Season 6 Doctor Who Predictions (Part 2) Or Aerliss Gives Herself A Headache (Part 2)

There’ll be one more of these, after the mid-series finale next week. I was hoping to save it up until that one but Ginger Nic and I have been spazzing at each other over things we’ve noticed.

Too Many Screwdrivers!

How many screwdrivers were in that episode? I think I have the events sorted. Tell me what you think;

1. GangerDoctor gives the Doctor a GangerSonic and then produces a another GangerSonic > GangerDocter 1, the Doctor 2
2. The Doctor runs off in the guise of GangerDoctor and while separated they both use a Sonic, one real and one Ganger.
3. They rejoin and reveal they swapped.
4. The Doctor gives GangerDoctor the GangerSonic back > GangerDoctor 2, the Doctor 1
5. GangerDoctor uses one of the GangerSonics to melt GangerJennifer, himself and GangerCleaves AND the GangerSonics. It melts with them!
6. The Doctor then uses the real Sonic Screwdriver to melt GangerAmy.

Yes? No? So Flesh can form complex machines… complex machines that can destroy Flesh?

Who Shrank Amy’s Wardrobe?

In Series 5 Amy wore something different in every episode and her clothes were often commented on; her kiss-a-gramme outfit, how she was dressed for Rio. Series 6 though, she seems to be wearing virtually the same outfit all the way through… even though Rory has changed clothes. Is this an indication of when Ganger Amy turned up? We (GingerNic and I) checked up on this… and nearly broke my TV in the process when I couldn’t pause at the right damn moment!

Impossible Astronaut; she’s wearing a red check shirt throughout.

The Day of The Moon; she begins in a red check shirt but changes out of it in the TARDIS after being ‘revived’ in the perfect prison. She changes into a very similar purple check shirt. Then she changes into a black suit and remains in this until the end of the episode.

The Curse of the Black Spot; she’s still wearing the purple shirt.

The Doctor’s Wife; still in the purple shirt and a very tiny miniskirt.

The Rebel Flesh and The Almost People; she’s now back in the red shirt and a pair of trousers. This is the same outfit she was wearing when the Doctor was shot on the beach in The Impossible Astronaut except for the shoes… only in the final scene she’s no longer wearing the boots that she’s had on throughout and has changed to the shoes and socks she had on in The Impossible Astronaut;

What’s up with that? I had a check back and she doesn’t wear this outfit, as far as I can tell, in the previous season.

She has definitely been GangerAmy since The Day of the Moon, because she first saw Madame Kovarian (Eye Path Lady) in this episode. However, Amy, or GangerAmy has been pregnant since at least the second time she sees a Silence, in the Oval Office in The Impossible Astronaut because she gets sick after seeing it. However, she doesn’t get sick the first time, when she sees a Silence on the beach. Is she not pregnant here or does she simply just not get sick?

The psychic palm recorder also seems to pick up real Amy, as opposed to GangerAmy’s panicked words when she begins crying and saying how dark it is.

I think that Amy was pregnant on the beach and Amy gets swapped out for a Ganger during their three month period on the run… although that seems too obvious a moment, I can’t think of a better one.

Remember that River also gets sick upon seeing the Silence… was I right about her being pregnant too? Who/What is SHE pregnant with?

Who Shot The Doctor? 

And was it in fact THE Doctor? In their final moments together GangerDoctor checks his watch and says “Well, my death arrives, I suppose.” The Doctor replies “But this one, we’re not invited to.” He then tells the Doctor that his molecular memory can survive the melting and it might not be the end, but GangerDoctor doesn’t seem entirely convinced, as though he doesn’t know what the Doctor is referring to. But he SHOULD know and should have come to the same conclusions about past/known-future events as the Doctor. Nurg!

But that’s definitely implying that it’s GangerDoctor that that gets killed AND that the Doctor already knows about his death and the invites. So is it HIM in the suit? Was it not the Doctor that sent out the invites at all?

And about that whole Doctor getting shot thing; what about his TARDIS? Why did no one stop to think “Oh, the Doctor’s dead but er, what about the TARDIS?” Then when the Doctor turns up again and they fly off in the TARDIS, why does no one think “er, there’s a freaking TARDIS out there going spare!” Not even River?

And if the Flesh can form a working Sonic Screwdriver, can it also form a working TARDIS?

Back to; who taught River to fly it? Did a GangerDoctor teach her? Is it GangerDoctor flying the TARDIS in the Pandorica Opens?

I SAID Amy Was A Fake!

I’m not even sure how I originally jumped to that conclusion, but I did! Boo-yah! We’re still stuck with the Silence, who or what TLTL is and who her father is… The Time Stream itself, like Anakin and the Midichlorians? The TARDIS? Not the Doctor? At least not 11th…

I noticed something while watching The Eleventh Hour (wow, I JUST got that). While Amellia is sitting outside something dark and shadowy runs through the kitchen. It comes with a little chord to tell us it’s a bad thing, so not her mysterious Aunty. On first viewing we’re obviously meant to assume it’s Prisoner Zero. However, Prisoner Zero isn’t bipedal and while it can take whatever form it wants, why would it do that while no one was there to see it.

