6x02 Day of the Moon (Grading/Discussion) (SPOILERS!!)

[Cyke101]

The Silence is not benign. They are what's there when you turn around when you hear a noise in your bedroom. But, you forget them when you turn away. But it leaves the fear of the dark with you. They're the "ghosts" in the corner of your eye, but, when you focus forward, you don't remember seeing them. They plant ideas in your head. They direct our evolution, for their own means. That's taking away free-will. And THAT cannot be tolerated.

I'm still iffy on the Doctor saying humans traveled to the moon to subconsciously escape them. On the other hand, it'd be fairly neat if it turns out that there were other, earlier examples of subliminal resistance to the Silence -- like the Magna Carta or the Chinese/Viking/European exploration expeditions.

 

[Photoman15]

The Silence is not benign. They are what's there when you turn around when you hear a noise in your bedroom. But, you forget them when you turn away. But it leaves the fear of the dark with you. They're the "ghosts" in the corner of your eye, but, when you focus forward, you don't remember seeing them. They plant ideas in your head. They direct our evolution, for their own means. That's taking away free-will. And THAT cannot be tolerated.

I'm still iffy on the Doctor saying humans traveled to the moon to subconsciously escape them. On the other hand, it'd be fairly neat if it turns out that there were other, earlier examples of subliminal resistance to the Silence -- like the Magna Carta or the Chinese/Viking/European exploration expeditions.

No, he said humans traveled to the moon because the Silence needed (humans to produce) a spacesuit, so they steered humanity (the USA in this case) to "shoot for the moon" and develop all the technology they (the astronauts) needed knowing a spacesuit would be one product. The Doctor used this to "defeat" them.

 

[FallOfFingolfin]

The Silence is not benign. They are what's there when you turn around when you hear a noise in your bedroom. But, you forget them when you turn away. But it leaves the fear of the dark with you. They're the "ghosts" in the corner of your eye, but, when you focus forward, you don't remember seeing them. They plant ideas in your head. They direct our evolution, for their own means. That's taking away free-will. And THAT cannot be tolerated.

You sound very serious about this.

It's like a political speech.

 

[TheLobes]

Reminded me a bit of 'The Big Bang'/'The Pandorica Opens'. It was enjoyable enough, I liked the characters, the concepts were good etc, but at the same time there was just too much there, without one story thread being concentrated on. I felt like it was a bit too complicated for its own good; its not that I didnt understand it, but after a while I just didnt care.

Seems like information overload, we got the 'unveiling' of The Silence, the apparent death of the Doctor, Amy's pregnancy, Time Lord infant, more info about song, that weird woman with the eye patch, Amy shooting that kid, and probably something else Ive forgetten. I feel like one or two of these things could have made a really great two parter, but having it all at once meant that everything was battling for attention, while at the same time nothing was coming into focus. Im sort of at a loss to even say what went on in the episode, even The Silence occupation kind of seemed like a B-story.

 

[Cyke101]

The Silence is not benign. They are what's there when you turn around when you hear a noise in your bedroom. But, you forget them when you turn away. But it leaves the fear of the dark with you. They're the "ghosts" in the corner of your eye, but, when you focus forward, you don't remember seeing them. They plant ideas in your head. They direct our evolution, for their own means. That's taking away free-will. And THAT cannot be tolerated.

I'm still iffy on the Doctor saying humans traveled to the moon to subconsciously escape them. On the other hand, it'd be fairly neat if it turns out that there were other, earlier examples of subliminal resistance to the Silence -- like the Magna Carta or the Chinese/Viking/European exploration expeditions.

No, he said humans traveled to the moon because the Silence needed (humans to produce) a spacesuit, so they steered humanity (the USA in this case) to "shoot for the moon" and develop all the technology they (the astronauts) needed knowing a spacesuit would be one product. The Doctor used this to "defeat" them.

Yes, but why a human space suit and why the moon? Space suits existed before lunar travel. Unless, of course, I'm missing out on the evolution of space tech and that those suits were custom-built for the moon's specific conditions.


Well, in any event, I like my idea better

 

[TheLobes]

In terms of The Silence themselves, I was pretty disappointed. Its an interesting concept, but I kind of got the idea that they were going to be something we hadnt seen before. This is a very Moffat kind of idea, similiar to the Vasta Nerada (sp?) and the weeping angels, so I was really disappointed when I found out The Silence were a similiar concept. Id sort of pictured a Master type villain, or, rather, set of villains, who would match wits and intellects with the Doctor, rather than just being a fun concept.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

So here's a question for you:

Did the Silence come to Earth thousands of years ago wearing black suits and nudge humanity towards adopting business suits as professional dress (for men), or did they show up wearing loincloths and animal skins, then upgrade their costume as fashions changed?

