Labels: who? exactly.
once we get our background established (omg he's human! and when he tried to ask a girl to a dance, he fell down the stairs! omgomg that is so unlike the Doctor, who would smoothly ask her if she wanted to take a ride in his TARDIS--"ooh Doctor, it really is bigger on the inside!"--and did i say omg! this guy just can't be the Doctor! they're just too different!), the plot picks right up, and it seems to be a cracking good one.
this is the first episode where i honestly like martha. she's not holding out for a hero anymore, but she hasn't quite arrived at i am woman, hear me roar. but this is a step in the right direction. at least she's not all the time throwing herself dramatically against walls, going OMGHEDOESN'TLURVEMEOHWHATSHALLIDO?!!!! with the back of one hand firmly affixed to her forehead. she's honest-to-goodness actually doing something. the Doctor really relied on her keeping him safe in his anonymity, and she puts up with all this sexist/rascist/social class discrimination shit that people keep throwing at her. go martha! but of course we feel a little sorry for her, because "john smith" almost immediately goes and falls for the only other relatively good-looking youngish human female in the surrounding vicinity who's not martha: jessica stevenson (now hynes!).
jessica hynes doesn't really get to do much of a comedic thing here, but she does a good job in the role, considering that she spent most of the ep looking peaky in her nurse outfit. and she's kind of a bitch to martha, just because martha happens to be prettier than she is and has some kind of connection to john smith. feeling threatened much?
john smith's journal is just a thing of beauty. shoutout to rose, because they just can't let her go. there was even a bit of the "rose" theme that they played in there. the best page by far had those fantastic sketches of sylvester mccoy, paul mcgann, william hartnell, colin baker, and peter davison. the first Doctor and the most recent four Doctors, barring eccles, who the beeb don't like cos he only did the one series. *snerk* iunno if this is an example of grudge-holding much, but whatever.
this story is in a sense all about the history of the Doctor, because he can't remember any of it, and yet references to it crop up all over the place, many of which come from his own (john smith's) mouth. even though he doesn't know what they mean. the editing just kills in this episode, it's so good. montages of the monsters from the new series, the sound bytes that tim hears when he's near the watch, martha's flashback of the doctor making himself human--the editing is nice and tight.
ten's list is absolutely splendiferous. echoes of nine's emergency hologram to rose in parting of the ways. he really rabbits on, doesn't he? twenty-three items, but the really important ones aren't on there. martha has to use her own best judgment.
tim! we love tim. this may be because thomas sangster was so goshdarn cute in love actually that we just wanna ruffle his hair and tease him (only a bit! we're not mean or anything) about his sticky-outy ears. that asshole guy needs to learn to not make the kid with special powers do his homework and clean his shoes. that asshole guy needs to get shanked by a scarecrow.
can i just say that i seriously heart the guy who plays baines? he's amazing at breathing in deeply, flaring his nostrils, and just generally looking absolutely psychotic and deranged. i see a great future for this actor, playing mass murderers and serial killers. and the guy has range! he can also do upperclass twit with ease! "i say, look at that jolly green light over there! it's so, you know, pretty, wot wot! what could it be?" *prances over to have a look, mouth hanging open, drooling slightly* "i say, hello! ...is it some kind of aeroplane? are you chaps bally well alright? well, goodness gracious me, i'll just punch the air and see what happens! bless my stars, it's a door! anyone there? well, i'd bally well better go inside this glowing green aeroplane that i can't see properly and find out what the deuce is going on!" well, no matter how stupid he was, he unerringly went right to where the door was. of course, it can be argued that this was the family of blood's plan, since they needed human vessels.
first of all, if you are a small, reasonably cute child (preferably with blonde hair), you should NEVER EVER walk down a deserted country lane whilst holding a brightly colored balloon, with happy tinkly music playing in the background. bad things will happen to you.
will it ever be explained why animated scarecrows are the family of blood's army? other than they're fairly creepy and will scare the little kids at home, i mean? a real, logical reason? *crosses fingers*
the real problem with john smith is that he doesn't care. not like the Doctor does. he'll let poor tim get dragged off for a beating (god, british boarding schools are the spice of life, aren't they?), he's constantly condescending to martha, he's not really all there, he's all about noninvolvement. when he finally shows signs of acting remotely Doctorish (genius with the cricket ball--yet another shoutout to old-school who with five's cricket mania), immediately afterwards he reinforces his humanity by asking out matron redfern. pfft. man will freaking shit a brick over this stupid nurse chick who thinks the Doctor stuff is all bollocks, and won't even break a sweat over poor martha. on behalf of all companions, i'm taking umbrage.
and then it's time for a throwdown at the annual village dance! what will happen? who will get shot in the head with green lasery disintegrator guns? (i hope it's that asshole guy.) did they really have hair gel in 1913? can john smith stop being a married baby's daddy, strap on his trusty converse high-tops, and go kick the family of blood's collective asses?
the answers to all these questions can (hopefully) be found in next week's the family of blood !
...and in case next week's is anywhere near as good as this week's was, this story arc is most definitely deserving of a hugo.
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