five.by.five

I know there are a lot of knitters around here on Tumblr.  I am a decent, but still somewhat new knitter.  I’m pretty good at all the basic skills and maneuvers - EXCEPT, I cannot figure out how to pick up the stitches from the side of the heel flap on a sock!!!  I started and ripped apart my first pair of socks like a dozen times and have been too angry to try again.  Anyone have any advice or links to a great set of instructions that can help??  If you do, would you kindly drop me a note?  Thanks!

The two-part Series 1 finale!  Daleks!  Big guns!  People disintegrating!  A glowing Rose that oh so reminded me of Buffy in season 4 when she merged with the rest of the Scoobies to defeat Adam!  And, a regenerating Doctor!  So much to write about!

Not a bad series finale as far as series finales go, I would say.  It was a little slow to get going for me with whole game show stuff, though I did REALLY enjoy the robot incarnations of hosts we all know and love.  But, it picked up and by the second half, I was really enjoying this one.  It feels like a list day, so I’m going to break it down point by point (in random, slightly chaotic order):

·         I really loved the Dalek storyline here.  As someone who hasn’t seen any of the original ‘classic’ Who, but has seen the Daleks pop in the new Matt Smith era of Who, I appreciated this featuring of them.  I definitely felt like I got a better sense of why the Daleks are such a nemesis and what they are all about.

·         How fun was Captain Jack in these episodes?  I have to admit that I didn’t want to love him at first because he’s just too pretty.  I mean seriously - straight out of a Ken and Barbie wedding photo - and that’s not normally my thing.  But, I love him anyway.  I will be adding Torchwood to my cue to watch before too long, I’m sure.

·         For those of you who have read my other episode posts, you’ll know that I had bias towards Rose coming in and have been slowly getting over it all season.  This finale really helped – loved that she was brazen enough to rip open the soul of the TARDIS and save the day.  I always appreciate a woman who saves the day.

·         Speaking of saving the day, it was nice that Mickey could do something useful.  And that Jackie was on board with the whole thing.  Well done.

Overall, it was a very pleasing ending to series 1.  The Ninth Doctor went out on a gallant note, which makes me appreciate him a little more.   Though, I am excited to see what David Tennant will bring.  I’ve seen a few sporadic episodes of his shows here and there, but am looking forward to knowing the whole story.  Hooray for watching these on Netflix and not having to wait months to start the next series!  Especially since I’m already waiting not so patiently until September for new episodes to air (Damn you, Moffat!)

So, Boom Town brought us back to Cardiff and back to the Slitheens (or at least one Slitheen in the form of Margaret Blaine).   I feel like there was a lot happening in this episode.  There was some prodding and poking into The Doctor’s character through his interactions with Margaret; there was relationship development and complications in the relationship of Rose and Mickey; then we had Captain Jack in roaming around being charming and gathering up a fan base for Torchwood; and finally we had a realization (if only slight and in a bit of jest) of the ongoing appearance of the phrase ‘Bad Wolf.’  

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Hello, Steven Moffat!!  These episodes (a two-parter) were Moffat’s first as a writer for Doctor Who, as I understand it, and they were AMAZING!  Loved them.  As someone who has seen his later work, I noticed common elements of his work weaved through this story that I really enjoyed.  Creepy kids.  A good, dramatic story arc.  And, really well written characters.   Can you tell I’m excited to write about these two episodes?!

So, here’s how I break down The Empty Child & The Doctor Dances down:

Positives:

·         The entrance of Captain Jack Harkness.  How lovely it was to meet him!  I’m looking forward to getting to know him better.

·         How great was Nancy?  I really thought she was a well-written character and well-developed, especially for such a short time on the screen. 

·         Creepy element: FANTASTIC!  I love a little eeriness in my Doctor Who and, really, kids are always creepy.

·         Rose and the Doctor: Similar to ‘Dalek’ I felt their connection in these two episodes to be genuine and thoughtful.  I enjoyed seeing a range of emotions from them both – scared, happy, flirty, playful, serious … . . really well written and acted.  And, more dancing, please!

·         Finally, these episodes did what I love the most about Doctor Who when it’s at its best.  It combined wacky sci-fi stuff and silliness with real characters and stories in a beautiful way.  When the story and the characters are well-written, then all the madcap stuff feels more believable and enjoyable – less prone to scrutiny, I guess.

Negatives:

·         I really don’t have any.  Well, maybe just that that damn kid and his creepy voice asking for ‘Mummy’ are going to haunt me for a while.

Father’s Day is a Rose-centric episode, and one that gives us a good look into her family, too.   (Does anyone else feel like this season is much more about Rose and much less about The Doctor?  I’m not complaining, really, just observing.) 

Anyway, Rose messes up big time and disaster ensues.  (I still feel a little unclear as to what exactly caused the madness, since The Doctor messes with time constantly, but whatever).  During said disaster we get to meet her father, see a younger Jackie, and visit the grief that Rose has over the loss of her father at such a young age.  I enjoyed this glimpse into Rose’s family life and found the opportunity for her to connect with her father quite poignant.  This episode also gave me a new appreciate for Jackie.  I liked her well enough before, but found her character to have much more depth now.  Good move on the writer’s part.

