Doctor Who Season 5 Rewatch Part 2

 

 As I described here and here I have been struggling to get excited about Doctor Who from Season 5 onward.  I am doing a re-watch of season 5 to see if perhaps I was just feeling somewhat pissy the first time around and perhaps a different time and different mindset would make the world re-align and my deep abiding love for Doctor Who to come back.  This post comments on the final six episodes of season 5.

Episode 8 & 9 The Hungry Earth and Cold Blood

This is the one where the crew discovers there are a race of humanoid reptiles living in the center of the earth or at least way down there.  Bad things happen to Rory, there's a little boy with dyslexia who's dad is kidnapped by the lizard people which is especially sad because his mom is a Biatch i.e. definitely NOT the best of humanity. The Doctor is very sanctimonious. The "twist" is pretty interesting and the last scene is pretty affecting even though I don't really care for Amy.  Overall I found very little of it interesting which is especially dire since it's a two-parter.  I thought all three of the two-parters in this season (almost half the season's episodes) were really weak.

Episode 10 Vincent and The Doctor

The biggest thing this episode taught me is that we Yanks apparently pronounce Van Gogh's name funny - big surprise.  In this episode, Amy and The Doctor travel back in time to discover that Van Gogh has mental problems but not because he can see an invisible space alien that likes to hang in churches.  Like many of the Who episodes that go back in time to visit a famous artist, it plays as an homage.  None of these episodes are great (Shakespeare wasn't bad in season 3, Agatha Christie and Dickens were okay).  This one was the weakest thus far in my opinion.

Episode 11 The Lodger

The Doctor weasels his way into flatmatehood in order to investigate the mysterious goings on in the apartment upstairs.  I really like this one.  It's Amy-lite and the Doctor gets to be especially wacky and weird and yet somehow way cooler than all the rest of us humans.  Not a whole lot happens but it still manages to be pretty charming and engaging for me.  I think this is the episode that has officially put me in like with Matt Smith as the Doctor.  Phew!

Episode12 & 13 The Pandorica Opens and The Big Bang

The third two-parter serves as the finale for this series.  The whole season has been building to this reveal as to what the cracks in the universe mean and what the hell is the Pandorica??  And why does everyone but the Doctor seem to know all about it?  Lots of stuff happens but this was pretty anti-climatic for me.  And it made all of the races in the universe besides the Doctor look like big huge dumbasses so why are we the viewer supposed to find them scary or compelling?  Was I supposed to be excited that there were Daleks AND Cybermen together - IT'S BEEN DONE.  And there are boatloads of Amy and River Song which definitely didn't improve my feelings about this one.  It's not all bad (there's some pretty clever and fun time travel shenanigans) but overall pretty weak.

 Season 5 Wrap-up

Unfortunately, my opinion of this season didn't really improve with this re-watch.  Putting aside all my biases and prejudices, I do think this is the weakest season of the new Doctor Who. 

One positive change is that I do now like and appreciate the eleventh Doctor.  Matt Smith brings an interesting quality to the Doctor.  I really believe he is "other"  - I really believe he is an old being in a young looking body and definitely NOT human.  And he does the big brash moments really really well  - much better than David Tennant or Chris Eccleston.  I wouldn't say he is overall better than they, but I do now think that he is bringing something new, his own flavor, to the role.

 So my initial apathy towards this new new incarnation of the show was not really related to a weird frame of mind or mood.  It was truly a big disappointment.  But I guess I should charge forth with season 6 - I just wish I could work up the old enthusiasm again.