Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Conservatism: there are some people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Prediction: the GOP will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

In my day, never was longer.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

You are here: Home / TV & Movies / Television / The God Complex

The God Complex

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The Girl Who Waited is one of my favorite Who episodes ever. It was beautifully filmed, visually amazing and had a tight script that was funny, gripping and sad. All three leads acted their pants off. Karen Gillan was subtle and convincing in a difficult role, while Arthur Darville made my heart melt. Nonetheless the moment that will stay with me is the look on Matt Smith’s face towards the end as he closed the TARDIS door – the expression of a man who has to make decisions every day that wipe out lives and entire histories.

Now, the God Complex, complete with scary clowns…

ETA: Episode airs in the US at 9pm Eastern. No spoilers until it’s over please…

Reader Interactions

75Comments

  2. 2.

    JGabriel

    I’ve already watched it. Has everyone else seen this week’s episode already, or do we still need to avoid spoilers for a couple more hours? I’m not sure when it airs on BBC America.

    .

  5. 5.

    hildebrand

    Starts in 15 minutes. I have remained spoiler free thus far, though it is has been quite difficult to resist the temptation to peek at spoiler filled reviews.

  6. 6.

    hildebrand

    So many good episodes this year, but the Doctor’s Wife and the Girl Who Waited are my two favorites.

  8. 8.

    Dee Loralei

    Watching football, but am DVRing Who. Loved the Girl Who Waited and The Drs Wife!

    Oh and Boomer Sooner!

  11. 11.

    Geoduck

    I was rather unmoved by the finale of TGWW, because it was pretty much a foregone conclusion which one was going to be continuing on. If nothing else, there was no chance they’d have Karen Gillan wearing old-age makeup for the rest of her run on the show.

    But, that said, it certainly wasn’t a bad episode.

  12. 12.

    Three-nineteen

    Right now I’ll post what I thought about last week’s ep:

    Amy knows that The Doctor and Rory both love her and would do anything, even blow up the universe, for her. They have proved this on more than one occasion. She also knows that The Doctor has problems getting the TARDIS in the precise time and place he wants. The fact that she knows all this and still gives up hope and decides that The Doctor and Rory have abandonded her is totally in character. That’s one reason why I don’t like Amy.

    Rory feels massive guilt over what was The Doctor’s mistake. He doesn’t throw his 2000 years over Amy’s 36 in her face. He is willing to live with two Amys and almost destroys himself, both Amys, The Doctor and the TARDIS because he isn’t willing to abandon future Amy. These actions are all in character. That’s one reason why I love Rory.

    I don’t know anything about this week’s ep – we’ll see in about an hour.

  13. 13.

    Johannes

    OK, count me among those who do *not* like the “Amy Opening.” Loved TGWW, enjoying this one so far. But that opening is–mawkish, at best.

  14. 14.

    Paddy

    Kinda on topic, watching “Torchwood- Miracle Day” and underwhelmed. Also too, what the hell is the story with all the make up slathered on Barrowman? Jeebus.

  17. 17.

    fleeting expletive

    Also, too, in this Dr. Who episode, is there some significance to the fish in the fishbowl? I guess there will be.

  18. 18.

    Sarah Proud and Tall

    @Cliff:

    SPT, why aren’t you doing funny stories any more?

    I’ll be back, dear. My rage at US politics was so great there for a while I couldn’t bring myself to joke. However, we had a very interesting afternoon at Shady Pines with both Bachmann and Palin, which I’ve already started writing about. I think you will be pleased.

  22. 22.

    Yutsano

    In the bathroom of a tiny Thai restaurant picking up an order. And ut’s subtle, but I saw what you did there Sister Sarah. :)

  24. 24.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    @Geoduck: Well, I generally try not to be disappointed that the Doctor escapes at the end of every episode, even though I know it’s the outcome.

  26. 26.

    JGabriel

    @Three-nineteen:

    The fact that she knows all this and still gives up hope and decides that The Doctor and Rory have abandonded her is totally in character.

    RE: TGWW, Amy had been stuck on that planet for over 30 years.

