The Rings of Akhaten

[tenlittlebullets]

Well, that... wanted to be a much better episode than it really was? It was cute. Eleven and Clara are adorbs. It also didn't even try to have a plot that made sense, which would be more forgivable if it didn't try to shove forward into a big melodramatic climax that I guess was supposed to give us lots of feelings, but it felt cheap and not earned at all and I was still too busy trying to figure out basic elements of the plot and what things were even supposed to mean. Most of which were never made clear at all. Not earning your big emotional climax is a bit of a stupid error to fall into when you have an entire subplot about using objects of personal value as currency, but then again maybe that's what Neil Cross was trying to do, cash in on our feelings about the show's history in a cheap and exploitative manner.

Also, Who fandom seems completely divided between "Murray Gold is awesome" and "Murray Gold should be dragged out back and shot for crimes against good taste," and I think this is the only time I've jumped ship into the latter camp since the choirs of angels sang Ten to his angsty drawn-out rest.

Perhaps I am being overly mean. It's just that I very very rarely outright dislike an episode of Who right after it airs, normally I am all over defending them and pointing out their redeeming qualities even if the execution was botched, and this time I just... can't. It's making me cranky.

Comments

[remindmeofthe]

So, for someone who was mostly bored with a touch of annoyance for Bells of St John . . . not really worth watching?

I think Moffat needs to recharge his creative batteries. And, in my fondest dreams, lrn2feminism, but that's never gonna happen.

[tenlittlebullets]

Depends whether you'd be watching for other elements despite an utterly incoherent plot? Eleven and Clara play off each other beautifully when they're not being co-opted into pushing a turgid and under-explained series of events along; Clara plays beautifully off the little girl guest star; we get some backstory and characterization stuff for her; the CGI and prosthetics work is A+++ spectacular. But I can't get over how awful the plot was and how many delusions it had of being amazing.

Really I think what needs to happen is for the Beeb to knock a zero off the show's budget and decree that the showrunner can't have any side projects. Because it's arguable that Torchwood sank RTD's writing on Who, and I suspect Moffat is phoning it in and not developing any of his plots properly because he's stretched thin with Sherlock. And if he wants to be able to give us more aliens and planets, great, but it seems almost as though the BBC wrote him a blank check for the 50th and he's blowing it all on spectacle and bad Photoshop promos to cover for the writing.

[remindmeofthe]

Hmm. That does sound like it has stuff I'd like. And I was gonna watch it anyway, I'm not ready to ditch DW just yet. I just needed to know how much of a priority it should be.

Yeah, I agree. Moffat as a writer has always been inclined to go for the immediate visual spectacle and emotional wallop over telling an actual coherent story, and it's showing more and more. Something needs to be done before his era as showrunner jumps the shark.

[remindmeofthe]

Okay, so I watched the episode and - I don't know what happened? Like, I'm pretty sure the moral was AND EVERYONE IS IMPORTANT but that's what EVERY episode is about so I don't know why it needed a dramatic climax. Man, at this point I'm just watching this show because old and once-fulfilling habits die hard. Wake me up when the next showrunner takes over.

[tenlittlebullets]

Yeah, there is undoubtedly some interesting meta in there about, like, Eleven fighting by surrendering, and the value of potential over experience, but I am really sick of Moffat-era Who plunking the meta down in front of us without embedding it in a decent story. It's a really bad sign when the list of things your audience is still stumped about starts with "so wait, does he still have his memories or not?", goes on through "do they sacrifice a kid every year or just when someone sings off-key?", and ends with "...was that a planet or a star?! Either way, CONGRATS ON DESTROYING A CIVILIZATION THERE I bet they'll have fun whirling aimlessly through the vacuum of space." That's like... really, really basic plot fail.

[a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com]

Think I'm kinda with you on this one...this episode just...could have been better. And all the massive song-fest didn't do much for me. I don't mind being emotionally manipulated - just do it well, with maturity and for gods-sakes make sure the storyline is coherent.

*HUGS*

[10littlebullets.livejournal.com]

Yup. I don't mind being emotionally manipulated either--fuck, I'm in Les Mis fandom, talk about canon that raises "now cry on cue!" to an art form. But this episode attempted cheap emotional manipulation and failed, which is almost impressive in how unimpressive it is.

[eaweek.livejournal.com]

It also didn't even try to have a plot that made sense, which would be more forgivable if it didn't try to shove forward into a big melodramatic climax that I guess was supposed to give us lots of feelings, but it felt cheap and not earned at all and I was still too busy trying to figure out basic elements of the plot and what things were even supposed to mean. Most of which were never made clear at all.

a_phoenixdragon linked to your review, which I have to say I liked a lot and mirrors my reaction really well. I loved most of the setup of the episode, but the last 10 minutes or so just lost me. The music was wonderful, but I would have liked to see it attached to a better script. Part of the problem for me was that the mummy and the weird robot henchmen were more scary than the Big Bad itself, which was a rather silly CGI effect. Eleven's big emo moment (how many of them has he had now?) fell kind of flat.

