In the second part of the season 6 opener, we join the Doctor after a 3 month timeskip. It's all rather mysterious at first. Why are the Doctor and his friends all in separate states? What's Canton up to? And what's with those tally marks? Thankfully, we're soon brought up to speed, and so follows another exciting, scary Doctor Who adventure. As with the previous episode, it features some great character moments, and River and Rory in particular gain a great deal of depth. Also featured is Richard Nixon, who is probably my favourite historical guest character following this episode. Be warned - there's a real risk that "Hail to the Chief" will not leave your head by the time the episode finishes.
In spite of BBC America's involvement, this is a very British take on the USA, and the writer's attitude is perhaps best described as playfully affectionate. It's not a negative portrayal, by any means, but it's rather larger-than-life, and there are moments when Moffat's tongue seems to be planted firmly in his cheek. That said, it's not a particularly funny episode; there are amusing moments, but they're far outnumbered by the scenes which are dramatic, tense or eerie. Much of the time, the highly creative story unfolds at breakneck speed, hurtling you from touching moments to unnerving ones at the blink of an eye.
The snag is, frankly, it's all a bit confusing. There's a lot to take in, and I must admit, it took me a second viewing to make sense of parts of it. The story is rendered still more confusing by the introduction of elements which, in hindsight, are clearly part of a plot that will presumably span the whole of the series. This is not a bad thing - in fact, it's rather intriguing - but it's not something we generally expect from Doctor Who, and unlike in the previous season, the plot hooks in this story are extremely visible, to the extent that, at the end of the episode, you still don't really feel like you've seen the whole story (because you haven't). Furthermore, if this is supposed to resolve the plot hooks set up in the last season's finale, it does a pretty poor job of it, I must say.
On the whole, mixed feelings - mostly positive, but mixed. Not a bad episode, by any means, and certainly recommended to fans of the series, but not one of the best episodes, either.
Day of the Moon
In the second part of the season 6 opener, we join the Doctor after a 3 month timeskip. It's all rather mysterious at first. Why are the Doctor and his friends all in separate states? What's Canton up to? And what's with those tally marks? Thankfully, we're soon brought up to speed, and so follows another exciting, scary Doctor Who adventure. As with the previous episode, it features some great character moments, and River and Rory in particular gain a great deal of depth. Also featured is Richard Nixon, who is probably my favourite historical guest character following this episode. Be warned - there's a real risk that "Hail to the Chief" will not leave your head by the time the episode finishes.
In spite of BBC America's involvement, this is a very British take on the USA, and the writer's attitude is perhaps best described as playfully affectionate. It's not a negative portrayal, by any means, but it's rather larger-than-life, and there are moments when Moffat's tongue seems to be planted firmly in his cheek. That said, it's not a particularly funny episode; there are amusing moments, but they're far outnumbered by the scenes which are dramatic, tense or eerie. Much of the time, the highly creative story unfolds at breakneck speed, hurtling you from touching moments to unnerving ones at the blink of an eye.
The snag is, frankly, it's all a bit confusing. There's a lot to take in, and I must admit, it took me a second viewing to make sense of parts of it. The story is rendered still more confusing by the introduction of elements which, in hindsight, are clearly part of a plot that will presumably span the whole of the series. This is not a bad thing - in fact, it's rather intriguing - but it's not something we generally expect from Doctor Who, and unlike in the previous season, the plot hooks in this story are extremely visible, to the extent that, at the end of the episode, you still don't really feel like you've seen the whole story (because you haven't). Furthermore, if this is supposed to resolve the plot hooks set up in the last season's finale, it does a pretty poor job of it, I must say.
On the whole, mixed feelings - mostly positive, but mixed. Not a bad episode, by any means, and certainly recommended to fans of the series, but not one of the best episodes, either.