Post 2 of 3: Reactions to Doctor Who

[neadods]

No plot talk, and not a lot to say either; there are moments of glee (Rory gets the best line EVER in "In all fairness, the universe did explode") and moments of "okay, now you're both setting up and paying off distant plot points."

But on the whole, I found it choppy and unsatisfying. Yes, I know it's an unfinished story; it's most likely not going to be resolved until the end of the season. The whole season, not the mini season.

And wow, is that a British view of America. I'm more amused than anything else, but the entire country isn't really vast, paranoid, and gun happy.

ETA: Spoilers in comments

Comments

[jo-mako.livejournal.com]

You're familiar with the east coast, aren't you? Trust me, get across the Mississippi, and the country is indeed ridiculously vast and desolate. I80 through Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming in particular...you can drive for hours and not see another sign of humanity. It's actually really pretty.

And despite the episode being a bit choppy it places, it was deliciously good fun!

[acroyear70.livejournal.com]

Everything shown was shot in Utah. Moab (where they stayed, according to Confidential) is in the center of the south-east corner of the state, probably 2 hours drive from Glen Canyon (next week's dam) and Lake Powell (the funeral lake). Monument Valley (the opening sequences) is an hour south-south-east, running in between Canyonlands and Arches national parks. That part of the valley is a Utah State Park.

[jo-mako.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, been through there a few times.

[acroyear70.livejournal.com]

and yes, much of that region really is a bunch of beautiful nothing.

Shots taken from Vegas to the Grand Canyon and back, plus the route from Vegas to Zion National Park.

[jo-mako.livejournal.com]

I have driven cross country over a dozen times and have to admit, that the expanses of nothing in the west half of the States is bloody gorgeous! But then I grew up in the Outback as a kid and find that kind of scenery comforting.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

I'm extremely in the minority, I know, but I'm not at all engaged. And I'd hoped for so much more out of the guy who's written two of my favorite episodes.

Trust me, get across the Mississippi, and the country is indeed ridiculously vast and desolate

I've made my point badly. Yes, huge chunks of the country look like that. My point was that it's not What America Looks Like any more than the Maine coast or the midwest farmland or LA is. They're all equally What America Looks Like, which tends not to be at all What The Rest of America Looks Like.

[themis1.livejournal.com]

Well, actually I thought the USA came off rather better than the UK usually does in American shows. Which only ever film in London, and populate it with people with wildly inaccurate accents!

[neadods.livejournal.com]

These days a lot of filming in America has been outsourced to Canada anyway, just to make things even stranger.

[belovedwarrior.livejournal.com]

It seems to me that most American movies take place in New York City or LA. I noticed this after I went to the UK and had several people ask where I lived in relation to those two cities. ;)

I resorted to telling people I lived a two hour drive south of Canada.. straight in the middle. :)

UK locations tend to be London or some quaint little village with a massive pub.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

I remember seeing an article in the paper when the Chicago-based horror movie hit the theaters basically saying "Whoo hoo! It's our turn now!"

What's starting to amuse me is that London or the village with the pub tends to be played by Cardiff, it seems, while both NY and LA are so often played by Vancouver.

[redpanda13.livejournal.com]

But twee Cotswold cottages or Trafalgar Square isn't What Britain Looks Like either. You have to make a selection.

I'm not sure this episode would have drawn me to see more if it were the first one I'd ever seen, but as I read the comments above I kept thinking of Straczynski saying to people who criticized episodes of Babylon 5 that they should trust him because they had NO idea what he was building up to. That said, it may be more of an issue if it's the first episode of a season and you're trying to pull in new viewers... but Who seems to be enough of a cultural phenomenon by now that it may not need hordes of new viewers.

Aren't Apollo astronauts pretty much always positive figures, or am I just showing my age? It seemed weird to have a scary, murderous astronaut (granted, the suit was a bit off).

[neadods.livejournal.com]

But twee Cotswold cottages or Trafalgar Square isn't What Britain Looks Like either

Point.

I kept thinking of Straczynski saying to people who criticized episodes of Babylon 5 that they should trust him because they had NO idea what he was building up to

Which never entirely convinced me back in the day. Just because he was building up to something big didn't mean that he didn't also turn out clunkers now and then.

[redpanda13.livejournal.com]

Which he admitted. There was one script he said he wanted to drop off a pier. But often he was building up to something jaw-dropping.

[jo-mako.livejournal.com]

To each their own, and I don't begrudge you that at all. After S3, I've taken a 'just watch and enjoy' approach to DW...it has made my life much easier.

lol no worries. I know what you mean, but I am used to the western half of the country...vast expanses of breath taking beautiful nothing. Even California...the heaviest populated state in the country has areas like I described in my comment.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

I try to watch and enjoy -- I consider myself more of a Sherlock fan than a Who fan at the moment -- but I can't help nitpicking.