Be warned, this review will be full of spoilers. Click here for a spoiler-free review of this season.
Season Overview:
Like I said in my spoiler-free review this season was a little disappointing. It lacked the charm of other seasons because it lacked good characterization and good plotting. I became very tired of Amy and Rory as well as the Eleventh Doctor. Overall, there was nothing really compelling me to keep watching from one episode to the next.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Episode 1: Asylum of the Daleks
Amy and Rory were never well characterized to begin with in my personal opinion, but this season just diminished anything that was already there and made them into pale imitations of their past selves. They really should have left the show at the end of season 6. This whole half-season of goodbyes was unnecessary. Their role in this episode specifically was quite tedious. I really don't care about their relationship anymore and the episode gave me too much of it while not giving me a reason to care. Moving past that, though, the episode did have some good points. Clara was excellent in this one and the reveal at the end was great, as was the Doctor's reaction. Placed against the other episodes of the season this one would rank as OUTSTANDING, but to be honest that's not saying much in the case of season 7. The thing that irked me the most was the humans with Dalek eyes sticking out of their heads. Doesn't this completely eliminate the entire frightening genocidal nature of the Daleks? WTH?
Episode 2:Dinosaurs on a Spaceship
The reason I liked this episode was because of Brian Williams, Rory's dad. Why did I like him so much? Well, because he's human. He has a normal human reaction to meeting the Doctor, being aboard the TARDIS, and seeing all kinds of strange things for the first time. Also, Filch being a space black-market criminal was coo. Unfortunately we also get Queen Nefertiti who is there solely for the purpose of being a sexual object, some random Indiana Jones type guy whose presence is, again, solely for the purpose of making rude sexual jokes, and a dinosaur that will play fetch like a dog. *headdesk* Think this is bad? It's still much better than some of the episodes that come along after it.
Episode 3: A Town Called Mercy
The person who wrote this episode has either never watched previous episodes with Rory and Amy or they were just suffering from amnesia... People have commented on most of the troubles with this one, but I haven't seen any commentary on the main thing that irked me about it. The Rory and Amy I know, while not being very well-characterized or 3 dimensional still did have some characteristics that defined them. One of these things being the fact that Rory is much more caring and anti-violence than Amy. Remember, he was the one who stuck up for the Flesh girl and helped her when everyone else just wanted to kill all the Flesh people. Now suddenly we're being asked to believe that Rory is allowing the Doctor to go out and send the Alien Doctor guy to his death while Amy is the one against this? Hello.
Also, suddenly the Doctor has no issue with carrying a gun. When did this change in his personality occur?
The final fail I will mention in relation to this episode is that the marshall guy from the town gave his badge to the Doctor. Move past his completely pointless death. Why would he put a man he knows nothing about in charge of his town? A man who has shown nothing but total idiocy and blundering about throughout their interaction? I'm sorry, but that doesn't make any sense and I will never buy it.
Also, suicide is not a solution. I wish this was the last time I'd have to say this in response to an episode, but unfortunately it isn't.
Episode 4: The Power of Three
Quite ironic that the one episode where Amy and Rory are completely useless is called the Power of Three. Also, the sonic screwdriver save at the end was complete bogus even by the standard of recent episodes. At least make an effort to make it seem believable.
Episode 5: The Angels Take Manhattan
Once upon a time the Angels were scary. Now we get the statue of Liberty as an angel, they move when people are looking straight at them, and they're immersed in the most ridiculous time paradox plotline ever. Once upon a time the word Time Paradox meant something and it was scary/to be avoided. Now, the characters think jumping off a building will create a strong enough paradox to completely reset time and conveniently destroy all the bad guys. Essentially, Moffat is saying that a paradox and a fixed point in time are whatever he wants them to be for the sake of the plot. Also, someone please get rid of River Song now. The good thing about this episode: goodbye Amy and Rory.
Christmas Special: The Snowmen
We get to see Clara again. She died again. Other insanity with snowmen ensues. The Doctor has actual character development in this episode. Overall, a watchable, decent episode that's on par with the general quality of Christmas Episodes.
Episode 6: The Bells of Saint John
I'm really not sure why the Doctor is hanging around in a medieval cloister at the beginning, but you know what, this episode was OUTSTANDING. Loved the Wifi being the 'monster' and I loved the way that Clara actually reacted to the Doctor and told him she needed time to think before going aboard the TARDIS. An excellent beginning for Clara and actually one of the better companion introductions of the series overall, even if you ignore the work done to introduce Clara in Asylum of the Daleks and the Snowmen).