LOL about your notes on the music. I love most of the season five soundtrack and some of the season six as well, but until this episode I couldn't honestly remember one memorable piece of music since "The Wedding of River Song."

[10littlebullets.livejournal.com]

Yeah, half of it was a pretty good first-trip-offworld episode, and a great alien planet episode, but the meaty parts of it failed Plot Coherence 101. And dropped Pacing And Development 204 halfway through the semester because it was too difficult. And the thing is I wanted Eleven's emo moment to work, because it's a good place in the multi-season arc for it and I'm a total sucker for New Who Doctors angsting, but within the episode itself? It came out of nowhere and went down like a lead balloon.

Heh, I wasn't a fan of the music for this one, but I don't think I'd be quite as irritated by it if it had been better-integrated into a better episode.

[eaweek.livejournal.com]

the meaty parts of it failed Plot Coherence 101. And dropped Pacing And Development 204 halfway through the semester because it was too difficult.

LOL! Well-said. Actually, I think Moff and his entire crew need a refresher course on Basic Plotting, all of them required to submit their final paper on the topic of "Bringing Your Plot to a Coherent, Satisfying Resolution," with a subsection titled, "EARN Your Angsty Ending!"

Also, I'm getting tired of Big, Emo Moments. They've been so overused in New Who that they're getting trite and cheap, and I'm especially tired of the Doctor yelling in every episode "I'm the Doctor and I'm a Time Lord and have two hearts and yadda yadda yadda yadda!" Because 1) we already know all that, and 2) it loses impact to have him bellow his pedigree even at the most (for him) routine moments (like saving the airplane in "Bells of St. John.") I could forgive this sort of thing when Ten was going to save the Titanic because they really were in deep shit at that moment, but for him to start yelling out his credentials during, say, "The Unicorn and the Wasp" would have been completely out of place.

I don't mind a moment of bombast when it's both well-time and earned, but when the Doctor starts bellowing out his credentials in every episode, it does start to lose something. Why doesn't he just carry around his resume and flash it at the other characters to confirm his bona fides? LOL. : )

[radiolaires]

Stumbled on this review that reassured me greatly. So far I've seen either reviews praising Matt Smith and the music and the emotion and completely ignoring the silly plot or gorgeous metas all buried in, well, metas and symbols which is great but doesn't always treat the episode as what it is, an episode, supposed to be narratively efficient, which I felt it wasn't always.
I, too, felt I was expected to shed a tear, over Clara's past, over the big final musical number and it bothered me.

Murray Gold is awesome. Does the production always use his music wisely? Not sure.

I'm with you on the 'it could have been better' feeling. Didn't hate it though, not as annoyed as by The Power of Three. I think it has something to do with the fact this half season is supposed to be very movie-like, which means a lot of money is put into the set, the costumes, special effects, the 'cool' stuff.

[10littlebullets.livejournal.com]

I'm sure the meta is delicious--it seemed like a good place in the multi-season arc for that sort of thing, and all the stuff with Eleven fighting by surrendering and potential vs experience sounds like it was very interesting. On paper. In the initial plot outline. But I'm getting very sick of Moffat-era Who plunking its meta down in front of us in the form of a glorified plot outline embellished with clever dialogue. I think this one finally pushed me over the edge because it wasn't even a coherent plot outline to begin with. Expecting us to be impressed by the big feelings!bomb without any buildup or narrative justification or clear idea what's going on is just insulting.

Murray Gold is usually awesome, I think it's just when awkward high-school-poetry lyrics are added to the mix that things tip over into cringeworthy. Because Akhaten and Vale Decem are the only two pieces of music in the whole of New Who that make me want to bury my face in my hands and go "oh god, spare me."

Power of Three, like most of Chibnall's one-offs, I found stupid and fluffy and harmless--he's good fun when he knows he's just writing entertaining filler. I think Rings of Akhaten is making me cranky because it's not just badly-written filler, it's badly-written filler with pretensions of being the next Fires of Pompeii.

[radiolaires]

I think it's just when awkward high-school-poetry lyrics are added to the mix that things tip over into cringeworthy. Because Akhaten and Vale Decem are the only two pieces of music in the whole of New Who that make me want to bury my face in my hands and go "oh god, spare me."
You made me laugh with that comment. I was too angry with Ten at the time to pay attention to the music, let alone the lyrics, but you're right, the lyrics can be quite problematic. I was actually thinking of the trend to drown dialogues in music, usually a tad too loud.


I think Rings of Akhaten is making me cranky because it's not just badly-written filler, it's badly-written filler with pretensions of being the next Fires of Pompeii.
I found the writing sloppy rather than bad, but I see your point.