(no subject)

[rynne]

Random Doctor Who thought of the day:

When I was leaving Tacoma for Spokane on Friday, we listened to the driver's iPod. Mostly I didn't much care for his music selections, but the very first thing he put on was Mr. Blue Sky by Electric Light Orchestra. And I can't listen to that song (or Don't Bring Me Down) without thinking of Love and Monsters.

I am actually quite fond of Love and Monsters. There are some things I don't really like (how Ursula ended up, especially when the characters don't seem to see the problems there), but honestly, I like it on the whole. And of the Doctor-lite episodes, I'd put it number two, with my ranking being Turn Left, then Love and Monsters, then Blink.

Putting Blink last is not because of my dislike of Moffat, truly. It's my favorite of his episodes, and one I can rewatch without wincing. It's got one of my favorite lines ever ("when you say 'you and the guys', you mean the internet, don't you?", though I admit I am also SO TIRED of "wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey"), and of course while it does exemplify a few of my Moffat-issues, taken alone, it's a good episode.

But Turn Left and Love and Monsters? They mean something. They were both very much about the Doctor and his companions, even when those characters were absent. Turn Left I don't really need to talk about since I haven't heard it disparaged nearly as much as Love and Monsters, but it's just, L&M still gives so much to the story and the characters.

Blink...doesn't really do much. There's the Doctor's line about being rubbish at his own weddings, which can be intriguing. There's the Doctor and Martha having to live together for three months while she supports him, which is also intriguing, but I don't think really adds that much to their characters, since it didn't seem to have changed anything--Martha comes out of it still infatuated, and the Doctor comes out of it still oblivious (willfully or not). It didn't really do anything. If this episode had been obliterated from the continuity, nothing would have changed. (You know, just like GitF.)

Love and Monsters, on the other hand, is so much a part of the story. Of course there's the foreshadowing I don't much like, but what it does for Jackie alone gives so much depth to her character that it's worth it for that alone. Watching the Jackie in Aliens of London/World War III, who would have guessed that eventually we get a character who stands up to someone for the Doctor's sake as well as Rose's? Her speech about those left behind gives us so much about every companion's loved ones, even those in the Classic series who were rarely, if ever, seen and considered. But mostly I just love to see how utterly generous Jackie really can be, going from her very legitimate anger and resentment at the Doctor in AoL/WWIII to defending him and protecting him.

I even like LINDA. These ordinary people who are so curious and open and friendly, who want to find the Doctor just because they are curious and open and friendly--who can't empathize with them? Especially us, considering LINDA is basically fandom. They give more depth to the whole world of Doctor Who, showing us that the Doctor doesn't just affect those he comes into direct, prolonged contact with. His life touches so much more than that--the world around him touches so much more than that. It's ironic, but focusing on a few ordinary people shows how huge the DW universe is, how influential. Sally Sparrow also does this to some degree, but the time loop gives her experience more of a fate/destiny spin--she was not as ordinary as Elton and Ursula and the rest of LINDA were. She was not as representative of the ordinary person.

So basically, I think Love and Monsters adds a lot more to the series than Blink does, and that's why I like it better. :p

Comments

[arabian.livejournal.com]

I know I've done this with your posts a few times, but I can't help it. You say so completely and succinctly what I feel about specific topics and this is utterly one of them.

So, yeah, I agree with every single word. (And, hmm, Rusty wrote TL and L&M; Moffat wrote Blink. Uhm, yeah. That just says it all, huh?)

[rynne.livejournal.com]

(And, hmm, Rusty wrote TL and L&M; Moffat wrote Blink. Uhm, yeah. That just says it all, huh?)

Heh, it really does.

L&M does not deserve all the flak it gets. I mean, I know people who watched S2 as it aired resented L&M for having so little Rose right after the announcement that she'd be leaving (or so I've heard, at least), but taken on its own, there's a lot there to like!

[shinyopals.livejournal.com]

You know, I think that's really putting into words something I knew, but never really thought about before. I adore L&M (except Ursula's ending, of course) for Jackie and for LINDA. For a silly, light episode, it does have a lot of emotional depth to it, really.

Blink is funny and has some good lines (and plenty of problems, but we know my feelings on Moffat...) but you're definitely right: it can be easily removed from s3 without missing anything important.

[rynne.livejournal.com]

Moffat's only episodes that really fit with the series, that are necessary for the story, are TEC/TDD (and of course, they have their problems). All the other ones are only good if you completely divorce them from their context. *sigh* If then. :p

I know a lot of people don't like L&M, but it just gives so much more to the show than Blink does!

[pncwho.livejournal.com]

I think I would've liked L&M a lot better if a) there'd been a much better monster than the Absorbaloff (I'm sorry, that just Did Not Work!) and Ursula hadn't ended up the way she did. Maybe it's just my claustrophobia, but the very thought of spending the rest of my life trapped in a paving stone (and how long will she live now? Will she still be alive centuries after Elton has died?) just gives me the heebie-jeebies. I'd rather die, TYVM.

I did like Elton, and human Ursula, and LINDA. And ELO. I think if they could've come up with a better fate for Ursula, I would've liked the episode a lot more.