Whenever I think of this episode, I immediately think of two things. The awkward forced kiss, and the beginning of the end for the Weeping Angels.
First, the forced kiss with Amy. Why the what is it even in here? It comes off as creepy and uncomfortable, and considering this is a companion we have for 2 and a half seasons it's hardly making a good impression. And yes, I know my review says the Force Kissing Awakens, and that's because in Moffat's run he lets loose and it is everywhere. The Doctor and Missy? Missy grabs him and pushes him to a wall. The Doctor and Rory? The Doctor grabs his head. Tasha Lem and The Doctor? The Doctor grabs her head. Jenny Flint and The Doctor? The Doctor literally grabs her and holds her down. I guess we all owe a thank you to Moffat for putting these uncomfortable kisses in mostly bad episodes, but I'd rather they weren't there at all.
Also, think about the context of these kisses. When Missy kisses the Doctor he asks if it is over yet. When The Doctor kisses Rory he clearly didn't like it, you just have to look at his face. When he kissed Tasha Lem, she tells him to kiss her when she asks. Arguably one of the worst is the kiss with Jenny Flint (a married lesbian), and when he kisses her she slaps him. His apologetic response to his buffoonery? "You have no idea how good that felt". Not only do these kisses make me uncomfortable, they make me actively dislike Matt Smith's Doctor every time I see them, because he comes off as a creep.
Secondly, the beginning of the end for the Weeping Angels. I meant that sincerely. The problem with the Weeping Angels, like other good enemies in the Vashta Nerada and The Flood, is that you already did everything in the first episode. This is made extremely clear when Moffat introduces a new ridiculous rule in Time of Angels, where the image of an angel becomes an angel. Not only is this a stupid rule, it actively ruins past and future episodes.
Now I want to talk about "that scene" for a bit. Whenever anyone says "that scene" for Weeping Angels in a bad sense, one of two will most likely come to mind. The Statue of Liberty in Angels Take Manhattan, and that stupid head turn in this stupider episode. Steven Moffat should have immediately known what was wrong with showing a Weeping Angel turning its head, because he is credited with writing Blink.
Blink is made so that we as an audience also never see them move. Even when a character is looking away from one, we are not. So, why then are we seeing it move in this one? Also, shouldn't a Weeping Angel be popping out of my TV screen right about now? Why does staring at a Weeping Angel through a TV screen not count as looking at it? If any image of an angel can become an angel and looking at them through a TV screen doesn't count for whatever reason, shouldn't every picture of an angel have it wandering about? What are the rules on this thing?
I don't want to be called harsh, so I'll add a nice bit in here because it is unfair on the episode to say it's all bad. There is some good stuff in here to be enjoyed. River Song's character compliments Amy and The Doctor well, and the stuff about the crack in the wall is made even more intriguing (let's forget about the disappointing end to that for now).
While I don't hate this episode, I don't like that it exists. It feels like Moffat wrote a 400 word essay in Blink, realized it had to be 600 and put in a load of filler. It's a worse Weeping Angel story than Blink, it actively tries to ruin the episode better than it and for good measure it creeps its audience out at the end. If I gave it anything higher than a 5/10 I would regret it for the rest of the day.
First, the forced kiss with Amy. Why the what is it even in here? It comes off as creepy and uncomfortable, and considering this is a companion we have for 2 and a half seasons it's hardly making a good impression. And yes, I know my review says the Force Kissing Awakens, and that's because in Moffat's run he lets loose and it is everywhere. The Doctor and Missy? Missy grabs him and pushes him to a wall. The Doctor and Rory? The Doctor grabs his head. Tasha Lem and The Doctor? The Doctor grabs her head. Jenny Flint and The Doctor? The Doctor literally grabs her and holds her down. I guess we all owe a thank you to Moffat for putting these uncomfortable kisses in mostly bad episodes, but I'd rather they weren't there at all.
Also, think about the context of these kisses. When Missy kisses the Doctor he asks if it is over yet. When The Doctor kisses Rory he clearly didn't like it, you just have to look at his face. When he kissed Tasha Lem, she tells him to kiss her when she asks. Arguably one of the worst is the kiss with Jenny Flint (a married lesbian), and when he kisses her she slaps him. His apologetic response to his buffoonery? "You have no idea how good that felt". Not only do these kisses make me uncomfortable, they make me actively dislike Matt Smith's Doctor every time I see them, because he comes off as a creep.
Secondly, the beginning of the end for the Weeping Angels. I meant that sincerely. The problem with the Weeping Angels, like other good enemies in the Vashta Nerada and The Flood, is that you already did everything in the first episode. This is made extremely clear when Moffat introduces a new ridiculous rule in Time of Angels, where the image of an angel becomes an angel. Not only is this a stupid rule, it actively ruins past and future episodes.
Now I want to talk about "that scene" for a bit. Whenever anyone says "that scene" for Weeping Angels in a bad sense, one of two will most likely come to mind. The Statue of Liberty in Angels Take Manhattan, and that stupid head turn in this stupider episode. Steven Moffat should have immediately known what was wrong with showing a Weeping Angel turning its head, because he is credited with writing Blink.
Blink is made so that we as an audience also never see them move. Even when a character is looking away from one, we are not. So, why then are we seeing it move in this one? Also, shouldn't a Weeping Angel be popping out of my TV screen right about now? Why does staring at a Weeping Angel through a TV screen not count as looking at it? If any image of an angel can become an angel and looking at them through a TV screen doesn't count for whatever reason, shouldn't every picture of an angel have it wandering about? What are the rules on this thing?
I don't want to be called harsh, so I'll add a nice bit in here because it is unfair on the episode to say it's all bad. There is some good stuff in here to be enjoyed. River Song's character compliments Amy and The Doctor well, and the stuff about the crack in the wall is made even more intriguing (let's forget about the disappointing end to that for now).
While I don't hate this episode, I don't like that it exists. It feels like Moffat wrote a 400 word essay in Blink, realized it had to be 600 and put in a load of filler. It's a worse Weeping Angel story than Blink, it actively tries to ruin the episode better than it and for good measure it creeps its audience out at the end. If I gave it anything higher than a 5/10 I would regret it for the rest of the day.