6.5X012 Closing Time (Grading/Discussion) (SPOILERS!)

[Allyn Gibson]

I never hear the 10th Dr with Moffat lines.

I "hear" Tennant in most of "The Eleventh Hour," the Angels two-parter, and (especially) the Pandorica speech. I don't "hear" Tennant in "A Christmas Carol," which led me to believe that Moffat had a handle on what made the eleventh Doctor different, but then I "heard" Tennant in "A Good Man Goes to War" and a little bit in "Let's Kill Hitler" (when the Doctor was dying). So I don't know what to expect next week from Moffat's characterization of the Doctor.

 

[Captain Crow]

Wonderful! He's been gone for a couple of years now and people are still trying to blame him for crap episodes

I'm not blaming him for anything. It's just this story felt like one of his castoffs. Didn't know I wasn't allowed to compare Moffat's work with his predecessor's.

Moffat has demonstrated many times now he's able of Producing and producing crap all on his own.

Yes, Moffat has shown he can make crap episodes and this one feels like he's trying mimic a RTD era story. The big menace took a back seat for domestic issuses just like most of his stories did. Again, I didn't know I wasn't allowed to compare his work with his predecessor's.


Out of curiosity, is there a list somewhere of former "Doctor Who" head writers and producers that we are allowed to mention that don't cause people to throw a wobbly?

 

[BlastHardcheese]

The most ridiculous thing I think is that we've already had an "I'm going to die" story arc for the 10th Doctor, and that was barely two seasons ago. I'm fully expecting a silly get-out-of-death-free twist ending for the next episode.

 

[Eyes]

Great acting by Matt throughout, and James Corden as well, tbh, and that's the best I can say for this one. The Cybers didn't feel a threat at all, especially the way they were defeated. I'd like to think that the 'saving Earth' bit was secondary to the Doctor and Craig playing off each other, which is how The Lodger worked as an episode, but it didn't feel like that half the time.

There was a good sense of foreboding, I just hope that next episode gives a satisfying resolution to the series.

 

[Gov Kodos]

I enjoyed having Corden and Smith together again. I had hoped there'd be more to tie the lodger and the the finale next time, but it was a fun episode over all. The Cyber threat was very fluff and formulaic compared to 'The Girl...' and 'God Complex' which, coming just before the finale, makes this feel like it could have been better tied to the series arc than just picking up the blue envelopes and stetson. A nice episode swimming among stronger ones. The ending with River, I just don't feel invested in River's character anymore. Stretching out the mystery of her story has just made me feel tired of the arc, and were it not for Alex Kingston's grand characterization of River Song, I'd be more than happy to see the character just get the Sonic for her trip to the library now.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

I liked the episode, but didn't love it. I thought they addressed the themes of the season well with the Doctor needing Companions but also the fear of putting them in harms way. I've seen the Cybermen destroyed by emotion before, so I'll let the contrived nature of the resolution slide.

The ending pushed it up as well. The last two stand-alones were great, but I'm looking forward to a resolution to the season. Great indication of how River continues to be brainwashed. That was unexpected, but makes perfect sense.

 

[Cutter John]

TaT here.

Wow, its sounding like GB in here. Are folks just in a grumpy mood today?

I think I figured out why some stories feel like fanfic. Its when the big alien menace is just a hook to hang character moments on. Although I suppose one barely functioning cybership was more an inconvenience rather than an menace. Thankfully this episode was chock full of them. And so many lovely lines. Found myself smiling through most of the episode. This is the sort of thing I've wanted to see all series, Matt being the Doctor without Amy and Rory stealing the limelight.

One of the few times the cybermen felt like their old selves. And cybermats as well! I'm glad they brought back the old style conversion units. I always thought the alternate universes 'lasers and saw blades on mechanical arms' were rubbish.

The whole 'buried for centuries' thing threw me for a loop. I suppose Mondas must have sent scoutships to check out the home system as it made its way through space. Though how they know the Doctor is anybodies guess.

Resolution was tolerable. Not the best, but certainly nowhere near 'Jesus Doctor' levels of lameness. One would hope though that a fully functional cybership wouldn't be vulnerable to the whole 'emotional feedback' thing.

Man its gonna be a long wait til next week. Can't imagine whats going to happen.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

And while we're at it, why is there a leading 0 it's not like there's more than a hundred episodes a series.

They're just trying to irritate The Wormhole.

 

[23skidoo]

Wow, its sounding like GB in here. Are folks just in a grumpy mood today?

I've no idea. I thought the episode was great and unless Moffat seriously drops the ball next week, Series 6 is on track to become the first Doctor Who series ever for me (and I'm counting back to 1963) to not have a single bad episode in my opinion.

Some folks don't seem to recognize a send up when they see it. This episode was all about tweaking people's noses, especially the "gay agenda" crowd who I consider an embarrassment to Doctor Who fandom, full stop. They even poked fun at the "what is a companion" debate. (I guess we'll have to add Craig to the official list since he's recognized here as one.)

