lyssie: (Team TARDIS OT4)
lyssie ([personal profile] lyssie) wrote2011-06-03 06:43 pm
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The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People, random thoughts.

With a cut, obvsly. Spoilers are cruel. (I listened at work today, and took some notes)

1. I think Jennifer was always conflicted about their duplicates, when she wasn't in harness. I don't think she ever really articulated it to anyone (I wonder if there's some latent psychic ability, there, or just that sense that Things Were Wrong). I'm not saying she considered them 'people', but she... was not happy to be getting into harness, even if she was fine afterwards.

2. AMY IS IN LABOR FOR BOTH EPISODES. The Doctor tells her to breathe fourteen minutes into The Rebel Flesh, right after he connects with the Flesh. Does it boost his ability to sense the weirdness surrounding her? Later, in TAP, she says "I think I coughed so hard I've pulled a muscle or something", which was where it clicked (in my notes, I have "HOLY GOD. I HATE YOU, MOFFAT [no I don't]" because making Amy be in labor for two episodes is cruel to Amy, but sort of reality, as babies don't just arrive in two seconds)

3. Amy and Rory have a conversation about his worrying over ganger!Jennifer, which ends when Rory asks her "If I were flesh, would you kill me?" Amy's answer is non-existent.

4. I love the music in these episodes, especially the bits over the last four minutes of TRF, and some of the later stuff which is very Blake's 7 sounding. From the burial scene in Sarcophagus.

5. Jennifer says they remember dying (and 'why' is a central theme to both episodes--possibly this whole season), but I'm not so sure they remember-remember. More like a race memory, possibly? Or perhaps she remembers because she believes she remembers. Miranda's got a psychosomatic blood clot, after all.

6. The Doctor slamming Amy against the wall is so understandable. There's so much going on--he's just found out he's going to die (and he invited himself, also, that River, Amy and Rory kept that from him, though he understands WHY [there's that word again]), and there's the Flesh's panicking everywhere, and then there's Amy herself--she's not Amy, and he cannot simply run off and save her, there's more to the entire plot than that, and he can't wave some magic wand. Sure, he's the Doctor, and sure, everyone trusts him--Amy trusts him--but that doesn't solve the essential problem.

He's also realized he's going to have to kill ganger!Amy. Which is killing a living, breathing person. Yes, it's for Amy's sake, but it's still wrong in some sense.

Anger is a very human reaction, and Eleven's shifting more and more towards human.

The Flesh is also pounding at his brain, asking why why why why without really having an answer. And there's nothing the Doctor can do--he can't simply kill the Flesh, or set it free, because that would be altering the timeline that created ganger!Amy, anyway. And besides, he knows that his involvement causes the inevitable, anyway.

Or possibly something timey-whimey like that.

7. The Doctor flirting with himself is almost as hot as Amy flirting with herself.
ext_6531: (DW: Romana (destiny))

[identity profile] lizbee.livejournal.com 2011-06-03 11:53 pm (UTC)(link)
He's also realized he's going to have to kill ganger!Amy. Which is killing a living, breathing person. Yes, it's for Amy's sake, but it's still wrong in some sense.

Someone on my flist compared it to having to kill your pet. It's not sentient, but it's alive and you loved it, but now the right choice is to let it die.
ext_18106: (Romana ftw)

[identity profile] lyssie.livejournal.com 2011-06-04 06:43 am (UTC)(link)
That works, too. As much as he can be ruthless, not!Amy is still rather closer to home than he's comfortable with.
ext_6531: (DW: Amy (snow))

[identity profile] lizbee.livejournal.com 2011-06-04 06:48 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah. I know there's been a lot of debate about it, but I don't think it was a callous thing at all.
havocthecat: the lady of shalott (Default)

[personal profile] havocthecat 2011-06-04 02:47 pm (UTC)(link)
I thought Amy was hooked into not!Amy and wouldn't be able to return, aware, to her body until the Doctor broke the link somehow. Which he could only do by dissolving not!Amy.

[identity profile] spiletta42.livejournal.com 2011-06-04 12:37 am (UTC)(link)
I'm still trying to figure out why Amy flirting with herself is hot, and Eleven flirting with himself is adorable, while the idea of Captain Janeway flirting with herself skeeved me out completely.
ext_18106: (Cally)

[identity profile] lyssie.livejournal.com 2011-06-04 06:45 am (UTC)(link)
Janeway doesn't seem the type? Eleven and Amy sort of seem like they'd flirt.

I don't think, for instance, that Rory would flirt with himself (Amy could goad him into it, but it doesn't really work in any spontaneous fashion).
(deleted comment)
ext_18106: (Default)

[identity profile] lyssie.livejournal.com 2011-06-04 05:22 pm (UTC)(link)
I know. I don't need to see the hours and hours of labor, but, please, can we not have "oh, my water broke!" followed by "push, darling!"? It's so silly.

[identity profile] wishfulaces.livejournal.com 2011-06-04 03:18 am (UTC)(link)
Oh yes, Jennifer was definitely uncomfortable about the gangers, even before everything went to hell in a handbasket.

Really interesting point about the Doctor's slamming Amy into the wall. I know I'm just going to have to rewatch this entire series when it's over for all the bits I missed/for all the bits I know now; I read that scene completely differently at the time (of course).

Ha! No, you're right about the flirting. BOO-YAH.

[identity profile] abates.livejournal.com 2011-06-04 10:55 am (UTC)(link)
River's going to be so sad she missed two Doctors at once.
havocthecat: the lady of shalott (Default)

[personal profile] havocthecat 2011-06-04 02:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, you win.