Doctor Who 3.10 'Blink'

[bop_radar]

I don't post on Doctor Who very often, mainly because I seem to view the show very differently from most real Who fans. But this was a Steven Moffat episode and I am powerless to his writing.

Eee!! I squeed with joy when I saw Moffat come up as writer for this ep--I had hoped he'd get to write an ep this season but didn't know for sure. And WOW, I really wasn't disappointed! I don't know what it is about his writing, but he always, always 'gets' me at both the humour/charm level and the emotional undercurrent, and he writes sparky sexual chemistry really well (for me, at least--these things are highly subjective). For those of you who don't know there was once a show called Press Gang, about a bunch of teenagers who run a school newspaper. I watched it obsessively as a teenager and Spike/Lynda was my OTP. I always thought the writing (especially the snark between Lynda and Spike) was well written, but I really didn't see anything else from Steven Moffat until he popped up as a writer on Who for 'The Empty Child' and 'The Doctor Dances'.

His other Who episode so far, the much hated 'The Girl in the Fireplace', was, until today, my favourite 'Who' episode. Now it's got competition, though it probably still wins just because the Doctor was more central in that one. And the horse was so randomly awesome. *g*

I thought 'Who' was pretty flat at the start of this season, but I loved the recent two-parter--I nearly posted about it, but I figured I'd have nothing fresh to say. But I totally loved this ep and I'm probably going to be the only person on my f'list that liked it so I'm going to give it some (in my eyes) well-deserved squee, dammit! :-)

One thing that Doctor Who does really well is casting--their guest stars/supporting cast are nearly always brilliant, and I really liked the girl they cast as Sally Sparrow. I can imagine a lot of fans whining about the fact that the Doctor not being in it much. Martha was in it even less. But I'm actually a huge sucker for those eps where we get to see the Doctor touch others' lives fleetingly. And Sally had enough spark and heart to carry the episode, imho.

On the shallow level, I completely loved her outfit. Colour combination was fab and it was cute without being too sexy. Good work, costuming!

I teared up TWICE in this ep--once when Billy died (of course! omg, that scene was so beautiful--because Moffat had once again completely sold me on a couple within a few brief lines) and once when the camera panned to show 'Sparrow and Nightingale' as the name of the shop. That really got to me because it was both sad (she'd lost her best friend who'd originally joked about that name being good for investigators) and beautiful (since she now owned the show with Cathy's brother). I know. I'm daft.

Even though I could see it coming a mile away that Sally would hook up with Cathy's brother, I still totally loved the development and I thought it was cutely understated to just have her take his hand at the end once she'd solved the mystery.

The Doctor's writing was really adorably cute--'it goes ding when there's stuff'! *giggles* I loved the bow and arrow at the end. And poor Martha--he was clearly driving her bonkers the whole time. Bless!

And movie geeks for the win! The movie nerd in me totally loved that the Doctor was an Easter Egg (dude, I would so obsessive over that too if I found it!). And the line 'by "the guys", you mean the internet, don't you?' had me *lol*ing. 'Egg forums'! T-shirts! *loves* And I loved that the DVD store guy talking back to the TV screen prompted Sally to go to the police. Heee! That's so fabulous.

The episode managed to be so goddam cute in its geeks-save-the-day scripting AND be genuinely creepy and moving. Oh, I just adored it! I'd VID it if I could think of a fitting song!

Doctor Who producers: please, please, please get Moffat to write more! PLEEEEASE! *begs*

ETA: Minor spoiler for next season's Heroes in commebnts, which probably everyone knows anyway but just in case...

Comments

[duskwillow.livejournal.com]

I loved the episode, it was brilliant. Such cleaver writing!
The way he tricked angels to look at each other when the TARDIS disappeared - great!
I was geeking out because of easter egg and guys/internet LMAO!!, and angels got the box. Hee!
And it was so creepy, I'm gonna keep an eye on statues from now on. lol
And I agree, wonderful characters - Sally, Kat's brother, the cop - all excellent.
So yes, I totally agree, they need to give Moffat more to do!

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

Yay!! I have company in my joy! *twirls you* It was clever, wasn't it?! He tricked the angels so well. And I get creeped out by things like statues pretty easily, so it gave me the shivers very effectively. And they were great characters, all of them! Billy just about broke my heart. *sniffles* I'm glad he got a lovely wife.