    Rory’s 2000 year wait was, indeed, much longer, but he knew he’d be waiting that long, and he chose it. Amy neither chose her wait, nor knew how long it would be. It hardly seems fair to be judgmental in that circumstance.

    .

  28. 28.

    JGabriel

    On the other hand, it would be typical for River to steal borrow her parent’s new car for an adventure.

    .

  31. 31.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    @JGabriel: They had to go back and watch the end again. I, on the other hand, had to deal with a youngest child who thinks he can take swings at his brothers.

  32. 32.

    fleeting expletive

    So, the goldfish apparently didn’t mean anything, at least this time around. Who knows, could come back in some future episode.

    Overall, not bad. Is Amy really out?

  33. 33.

    Southern Beale

    OMG. We’re watching a rerun of Law & Order SVU because nothing else is on and my cousin who is an aspiring actor is in this episode. It’s hilarious. I think it’s the only thing “of note” he’s done yet. He’s just starting out.

  34. 34.

    JGabriel

    @fleeting expletive:

    Is Amy really out?

    Everything I’ve read to date indicates that Matt Smith’s contract has been renewed, with no word on Amy & Rory. I suspect that means Amy & Rory will be back before the end of the season, but that the Doctor will have a new companion next year — maybe River?

    .

  35. 35.

    Three-nineteen

    @JGabriel: Nope, sorry, don’t buy it. Either she has faith in The Doctor or she doesn’t. If she has faith in The Doctor, she wouldn’t think The Doctor and, more importantly in my thinking, Rory, would abandon her. I get the fact that she waits over 30 years for them, but if she truly loves and believes in either one of them she shouldn’t lose her faith. Especially since the very next episode supposedly hinges on her faith in The Doctor.

    Both Rory and The Doctor have shown Amy multiple times that they would reorder the entire universe for her. If she can’t wait 30+ years for them, that is her failing. And Moffat shouldn’t put an episode that has her faith in The Doctor (not Rory?) as the main plot point when the previous episode shows that she doesn’t really have faith in either The Doctor or Rory.

  37. 37.

    jaywillie

    re: the look on the Doctor’s face…that’s just the Doctor being the Doctor. We’re talkin’ about a dude who locked his granddaughter out of the TARDIS and left her on an apocalyptic future earth ravaged by a Dalek invasion, telling her it was time for her to get on with her life. He’s also the could who broke his own time machine intentionally just so he good explore an abandoned city in “The Daleks,” despite the protests of his companions, who just wanted to go home. Of course, the difference between Doc #1 and Doc #11 here is that #11 at least feels bad when he dicks someone over.

    I like Matt Smith’s Doc, especially since I grew tired of #10’s “living god” roadshow. He had become a superhero, and that’s just not the Doctor.

  38. 38.

    Katie5

    @Sarah Proud and Tall: Because it was obvious the writer would have them ditch the old, experienced Amy in favor of the younger one.

    I’m not a fan of Moffatt or Davies. Gothic horror, which is largely what Dr Who has become, cannot substitute for SF (although I’ll give them TGWW was the first SF story they’ve had in a while). And I think TGWW has a cheap writing trick, to show how gritty the new-age Dr is by having him kill the people he loves/is supposed to take care of. This is after all the second time he’s heartlessly killed off Amy.

  41. 41.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    @jaywillie: I put it in more British terms: The tenth Doctor was Pierce Brosnan’s James Bond, and The eleventh is Daniel Craig’s.

  42. 42.

    JGabriel

    Katie5:

    This is after all the second time he’s heartlessly killed off Amy.

    I tried to heartlessly kill someone once, but it’s bloody difficult to wield a knife when your blood pressure is basically 0/0.

    .

  44. 44.

    Southern Beale

    @Yutsano:

    Every time we go to the theater in NYC we always get a kick out of adding up the cast’s combined Law & Order credits as listed in the Playbill. Seems like everyone who is anyone in the theater has at least a few Law & Order gigs on their resume.

  46. 46.

    JGabriel

    I like how, when the Doctor and Amy were embracing at the end of this week’s episode, it looked like he was comforting her at first, and then there’s a subtle shift in Amy’s expression where she realizes she’s comforting him.

