Doctor Who [Spoilers]

I can't think of anything to talk about, so I'm going to talk about Doctor Who. So, apologies to any non-Who fans. And to any Who fans who  haven't seen the past three episodes, because there will be *SPOILERS* (and, yes, I totally imagined River saying that in that she sing-songy voice she does as soon as I typed it).

So, I have to say that "The Impossible Astronaut"/"Day of the Moon" is my favorite two-parter from the Moffat era, and two of my favorite episodes in the Moffat era in general (though all of my favorite Moffat episodes are from the RTD era, funny that). I feel like before I jump in with speculation, questions and surprise, I should a mini-review of the first few episodes.

"The Impossible Astronaut" was really engaging for me, and I quite enjoyed the pacing, though the story-setup took a bit too long, perhaps, and didn't leave time for much enjoyment of the Alien of the Week, or just the Danger of the Week in general.  That said, I really liked how characterization was handled in this episode, with Amy, Rory and River having to keep such a huge secret from the Doctor. I can't imagine that would be easy, and I thought the emotions and responses from each of the characters were great, and well acted. Especially the entire scene in the diner; Karen Gillan's delivery of Amy's reaction to Rory and River worrying about the envelopes when she still thought the Doctor was gone for good was brilliant. And I have to admit that I had an internal *squee* when River slapped the Doctor, because I was honestly thinking that someone needed to do that right before it happened. I think that won River points in my book, and I'm not particularly a River fan.

"Day of the Moon" was a great conclusion to "The Impossible Astronaut", and I also enjoyed quite a bit more. I liked the visuals of the characters covered in the tally marks, which always seemed very eerie (the visuals specifically, not necessarily the significance). I find the Silence sort of creepy, only in that they have the ability to control people's actions, without people remembering. All the same, they never seemed to be that scary within the episodes, except for the Silence that killed Joy, aside from their ability to erase themselves from people's memory. I thought the hand recording things were also very cool. Which reminds me of characterization which was even better in this episode, what with Rory overhearing Amy talk about the person she really loves. The lines were written brilliantly vaguely, and Arthur Darvill's acting of Rory's distress in response to the idea that Amy might really love the Doctor was superb. I was ridiculously happy when Amy called Rory "stupid face".

Onto speculation and confusion surrounding the episodes! First off: who the heck is the child, and why is she regenerating? I came up with this weird theory that the child is some sort of weird combination of two children time-traveling between River and Amy. Meaning that the fathers would be the Doctor and Rory. Honestly, though, I'm terrible at theories and would actually much rather be completely and ridiculously surprised at whatever the truth is. But Amy's positive-negative pregnancy and the picture of her with the child are deeply fascinating. Also, is it actually the child that kills the Doctor? I'm not entirely sure whether or not to be convinced by that at this point.

The Doctor and River kissed! Um, really that was kind of just a OMG WTF moment for me, and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the increasing blatant-ness of their having a romantic relationship, because I really don't like the idea of River being the Doctor's wife. It would be too mundane. Even still, I couldn't begin to come up with who River might "really" be.

These episodes left so many questions, and left me really excited for the rest of the season. Onto "The Curse of the Black Spot"!

In comparison to the first two episodes, this one felt a bit weak. I liked the play on the siren myth, but the episode in general seemed to lack something that the first two had. Characterization might be one, because while there were a lot of good Rory-Amy moments, I don't think most of them went anywhere. The exception would be at the end of the episode when Amy manages to save Rory and their exchanges during the last few minutes of the episode. I also liked the Doctor calling Amy "Amelia", and both of them being concerned for the other over secrets their keeping from the other. Plot-wise, the story didn't do much for me, though I certainly enjoyed it (especially the banter between the Captain and the Doctor, and Eleven's bemoaning of his lack of hat). I think that the really significant moment in the episode was the shot of the woman from "Day of the Moon" in the wall of the boat. She reminded me of the woman that visits Wilf in "The End of Time", though I'm rather certain this character will serve a  different purpose. The episode was enjoyable, but it didn't seem to move the Doctor's character on any further, and only Amy and Rory's minimally, and I think in a show that has a different supporting cast each week, the effect of the story on the main/recurring characters should be more apparent.

So those are my thoughts, I'm still looking forward to the rest of the season and I hope that it regains the speed it started off with. My recommendation will be Spiced Chai Tea (I particularly like the Ruby Red Rooibos Chai that I get from Trader Joe's, but I don't know how readily available that is elsewhere). Because it is delicious.