7X04 The Power Of Three (Grading/Discussion) (SPOILERS!)

[Alidar Jarok]

doubleohfive wrote:

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What did Amy do after her time with the Doctor? She became a model and nearly divorced her husband.

I'm not sure it's dramatically different from Donna. Sure, with the "nearly divorced her husband" part, it's bad, but, otherwise, she had a successful career where she could make a decent amount of money. Every person with the Doctor is different. I guess Amy's big thing is just having a life separate from the Doctor because he was always with her since she was a little kid.

[Mr. Adventure]

Oh God, don't bring up Donna. If anything sparks my nerd rage it'd hae to be her final fate. I can't really think what'd be worse short of Sliders girl being left in an breeder camp.

[Sindatur]

Mr. Adventure wrote:

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Oh God, don't bring up Donna. If anything sparks my nerd rage it'd hae to be her final fate. I can't really think what'd be worse short of Sliders girl being left in an breeder camp.

Yea, Donna was selfish, shallow and brash when she first met the Doctor. She became Sophisticated, but, still firm, and she really carried the morality insistence well. And then, she'd grown so much, and just wanted to keep traveling with her Mate. Poor thing wound up exactly back how the Doctor found her

[Mr. Adventure]

Sindatur wrote:

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Yea, Donna was selfish, shallow and brash when she first met the Doctor. He became Sophisticated, but, still firm, and she really carried the morality insistence well. And then, she'd grown so much, and just wanted to keep traveling with her Mate. Poor thing wound up exactly back how the Doctor found her

And the Doctor can never see again. Between her and Rose I get the feeling that RTD doesn't like people playing with his toys.

[Emh]

Allyn Gibson wrote:

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There's also the theory floating out there that "A Town Called Mercy" happens during the wedding anniversary party in this episode.

I like this theory even more and it probably fits better, too.

Starkers wrote:

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You don't know that, in fact not so long ago you were saying Whithouse was a shoe-in to get the job. He's written eps in every Moffat series after all? Chibnell hasn't.

I'm not sure I want either of them, but frankly Chibnell has written two enjoyable episodes this year, so if he did get the job I'd at least give him a chance.

I'm not sure I want either of them, but oddly enough, if I had to choose one, it would be Chibnall. I know I sound like a broken record about this (and who thought I would be such a Chibnall defender?), but he has written great stuff for Life on Mars, Law & Order: UK and even Torchwood. I think he's well-rounded enough to take over Doctor Who if he's offered the part.

That being said, I think I would much rather have someone from outside the house of production to take over from Moffat. Just to change things up a bit.

[Neroon]

Ghost Bones wrote:

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You're right, I'm just being a prudish stick-in-the-mud. Next week I hope River frigs herself off with the Doctor's sonic screwdriver. After all, kids are neither clueness nor innocent.

Cool it on the graphic analogies. You can make your point without them.

[Valin]

Very decent episode. Even though they've only done four stories so far, this is turning out to be the best season of 21st Century Who so far consistency-wise. I haven't seen a "meh" episode yet.

[The Wormhole]

An okay episode, even if it's just an extended version of Pond Life. And yes, I am aware that this was written and filmed before Pond Life, but the two are basically the same concept. Except they traded the Ood butler with the cubes.

I like the parts of this episode that are a character piece for the Doctor and the Ponds, and for once this season there was a good reason for Amy and Rory to be there. But unfortunately, the episode seemed rather unfocused on its subplots. The cubes which turn out to be connected to mysterious aliens at the hospital just seem to be on the periphery the whole time and then suddenly out of nowhere we're on a starship that happens to belong to a race previously believed to be mythological by the Time Lords. Then we have UNIT mixed in which we learn they're adopting a more scientific approach to things though this isn't really explored much beyond a few lines of dialogue. And we're introduced to a new character who happens to be the Brigadier's daughter, though this is largely ignored.

Really, it felt like there was too much crammed into this episode. Amy and Rory's out of TARDIS life could have been its own episode, and UNIT dealing with the cubes could have been another, and both storied could have been improved as a result.

Aren't they being a bit too complicated about why the Doctor feels so attached to Amy because she was the first one he saw after regenerating? Never mind the Doctor has never been too attached to people just because they were the first he met as a particular incarnation, wouldn't the far simpler explanation that he's her son-in-law work much better?

So, why didn't they use the UNIT theme music from the RTD era in this episode? I know since Moffat took over they haven't really bothered with the music from RTD's run. But the Cybermen have the same theme music under Moffat as they did under RTD, and the UNIT theme was even used on SJA, so why didn't they use it here.

Also on the music front, I noticed in the scenes set in December there was a Christmas song playing that was also heard in The Runaway Bride and Turn Left. Is this an actual song, or just something recorded for specifically for the show?

