Doctor Who: "Gridlock" thoughts...

[fajrdrako]

I liked the title.

It was a Sunday evening treat for myself: watching Doctor Who all my myself, on the sofa - well, with Logan, but he only emitted the occasional editorial chirp.


It wasn't quite what I expected - in some ways. I guess the 'trapped in the slipstream of traffic' was not unexpected, but the exaggeration of the situation at first almost lost me - and then seemed quite wonderful. I loved the various people the Doctor met, and I loved his dropping from car to car.

I was sorry to see the Doctor and Martha were apart for so much of the episode, because I do so like them together. I missed their interchanges. Still, when they were together, what we got was wonderful - less banter, more honesty.

Things I particularly loved:
- the Doctor telling Martha about Gallifrey in the beginning, but not telling her the truth
- the Doctor being only too aware (and regretful) that he had not told her the truth
- the Doctor's reflection that he had been "too busy showing off"
- the Doctor's description of Martha as a stranger - and hers of him as a man she hardly knows, but has faith in
- the cats (even though I'm really not a cat person, no, not at all, honest! well... sometimes.)
- the Doctor's moods. For some reason I find hard to analyze, I most love the Doctor when he is angry. Here we had him angry, regretful, joking, reflective, sympathetic, and so on, but his best moment was when he told the mood-dealers to close up shop because he'd come after them when he'd found Martha.
- come to think of it, I really loved the mood-drug vendors
- the cat-nun and her dedication to the Face of Boe. I was delighted to see the Face of Boe again - he's one of my favourites.
- the guy in the bowler hat
- the guy in white
- the garish girls
- the lines about the Doctor's coat - and its origin story
- was Rose mentioned? I am one of those fans who has loved and cherished each time when the Doctor has said her name, but I'm still glad if this time he didn't, just to prove we're not in a rut. I didn't notice Mr. Saxon, either.
- I liked it that the visual appearance of the place was so unlike that of New New etc. New York in "New Earth"

I could have done without the creatures at the bottom of the fast lane, but ... I guess they served their purpose: entertaining the eight year olds, and being metaphorical bottom-feeders.

Of course I liked the ending, not so much because of what the Doctor was saying, but because he was saying it to Martha. Seems to me she's reached some sort of turning point. Will the Doctor need an excuse to take her on the next adventure?

Am I right to think that the title refers to the Doctor, locked in his pattern of grief with regard to Rose and denial with regard to Martha? Or am I just being fanciful there?

Comments

[wijsgeer.livejournal.com]

my sister was quite upset that the catman called the two married ladies 'sisters' and when they insisted on being called married he went 'oh, don't you all go moderrn on me'. "After all this time, so far in the future and they are still making such a fuss about homosexuality", she fumed.

Like you I liked the eternal entrapment of the road (such a different type of roadmovie!) (as a concept, not to be part of) but I have problems seeing it actually work, how is the interaction with the live 'on the pavement' in the allies. Ok, I guess I shouldn't demand a whole working society in one episode, it just somehow feels a bit off for me. But not enough to let is spoil my enjoyment. Also, the kids who kidnapped Martha wanted to hold her to ransom, how were they planning to do that? they must have had the idea that they could somewhere leave the vehicle.

(Oh, and yes, not a great fan of the crabs either, though it gave Martha some time to be sanguine)

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

my sister was quite upset that the catman called the two married ladies 'sisters' and when they insisted on being called married he went 'oh, don't you all go moderrn on me'. "After all this time, so far in the future and they are still making such a fuss about homosexuality", she fumed.

But with that accent, and large number of (entirely adorable) kittens, he may be a fervent Irish Cat-holic… ;-D

[wijsgeer.livejournal.com]

LOL I told her that such thing (acceptance of non-mainstream sexualities) don't go in one progressive line towards disappearance of bigotry and prejudice. Anyway, it might be more agism than anti-lesbianism. At least, if the show is indeed geared at the young agegroup (lets be generous here, ranging from 8 till 28) than the idea that these knitting ladies are also sexual beings might be definitely a shock, whether they'd prefer to dive into the sack with an other woman or a man.

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

I think it's also a bit of a joke in that it's coming from a character who's in an inter-species relationship - showing perhaps that everyone has their own blind-spots when it comes to people other than themselves! Brannigan's wife is human, after all!

[wijsgeer.livejournal.com]

sure

it made my sister angry enough to start fuming before I had seen it and she didn't wanted to elaborate before I had seen it (she has cable, I torrent). I find this kinda funny (oh and BTW she is not a lesbian herself and therefor more prone to getting up in arms). And yes, I didn't get a very negative feeling from the banter, afterall I called them first for assistance. My sister's argument was that for this banter to make sense there must have been at least a residue of anti-gay semntiment. I think there might well be something in that. (Just like I suspect jokes about blacks, Jews and stupid women, forever and allways, well at the very least they make me wonder what is going on)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

My sister's argument was that for this banter to make sense there must have been at least a residue of anti-gay semntiment.

Sure, but this was hardly a utopian society. They had all sorts of weirdnesses, and probably the fumes had made them all more stupid than they should be. (For example, they all believed in a police force that didn't exist. They weren't swift in catching on.)

[wijsgeer.livejournal.com]

I believe humanity is essentially a group/herd species. Being deprived of the opportunity to irectly (not just electronically) interact an essential form of its intelligence get lost. (Sure there is individual intelligence as well, but groups have their own way of figuring things out. Noot allways the right thing, but neither do individuals)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

That's true enough, and once people start making assumptions that 'this is the way it is', it's amazing how long they can put up with absurdities. History is full of such examples - just as our current world is. This is why SF can weave parody so deftly: take a common assumption and put it in a different context, and it becomes clear that it's absurd.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Groan!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

"After all this time, so far in the future and they are still making such a fuss about homosexuality", she fumed.

I see her point, but why worry about that, when they had so many other problems we have now? Including traffic congestion, drug use and pollution! I think that's applying logic in the wrong way.... It wasn't one of the more realistic images of the future.

a different type of roadmovie!

That's it! And recognizable and varied types 'on the road' too.

is the interaction with the live 'on the pavement' in the allies

I kept asking such questions of myself, and then firmly quashing them. Seemed to me likely that lots of people would do what the Doctor did - dropping from one car to another, actually socializing (besides with the radios). Especially the people who were solo in their cars! I liked the way the 'fast lane' got a car eaten by the monsters. But it also seemed unlikely that this would go unnoticed for thousands of years....

It wasn't the link of episode you could apply much logic to. Luckily it fulfilled its mood and was fun to watch anyway.

Also, the kids who kidnapped Martha wanted to hold her to ransom, how were they planning to do that?

I thought she was just their ticket into the 'fast lane'. They needed to have three people in the car.

it gave Martha some time to be sanguine

Yes, that was good.