"You know what's dangerous about you? It's not that you make people take risks, it's that you make them want to impress you."
TECHNICAL SPECS: First aired May 8 2010.
IN THIS ONE... Rory's bachelor party becomes a trip to the Renaissance to fight fishy vampires.
REVIEW: Rory joins the TARDIS crew in this episode, and on the surface of it, you can't help but compare him to Mickey, the OTHER idiot boyfriend. And though they may be perceived as "losers" compared to the Doctor, the episode still makes the point that Rory is infinitely superior to Mickey, and that this time, the Doctor isn't trying to steal the girlfriend. There is still some competition between Amy's two "boys", but it's not romantic per se. The banter laced with innuendo doesn't do this any favors, mind you, and I often got the feeling writer Toby Whithouse (or Moffat stomping all over him, I don't know), doesn't quite know what he's trying to accomplish in these scenes. In essence, Rory feels left out of their clique, and that does transpose as romantic frustration, but on that front, it's a misunderstanding (again, something confused by the kissing and kissing jokes). The Doctor doesn't want Amy in that way, but he does want her as a traveling companion, and those travels ARE a threat to the Amy-Rory relationship, which is why he has them share an adventure (he's right to think the danger turns Amy on), and is happy to have a couple in the TARDIS on a steady basis (Who's first, at least in the CONFIRMED column). Rory feels it's his job to protect Amy, which is why he doesn't like her traveling with the Doctor, but his mistake is thinking he wears the pants in this family. In the last scene, he has to accept that, yeah, Amy's in control of both men. It seems those emasculation jokes were a little one-sided.
There are a lot of things to like about the adventure they have - the stunning locations (actually Croatia), Helen McCrory's strong performance as the mother of the Piscaton (sorry, I meant the Saturnyne), the scientific nature of the vampire tricks, Rory getting to fence with a monster (he'll get better at it), and going to credits through the TARDIS keyhole - but it also fails in other respects. Many criticized the effects at the time, but the creatures look pretty cool, and it's not like Doctor Who is really about effects. I'm more concerned with elements that show the production didn't really understand the script. Francesco's death, for example, is complete nonsense. The lighting is often quite bright, especially on the quay where the Saturnyne males are fed, with no ill effects (after all, these guys are dark-water fish, not supernatural vamps), yet he EXPLODES because Amy shines sunlight on him with a mirror. Come on, now. I also question Rosanna removing her costume to jump in the water, when we've been shown she doesn't actually wear clothes - it's all a mental illusion - so that's stupid.
And then there's the Silence, plugged into the script without anyone knowing what this will all be about. Rosanna talks about it like it was beyond some of the cracks and scared her people into running to Venice through another. Their feeding ritual is done "in the name of children lost to the silence". And if that weren't strange enough, the final scene drops out all sound except the Doctor and Rory talking and wondering what's happening. Well, I wonder too, because this has NOTHING to do with the Silence (or Silents, or however you'd like me to spell it) as presented to us a season later. Moffat never really wrote himself out of the corner he created with some of these details. In hindsight, it's all particularly frustrating.
SECOND OPINIONS: The original review, 10 and 1 Items About The Vampires of Venice, features a new format for 11th Doctor reviews that I kept until I stopped doing them because, y'know, I was reviewing Doctor Who plenty. 848 straight days and counting!
REWATCHABILITY: Medium - Important for Rory joining the crew, and it's got some fair humor and a perfectly acceptable plot. Just not one that's watertight, and it does take in water rather fast when looked at too closely.
IN THIS ONE... Rory's bachelor party becomes a trip to the Renaissance to fight fishy vampires.
REVIEW: Rory joins the TARDIS crew in this episode, and on the surface of it, you can't help but compare him to Mickey, the OTHER idiot boyfriend. And though they may be perceived as "losers" compared to the Doctor, the episode still makes the point that Rory is infinitely superior to Mickey, and that this time, the Doctor isn't trying to steal the girlfriend. There is still some competition between Amy's two "boys", but it's not romantic per se. The banter laced with innuendo doesn't do this any favors, mind you, and I often got the feeling writer Toby Whithouse (or Moffat stomping all over him, I don't know), doesn't quite know what he's trying to accomplish in these scenes. In essence, Rory feels left out of their clique, and that does transpose as romantic frustration, but on that front, it's a misunderstanding (again, something confused by the kissing and kissing jokes). The Doctor doesn't want Amy in that way, but he does want her as a traveling companion, and those travels ARE a threat to the Amy-Rory relationship, which is why he has them share an adventure (he's right to think the danger turns Amy on), and is happy to have a couple in the TARDIS on a steady basis (Who's first, at least in the CONFIRMED column). Rory feels it's his job to protect Amy, which is why he doesn't like her traveling with the Doctor, but his mistake is thinking he wears the pants in this family. In the last scene, he has to accept that, yeah, Amy's in control of both men. It seems those emasculation jokes were a little one-sided.
There are a lot of things to like about the adventure they have - the stunning locations (actually Croatia), Helen McCrory's strong performance as the mother of the Piscaton (sorry, I meant the Saturnyne), the scientific nature of the vampire tricks, Rory getting to fence with a monster (he'll get better at it), and going to credits through the TARDIS keyhole - but it also fails in other respects. Many criticized the effects at the time, but the creatures look pretty cool, and it's not like Doctor Who is really about effects. I'm more concerned with elements that show the production didn't really understand the script. Francesco's death, for example, is complete nonsense. The lighting is often quite bright, especially on the quay where the Saturnyne males are fed, with no ill effects (after all, these guys are dark-water fish, not supernatural vamps), yet he EXPLODES because Amy shines sunlight on him with a mirror. Come on, now. I also question Rosanna removing her costume to jump in the water, when we've been shown she doesn't actually wear clothes - it's all a mental illusion - so that's stupid.
And then there's the Silence, plugged into the script without anyone knowing what this will all be about. Rosanna talks about it like it was beyond some of the cracks and scared her people into running to Venice through another. Their feeding ritual is done "in the name of children lost to the silence". And if that weren't strange enough, the final scene drops out all sound except the Doctor and Rory talking and wondering what's happening. Well, I wonder too, because this has NOTHING to do with the Silence (or Silents, or however you'd like me to spell it) as presented to us a season later. Moffat never really wrote himself out of the corner he created with some of these details. In hindsight, it's all particularly frustrating.
SECOND OPINIONS: The original review, 10 and 1 Items About The Vampires of Venice, features a new format for 11th Doctor reviews that I kept until I stopped doing them because, y'know, I was reviewing Doctor Who plenty. 848 straight days and counting!
REWATCHABILITY: Medium - Important for Rory joining the crew, and it's got some fair humor and a perfectly acceptable plot. Just not one that's watertight, and it does take in water rather fast when looked at too closely.
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