Doctor Who – 3 episodes in to the Matt Smith Era

Matt Smith has Arrived

Matt Smith. “What’s wrong with his face?!?” I hear some of you say. Okay, he looks a bit odd, no argument there. BUT compared to most Doctors, Tennant was always too pretty.

Acting wise, I like Smith better than Tennant. He has a much different style than we’ve seen before, Childlike exuberance with a wizened soul. Tennant was becoming a little too brooding and depressed for my tastes.

Most regenerations are drastic, with sweeping changes in personality. The Eccleston to Tennant change was subtle, and I believe that’s what most people expected. To be fair in the 1^st episode you could still see some of Tennant’s attitudes and mannerisms. That disappeared later in the episode. More drastically, in Victory of the Daleks he wanted to destroy them once and for all, showing no reservations about committing genocide.

Amy Pond: a wonderful lass.

I think, by far, she is the prettiest companion yet. May be they were going for the Beauty and the Beast effect. BUT as I put looks aside for the Doctor, I shall do so for Amy.

Miss Pond is one of the smartest and most resourceful companions to date. Even Adric, Nyssa, and Victoria (from the classic series) relied on the Doctor to tell them what to do.

I only hold Romana higher but she was a Timelord after all.

In The Beast Below, Amy recognizes that the Star Whale was there by choice. It came to save the children from a dying Earth. It was old and the last of its race. Sound familiar? All the years of loneliness and pain just made it kind. She saw the same traits in the Doctor, and trusted her instincts about the creature. She freed the Star Whale from its torture, saving both the Whale and the humans. A solution the Doctor could not see.

In Victory of the Daleks, when the Doctor failed to “humanize” the android bomb by evoking painful memories, Amy succeed with evoking memories of a lost love. Once again she out thought the Doctor. We also learn that she may have some secrets, Why cant she remember the Daleks from before?.

And speaking of the Daleks, Thank you Mark Gatiss for bringing them back to stay!

You must be smoking CRACK

I’m speaking of course of the new season long plot. The crack in the skin of the world. We’ve seen it in every episode and it is linked to Amy. From the look on the Doctor’s face, it’s the reason the Doctor invited her to join him. Which also means he lied to her…interesting.

Okay that’s all for now. Next week River returns!!!

Observations after “Sundown”

Okay friends. After the events of “Sundown”, I think its time to review what we learned and I’ve observed so far this season.

• Locke is Smokey. Actually it’s more like Smokey has chosen to take the form of Locke, and Locke is truly dead. Nice job of quickly taking Richard out of the equation.
  
• The “sickness”, mentioned by Danielle Rousseau in season 1, is a darkness of the soul that represents Smokey’s influence. So far Sawyer, Sayid and Claire have been recruited or “claimed” by Smokey. And speaking of Claire…
  
• Claire is the new Danielle. Claire is back. She’s been hiding in the jungle for 3 years, and she thinks the Others have taken her baby.
  
• Smokey, in order to recruit Sawyer, showed him a cave with names and numbers written on the walls and ceiling. The names were preceded by numbers, most of which were crossed out. Sawyers name was there along with other survivors of flight 815. Smokey told Sawyer that these people were chosen by Jacob and that he affected their choices in life so that they all eventually ended up on the Island. This is why they, of all people, were on the island. What they assumed was choice was no choice at all. These chosen people were Candidates to be the new Jacob, the protector of the Island.
  
• Jacob’s ghost led Hurley and Jack to the Lighthouse. The Lighthouse was a method that Jacob used guide prospective Candidates to the island. The focusing mirror is turned to a certain degree. That degree corresponds with a name, and allows the user to observe the Candidate off island. Jack turned the mirror to 23, his number, and saw his childhood home in the mirror. Of course Jack then threw a hissy fit and destroyed the mirrors.
  
• So here’s what I’m thinking. The pilot of Oceanic 815 said that when the plane went down they were thousands of miles of course. I say the Lighthouse was used to pull the plane off course, and when it passed over the Island the electromagnetic pulse caused the crash. Also …
  
• The mirror revealed the location where Sun and Jin were married and the church where the funeral for Sawyer’s parents was held. Those represent the moments that Jacob had contact with Sawyer, Sun and Jin. The lighthouse could act as a gateway for Jacob to leave the island and make physical contact with people.
  
• And my guess at who is coming to the Island; Desmond, but more importantly Penny and baby Charlie. My gut tells me that all 3 will be important.

Okay, that’s all my brain has in it for now. I’ll return soon.