Episode 7: The Rings of Akhaten
Fans seem to really hate this one. It's a passable episode with some silliness in it. If only they had someone with a minimum understanding of science actually THINK about it a little bit before allowing it to air. The two major scientific issues with it are the breathing in space (I let the first incident slide because they were close to the TARDIS, but those little pod racing vehicles could have at least had covers - yes, I referenced Star Wars). Also, the planet (which turned into more of a star halfway through the episode) suddenly implodes and disappears and that's supposed to be a good thing? Newsflash, with their gravity source gone those rocks people are living on are going to be flung into chaos and instability. Thanks, Doctor and Clara. Also, a little more effort on the part of the songwriters would have been nice since we had to be subjected to the singing for like half the episode (and since, apparently, these songs were magical incantations that people had been developing/using for thousands of years).
Episode 8: Cold War
This was another passable if forgettable episode. The martian alien would have been so cool, but I felt something was missing. This is the point at which I stopped caring about Clara's mystery and really stopped caring about the show in general. The magic seemed to be slowly seeping out of it. The episode itself was fine, but just came at the wrong point for me, I think.
Episode 9: Hide
This episode is another case of the writers forgetting that you need to keep your audience ahead of the characters so they can enjoy uncovering things before the Doctor blurts them out. The ghost thing was kind of creepy for about two minutes and then it just became repetitive and failed to progress. And why was I supposed to care about the supporting characters and their relationship, exactly? Also, the Doctor specifically says that they can't fly the TARDIS into the stupid bubble universe thing because it won't last more than a few seconds in there and then Clara goes and flies it in there anyway and hangs out in there for about five minutes only to come out totally fine.
Episode 10: Journey to the Center of the TARDIS
This episode was clearly a filler one. Also, it made me hate the new incarnation of the TARDIS more than ever. I liked it when the swimming pool and the bigger on the inside meant just the console room and maybe a couple of closets and bedrooms in the back, but no, we have whole suspended stars and beaches and stuff in there. (and yeah, I didn't watch classic who and honestly don't care whose idea this was, it was just stupid).
Also, more Black characters in there who are present only so they can have dysfunctional families and die horrible deaths.
And another reset button - a BIG FRIENDLY reset button!
To whoever wrote this episode: Why did the doctor trick those 3 poor guys into helping him find Clara? What use could they possibly have been to him inside the TARDIS to justify his risking their lives? Also, why the hell does the TARDIS hate Clara and why does she (TARDIS) do things which could kill the doctor?
This was the most difficult episode for me to sit through. I would have to say it was the WORST EPISODE THIS SEASON.
Episode 11: The Crimson Horror
What's the point of those three detective people from 1893 or whenever? How can a Sontaran and a Lizard woman and a karate-master servant just live in the middle of London without causing anyone to bat an eyelid? Also, why are so many fans calling for these three to have their own show? It's utterly baffling to me. One of the worst of this season!
Episode 12: Nightmare in Silver
It is quite sad that when I saw the preview for this episode instead of thinking "Oh, no, not cybermen again!" I was thinking "Yes, cybermen, maybe it will bring the quality back up at least near the worst of the RTD era!"
Unfortunately this was a ridiculous "kid-movie" written by people who talk down to kids. You know the type. Completely forgettable, nonsensical pointlessness. Once upon a time having a kid on this show meant we were getting something awesome like The Empty Child or even something passable like that one with the monsters in the closet, but now it just means... this ridiculous nonsense. Again, one of the lowest points of the season.
Episode 13: The Name of the Doctor
For some reason I began to the entertain the idea that Clara might turn out to be an incarnation of River Song in this episode. I'm not sure where this came from, aside from the whole mystery surrounding their characters, but there it is. The episode soon disabused me of that notion. It wasn't terrible, but it also wasn't good. Clara was finally explained, we had to put up with the three stooges from the 1800s again for no reason, River showed up so the Doctor could kiss her, and nothing was really resolved. To be honest, I was still waiting for the whole Silence thing to come back and be resolved, because that was not adequately resolved in seasons 5 and 6 and also didn't the prophecy thing say that "silence would fall" when the question was asked or whatever...? What I'm trying to say is that Moffat threw another bunch of random things at us out of nowhere and failed to resolve anything and then just created a new mystery that I couldn't, at this point, care less about.
BUT I am eager to be rid of Matt Smith/Eleven, so the ending saying we're getting John Hurt as the Doctor was not unwelcome for me.
I only wish they would find someone other than Moffat to head this show for a while, because he's turned it into a complete shambles.
I wish I could say there was nowhere for this show to go but up, but after seeing three seasons of convoluted "timey-wimey" degeneration I don't have that confidence right now. Bad as some of the RTD tropes were at least all the stories made their own kind of sense and followed some rules... Moffat is just messing around randomly and it has not been good.
/rant
Look for an overall Guide to Doctor Who from me soon where I compare all the seasons/episodes and look at the bigger picture of the show (New Who, of course, as I haven't seen classic who).
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