Weekend, and Doctor Who finale reviews
Jul. 28th, 2008 10:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chargirlgeniusOther than the gas/diesel snafu, it was a decent enough weekend.
Friday evening, we had the au pair exit interview, where all we had to do was sign paperwork. There was no trying to mediate – she already had her plane ticket bought. No point.
After all of that, Jeff and I sat down to watch Doctor Who. I know that people have hated Stolen Earth, but I loved it. It *was* a lot all in one episode, but I could get over that.
Bringing in all of the characters from the New Who spinoffs – I can see how that would be annoying for the people who don’t watch them. We’ve watched Torchwood, and enough of Sarah Jane to know where Luke came from, so it wasn’t disturbing to us. To look at it from another angle, many episodes to pull in characters from pre-ninth Doctor, who have a lot more meaning for somebody who has watched that. While Gwen and Jantos might not have meant much to another viewer, the history of Davros and the daleks didn’t have as much meaning for me. It was a good story, but I’m sure a seasoned watcher got more out of that than I did.
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
melaniesuzanne suggested that I shouldn’t watch it until I could watch both halves of the two-parter, because it would mess with my brain. She was right, so we immediately broke our rule and found Journey’s End online. Hopefully one episode doesn’t push us over our net usage.
Donna! From a critical-of-the-show standpoint, I like how they ended it for her, but it made me so incredibly sad to see her revert back. My hope is that with the support of her family, instead of being constantly cut down, she can blossom into her full potential. That’s what I’m going to believe, anyway.
Rose and Doctor 10.5! First of all, it *is* possible to be intelligent and enjoy a good romance. I’ve read various reviews on Who communities, and so many people look sideways at anybody who is intrigued by that angle, like they’re just too good to *squee*. Good for you, you’re smart, you’re dry, you don’t squee. Fine for you, but get over yourselves and stop telling everybody why you’re better and smarter.
I digress.
The resolution on that was vaguely unsatisfying to me, from a romance POV, and I’m not sure why. Last week, I saw an icon with a kiss that I didn’t recognize, so I had an idea that *something* was going to happen. I almost wish that she’d kissed 10, and then died.
I then got this vague feeling that Rose wasn’t in it just for the Doctor, but also for his ride. 10.5 doesn’t have a TARDIS (though I’m still not convinced why her reality didn’t have a Doctor in it in the first place). What are they going to do? They can’t travel through time and space, will he build a ship? “Borrow” something alien? Rent a flat in London together, work for Torchwood, have babies, and fight over money?
From a non-romance POV, it was a bit better. *Why* couldn’t she stay when she’d already crossed into that universe? Wouldn’t sending her back cause more damage? Ok, I guess 10.5 needed her. Not that I think she should have stayed – obviously, she was just back temporarily, but the resolution could have been a bit better. 10.5 needed somebody, but I’m not sure that 10 is that much better off alone with his thoughts. He’s suffering a lot of self-doubt, has seen only the chaos that happens because he’s there, but he hasn’t seen what Donna witnessed in Turn Left, how badly the universe would go to pot without him.
Saturday morning we took the boys to the playground, much to their utter delight, and then ran a few errands before bringing them home for naps. Jeff napped too, and I puttered, picked up, and read a little (I have no desire to panic for Pennsic). At 3pm, Berta took over, and Jeff and I readied ourselves for a date. She’d spent all of Monday on the phone, and unable to watch the boys, so we asked her to work Saturday.
For our date, we did something that we haven’t done since Henry was 6 months old – we saw a movie… in the theater… with each other! Of course, we saw Dark Knight, which was awesome. Wow. It would have been awesomer but for the idiots behind me occasionally dropping popcorn on my head, and pulling my hair as they grabbed my seat back to go pee in the middle of the film, but it was still awesome. I have fast reflexes though, and as he grabbed a few strands of my hair, I flung my hand back and whacked his arm. At least I got an apology.
We had a leisurely sushi dinner at Yamazato, and did a bit of shopping at Whole Foods. I get there so seldom, I want to browse and linger, but I managed to be not TOO slow.
On our way home, we stopped off at National Harbor, a new conference center on the PG county side of the Potomac, right near the Wilson bridge. The place is HUGE. It’s not just a conference center, but they built an entire neighborhood, with shops, piers, restaurants, and waterfront. It was big, fancy, and …. odd. At 10pm, the piped in jazz changed to a show-tune like number, and the lights flickered in different colors for a little “all about National Harbor” show. It felt like indoctrination. Trendy, expensive, and FAKE. Thanks, but I think we’ll stick to hanging out in Old Town Alexandria, which is trendy, expensive, and REAL with its plethora of “George Washington shat here” sites.
Yesterday, more errands, more picking up, a little laundry, and I got to sit out on the porch with Henry and enjoy a thunderstorm. He’s such a FUN little boy. I just enjoy his company, and hearing what he has to say. Eddie was napping, so it was easy-peasy time. Verily, 90% of our difficulties are with fighting, sharing, and general getting along, so put one of them to bed and life’s a breeze.