Just why were there all those lens flares in all the scenes set in the hospital? I don't watch hospital dramas, do a lot of them have lens flares and this show was trying to parody that like they parodied Trek XI's lens flares with the starship bridge in A Christmas Carol?

I was going to comment that it would have made more sense to place A Town Called Mercy after this episode, since that would explain why the Ponds are travelling with the Doctor, and this episode even featured a visit with Henry VIII which was mentioned last week. But I see some are suggesting A Town Called Mercy could have happened during the anniversary celebration the Doctor took the Ponds on, and I agree that is the perfect solution to that continuity hiccup.

So, from Amy's perspective it's been ten years since she first started travelling with the Doctor. Meaning she's now 31 and the year is 2020. No, I'm not trying to make a point, just making the observation.

[Wereghost]

The Wormhole wrote:

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Also on the music front, I noticed in the scenes set in December there was a Christmas song playing that was also heard in The Runaway Bride and Turn Left. Is this an actual song, or just something recorded for specifically for the

I'm astonished at how many posters in this thread don't know the song. Must be getting old.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xg9...?search_algo=2

[Mr. Adventure]

Might just be a US thing, I've never heard of that song.

[BlastHardcheese]

I thought it was a nice breather episode where the Doctor wouldn't have to make yet another moral choice on whether or not it's okay to kill the big bad of the week.

That said, Matt Smith is really beginning to annoy the heck out of me. Not even Tennant or Eccleston displayed a complete inability to sit still for an hour. They (like all the doctors before them) were actually able to sit down and shut up for a while.

Is it too much to ask for a thoughtful introspective Doctor who knows how to conduct himself in social situations? Even Tennant, for all his wangsting, was still able to relax. Why can't they let Matt Smith relax? We don't need an ADHDoctor to keep the show fun and interesting.

[Sindatur]

The Wormhole wrote:

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So, from Amy's perspective it's been ten years since she first started travelling with the Doctor. Meaning she's now 31 and the year is 2020. No, I'm not trying to make a point, just making the observation.

No, that's precisely Amy's point. It's not 2020, and their friends are noticing them aging faster. Have an Anniversary Party, travel 6 months during it, Run off for an adventure and travel 9 months... I think at the very most, we count Amy's 10 years from when she and the Doctor actually started traveling together full time due to her crack in time. Seems like she ages 3 years a year, looked at on average (Though, maybe all but the first two years have been this season alone?)

[Samurai8472]

The Wormhole wrote:

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Also on the music front, I noticed in the scenes set in December there was a Christmas song playing that was also heard in The Runaway Bride and Turn Left. Is this an actual song, or just something recorded for specifically for the show?

Yes I also brought that up too

http://www.trekbbs.com/showpost.php?...8&postcount=26

[BlastHardcheese]

Sindatur wrote:

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No, that's precisely Amy's point. It's not 2020, and their friends are noticing them aging faster. Have an Anniversary Party, travel 6 months during it, Run off for an adventure and travel 9 months... I think at the very most, we count Amy's 10 years from when she and the Doctor actually started traveling together full time due to her crack in time. Seems like she ages 3 years a year, looked at on average (Though, maybe all but the first two years have been this season alone?)

I'm reminded of a great Cracked article about time travel, and the reasons why it would suck. The first they give is this exact issue with Amy aging 10 years. I don't know if linking other websites is against the rules so I'll quote:

To borrow from Professor Rufus of Bill and Ted University, "No matter what you do, no matter where you go, that clock, the clock in San Dimas is always running."

So you get in your DeLorean and you leave 1985 to go on an adventure in the past. Say it takes you six months to accomplish your goal (ie, nearly making out with your mom) and when you're done, you go back to your own time. Maybe you go back to the very moment you left.

But you are six months older. There's no way around it. The time machine can't adjust your age backward--if it did, it would be altering your brain at the same time, wiping out the memories of what you experienced. No matter how many rejuvenation clinics from the future you visit, you will always age along your own timeline just as certainly as Marty did throughout Back to the Future.

When you get to the core of it, traveling through time is pretty much a deal with the Devil. Yes, it will enable you to save John Connor and get to Muggle Studies on time, but it will shave several months to several years off your life depending on how much you abuse it. These are precious moments from your twilight years that you will never get back: one last weekend with your wife, your granddaughter's graduation and the inevitable cloning of John Candy.

In short, when you've managed to hit age 89 in seven years and you're lying on your deathbed, will it really have been worth seeing everything time had to offer just to miss out on your own life? Sure, things may suck now, but you have no idea what it's going to be like in the future. By rewriting it all, you may just end up missing out on your own God-authored happy ending.

[Ar-Pharazon]

Neroon wrote:

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Cool it on the graphic analogies. You can make your point without them.

It is a nice graphic analogy. Reminds me of Joanna Lumley in Curse Of Fatal Death, "Oh look, it has three settings!"