Oh, and Mickey.

Not so brief, but better than re-watching the whole episode, methinks.

They cut the best bits! Moar Arthur!

[rynne.livejournal.com]

That...is both an awesome and accurate summary. XD

We did end up watching GitF, but she didn't like it, and for reasons that I did not mention as we were watching, so I'm satisfied. Now I might never watch it again. :p

Moar Arthur! It would have been so awesome to have Arthur as a companion. He would have been so much better than Reinette.

[thunderemerald.livejournal.com]

Hehe. I'm watching New Who with my ex-roomie right now, and I'm having the same dilemma with the Dalek two-parter in season 3. It's important in that it shows just how low the Doctor sinks in s3, but it's so GOD AWFUL that I don't know if I could sit through it again.

[rynne.livejournal.com]

We'll have to get there, too. I don't dislike it as much as I do GitF, but it is pretty bad, and I'm not looking forward to it. Thank God Helen Raynor has improved since then!

[thunderemerald.livejournal.com]

Well, GitF you may not like for plotty reasons (and we've already agreed to disagree on that one!), but DiM/EotD is just BORING! To me, that's a far worse crime. I'd rather be yelling at the TV screen the whole time (like, hey, most episodes of Turchwad!) than shifting around and just wishing it was over.

Stupid Daleks.

[rynne.livejournal.com]

I think DiM/EotD is trite and badly plotted, the pastede-on accents are grating, and characterization rather comes and goes. They make me want to facepalm, but I don't really find them boring. (And hey, there's the Sneaky Sekrit Dalek Gossip Session Conspiracy Meeting! :p) Also, there's Tallulah, and Tallulah would have been an awesome companion. For me, it has far more redeeming qualities than GitF, where I do rather just shift around and wish it was over, in between yelling at the TV. :p

How far into Torchwood are you?

[thunderemerald.livejournal.com]

Ergh, I thought they were painfully boring. But yeah, Tallulah would've been a cool companion, I suppose, if not for the squeaky accent thing.

Torchwood? I've got two episodes to go before the end of season 1! I'll probably finish s1 tonight or tomorrow.

[shinyopals.livejournal.com]

I used to just sort of accept TGitF as a bit of a blip, but these days I just find it really irritating. The more I think about it, the more I want to smack the Doctor (because while previously I could dismiss it as him being clueless, these days I can't un-see the extra-marital affair angle).

Last time I rewatched, I tried to come up with things I liked about it. It was really difficult to stay positive in my reaction post. And I still ended up in a bad mood.

[rynne.livejournal.com]

The first time I watched it, I was perfectly all right with it. I didn't like it as much as Moffat's other episodes, but the intense dislike I now hold for it is a result of me thinking about it a lot more deeply. The extra-marital affair angle drives me crazy, and then it just has to be surrounded by other things that drive me just as crazy. It's just...not a good episode, especially of Doctor Who.