I'm increasingly thinking I need to hunt down everything Moffat's ever written for!

[violetcreme.livejournal.com]

Hello ! Random stranger who found your Who post leaving a comment. *g*

Another Press Gang fan! Woohoo!

Blink was wonderful wasn't it? Like a little mini-movie.

Regarding your comment above, The Moff has written quite a lot over the years - Joking Apart, Chalk, Coupling, an episode of Murder Most Horrid and he has a new series starting on BBC1 next Saturday, a modern take on Jekyll & Hyde which looks great, so look out for it.

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

Whee! Icon love! Twentieth anniversary special?! *quakes* OMG, that makes me feel old!

Blink was totally like a mini-movie, yes indeed!

Thanks for the tips on his writing--I was checking out his IMDB record and thinking I really should watch more of his stuff, because his writing is so distinctive and wonderful. Jekyll and Hyde?! Sounds interesting--I'll check it out. *g*

Thanks for stumbling in and sharing the Moff love. *G*

[yavannauk.livejournal.com]

Oh, I loved Press Gang and adored Spike/Lynda. How did I not realise the same guy wrote it?

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

Hee! Well it's been a very very long time. I only made the connection thanks to another Press Gang fan who spotted the similarity in the writing of the sparky chemistry of 'The Doctor Dances'.

[violetcreme.livejournal.com]

...and another PG fan! Seriously, at one time back in the day I thought I was the only one and now I keep finding them everywhere! Woohoo!

[beck-liz.livejournal.com]

I loved Blink. It was the best episode this season for me, if only because it lacked the angst of last week's two-parter. I mean, I loved those episodes, don't get me wrong, but Who was starting to get as depressing as BSG (where I'm inured to the depressing and enjoy the show anyway), and I got used to it being the opposite of depressing. :-) And the Doctor was so cute in this! *twirls*

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

Hee! Oh, I like it when Who gets dark, but I know I'm in the minority there. But I also like it when it's adorable and playful and charming--just like the Doctor himself--and this definitely delivered. Best ep of the season for me too.

[bzoppa.livejournal.com]

I didn't watch the last one yet. I have to admit not being too impressed with this season so far. My mom really liked the two-parter but I was rather meh in response.

I didn't even skim this to avoid spoilers—was it good?

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

Oh, I liked the two-parter a lot, but the rest of the season has been VERY meh to me.

This ep? Was FANTASTIC. Imo.

[bluemeridian]

I'm too big a baby to watch it still, so I loved reading your comments. Interestingly and unexpectedly enough, I turned up a pretty thorough recap in Wikipedia.

those eps where we get to see the Doctor touch others' lives fleetingly.

Yeah, that's a pretty cool concept. I may (in daylight!) watch it in bits. *g*

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

You're scared of statues? It is a bit creepy, yeah. But it's soooo great. You need to watch! *nods*

[mlsky.livejournal.com]

I love to read your meta thoughts!

I think this is probably right up at the top of my list of faves also. The execution of the episode was brilliant and the thought of statues as the 'passive' villian just creeps me out.

And this is a little cheesy but I loved how The Doctor kept apologizing all the time cause he totally knew what was going to happen but couldn't in any way begin to describe it.

Awesome episode!

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

I loved how The Doctor kept apologizing all the time cause he totally knew what was going to happen but couldn't in any way begin to describe it.
Ohhh, yes that was great too! He was adorkably cute as always. And frustrating! It was easy to empathise with Sally's impatience and confusion and desperate need to get to the bottom of it all. The ep did a great job of putting us in her shoes.

[beeej.livejournal.com]

*dances* "The Girl in the Fireplace" had been my very favorite episode up to now. "Family of Blood" almost surpassed it, but "Blink" blew them both out of the water! It was so fantastic that I didn't even realize that the Doctor wasn't in it so much until someone mentioned it later. He might not have been on screen, but I stil felt his presence, and it was so wondrously creepy that I didn't even miss him and Martha. FTW!

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

YAY! \o/ I'm so happy to hear other people appreciated this one. I was watching it thinking I was alone in the universe--it was so great.

He might not have been on screen, but I stil felt his presence
Absolutely! And I think I really love the way that gives us a sense of him as a presence throughout time, the idea of him zigzagging back and forth and touching people's lives in odd (but momentous) ways. The concept was fantastic and the execution was wonderful. It was all so very Doctor-y, even if he wasn't on screen. Like peeling back the wallpaper to find the message from him--that was so brilliant!

