#the way i actually enjoyed eleven in the xmas episode

[sallysellsseashellssundays]

Disclaimer: This post is going to be Anti Moffat for anyone who’s reading and is a fan you’ve been warned.

“Day of the Moon” is the second part to “The Impossible Astronaut” and, well there’s no other way to say this, but after enjoying the first part I highly disliked a lot of things in the second part.

The Good: Setting these episodes in 1969 America was a great idea, I enjoyed not seeing an episode in Cardiff or London tbh lol. Amy was being super brave because idk if I’d go investigate in the orphanage, what a terrifying place to be in! The scene with Nixon after The Doctor broke into the Apollo 11 module was hilarious, and Rory doesn’t do much but when he does he’s so funny! Canton was such a great character in just two episodes, I certainly wouldn’t mind if he’d stayed on as a companion honestly. I liked the villains (SUPER terrifying), and how the Doctor defeated them, but I’m wondering if they’ll be back because they were mentioning The Silence a lot in S5 and I’m going to be upset if they did all that just for it to be resolved in the first 2 episodes of the series.

The Bad: What was the point of them investigating for 3 months when all of that drama amounted to “we don’t know anything about them, here’s some nano recorders in our hands”? Murray Gold is still the composer I assume, he’s made some incredible scores but in this series the music keeps playing repeatedly during the episode as if I’m being cued to say “wow this is so cool” and it’s really starting to bother me.  Amy calling out the Doctor on flirting with River when she was tied up by the Silence, good on Amy, but it feels like a repeat of GITF with the Doctor only worried about flirting with Reinette when Mickey and Rose were in danger. It felt really wrong too because we kept hearing Amy sobbing and being so scared, I’d assumed the Doctor was playing off how worried he was for her...but then he really didn’t seem to actually be that worried for her. I’m upset on Amy’s behalf with her saying she’s been travelling with the Doctor for so long and how he’s her best friend when it really feels like he doesn’t seem to like any of them much. It feels like he literally never tells them what he’s going to do, and I know the Doctor sometimes does that, especially in a time crunch, but I feel like he used to interact with his companions a lot more? I mean bouncing ideas back and forth with them, but that mutual camaraderie feels nonexistent now.

The River: I think I could have tolerated River in small doses like I did in S5 and even with some of the things I didn’t like last episode, but this episode immediately pushed me into anti River territory. Why oh why does she have to be some super badass knowledgeable person who apparently just breaks out of prison whenever she wants and does whatever she wants all the time?? I actually rolled my eyes when she was scanning the astronaut suit and telling the Doctor everything about it or when she apparently gets to pilot the Doctor’s TARDIS, why wouldn’t the Doctor not do those things himself?? And shooting while twirling around? Enough said. I’m starting to wish instead of River as a character they’d instead given some of her lines to the Doctor so he could actually explain to his companions and have rapport with them, and maybe pass some of her character traits to Amy if Moffat is determined to have a super bad ass person in the show. Because all I feel is like none of the characters are being developed to their full potential, and they’re all half baked ideas.

The Worst: The nano recorder thing with Amy talking from a dark place while they hear her is literally the same thing as Miss Evangelina in The Library two parter (I am seeing so much of Moffat’s themes just repeating). Rory giving a sweet speech about how Amy knows he’s always going to find her and then her calling out for the Doctor? Ouch. Then Amy with the I love you situation. Please no, just no. We’re supposed to think, along with Rory, that it’s the Doctor then it’s really Rory in the end. Ugh. I thought we left that behind in S5  😒 😒 and it doesn’t even make sense that she would say “to tell you properly” because they’re married by this point she’s told him so many times and “falling out of the sky” is the figure of speech she decided to use? I figured as his wife she’d know Rory is still feeling a bit insecure about her feelings for the Doctor (and wouldn’t use those words!), and honestly it’s quite sad that he still isn’t sure.

The Unresolved: Amy and Rory dying at the beginning...did we literally just not get an explanation as to how that was done? Maybe as we move forward... Woman with eyepatch what was that? I’ve been spoiled about River being Amy’s daughter, but I didn’t actually know anything else about how that came about so now I’m confused as to why Amy may or may not be pregnant and how the little girl (River?) is regenerating. If Amy’s photo was in her room why didn’t the girl call out to her mother, hmmm.... and if she was in the astronaut suit before idk if that means she’ll go back in it and in the future kill the Doctor? Because I think that’s been the insinuation in S5 if I’m remembering properly, that that’s what River’s supposed to be in prison for.

Overall I feel like with the Xmas special and this two parter I fell into a place where I liked the start and then was disappointed with the ending. I’m being so negative in this post, but I’m still trying to stay optimistic about the show. Maybe now that River is back in prison, Amy and Rory can get a little more development and I’ll see some episodes I enjoy all the way through.