Dr. Who Series 6, part 1

I had fully intended to post individual recaps of each episode of the latest Doctor Who series, but time constraints and my very erratic viewing schedule made that impossible. Instead I am posting this quick recap of my thoughts on each episode along with my overall opinions on this season as whole. This means that I will likely miss some big things, and I am going to give much shorter thoughts than I would like, but I'd rather put something out rather than nothing. (Alas, no recaps of the wonderful Mad Men season 4 :( )

Before I go into the individual episodes though I have to note that I saw the first two episodes at the amazing screening at the Village East Theater on April 11th. The event, which was affectionately and accurately dubbed "Dr. Who Line Con" was fantastic! Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, and Steven Moffat (along with other cast members and producers) all came and talked about the show, and gave out donuts. When I got there at 9:00am, for a 7:00pm screening, there were already hundreds of people in line and we wound up in a third theater, so we watched the talkback via closed circuit TV. It was wonderful to meet all the "who-fans" and cosplayers and I can't wait until my next Dr. Who event.

Shae and I start a chalk drawing craze with a TARDIS and a pink Dalek!

• The Impossible Astronaut/  Day of the Moon
• I saw these episodes at the screening, so I fully admit that my opinions of them may have been skewed, and that I was unable to watch them with as much attention to detail as I would have liked. With that said I found them to be spectacular episodes of the show. Moffat brought the scary intensity with the Silence, and his own cheeky humor abounded. River Song's welcome return was fun and the playing around with time and memory yeilded many returns. Not to mention the start of a banner year for Rory. The plotting though had some tough spots as the weak links in Moffat's writing were also emphasized and over reliance on tropes of faulty memory and time were set up as a hallmark of the entire season. The episodes also did not address many of the lingering questions from series 5. "Why did the TARDIS explode?" being primary among them.
• (Note that from here on out SPOILERS abound) The two episodes also set up the primary mysteries for series 6. Who killed the Doctor? (and was it actually the Doctor who died?) Who is the little girl? Is Amy pregnant? and What happened to Amy in the mental institution? 
•  The Curse of the Black Spot
• This episode was a definite weak link, and a hard come down from the excellent opening two parter.Pirates, mermaids, and medical alien tech taking people for its own attempts to "improve" them. It has all been done, and infinitely better, especially in Moffat's own classic "The Empty Child/ The Doctor Dances." The characters were not interesting, the story slow and silly and it did not really advance the main plot at all.
• The Doctor's Wife
• This was a great episode written by Neil Gaiman. I loved the personification of the TARDIS and "House" as the villain was quite entertaining. I wish that Rory and Amy had actually gone into one of the other rooms of the TARDIS and the Rory did not "die" again. But Uncle and Auntie and Nephew and the creepy, silly, wonderfulness of the entire experience made up for that.
• The Rebel Flesh/ The Almost People
• These episodes have me torn. I liked the premise. I loved the development for Rory. I loved the Doctor playing against himself. (Matt Smith is really turning it on and has become his own, wonderfully likeable Doctor. Tennant was great, but Smith is totally the man I now think of as being the man behind the TARDIS console.) The atmosphere was dark and mysterious and the final moment when it was revealed that Amy was a "ganger" was wonderful. The story overall was boring though, especially in Almost People, and I have major issues with the philosophical and moral presentation. If we are convinced to think of the "gangers" as people for two hours, why does the Doctor then "kill" Amy with no remorse. All in all a giant two-part misstep.
• A Good Man Goes to War
• Moffat got me with this one. I actually was bothered a bit by the Russel T. Davis style bringing together of the "old friends" and of the overly twisty and emotionally manipulative moments. But I also totally bought the episode and loved it. I loved the Sontaran nurse, the lesbian Silurian, the soldier who loved the Doctor and all the emotional angles they brought to the story. Amy and Rory continue to grow and develop into character that I really care about and the Doctor seemed more determined and intense and wonderfully goofy than ever. (This was the first time Smith's 11 dove into 10's classic "dark" territory and I really bought it.) Then there was the big reveal at the end that we have been waiting for since Silence in the Library. We now know who River Song is. Of course that means 1000 more questions. I know a lot of people who hate the Melody=Song equation. I don't, but I also don't yet love it. I think it will really depend on how it all plays out, and especially if River's timeline can eventually be played back into a coherent story of her relationship with the Doctor. For now though, it was a wonderful moment on which to end a solid, if not spectacular, mini-season of Doctor Who.