[hazyshade.livejournal.com]

Steven Moffat OWNS me. Spike/Lynda was my first ever ship (I've clearly always loved the twisted we-fight-because-we-love relationships!) Ah, I adored Press Gang.

Anyway, I completely agree with you: 'Blink' was fabulous, funny, scary and moving. What great writing and acting to make us care so much about the fates of these characters who we've never seen before and probably won't again. I teared up, too. And yes people, we geeks CAN save the world. ;) I appreciate that the show is always making that point, hehe.

Dude, those angels. I'm *still* hiding behind the sofa!

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

Steven Moffat OWNS me. Spike/Lynda was my first ever ship (I've clearly always loved the twisted we-fight-because-we-love relationships!) Ah, I adored Press Gang
Yay, yay, yay! Another thing we have in common! *twirls you* I reckon the first ship you tag onto is really influential/indicative of your type of ship from then on... I can definitely see that as a common thread in mine too. I think my first ship was Anne/Gilbert from Anne of Green Gables (the books), but that's, er, strikingly similar too. ;-)

What great writing and acting to make us care so much about the fates of these characters who we've never seen before and probably won't again
*nods* It really was FANTASTIC writing! It's incredibly hard to make us care that much about characters we won't see again.

The angels were freaky! They were almost creepier when they were hiding their faces... the hidden menace in them... *shudders*

[violetcreme.livejournal.com]

Weeee, and another fan! I keep reading down these comments and finding more. This is quite joyus to me.

The Moff is God. I think everyone is now agreed on this fact.

[suffolkgirl.livejournal.com]

I had no idea Steven Moffat wrote Press Gang! I used to love that show too, and Spike and Lynda.

I really enjoyed Blink too, though those angels scared me half to death - I was jumping out of my seat at several moments. Enjoyed the part where they were talking to the Doctor on the DVD, it did feel like an actual conversation. The girl who played Sally was very good, especially as she really had to carry the episode.

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

Yay! Another Press Gang fan! We're hidden around the place it seems... *g* And yeah, the angels were really scary.

[giggleloop.livejournal.com]

Haven't checked the comments yet, but if you love Moffat, watch Coupling!!! :D I loved this episode, I was on edge the whole time, and it seemed like it was over too fast! I wanted more "timey-wimey wibbly wobbly" Doctor dialogue, lol. My favorite part was:

Doctor: "This is my timey-wimey detector. It dings when there's stuff."

SO MUCH LOVE. :)

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

The Doctor's timey-wimey detector was WONDERFUL. I'm still on a high from this ep. *g*

[darenothope.livejournal.com]

I reminded myself to read this after I finally watched Blink. Which I just did after getting my bandwith fastness back.

It was so awesome. And someone's probably already mentioned this but Steven Moffat wrote "Coupling" a BBC sitcom, which is really funny. And I think the chick who plays Sally Sparrow was in Bleak House.

The "By 'the guys', you mean the internet, don't you?" line was just awesome.

Steven Moffat does a great job. I liked Girl in the Fireplace, I don't know why it was so hated. And you've probably read this too, but Steven Moffat is writing 2 eps of DW next season. And he has a new show out soon called "Jekyll".

I really liked the idea of the angels killing them by sending them into the past. That's really clever.

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you got your bandwidth back. *g* It was a fantastic episode, wasn't it? And you're right! THAT'S where I know Sally from--Bleak House. *g* I am so bad at recognising people!

I didn't know that SM was writing two eps next season--YAAAAY! (He should write more of them!) But yes, someone else recommended 'Jekyll' and 'Coupling'--I will definitely check them out.

I really liked the idea of the angels killing them by sending them into the past. That's really clever.
Same! The idea that they lived on potential energy and the callousness of it--both very chilling and very inventive!

[asta77.livejournal.com]

I just watched 'Blink' and 'Utopia' last night (and just finished writing up my thoughts) and came back here to read your thoughts. ITA with everything you said about 'Blink'. I hadn't enjoyed an episode that much in ages. They need Moffat to write every ep. Accept he'd have to learn to let go of the mask idea a bit. ;)

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

Whee! I'm so glad someone else enjoyed it. I think we experience similar frustrations with 'Who', so yes, I agree--Moffat needs to write more eps! Apparently they've upped him from one to two for next season, but that is NOT ENOUGH! *g*