Amy - A Massive Step Backwards?

[Admiral_Young]

It amuses me how much we've criticized the first three episodes of this series...I don't think we've dissected the first three episodes as much as we have this series so far as any of the previous four. Amy is great and there is no question though that there seems to be some kind of mystery revolving around her. The season hasn't unfolded yet so anything we speculate on is just that and we have to deal with what we've been given so far. It will be interesting to see how much further Amy is developed when we return back to the present time.

 

[Cutter John]

Well we're only three episodes in. Problem is, Moff's been too busy showing us all the cool new stuff to be bothered with things like character development. We'll see by mid-season.

 

[Admiral_Young]

^ Agreed. As I've stated in previous threads I think "Amy's Choice" is going to be the most fascinating episode of the series and really allow a good look at Amy and what's going on around her.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

Moff's been too busy showing us all the cool new stuff to be bothered with things like character development.

There's been plenty of character development, as I think I've demonstrated.

 

[Checkmate]

She's great so far. People need to stop trying to find things to complain about, especially when (usually in the same breath) they say they like the new series.

 

[Venardhi]

Well criticism isn't worth much unless the subject is something one deems worth the effort to improve. If I didn't like the show at all I certainly wouldn't be complaining about the shape of the Daleks, for example.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

That and Amy will end up being better than Martha.

She already is.

 

[Starkers]

That and Amy will end up being better than Martha.

She already is.

Yup, not that it would be that difficult to do

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

That and Amy will end up being better than Martha.

She already is.

Yup, not that it would be that difficult to do

True.

Amy is assertive, has a strong interior motivation and figures important stuff out - or more accurately, has a strong emotional understanding of people. Her solutions to the problems that Eleven couldn't solve in the last two episodes were both based on intuiting the feelings and state of mind of the space whale and Bracewell.

 

[Shazam!]

How deeply did we understand Martha by The Shakespeare Code?

I still don't understand Martha.

 

[Volvic]

So three episodes in and I'm afraid to have to say that I'm finding Amy to be a totally one-dimensional character.

She's obsessed with the Doctor and looks nice in a mini-skirt and that's it really.

Moffat has made no real effort to make her a real person and seems to be far more interesed in giving her one-liners. And Gatiss basically sidelined her for his episode until she saves the day (again) in a scene than RDT would have been crucified for.

She's taken to the life of a Companion with far too much ease and seems completely blase about the whole thing.

Very disappointing really.

I can't disagree with that to be honest. I'm really struggling to connect with this character and we're three episodes in and at this stage in the game I felt I had a pretty good understanding of the other companions' characters and personalities - even Martha, but only just.

With Amy, despite a very decent set up, I still have no idea who she is at all. It's almost like Moffat wants to go back to the 'classic era' type of companion that mostly just stands around and looks pretty. Which is entirely up to him. But at the moment she just comes across as walking plot device in a short skirt.

There may very well be a pay off in the near future but whether it will be good enough to compensate for her lack of characterisation is another matter entirely.

One of the glaring differences I've noticed with the new series is the lack of attention given to characterisation even in regards to the supporting characters which was something that RTD was rather brilliant at, despite his flaws - and there where many.

It wouldn't be that much of a problem if the stories were good enough and memorable enough to compansate for the oversight.

Thus far, imo, they haven't been.

It's still early days it might get better.

 

[Mad Jack Wolfe]

There's a lot more going on with the character of Amy Pond than people realise, I believe. It's perfectly plausible for her to take to being a companion with such relative ease - it's what she's been dreaming of for 14 years. Her obsession with the Raggedy Doctor, to the point she made her boyfriend dress up as him, and the fact she never let go of that despite the best attempts of four psychiatrists, shows that she's leaping at the chance to live out that fantasy. She'd rather live out that fantasy than face the real world and grow up (as in getting married).

And that's where the real danger for her is. There's still a fantasy aspect of it for her, and the Doctor is right there to keep her safe. She hasn't experienced any real danger on her own yet. I'm very interested to see how she reacts when either she gets into real trouble and the Doctor isn't there to protect her, or something comes along to disrupt the status quo with her and Dr. Fish Custard. This next adventure with River Song and the Weeping Angels could easily provide shocks for her on both fronts, if they play things properly.

 

[Hermiod]

I'm probably not the best person to ask but I like her a hell of a lot more than I liked Rose, Martha or Donna.

 

[Starkers]

I'm still curious about this supposed character development that the other companions got in the first couple of episodes that Amy hasn't?

I do actually wonder if people aren't mistaking RTD's (let's be honest somewhta lazy) trick of giving the character a lousy family situation for actual character development? By the end of The Unquiet Dead I doubt we knew that much more about Rose than we discovered in "Rose", well aside from her liking chips and having watched Newsround at least once. As for Martha, well the only character development we got from her was her wuv for the Doctor. Seriously if people think a character can only seem 3D in relation to a harriden mother then they need to watch more tv and films!

The only companion I see as really changing in the first few episodes is Donna, especially after her encounter with the Ood, Donna grew over the course of her year with the Doctor, I'm not sure Rose really altered very much at all in two years, aside from getting a bit cocky, and Martha remained a simpering love struck puppy from the Shakespeare Code to The Sound of Drums, only changing in Last of the Timelords.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I think people use "character development" interchangably with "character exposition." I've always thought we got to know the main companions in nuWho pretty quickly - Donna, Rose, Martha and Amy - regardless of how much or little we're told about their pasts or lives.

 

[davejames]

While I definitely didn't care for how her character (and her relationship with the Doctor) was sidelined in the last episode, I wouldn't call it a "step backwards."

It was just one episode where she wasn't given much to do is all.

Fortunately the first two eps already did more than enough to make her a believable and interesting character. Unlike Rose, who felt like a typical TV construct to me, Amy comes across like a real, slightly kooky 21 year old.

 

[Photoman15]

Oh come on, Amy is DoctorDonna regenerated. Ginger remains ginger