2,000 years ago, were they wearing togas?

Would be funny to see a Scaroth/Brady Bunch type shot with them dressed up in all kinds of period fashion from different eras and cultures.

Sorry, I didn't have time for different era fashions.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

My biggest criticism of the episode comes from the first act. at the end of episode one, they traveled from the oval office to florida in the TARDIS. After Amy shot the astronaut suit why exactly did they have to go on the run for three months? Why not just retreat to the TARDIS? and how the hell did the TARDIS end up inside the Doctors cell at area 51 anyway?

I think this is a major problem with the two-parter.

As Lonemagpie noted several pages back, the plot doesn't really kick in until the start of this episode, making "Impossible Astronaut" largely superfluous. (I think it's mainly the backstory that simply wouldn't fit "Day of the Moon" myself.) The three month jump is a bit convenient for Moffat -- not only does it jump-start the story to an in media res position (which "Impossible Astronaut" did not do), but it also allows Moffat to gloss over his plot problems. If something doesn't make sense, you can simply say, "Well, that happened in the three months we didn't see."

Team TARDIS going on the run? The Doctor imprisoned? Canton's loyalties questioned? All "explained" by the three month gap. I've rationalized these problems to my own satisfaction -- clearly, the Doctor formulated a plan at the warehouse, sent Amy, Rory, and River on their way, put the cloaked TARDIS in Area 51, and had Canton "capture" him so he could imprisoned and he could plot away to his hearts' content. The problem with this, however, is that it assumes that the Doctor understands more about the Silents then than he does at any other point later. (It doesn't explain why the Doctor goes instantly to genocide as a plan, however.)

It's a very New Adventures-esque Doctor. He's playing a long game, and he's doing it in such a way that even his closest associates don't have a clue what he's really up to.

Did the Silence really do anything bad besides look creepy? They did kill that one woman in the bathroom, but besides that, what did they do wrong?

That's still bothering me. We don't even know what the Silents wanted, which is what's so appalling about the Doctor's plan to exterminate them. Was there anything the Silents did that justified the Doctor's brainwashing of humanity to murder the Silents on sight?

My gut feeling is that the Doctor erred badly in 1969. He may have jammed a stick in a hornet's nest by making a disproportionate attack on the Silents, and that could be why the Doctor has to die in 2011.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

After Amy shot the astronaut suit why exactly did they have to go on the run for three months? Why not just retreat to the TARDIS? and how the hell did the TARDIS end up inside the Doctors cell at area 51 anyway?

They weren't actually running. They were traveling from place to place to find the largest concentration of Silence. They would essentially wonder around and when they'd go back to the TARDIS, they'd count the tally marks on their arms.

 

[Cyke101]

In terms of The Silence themselves, I was pretty disappointed. Its an interesting concept, but I kind of got the idea that they were going to be something we hadnt seen before. This is a very Moffat kind of idea, similiar to the Vasta Nerada (sp?) and the weeping angels, so I was really disappointed when I found out The Silence were a similiar concept. Id sort of pictured a Master type villain, or, rather, set of villains, who would match wits and intellects with the Doctor, rather than just being a fun concept.

I was thinking the same thing when I pictured a singular villain or a conspiracy. However, maybe there's a leader somewhere after all -- going back to The Big Bang and the S6 trailers, I remember the disembodied Silence speaking in first person singular, which contrasts the Doctor's solution in this episode requiring that they speak in first person plural.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

They weren't actually running. They were traveling from place to place to find the largest concentration of Silence. They would essentially wonder around and when they'd go back to the TARDIS, they'd count the tally marks on their arms.

The tally marks were a cool visual, but they also imply that Amy, Rory, and River didn't bathe for three months.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

I took it to mean they returned to the TARDIS every day. When Amy was "shot" that would have been just that day's work scouting one particular area.

 

[chardman]

Yeah, I mean look at how many marks Amy acquired in the short time they were in the orphanage. Granted, we don't know of any one place where the Silents were that densely populated, but they certainly implied that the building River jumped from was absolutely crawling with them, so it's not at all "out there" to assume that one could acquire a butttload of those hash marks in a single day.

