selenak

Catching up after insane business and before continuation of same, part II:

I have a flist who features the whole range of "oh no!" to "yeah, squee, I hate Ten and/or Tennant anyway". I'm somewhere in the middle ground in that I love both the Tenth Doctor and his actor but think four years (which it will be, including the specials) are a good run. I hoped for a fifth season as a transition but can cope with not getting one. Now, whether Eleven will be played by Patterson Joseph, David Morrisey or another actor not even rumoured at this point, I have no doubt, given the general good casting by Team Cardiff, that it will be a good actor. There are just two incarnations of the Doctor I don't love - Four and Nine - and even with them, there is love for much of their reign. (Plus I don't hate or dislike them, it's just that I can't emotionally connect with them the way I can with the others.) So I'm pretty optimistic I'll enjoy watching Eleven's adventures. All this being said? I think the Ten era will remain unique in one particular regard: the way the actor playing the Doctor truly, deeply loved the show as a fanboy just as the audience did throughout his life. Now other actors playing the Doctor have been proud of their work, have connected with the show emotionally, have been enthusiastic about it even if treated somewhat shabbily by TPTB (i.e. Colin Baker) during their original run. And it's not required that the actor playing the Doctor has to care in ways other than giving a good performance. Christopher Eccleston seems to have never connected with the franchise at all, but he gave a great performance (just because I'm not a Nine lover doesn't mean I can't appreciate his acting), and it worked out well. Still. There was something special about having a leading actor who could name the galactic position of Gallifrey long before it ever showed up in a New Who script, geeked out about having the chance to act with Lis Sladen, tried out Gallifreyan robes because he could and had his photo taken with Davros on his mobile, who could argue about monsters that haven't been featured in New Who at all, like the Zygons, and could discuss the Doctor as a character not just in the sense of "I, an actor, play this character this way" but "this is how I, as a viewer, see this character through the years". I doubt we'll ever get the like again.

Another thing: I do hope RTD will bring back Donna in one of the specials not just for Donna's sake - though while Moffat has said he likes her, he'll probably use at least his first season to introduce his own companions and recurring characters, rather than bring back old ones, so if RTD doesn't bring her back for an encore, chances are we're in for a long wait - but because the Tennant 'n Tate chemistry and rapport are something special. As I said, I have no doubt whoever plays Eleven will be fab in the role, but some actors just click more than others. Catherine Tate and David Tennant are just magic together.

(On that note: given that Big Finish just got its license renewed, I hope at some point in Eleven's reign we'll start to get New Who audio plays, and that they will feature Ten and Donna.)

Re: the latest House episode:

See, this is why I don't ship House and Wilson despite the show blatantly wanting me to. No, not because I ship House and Cuddy instead, on the contrary. But I think this is as good a demonstration as any why House/ Wilson or Cuddy as a twosome won't work. Because, just as various later part of s3 episodes proved, House is unable to stand either Wilson or Cuddy having an emotional life in which he's not the central focus point. Now that he has succeeded in becoming Wilson's main focus again, is he content with that? No, of course not, no more than he was in the past. He needs to be Cuddy's as well. I mean, if there is another explanation for House's reaction at the end of the last episode and throughout this one, do tell, but the way it looked like to me was that he knew damn well that if Cuddy did adopt a child, this child would be the center of her universe. This was never about just jerking Cuddy around or honest convictions about whether or not Cuddy would be a good mother, this was about competition. Which isn't to say he didn't genuinenly feel for her as well, but he's still "the long distance runner of neediness" as she described him in the last season when he angsted about Amber/Wilson. Who needs to come first for both Wilson and Cuddy, not just for either of them. I'd say they need to get away, but it's too late, I guess, so the best one can hope for is an OT3 where they have at least some counterbalance to cope with House.

(This being said? The final scene was great, and wonderfully played by both characters.)

I've come to the conclusion I love Thirteen, and am probably in a distinct minority there, because I bet she's as unpopular as Cameron used to be. Love Taub and Kutner as well, but that's not new. And still wonder why the original ducklings aren't finally let go from the cast, though I liked Foreman's scenes last week.

On to other fandoms:

Iron Man (and superhero films in general): Power and Accountability is a great essay, and the point made vis a vis the differences between this particular comics-to-movie transition in comparison to both the Spider-man and the Batman franchise is a great one.

Battlestar Galactica:

There are songs I connect to specific vids, and so a vid using the same song automatically has an inner hurdle to overcome. "Clint Eastwood" is such a song, because

sisabet did an absolutely fantastic vid based on the Buffy episode Restless (but using the entire show for the developments of the four characters) a couple of years ago. And yet this vid about Gaius Baltar by

bop_radar completely managed to overcome my viewer problem. It captures the comedy and the tragedy, the insane and oddly compelling journey of the BSG storyline I tend to call Life of Gaius throughout the show. (Gaius Baltar: least likely character to fall for - I mean, I loved Roslin right from the start, wasn't surprised to go from finding Six compelling to loving her, and given my thing for Albee-like relationships wasn't suprised to take to Tigh and Ellen, either, but I never expected Baltar to sneak up on me the way he did.)