I did notice that there were a couple of scenes where I found the Doctor to be quite dislikable, though.  There is something about this incarnation of The Doctor and the way in which he gets bossy that borders on just plain mean.  I’m not a fan of this.  On a lighter note, I LOVED the silliness of the flying monsters that came to ‘sanitize’ time.  They were simply delightful.  Zipper monsters at their best!

So, I actually watched this episode a few weeks ago and forgot to write about it. 

I suppose that sums up my feelings about this episode.  It was sort of unmemorable.  Fine for what it was, but not an hour that made me really excited to visit the world of Doctor Who.  I don’t have much to say except for that how dumb can Adam be to NOT change the automatic release of his new computerized head from a snap of the fingers.  Really, now.  So, yeah, I’m moving on.  Sorry for those of you who love this episode, but I watched a few episode in the last two days and want to write about those! 

On to Father’s Day!

Wow!  Okay, in my opinion, this is the best episode of the first series so far.  It was the first time that I really BELIEVED Christopher Eccleston as The Doctor and cared about his character.  It seemed to me that he owned the character much more in this episode than he had previously and I was so relieved to see that!  I was getting worried that I’d never take to him as The Doctor!  It also helped, I think, that this seemed to be the first story that was really written for his character, rather than for Rose.  About time, I think. 

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I just need to get this out.  Feel free to ignore and wait for more fun posts in the future (Doctor Who! Knitting! Buffy! Kittens! Who KNOWS what else!?). 

Here goes - things that I am sick of right now:

1. People that haven’t shown any interest in my life in years contacting me for favors. 

2. People who say they live in/are moving to/from Portland when they are REALLY living in/moving to/from a suburb.  Yes, it’s the Portland AREA, but Vancouver/Beaverton/Tigard, whatever is NOT Portland.

3. Conservatives.  Enough said.

4. People who praise the ALL aspects of the military just because they have an association with it.  Yes, the person you know who happens to be a soldier or marine or whatever may be a good guy or woman and may be very brave and honorable, but THAT DOESN’T MEAN EVERYTHING ABOUT THE MILITARY is wonderful and should be supported.

5. People who have NOTHING else to talk about ever besides their children.  I mean, I get that you love your kids, but aren’t you a person, too????

6. People who believe the only anniversaries worthy of acknowledgment are weddings.  What about people who CAN’T get married or DON’T necessarily want to?  Aren’t their relationships valuable?

7. People who think it’s totally acceptable to blare Christian sermons or music and to offer you “God’s blessings” because OF COURSE you believe in their God, too, and OF COURSE there is no alternative to their belief systems.

Ugh.  Okay.  I’m done now.  Sorry, I’m not a cranky person all the time, but sometimes you just gotta’ let it out, right? 

I feel like I should include something to lighten the mood, now.  Here you are:

I’m going to wrap my thoughts about these two episodes into a single post – since it was a two-parter and I watched them both together.  I think my favorite thing about the episodes was Harriet Jones.  She was feisty and added some nice energy to these episodes, I thought.  I also very much enjoyed her interactions with Rose. They have some great exchanges that were delivered well.  For instance:

Rose: Can we just launch a nuclear bomb at them?
Harriet Jones: You’re a very violent young woman.  

I understand that she returns in future episodes – so hooray for that, I suppose. 

We got to see deeper into Rose’s life in this two-parter, as her mom, Jackie, and her boyfriend, Mickey, were both prominently featured.  Jackie was amusing and showed that she has a genuine concern for her daughter which was nice.   I still feel pretty ‘meh’ about Mickey.  Though, I started finding myself want to be on his side because The Doctor was so mean to him!  What was the point of that, really?  It seemed oddly out of character to me that The Doctor would be so disrespectful to someone who was an average, non-evil fellow.  Strange.  Anyway, by the time the end of ‘World War Three’ came I was back to not caring about Mickey.  His reluctance to join The Doctor and Rose on the TARDIS was a huge turn-off for me, but even more so was the fact that he couldn’t be honest with Rose about it.  Ugh.  I hate false bravado.

The Doctor and Rose continued to (theoretically) grow closer in these two episodes.  Though, it still feels a little forced for me.  I’m liking Rose individually more than I thought I would, but am not feeling the Billie Piper/Christopher Eccleston chemistry.  So, I’m still waiting that one out. 

Oh!  One more thing, I find it hard to believe that this was the first time The Doctor has ever been slapped by someone’s mother.  I’m pretty damn impressed if that’s true!

Next up:  DALEKS!  Or, at least one of them.  Woo-hoo!

I’m getting VERY stressed and angry about the frightening crop of Republicans announcing their bids for the US presidential race.  Just sayin’.  Ugh. 

I’ll be back to more uplifting posts shortly.