 

[Photoman15]

You sound very serious about this.

It's like a political speech.

 

[theonering]

After Amy shot the astronaut suit why exactly did they have to go on the run for three months? Why not just retreat to the TARDIS? and how the hell did the TARDIS end up inside the Doctors cell at area 51 anyway?

They weren't actually running. They were traveling from place to place to find the largest concentration of Silence. They would essentially wonder around and when they'd go back to the TARDIS, they'd count the tally marks on their arms.

That still doesn't explain 1) why they were on the run from the FBI. 2) How were they able to get canton back into the FBI to manipulate events 3) how the TARDIS ended up cloaked in area 51, not 3 feet from the doctor, while they were building a cell around him?
I'm not trying to start an arguement, I'm just say they're are some serious flaws with this whole sequence of events.

 

[Lonemagpie]

They weren't actually running. They were traveling from place to place to find the largest concentration of Silence. They would essentially wonder around and when they'd go back to the TARDIS, they'd count the tally marks on their arms.

The tally marks were a cool visual, but they also imply that Amy, Rory, and River didn't bathe for three months.

Then again, Amy manages to cover her face and arms in markings while in the orphanage dorm alone, so they probably took a daily total in a notebook and then showered... or something.

ETA - oh, beaten to it.

As for whether the Silence are evil, they doubtless are (they kill a random woman, talk of ruling the world, aren't into free will, etc). But... I think perhaps the Doc has erred by not realizing how much of humanity's achievements is down to being prodded by them, rather than down to being genocidally hunting them...

 

[Alidar Jarok]

After Amy shot the astronaut suit why exactly did they have to go on the run for three months? Why not just retreat to the TARDIS? and how the hell did the TARDIS end up inside the Doctors cell at area 51 anyway?

They weren't actually running. They were traveling from place to place to find the largest concentration of Silence. They would essentially wonder around and when they'd go back to the TARDIS, they'd count the tally marks on their arms.

That still doesn't explain 1) why they were on the run from the FBI. 2) How were they able to get canton back into the FBI to manipulate events 3) how the TARDIS ended up cloaked in area 51, not 3 feet from the doctor, while they were building a cell around him?
I'm not trying to start an arguement, I'm just say they're are some serious flaws with this whole sequence of events.

I wasn't trying to imply everything was clearly explained, just that what they had been doing for three months had. Maybe it was a ruse so they could build the big invisibox, so they told the FBI they were dangerous and used his position as special aid to the President to pull some strings.

The TARDIS thing is the smallest mystery ever. It does move. It was set on silent and invisible. It was either there the whole time or kept going back and forth.

 

[propita]

It’s all very confusing. I do hope that, once there’s some explanation, enough makes sense.

River has been repeating that she and the Doctor’s lives are reversed, and that his firsts are her lasts. So that’s why she’s so upset about his first kiss with her, right? Or could it be that they’ve somehow created a time paradox, of the type she warned Amy about, and now River doesn’t know what’s going to happen, whether her diary is correct? If so, is it related to Amy being/not-being pregnant at the same time? In one reality she is, in the other she isn’t?

On their supposedly reversed lives, his first meeting with her was at the end of her life, so his LAST meeting with her should be at the beginning-ish of her life (the “young girl” she talked about with Rory?

I finally saw the first 10 minutes of Day of the Moon. Um ... couldn’t they have digitally removed the NEW bridge by Hoover Dam? I know there was some caption that it was not Hoover Dam, but it looked like it and the bridge. Btw, if you’re ever in Vegas, drive out to the Dam and park and walk across the bridge. FAN-TAS-TIC views!!!

Oh, and what’s a good site to read Dr Who opinions, forums (that are worth reading), and spoilers? Besides this one, of course.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

This is potentially the last time she kisses the Doctor (although the Doctor will still kiss her in the future). The only potential other time is when the Doctor gives her his screwdriver (the point where neither one has experienced yet).

 

[Psion]

I finally saw the first 10 minutes of Day of the Moon. Um ... couldn’t they have digitally removed the NEW bridge by Hoover Dam? I know there was some caption that it was not Hoover Dam, but it looked like it and the bridge. Btw, if you’re ever in Vegas, drive out to the Dam and park and walk across the bridge. FAN-TAS-TIC views!!!

I thought the same thing at first, but then they pointed out that it was actually the Glen Canyon Dam, and that bridge behind it was built in 1959.