Later, in The Big Bang, we might assume that it had been the Doctor, if we remember it at all. Is it though? e don’t see him sneaking through the kitchen again. That first scene isn’t put into context. 

How long has Amy, Amellia, been a Ganger? I was actually looking for some evidence of her early body snatching due to something Moffat said; “when you see the end you’ll realise you’ve known it from the beginning.” The beginning of Series 6? Nah, too easy. Beside’s the Silence are mentioned RIGHT from The Eleventh Hour. I thought he might have meant The Big Bang, that being a reference to the total beginning of everything, but I think that… thing running through the house is DEFINITELY something to do with The Flesh, Madame Kovarian and/or the Silence, not Prisoner Zero or the Doctor.

Then there’s the line “Well I’m Amy now.” With hindsight that sounds a LOT different.

Then in the Big Bang, as Ginger Nic pointed out; her parents AREN’T Scottish. An awful lot is made of her being Scottish, and then her parents aren’t? Not even a hint of an accent. Her dad seems to be from Yorkshire!

Doesn’t that all strike you as a bit weird?

Wibbly-Wobbly Timey-Wimey

And what’s with Rory remembering being a Roman? He was dead, that wasn’t him! He shouldn’t remember it at all. Surely the last thing he should remeber is, er, dying?

MOAR Doctors! 

Check out the cast list for the final episode. OMFGWTFBBQ!! Three Doctors? Three freaking doctors?! Maybe more Doctors is there are Gangers wandering around! And in case Moffat gets a wiff of SPOILORZ, here’s an image;

No I have NO idea what this could mean (does 5th teach River to fly the TARDIS? Is 5th the one controlling the TARDIS in the Pandorica Opens?), but it is so full of win. The only way it could be more win is if it had 8th, Paul McGann (he’s MY Doctor so shush).

Brain… Ache…

I have more for this, but I need a break… and want to post this much ASAP.

Doctor Who; The Curse of The Black Spot

A brief review up top that is spoiler free and further down a more in depth look, with massive spoilers for 7th May’s episode. With new additions to my speculations for this series’ story arc. Oh Steven Moffat, how do I loath thee? Let me count the ways…

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Doctor Who Drinking Game; New Who, Seasons 5 & 6

You might want to leave off playing this until watching an episode for the second time around; Moffat’s plots are bizarre enough as it is, without being off your face come Act III.

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J-Lit Review 1: Japan Sinks! by Sakyo Komatsu (1973)

So er, my first article here was supposed to be about Skulduggery Pleasant, kids books reviewed for adults. I just finished a rather marvelous, practically ancient (shush) Japanese sci-fi novel though, so you’re getting that first.

I’ve been getting kind of fed up with recent anime and manga. It used to be that only the very best and the very worst made it to our shores, but now that J-media has hit main stream the American networks and publishers are shipping it over in bulk with no care for content or quality. What am I to do but move over to novels.

There are some nice big Japanese names you’ll find in Waterstones or Barne & Noble, such as Natsuo Kirino or Haruki Murakami (both of which I highly recommend and will likely blog about at some later date). Sakyo Komatsu, sometimes called “the King of Japanese SF”, is not to be found on the shelves of your local paperback emporium… or at least not any of the ones in Edinburgh.

I picked up my copy of “Japan Sinks!”, printed in 1978, from an Oxfam book shop for 99p, along with a few other titles by other more obscure authors. Want something a bit different? Go to a second hand bookshop and always, always judge a book by it’s cover… then go for what looks trashiest. You’ll likely be pleasantly surprised.

Premise

The blurb on the back of the book doesn’t really do it justice;

“A fissure in a wall - a land survey mysteriously out of true - a small island     disapperaring overnight - and one of the worst disasters in the history of the world is born. Only one man suspects the truth, but his theory is so unprecedented, his predictions so horrifying that even his fellow scientists ignore him.

Then a series of devastating earthquakes strikes, and suddenly the authorities are prepared to listen. But time is short and as they frantically try to ward off disaster the crust of the earth begins to shift.”

All that stuff in the first paragraph happens within the opening chapter. The Japanese government accepts the possibilities quite quickly, though with reluctance and Plan D is set up to a) follow the course of geological activity around the islands and b) come up with a contingency plan for when the archipelago does, finally, go the way of the dinosaurs.

The book follows the comings and goings of various members of the commity for Plan D, as well as a few other characters, including a rich eccentric (who gives international governments, as well as the Japanese government, a swift boot up the behind to get them to act) and a few foriegn officials and diplomats. The closest person to a main human character is Onodera, who we follow most often, through his Plan D obligations and through his somewhat disjointed and ethereal personal life.