    They seem a little more equal now.

    .

  50. 50.

    Katie5

    @gnomedad: I’m hoping that River regenerates into Dr #9, Christopher Eccleston. Now that would make for an interesting relationship with Matt Smith. Or at least some good slash fiction.

  52. 52.

    JGabriel

    Katie5:

    I’m hoping that River regenerates into Dr #9, Christopher Eccleston.

    That would be … nonplussing. Which I’m sure was also true of the Møøse thing for your sister.

    .

  53. 53.

    Yutsano

    @Southern Beale: L & O (every iteration) is well-known for seeking out local New York actors since they really need fresh faces just about every episode. It really is a good gig for them. I found out an old friend from college is in Noo Yahk trying that as we speak.

  55. 55.

    Jules

    Well, that episode has left me a bit distressed and with something in my eye.

    Matt Smith is a brilliant Doctor, just brilliant.

  57. 57.

    Bruuuuce

    MUCH better than TGWW (which I found contrived, manipulative, and repetitive of several prior episodes over the past couple of seasons, and with which I had exactly zero emotional connection).

    For one thing, I love direct references to Old Who episodes. The insane “hotel” (which reminded me a bit of the castle at Hogwarts and a bit of the hotel in Deep Secret by Diana Wynne Jones, and which ultimately turns out to be a Star Trek-esque holodeck was brilliant.

    I also wonder who or what was in Room 11, and like so many other people, suspect it was the Doctor himself, though possibly in his Eighth incarnation. That was the one who (offscreen) destroyed both the Daleks and the Time Lords, ending the Time War that we hear about at the beginning of New Who (Nine/Eccleston). It could, of course, just be filled with all the Time Lords he’d killed; that would be almost as effective.

  58. 58.

    MaximusNYC

    @Bruuuuce: Yes, this was better than TGWW. TGWW got points for the surrealistic/timey-wimey setup; and since I gather you’re an old series fan, you might understand why it reminded me of “Warriors Gate”, one of my favorite 4th Doctor stories. But in terms of character dynamics it was somewhat of a heavy-handed retread.

    The God Complex was weird… I didn’t feel like the premise that was supposed to explain the ’80s hotel and the minotaur was actually all that strong. But it was creepy, and the character interactions were very strong.

    And yes, the cloister bell in Room 11… who else could it be but the Doctor himself? I don’t think we even need to know which incarnation. But it could have been all of them.

  62. 62.

    hildebrand

    Room 11, with the cloister bell tolling, was obviously ‘Sexy’ dying. The cloister bell only tolled in the series when imminent disaster for the tardis was in the offing. Clearly the Doctor’s worst nightmare would be the destruction of the tardis. As the doctor said in the The Doctor’s Wife (paraphrasing) – ‘you can’t be a mad man in a box without the box’.

  63. 63.

    Fleem

    Many Being Human references and in-jokes (says the Being Human geek), including the thing with the goldfish.

  65. 65.

    Mark B

    I avoided reading this thread until this morning, since I DVR’ed the episode while I was playing poker. Not my favorite episode. I thought the pacing was kind of choppy and a lot of the dialogue was hard to catch and/or understand. They did some setup for the future development of the Doctor and foreshadowed his upcoming death, although I find it hard to believe the writers are actually going to follow through with it …

    Amy has become a character who is almost a co-equal with the doctor, to the point where she is the one who introduces the episodes instead of him. While I love the Amy character, I’m glad they are taking a break from that for a while and giving the doctor his own show back.

  66. 66.

    Mark B

    ***Reposted with my correct email address–stupid cookies***

    I avoided reading this thread until this morning, since I DVR’ed the episode while I was playing poker. Not my favorite episode. I thought the pacing was kind of choppy and a lot of the dialogue was hard to catch and/or understand. They did some setup for the future development of the Doctor and foreshadowed his upcoming death, although I find it hard to believe the writers are actually going to follow through with it …

    Amy has become a character who is almost a co-equal with the doctor, to the point where she is the one who introduces the episodes instead of him. While I love the Amy character, I’m glad they are taking a break from that for a while and giving the doctor his own show back.

  67. 67.

