Saturday, April 23, 2011

Doctor Who: "The Impossible Astronaut"

Season 6, Episode 1
A fantastic return, with a few storytelling glitches

“Human beings…I thought I’d never get done saving you.”
-The Doctor

Let’s take a poll: Which of you thought that The Doctor was really, truly dead at the beginning of this hour? Yeah, that’s what I thought. I am never a big fan of the big death fake-out, and in this instance the show doubled down on the effect, much to my chagrin. Not only was it obvious that The Doctor we saw “killed” was going to be a future iteration, but since Steven Moffat isn’t about to be the man who ends the series by permanently offing the main character, it’s pretty clear that all of this will get sorted out soon enough, most likely through some overly complicated time-travel.

And is it by the end of the next hour that this will be cleared up, or the end of the season? It was a bit difficult tonight to tell which plots here were short-term and which were long. I like the effect, as it’s keeping me on my toes, but man if it’s left me scratching my head. Either way, I’m not particularly looking forward to seeing the resolution to The Doctor’s “death” play out, mostly because on a rational level, it irks me the way that Moffat and Co. play fast and loose with the rules of time travel, allowing paradoxes and all other sorts of impossible time-travel moves that just frustrate me. (See “The Big Bang.”) It’s great from a storytelling perspective – what better way to surprise the audience than to play by a new rulebook? – but I also like my sci-fi series to make sense, and Moffat’s sense of time travel tends to change based on whatever the episode requires.

But anyWho, everything else about tonight’s return was fantastic, most notably the way the show just sort of threw itself headlong into the proceedings, letting everything get up with the pace. It didn’t hurt that everything here looked fantastic, with the America location shots done in such way that it would make Michael Slovis jealous, and with surreal images of the Astronaut doing most of the legwork in drawing viewers in.

And of course there was a great big helping of creepy aliens, always a good way to start off a Doctor Who season. (Yes, I know, they’re called “serials” on British television, but this is America. I’m calling it a season. Get used to it.) But aliens and time travel? Well, that’s just too rich. As holder of a B.A. in history, I’m a sucker for DW’s history episode, and something about the idea of President Nixon and aliens just feels so…right. (Hey, maybe that’s why he was such a paranoid asshole! And maybe they’re responsible for those 18 missing minutes of tape! And Watergate! The possibilities are endless!)

But perhaps the best part of all of this was just how many character moments the show managed to squeeze in around all of the plot we saw tonight. The Doctor and River Song flirted and alluded to what has to be the strangest sexual encounter ever. (Because when two time-hoppers get together, you know the result just might literally make time stop.) Everyone in Doc’s entourage got some kickass new nicknames – “The Legs” (Amy), “The Nose” (Rory), and “Mrs. Robinson. And Rory and River shared a meaningful moment down in the tunnels as the reflected on the downside of having The Doctor in one’s life. Plus, we got to see Mark Sheppard – who you know best as Badger/Romo Lampkin/Manservant Neville - do a fantastic job as the young Canton Everett Delaware III, an ex-FBI agent who somehow managed to take all of the TARDIS action in stride. Seriously, that dude’s been in like every modern-day sci-fi show.

And then there’s the big question: What is up with Amy’s pregnancy? I noticed that River Song seemed to exhibit the same kind of stomach pains as Amy after her encounter with the aliens, so maybe this will all go away at the end of the hour. Yet Alex Kingston has yet to be made a full time cast member, so I would have to imagine that Amy’s child-to-be will have more weight, and thus might be a season-long arc. (Maybe it’s meant to tie into last season’s “Amy’s Choice,” though that might be stretching things a bit.) And then what about Amy’s killing of the Astronaut/kid inside the suit? Is that just something that will be resigned to these two episodes, or is her murdering someone going to be something that haunts her for episodes to come?

(It’s questions like that that remind me: As a rule, I don’t tend to comment much on the first half of two-part episodes, given the futility in trying to analyze a story that’s only half over. I’ll post something here every week regardless, if only to give people a place to mull over the episode, just know that in the future some of my reviews might run on the short side.)

Overall, it was a great episode for the show to come back on – my own personal taste in time travel and fake deaths aside – and if the show can keep this kind of momentum going forward, it’s going to be a great season. More please.

Any other opinions?

Quotes, Etc.:

I’m betting The Doctor we saw running around history in the opening minutes was/is/will be the older version. He seems like the bigger troublemaker to me.

Who do you think was in the Astronaut suit when The Doctor was “killed”? I’m going with Amy.

“This isn’t nearly as bad as it looks…”

Apparently Amy doesn’t understand Laurel & Hardy films. Her loss.

“She said she’s going to some planet called ‘America.’”

“Uh, Nowhere, Middle of? Yeah, this is the right place.”

Stetsons are cool.

“Just popped out to get my special straw. It adds more fizz.”

“I’m being extremely clever up here, and there’s nobody up here standing around, looking impressed. What’s the point of having you people here?”

Nixon was Canton’s second choice for President.

“Oh, this is the Oval Office. I was looking for the Oblong Room.”

“Oh, I hate him.” “No you don’t!”

“Do not compliment the intruder.”

“Your five minutes are up.” “Yeah? And where’s my fez?”

You’re just gonna let that whole “futuristic phone” thing go? You are a TERRIBLE secret service agent.

“Rory, would you mind going with her?” “Yeah, a bit.” “Then I appreciate it all the more.”

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