I have now seen Doctor Who 5x01 four times in twelve hours. I ... may feel fannish.

[sapote]

So I hadn't even realized today was the day until I talked to kuwdora. Not to harsh anyone else's squee, but I have been pretty meh about about the last two seasons of RTD - I had just wandered out of fandom in general, in fact - so I downloaded in kind of a lackadaisical, "might watch, might not" manner, loaded it up, watched the first five minutes, and promptly got so wigged that I wouldn't have finished it except that phnelt came online and watched it with me.

Yeah, my creepy buttons are easily pushed, and Moffat has always known where all of them are.

So then I watched it. And... and I loved it. Oh, I loved it. I flailed. I squeed. I keysmashed. Well, I mean, I started from a place of determined ambivalence - I find Matt Smith to be kind of creepy-looking, and then he was demanding bacon of this random ten-year-old and it was all very alarming up until suddenly I discovered that I loved them. Which was somewhere between "Everything's going to be fine" and "I'm worse than everybody's aunt." For one thing, I think Matt Smith does creepy well - which suits Moffat's style to a T. And you know, I know his voice sounds a lot like Ten. I know his style looks a lot like Ten, and I know they're both blond. But Ten never really stuck the Oncoming Storm act to me. And Eleven sticks it. That point at the end where he says "Now I've done it." and bursts through the doors was pure fangasm. I keep watching it and flailing. (AND THEN HE TAKES HIS CLOTHES OFF, I shouldn't be this easy but I totally am.) I have this - okay, I have this hope that hopefully won't get squished like an egg that because he can stick the hardcore and the sincerity and the badassery parts of being the Doctor, the winsome funny lighthearted quirky bits of being the Doctor will also be allowed to stand on their own. That was one thing I liked about Nine - because we always understood that he could be hardcore if he wanted to, he could also be still or funny without a lot of flailing about. Aw. Nine!

Matt Smith's Eleven is very kinetic - I hope for lots of long tracking shots and movement and physical acting, because it's clearly his thing. He moves well. It works with how awkwardly he's put together.

And as for Amy/Amelia Pond, well. She is pleasingly stubborn and she has what I will refer to as the Helena Bonham Carter Crazy Eyes, in the best possible way. She kept biting her psychiatrists as a child and she slams his tie in a car door and interrogates him about what the hell he thinks he's doing. She dresses up as a nun and kisses people, which is kind of an odd profession, and everyone in her town is kind of "Amy, what? Okay." about everything that she does. I am really willing to like her. Mostly because of the Helena Bonham Carter Crazy Eyes. She also doesn't really seem to need rescuing from a terrible fate - it's just that they have unresolved history. Running away with your childhood idol is kind of alarming to me, but he also sort of owes her. We'll see how that works out. I am cautious about companions at this point in my Who-watching career, but while I was actually watching the episode it was solid wall-to-wall squee. However, in the future I hope she gets an outfit she can run in.

I like how Eleven chose Jeff to do the world-saving because he has a laptop and looks vaguely heroic (and I think they changed the dialog from "get a boyfriend", myself. I think it was originally written that way. Just my guess). My first impression of Amy and Rory the Nurse was that they had just hooked up and hadn't talked it out yet, which I liked better than the eventual development that they'd been BFFs forever.

Also, who is the official BBC orchestra woo-er? Is there one alto in charge of making wistful noises for every Doctor Who season starter and finale? And while we're at it, did anyone else notice how carefully the first episode was both color-corrected and set-dressed in Very Red and Very Blue? Amy/Amelia's house, the CGI bit with the cameras, etc. I like how Eleven's not very smooth and Amy's really pretty strange. There is a lot of potential in that dynamic! I have high hopes for this season! Even if I don't really... care what the Pandorico is. Just fly around and be wacky, guys, that's all I really want. I don't care if you just go to different planets and have lunch there if the dialog's good and the footage is pretty.

Oooh, final note: Doctor/Tardis OTP! He calls her a sexy thing! He calls her dear! I SHIP THEM HARD.

Comments

[giandujakiss]

I expected him to say Get a boyfriend, too! That's what I put in my reax post! But it never occurred to me that they changed the line - maybe you're right, if we both got those vibes.

[sapote]

I saw that! I was really startled that Jeff was looking at ladies, honestly. Maybe they didn't want to make fun of him for looking at gay porn?

[phnelt]

"I...may feel fannish." SCANDAL. Tres outre, if you ask me.

You know I'm always there for the creepy moments.

[sapote]

I am excited about future creepy moments this season!

[sapote]

also

ow, the fannishness. It burns! It burns! I WAS KIND OF OVER DOCTOR WHO AND NOW I AM NOT.

... This is a good thing and YET.

[phnelt]

you can never truly escape. No matter how far you go, tendrils reach out.

[sapote]

I don't know if you understand how badly I fan when I fan. I had to close my browser to eat breakfast because I kept getting excited about New Who and forgetting about my nice toast. And it was cherry jam on corn bread! That is how badly I fan!

[phnelt]

ok, mild obsessive tendencies are good, life shortening ones are bad. Maybe you could try some breathing exercises or something?

man that sounds delicious.