Well, this was... underwhelming. After the very strong opening last week, the second episode of the new series bit off a little more than it could chew.
A lot of that problem comes simply from the way it was set-up. Not only was Doctor's "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship" line in every trailer for the series, but the teaser of the episode before the opening credits puts the viewer in the mood for something unbelievably cool that it just fails to deliver.
The ingredients are there; space ships, dinosaurs, robots, Queen Nefertiti and a chauvinist hunter played awesomely by the great Rupert Graves. And the Ponds, can't forget the Ponds!
Unfortunately, despite its best efforts, all of the elements are slightly underplayed. They are constantly present throughout the episode, but with few exceptions they just don't offer the "coolness" factor they are capable of.
That's not to say the episode is bad; on the contrary, the writing (plot, story and characters) are quite strong. The story is dark and engaging. The villainous pirate/bounty hunter is a bit on the stereotypical side, but he serves his purpose. If I have one big complaint about him is that they don't draw the obvious parallels with the Doctor that they could have. The Doctor is a bit of a pirate too (I believe before the steam-punk mad scientist, the aesthetic Moffat was considering was that of a pirate); he hijacked a ship to sail across the Universe and see what it has to offer.
There are some strong parallels they could've drawn between the way the Doctor and Solomon treat their findings, the species they encounter and, of course, the magnificent Universe they traverse for life.
The guest characters are okay, even though they don't get much in terms of development. Riddell and Nefertiti have a nice back-and-forth. Nefertiti is pretty, which isn't a point in and on itself, but I wonder if they opted for someone more "acceptable" by general audiences. This is a criticism. The actress who plays Nefertiti is beautiful (and very competent, mind you, as an actress), but only half-black. Africans, pure-blooded Africans circa 1330 B.C. were a hell of a lot darker.
I don't like political correctness any more than the next asshole in the Internet, but this couldn't possibly have been the darkest-skinned English actress of African descent. I have to question the reasoning behind the casting.
Rory's father also comes along for the ride, even though he's a bit superfluous to the story. Still, he provides some comic relief and some beautiful scenes, since he functions as a touch of humanity in this crazy, otherworldly set-up. The scene where he flies the ship with Rory is very genuine and connects on an emotional and personal level. I mean, if you could fly a spaceship, who would you choose to fly it with if not your dad?
I quite liked the resolution. The Doctor works best when he combines the child-like amazement and fervour of space adventuring and the cruelty of the wise man that has lived too long, seen too much and, lest we forget, annihilated his own race to save the Universe.
As for the Ponds, they have some fine exchanges throughout the episode (and after Amy was a bit of a drama-queen in the series opener, it's good to see her back to form). It's nice when we get to see Rory's brilliant mind at work (he has come a long way from when we first met him in "The Eleventh Hour") and his attitude in this episode (and the entire 7th series, so far) is a nice way to juxtapose his character when he's just Rory to the character he is when he's simply "Mr. Pond".
We know the Ponds will be leaving us soon and more seeds are planted in this episode. The Doctor seems to either know something that the Ponds don't or simply comes to realize that they have their lives (not the first time they've discussed this) and that perhaps he should leave them alone forever. Let's not forget that they have suffered because of their association with the Doctor and "Life happens", as Amy said last time. The Doctor is an anchor for little Amelia, the girl who waited and still waits, unable to fully function in a world without her raggedy man. Perhaps it is time for him to let go?
We'll see. It turns out there was a lot more to say about the episode than I thought. Overall "Dinosaurs on a spaceship" is fairly underwhelming on the first viewing, because of its misleading set-up, but there is meat to a story that's otherwise a "filler" and hints to big things in the near future.
Do NOT post spoilers for future episodes in the comments.
A lot of that problem comes simply from the way it was set-up. Not only was Doctor's "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship" line in every trailer for the series, but the teaser of the episode before the opening credits puts the viewer in the mood for something unbelievably cool that it just fails to deliver.The ingredients are there; space ships, dinosaurs, robots, Queen Nefertiti and a chauvinist hunter played awesomely by the great Rupert Graves. And the Ponds, can't forget the Ponds!
Unfortunately, despite its best efforts, all of the elements are slightly underplayed. They are constantly present throughout the episode, but with few exceptions they just don't offer the "coolness" factor they are capable of.
That's not to say the episode is bad; on the contrary, the writing (plot, story and characters) are quite strong. The story is dark and engaging. The villainous pirate/bounty hunter is a bit on the stereotypical side, but he serves his purpose. If I have one big complaint about him is that they don't draw the obvious parallels with the Doctor that they could have. The Doctor is a bit of a pirate too (I believe before the steam-punk mad scientist, the aesthetic Moffat was considering was that of a pirate); he hijacked a ship to sail across the Universe and see what it has to offer.There are some strong parallels they could've drawn between the way the Doctor and Solomon treat their findings, the species they encounter and, of course, the magnificent Universe they traverse for life.
The guest characters are okay, even though they don't get much in terms of development. Riddell and Nefertiti have a nice back-and-forth. Nefertiti is pretty, which isn't a point in and on itself, but I wonder if they opted for someone more "acceptable" by general audiences. This is a criticism. The actress who plays Nefertiti is beautiful (and very competent, mind you, as an actress), but only half-black. Africans, pure-blooded Africans circa 1330 B.C. were a hell of a lot darker.
I don't like political correctness any more than the next asshole in the Internet, but this couldn't possibly have been the darkest-skinned English actress of African descent. I have to question the reasoning behind the casting.
Rory's father also comes along for the ride, even though he's a bit superfluous to the story. Still, he provides some comic relief and some beautiful scenes, since he functions as a touch of humanity in this crazy, otherworldly set-up. The scene where he flies the ship with Rory is very genuine and connects on an emotional and personal level. I mean, if you could fly a spaceship, who would you choose to fly it with if not your dad? I quite liked the resolution. The Doctor works best when he combines the child-like amazement and fervour of space adventuring and the cruelty of the wise man that has lived too long, seen too much and, lest we forget, annihilated his own race to save the Universe.
As for the Ponds, they have some fine exchanges throughout the episode (and after Amy was a bit of a drama-queen in the series opener, it's good to see her back to form). It's nice when we get to see Rory's brilliant mind at work (he has come a long way from when we first met him in "The Eleventh Hour") and his attitude in this episode (and the entire 7th series, so far) is a nice way to juxtapose his character when he's just Rory to the character he is when he's simply "Mr. Pond".
We know the Ponds will be leaving us soon and more seeds are planted in this episode. The Doctor seems to either know something that the Ponds don't or simply comes to realize that they have their lives (not the first time they've discussed this) and that perhaps he should leave them alone forever. Let's not forget that they have suffered because of their association with the Doctor and "Life happens", as Amy said last time. The Doctor is an anchor for little Amelia, the girl who waited and still waits, unable to fully function in a world without her raggedy man. Perhaps it is time for him to let go?
We'll see. It turns out there was a lot more to say about the episode than I thought. Overall "Dinosaurs on a spaceship" is fairly underwhelming on the first viewing, because of its misleading set-up, but there is meat to a story that's otherwise a "filler" and hints to big things in the near future.
Do NOT post spoilers for future episodes in the comments.
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