Friday evening, we had the au pair exit interview, where all we had to do was sign paperwork. There was no trying to mediate – she already had her plane ticket bought. No point.
After all of that, Jeff and I sat down to watch Doctor Who. I know that people have hated Stolen Earth, but I loved it. It *was* a lot all in one episode, but I could get over that.
Bringing in all of the characters from the New Who spinoffs – I can see how that would be annoying for the people who don’t watch them. We’ve watched Torchwood, and enough of Sarah Jane to know where Luke came from, so it wasn’t disturbing to us. To look at it from another angle, many episodes to pull in characters from pre-ninth Doctor, who have a lot more meaning for somebody who has watched that. While Gwen and Jantos might not have meant much to another viewer, the history of Davros and the daleks didn’t have as much meaning for me. It was a good story, but I’m sure a seasoned watcher got more out of that than I did.
melaniesuzanne suggested that I shouldn’t watch it until I could watch both halves of the two-parter, because it would mess with my brain. She was right, so we immediately broke our rule and found Journey’s End online. Hopefully one episode doesn’t push us over our net usage. Donna! From a critical-of-the-show standpoint, I like how they ended it for her, but it made me so incredibly sad to see her revert back. My hope is that with the support of her family, instead of being constantly cut down, she can blossom into her full potential. That’s what I’m going to believe, anyway.
Rose and Doctor 10.5! First of all, it *is* possible to be intelligent and enjoy a good romance. I’ve read various reviews on Who communities, and so many people look sideways at anybody who is intrigued by that angle, like they’re just too good to *squee*. Good for you, you’re smart, you’re dry, you don’t squee. Fine for you, but get over yourselves and stop telling everybody why you’re better and smarter.
I digress.
The resolution on that was vaguely unsatisfying to me, from a romance POV, and I’m not sure why. Last week, I saw an icon with a kiss that I didn’t recognize, so I had an idea that *something* was going to happen. I almost wish that she’d kissed 10, and then died.
I then got this vague feeling that Rose wasn’t in it just for the Doctor, but also for his ride. 10.5 doesn’t have a TARDIS (though I’m still not convinced why her reality didn’t have a Doctor in it in the first place). What are they going to do? They can’t travel through time and space, will he build a ship? “Borrow” something alien? Rent a flat in London together, work for Torchwood, have babies, and fight over money?
From a non-romance POV, it was a bit better. *Why* couldn’t she stay when she’d already crossed into that universe? Wouldn’t sending her back cause more damage? Ok, I guess 10.5 needed her. Not that I think she should have stayed – obviously, she was just back temporarily, but the resolution could have been a bit better. 10.5 needed somebody, but I’m not sure that 10 is that much better off alone with his thoughts. He’s suffering a lot of self-doubt, has seen only the chaos that happens because he’s there, but he hasn’t seen what Donna witnessed in Turn Left, how badly the universe would go to pot without him.
Saturday morning we took the boys to the playground, much to their utter delight, and then ran a few errands before bringing them home for naps. Jeff napped too, and I puttered, picked up, and read a little (I have no desire to panic for Pennsic). At 3pm, Berta took over, and Jeff and I readied ourselves for a date. She’d spent all of Monday on the phone, and unable to watch the boys, so we asked her to work Saturday.
For our date, we did something that we haven’t done since Henry was 6 months old – we saw a movie… in the theater… with each other! Of course, we saw Dark Knight, which was awesome. Wow. It would have been awesomer but for the idiots behind me occasionally dropping popcorn on my head, and pulling my hair as they grabbed my seat back to go pee in the middle of the film, but it was still awesome. I have fast reflexes though, and as he grabbed a few strands of my hair, I flung my hand back and whacked his arm. At least I got an apology.
We had a leisurely sushi dinner at Yamazato, and did a bit of shopping at Whole Foods. I get there so seldom, I want to browse and linger, but I managed to be not TOO slow.
On our way home, we stopped off at National Harbor, a new conference center on the PG county side of the Potomac, right near the Wilson bridge. The place is HUGE. It’s not just a conference center, but they built an entire neighborhood, with shops, piers, restaurants, and waterfront. It was big, fancy, and …. odd. At 10pm, the piped in jazz changed to a show-tune like number, and the lights flickered in different colors for a little “all about National Harbor” show. It felt like indoctrination. Trendy, expensive, and FAKE. Thanks, but I think we’ll stick to hanging out in Old Town Alexandria, which is trendy, expensive, and REAL with its plethora of “George Washington shat here” sites.
Yesterday, more errands, more picking up, a little laundry, and I got to sit out on the porch with Henry and enjoy a thunderstorm. He’s such a FUN little boy. I just enjoy his company, and hearing what he has to say. Eddie was napping, so it was easy-peasy time. Verily, 90% of our difficulties are with fighting, sharing, and general getting along, so put one of them to bed and life’s a breeze.