The episode had some remarkable moments, including some great followup to the "I talk baby" (which in itself was a followup to "I talk to cats" from The Lodger), the incredible cameo by Rory and Amy (how far in the future is this? And I love the shout out to The Doctor's Wife), and some great soul-searching by the Doctor. And of course there's that ending. (Be sure to watch the prequel for next week to hear the next verse of that nursery rhyme.)

My only complaint is BBC America and Space screwed up - the Amy Pond intro had no business being on this episode. They'd have been better off getting Matt Smith to record a new one or just do without. Most American shows drop those types of intros before their first seasons are done anyway. The BBC itself isn't totally sparkly clean either - it's hard to sell the idea that "Amy and Rory are gone", even if only temporarily, if they're still credited at the beginning. Might have worked better if James Corden was credited in lieu of Karen and Arthur, just to throw people off.

My only concern is if everything will be resolved in only one episode. Then again, Moffat showed how much he was able to get accomplished with A Good Man Goes to War so I have no doubt he'll be able to get the job done. My priority is finding out how the Doctor gets out of being killed (he himself might have little to do with it). The naysayers can then spend the next few months complaining about it while we wait for the Christmas special.

Alex

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Hey, a 2nd Doctor reference.... I guess neither like redecorating...

The Three Doctors: "You've done the TARDIS up a bit, I don't like it"

The Five Doctors: "You've had this place redecorated, haven't you? hmm, don't like it"

Good stuff.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I absolutely loved this episode and I didn't think that I would...but Craig really does make a great off beat companion for the Doctor. I like James and Matt's comedic timing, I haven't laughed at an episode as much as I did this one. I thought the scene where the Doctor sees Amy and Rory was emotional. The Cybermen looked great I thought even though they didn't really do anything. I had no problem with love being the solution.

I do think we are going to get things carried over to next series as we have with series five into this season. We will get some things resolved, other things revealed, and more hijinks but we will get set up for next series. This seems to be the way Moffat wants to direct the show and I'm fine with that.

 

[JRoss]

Hmm, well, we'll see how things go next week. Does Moffat seriously think that anyone is in suspense? I wonder if in his head he thinks people are shouting "Oh noes! The Doctor's going to die!"

I'm really curious to see if he can satisfactorily wrap up the River/Silence arc. Why does River have to wear an astronaut suit? Why does Patchy have to speak in poems? Kind of strange, off-putting, really.

 

[SG-17]

I feel that this episode has been the best of the standalone 6.5 episodes.

 

[Stevil2001]

This was fun. Matt Smith was on top form, the baby joke never got old, the Rory/Amy cameo was great (is this post-"God Complex" for them? I suspect so), I loved the gay jokes.

Both endings were lame, though, both a dad's love saves the day (which we saw a few episodes back!) and the too-long River Song thing. Just have eyepatch lady pop up... we don't need another lame nursery rhyme.

 

[Icemizer]

Every episode Matt Smith amazes me with how well he can play such an ancient character and make it show through with both his voice and his face. Tennant only did it once or twice in his entire run but Matt does it every single time. You just feel the weight of the years on this Doctor. As for the episode itself I thought it was a good enought light hearted episode before what will be a heavy season ender.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

This was fun. Matt Smith was on top form, the baby joke never got old, the Rory/Amy cameo was great (is this post-"God Complex" for them? I suspect so),

I'd assume that the Doctor dropped them off in mid-2011, after he died in Utah. So I'm guessing that "Closing Time" takes place a few years after that; Amy becoming the face of a perfume isn't going to happen overnight, plus Craig and Daisy need time to get married, buy a house, have a baby, and have it grow to about a year old. I'd tentatively guesstimate "Closing Time" to take place circa 2014.

 

[Cutter John]

Wow, and with one line, the show completely wipes out all those DW/Star Trek crossovers written over the years...

 

[Mr Light]

This was the first episode I actually felt was FUN since "Kill Hitler". Those three episodes in a row were too damn gloomy. We had Cybermen... the "Lodger" guy... more baby talk... the Doctor was just pure fun throughout even though he was going to his death. I enjoyed the episode. It was fun!

 

[wamdue]

Wow, and with one line, the show completely wipes out all those DW/Star Trek crossovers written over the years...

the show did that in The Empty Child when Rose said "Give me some Spock"

 

[The Nth Doctor]

While it was good to have proper full body converting Mondasian Cybermen back (although the stomping is still obnoxious) as well as the Cybermats , this episode was mostly rubbish. I'm not a big fan of "The Lodger" beyond the mystery of the floor that's not suppose to be there and unfortunately this runabout with the Cybermen was even worse. I'm all for winning battles with the power of love but the way it was done here just felt stupid.

The only two good parts about this episode were The Doctor seeing Amy and Rory moving on with their lives and the final few minutes. However, that coda felt very tacked on and could have worked with any ol' story and really can't be judge with the rest of the story.

I'm looking forward next week's episode although I won't be able to watch until mid-October because I'm taking a two-week vacation to travel around Japan. Hopefully this place doesn't meltdown while I'm gone.