Steven. Moffat.

[wildcard_47]

You are a freaking genius.

AND I HATE YOU!! You and your damn cliffhangers!

Also, (for those of you who have just watched) answer me this. Why is the little girl a conduit to all the inner workings of the Library? Is she the universe's biggest hard-drive, camoflaged and hidden by someone who knows better (like her psychiatrist, Dr. Moon?) Is she the living Library -- the backup system for the millions of years of knowledge stored in those books?

Additionally, why does everyone's friendliest ER doc (aka, Professor River-Song) show up as an anthropologist, who has a TARDIS-shaped journal full of "spoilers" and a sonic SCREWDRIVER??? If she were simply a future companion, that link I could get. She knows the Future Doctor and she obviously knows the history of Donna (as her successor, maybe?) But, this woman has a SONIC DEVICE. And, as the Doctor himself says, he doesn't just give those out to anyone. Her sonic also looked, well, homemade. As if it had been constructed piecemeal rather than straight-from-the-factory. Why would the Doctor help her build -- or help her understand how to build -- a piece of Time Lordian technology if she's just a regular old human?

Plus (this sealed the deal for me) she is very familiar -- too familiar -- with the Doctor to be "just" another companion. She told Donna that having him look through her, without recognition, "killed her". Not hurt, not annoyed, but "killed". Not a word that's thrown around lightly. She also stroked his face. Stared into his eyes and said he "looked younger than she'd ever seen him". That observation seems fairly insignificant on the surface, yet to notice the imperceptible change of a person's eyes -- a change which runs deeper than the color, or the structure, but hinges on recognizing and understanding the emotions and age of the person behind the eyes -- means that she's been able to peer very closely at them -- at him -- before. Which could be very intimate, in any sense of the word.

Edit: I just realized that the Professor's sonic blaster might be the same make as Jack's was in TDD, Season 1. Both blasters are 51st century, presumably from the Villengard factory-turned-banana-grove. So, does this mean that Nine has not yet blown up that factory? Or, does it mean that the Professor has access to those types of weapons (through an organization like the Time Agency, or through her future association with the Doctor?)

Grr. I still hate Steven Moffat right now. Though he makes for brilliant two-part episodes, the man should not be allowed to write about mundane things. He makes them terrifying. Case in point, I am now more than a little suspicious of gas masks, statues of angels, and shadows.

P.S. In case you can't tell, when I start overanalyzing television into tiny bits (as in the above), that means I am officially an obsessed fan. Whee. :)

Comments

[tkurogrym.livejournal.com]

That whole worship-hate attitude about Moffat? Completely seconded. Brilliant episode, laden with terror, humor, complete-and-utter mystery, and compelling-and-worrying character relationship moments. No one writes Who like Moffat. I officially have got to rent Jekyll now, one of his earlier mini-series. Man's a genius.

Is she the universe's biggest hard-drive, camoflaged and hidden by someone who knows better (like her psychiatrist, Dr. Moon?)

That's my guess. Although a "living Library" is a possibility, too. But I suspect she'll turn out to be the core hard drive for the library, even though at this point she seems to be most connected with the security system proper. She talks about "my library" as though it's separate from her, but which she oversees. There's probably something metaphorical about the vast potential of a child's imagination in all of this. We'll see how it turns out next week, I suppose.

But, this woman has a SONIC DEVICE. And, as the Doctor himself says, he doesn't just give those out to anyone. Her sonic also looked, well, homemade. As if it had been constructed piecemeal rather than straight-from-the-factory.

I don't remember the origins of the original sonic screwdriver, but Nine says he built his in Moffat's first run (TEC/DD). And we know that the screwdriver was destroyed in the X-Ray machine in "Smith and Jones," and reconstructed again since then. So, it's very possible that he built River Song's model, as well. The homemade look is somewhat rougher than his usual fare, so I could see it being one he made for a companion. (She does say he gave it to her, doesn't she?) The question we're left with, as you say, is what makes her the (first? only?) companion to have her own sonic device? As a 51st century kinda girl, it might be a matter of being one of the first who is innately capable of using it well?

I just realized that the Professor's sonic blaster might be the same make as Jack's was in TDD

The squareness gun made me grin hugely. I don't think she got that from the Doctor, no matter how useful. Maybe in his later incarnations he's changed his opinion about guns, but somehow I doubt it. (That's why we need a Jack occasionally; someone has to wield the fire power!) Either way, it must have come from Villangard. Perhaps the Library episode happens before Nine destroys it; perhaps (like Jack) she just has one of the remaining guns. Either way, it's a lovely touch.

Plus (this sealed the deal for me) she is very familiar -- too familiar -- with the Doctor to be "just" another companion.

Oh yes. They definitely played up the companion-but-something-more, something closer. Is that merely the way we (the audience) are reading those interactions? Is it indicative of a future relationship, even a future romance? Even though my Nine/Rose OTP self balks at that notion a bit, the Doctor is allowed to love. I wouldn't wish him to never love again.

That said, I'm going to remain unconvinced. After all, she is a product of 51st century morality, the same time period that produced our very flexible and forward Jack Harkness. That intensity (reading his eyes), physicality (the face touch), and general rough-and-ready demeanor may all simply be part of her upbringing. In fact, she reminds me very much of how Jack might approach the Doctor if he met an earlier incarnation. Especially a "pretty boy" incarnation! Her wistful hurt when he doesn't know her, looks right through her, is something I could see from a very close friend as much as a lover.

Though he makes for brilliant two-part episodes, the man should not be allowed to write about mundane things. He makes them terrifying.

Amazing, isn't it? And he's got a thing for dealing with children and children's nightmare particularly. From the monster under the bed (in "Girl in the Fireplace") to the moving statues. And part of the horror of TDD/TEC is the fact that patient zero is a child, a faceless, empty child. Whew.

In case you can't tell, when I start overanalyzing television into tiny bits (as in the above), that means I am officially an obsessed fan.

Hee. Glad I'm not the only one! (And we apparently share a taste in icons, too. Good one for this ep.)

[elvenlaughter.livejournal.com]

I read all of your conversation with Beane before posting, and I absolutely agree on all counts. Moffat terrifies me with his cleverness. And about the sonic screwdriver River uses, I thought it looked old and worn, like it had been used an awful lot, and maybe clumsily repaired at some point... maybe I'm wrong, but itjust seemed to me evidence of its age. Did he give her an old one, and make himself a better model? I dunno.

I'm almost too scared about everything to be excited for next week. A part of me is feeling a bit like Bella right now (never again! I hate this show! Curse you all for getting me involved!) and yet I'm about to go rewatch for the pictures on CALlie's wall. I'm such an addict, but at least I know I have a problem. That's the first step to recovery, right?