Reasons To Read

The earthquakes and sinking of the Japanese archipelago are simply the backdrop for an exploration of the Japanese mentality, written by a native Japanese who has travelled the world and studied other countries’ literature. As such it has an unusual outlook on Japan.

Due to this view of Japan, Komatsu asks a lot of questions; How do Japanese politicians fulfil their role as samurai (those who serve) when under great pressure? How do the Japanese, as a whole, react to nation wide catastrophes? What role did The Great War and events pre-Meiji http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meiji_period play in shaping the people of Japan and the ways in which they act? How does a nation go about defining itself if it has no homeland (the Jews and their plight are brought up now and again)? How do history, geography and mythology shape a cultural conciousness? How do the Japanese view international opinions of them and theirs? What is the Japanese idea of “duty” and what sorts of duty are there?

The few solid answers that are proferred do not always shine favourably on the Japanese, but this does not mean that Komatsu has nothing good and positive to say about his people. The depictions of some other nations are also unusual and interesting, especially America, Australia, Great Britain and South Africa. Again, those insights may not always be favourable but Komatsu offers them with an almost wistful tone, like a person talking about the character flaws of a lover; not reprimanding, just noting those flaws.

If you have any interest in learning about Japanese mentality and character this is a good place to start (I can give a few others, such as ”Geisha of Gion” by Mineko Iwasaki or “Geisha” by Liza Dalby**).

Like depressing endings? Without giving anything away I can say that no one comes out as a winner in this one… except maybe Prof. Tadokoro, in a very nihilistic way. Komatsu holds no punches as he destroys Japan piece by piece. I felt the blows as he described the loss of Mt Fuji, the washing away of Kyushu, the flattening of Odawara. It left me quite tearful at times and I don’t even know these place! Komatsu plays the heart strings very well.

Reasons Not To Read

70s… sci-fi… sex. I don’t know why (maybe someone who’s studied it more would) but science fiction literature from the late 1960s to the mid 1980s is littered with pointless sex. “Japan Sinks!” is no different.

Let me explain, as a yaoi fan, what I mean by ‘pointless sex’. There are several reasons to put a bit of hanky panky into a story, the main two being;

    ~ Erotic stimulation of your reader.
    ~ To show a character has reached a certain point in their life or relationship.

For the former, you get down and dirty with your thesaurus and go all out with the saucy adjectives. With the latter, there’s a build up of some kind (boy meets girl, boy likes girl, etc) and then there’s a ‘fade to black’… so as not to embarrass your naive readers with naughty words.

For some reason this doesn’t seem to be what sci-fi writers went for (at least of short stories and though it is counted as a novel by Japanese it barely reaches modern standards for a novella). Two characters met, they had sex. There’s no build up, they don’t connect emotionally with each other (hate each other, either/or). They don’t even seem to enjoy/dwell on it. Nothing previously suggested they might want to bed each other. Yet there’s no epic, filthy descriptions going on; nothing to titilate the reader.

Pointless sex. It’s almost as if someone said “from now on, all sci-fi must include a sex scene… doesn’t matter if it suits the story or not, it has to be there.”

Maybe I’m missing the point… but the relationships that Onodera has with women seem to be there just… to be there. Maybe Komatsu simply can’t write a good relationship for toffee, but then Brian Aldiss was guilty of it. Philip K. Dick too. Asimov, on the other hand, wasn’t… though his portrayal of women was waaaaaay ahead of it’s time… another discussion, another place.

Ahem.

Second; OMG, I know what causes an earthquake, stop explaining it to me!

The first half of this book could easily be editted down into one chapter. So much ink was dedicated to explaining to us the theories behind techtonic activity that it took me a month longer to get through than it should have done just because I got bored of the high school geography lessons.

To be fair though; when “Japan Sinks!” was written geology, volcanology etc. were not taught outside of university. Hell, Mt. St. Helens hadn’t even gone off (April, 1980). Your average reader knew very little of what was going on beneath their feet.

It’s a forgivable offence, but it does make the first half a very hard slog.

Favourite Scene (No Spoilers)

Various national diplomats sit around a canteen in America, discussing the Japanese ‘problem’ (where to put the evacuees as opposed to how to stop the sinking). Everyone get’s up and starts to leave to watch the first public announcement of the sinking on TV.

One man is seen by two stragglers as he stares out of the window, with teary eyes, to the East. He is Japanese.

A simple and short scene, but a terribly powerful one.

Overall

If you can drag yourself through the mass of geological babble at the beginning it’s a fascinating read and insight into human nature. The main character isn’t any one person but Japan herself; the Sleeping Dragon, and the outlook of the nation that has called her home for 2000 years.

It’s a nice bit of classic science-fiction, in the psychological vein, written by an author you’re probably not familiar with, about a culture quite disimilar to your own. Something novel, yet a good read in its own right (once again, if you can put up with the geology lessons).

** Don’t go anywhere NEAR “Memoirs of a Geisha” till you’ve read accounts of geisha life written by geisha or people who have actually spent time living within the flower and willow world.