    Canuckistani Tom

    Did anyone else think that it was Matt Smith underneath the clown makeup? There wasn’t anyone listed in the credits.

  68. 68.

    Mark B.

    I avoided reading this thread until this morning, since I DVR’ed the episode while I was playing poker. Not my favorite episode. I thought the pacing was kind of choppy and a lot of the dialogue was hard to catch and/or understand. They did some setup for the future development of the Doctor and foreshadowed his upcoming death, although I find it hard to believe the writers are actually going to follow through with it …

    Amy has become a character who is almost a co-equal with the doctor, to the point where she is the one who introduces the episodes instead of him. While I love the Amy character, I’m glad they are taking a break from that for a while and giving the doctor his own show back.

  69. 69.

    Jennyjinx

    I just got a new job that requires me to work Saturday night, so I can’t watch the Doctor when it airs. I’m forced to use nefarious means to see it. I haven’t watched it yet this afternoon, but I wanted to say that I love that there’s a discussion about it on this blog. That is all.

  71. 71.

    elmertfudd

    Was the rat-like alien character a nod to Monty Python? He was quite a “Sniveling Little Rat-Faced Git”. ;)

  72. 72.

    dlw32

    re: TGWW — I wasn’t convinced that the “old” Amy wasn’t coming along… I did suspect. But at one point when she’s talking with such spite about the Dr, I began to imagine her in a spacesuit.

    re:Torchwood — I reluctantly watched most of Miracle Day. It doesn’t get better… or rather watch the last two eps; you won’t miss anything interesting in between.

    re: TGC — It was moving. And the eps where a companion leaves are usually emotional (I cried both times Sarah Jane was left behind). But they’re always a little scary too… the Doctor needs a companion. The show is built on him seeing things through their eyes.

    re: Room 11 — I was assuming from the end that Room 11 had Amy’s broken body… or Rory’s. but the Tardis’ broken body is good too…

    Speaking of, is anyone else annoyed that we ended last season with the big mystery of who took over and exploded the Tardis and then started this season with who killed the Doctor and we haven’t made any noticeable progress on either?? Maybe the goldfish knew…

  74. 74.

    Fax Paladin

    The Doctor says the same thing when he opens Room 11 as he said/will say to the “Astronaut”: something very like “I thought it would be you.” Which suggests that what he sees in Room 11 is what he will see when the faceplate opens.

    It being River seems a bit obvious at this point, and therefore to be discarded as an insufficient twist. If what he sees is in fact the same (if it’s a red herring, I like the destroyed TARDIS idea), then it’s something he fears most — and whose holographic image got him bent most out of shape back in “Let’s Kill Hitler”?

    So, my dark-horse candidate for the Person in the Spacesuit (not necessarily who I think it’ll actually be, mind), the person who would need just that kind of suit to be able to walk about Earthside with her memories of the Doctor intact: Donna Noble.

    Or maybe it’s Isaac Davner.

  75. 75.

    Jado

    @Katie5:

    I’m a fan of Moffat. Here’s why

    Amy: I wish I could tell you that you’ll be loved. That you’ll be safe and cared for and protected. But this isn’t the time for lies. What you are going to be, Melody, is very very brave.

    Madame Kovarian (Frances Barber): Two minutes.

    Amy: But not as brave as they all have to be. Because there’s somebody coming. I don’t know where he is, or what he’s doing, but trust me. He’s on his way.

    Amy: There’s a man who’s never going to let us down. And not even an army can get in the way.

    Amy: He’s the last of his kind. He looks young but he’s lived for hundreds and hundreds of years. And wherever they take you, Melody, however scared you are, I promise you, you will never be alone. Because this man is your father. He has a name, but the people of our world know him better… as the last Centurion.

    This is an intro that makes the hair on your arms raise. And it’s very easy to blow past this point into hyperbole and camp, or shoot too low and not quite hit the arm-hair-raising point, but Moffat hits it.

    And Arthur Darvill nails his part during and after the intro.

    Contrast this part with the “So say we all.” speech from Battlestar Galactica, which didn’t quite hit the mark

    (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0314979/quotes?qt=qt0505025)

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