Saturday, August 23, 2014

Reflections Video Episode 4 - Top 3 Matt Smith Episodes of Doctor Who

In the spirit of Doctor Who week, I decided to make a video of my top 3 episodes of Matt Smith, the 11th Doctor. And I did. Unfortunately, due to copyright issues, the video was blocked and I can't show it. Probably a good thing, I wasn't too happy about my editing on the video, myself. But, given the work I put into that video I am extremely bummed out that I won't be able to play it. Hopefully, at some point in the future, the block will be lifted, but who knows. On the bright side, it does add an air of mystery to these videos, right? The unaired episode...

However, they can't stop me from WRITING about my top 3 Matt Smith episodes, right? So, if you are interested here are my top 3 Matt Smith eps from his now concluded run as the Doctor, in no particular order.

5x01 - The Eleventh Hour
Matt Smith's first episode as the Doctor wasn't a real winner for me until the very end. It was a good episode, but the performance came across like Smith didn't really know if he could pull off the role and was talking as fast as possible to make sure no one else would notice until the episode was over. Ironically, it was the last speech the Doctor gives to the alien race, the Atraxi, that won me over. Especially when the images of the other Doctors are projected in hologram form and Smith walks through, finally taking full ownership of the role.

6x11 - The God Complex
From the beginning of the series, it seems that the key to everything was to trust in the Doctor. No matter the situation, no matter how dire the circumstance, the Doctor always knew the way out and bad things would happen only when the Doctor words were not heeded. In this episode, it was very refreshing to see the writers flip the script, so to speak, and have the way out be to lose that unwaveringly blinding faith in the Doctor. Smith's speech to Amy Williams was as powerful as it was shocking and delivered exceptionally well.

7x05 - The Angels Take Manhattan
One of the recurring themes in Doctor (especially in this reboot series) is the limitations of the Doctor. From the episode "The Doctor Dances" where we see the Ninth Doctor overjoyed at the fact that no one had to die that day, to the "Waters of Mars" where a semi-crazed Tenth Doctor can't seem to bend the laws of time to his will, despite his claims, the limitations of the Doctor are always lurking in the background. In "Angels Take Manhattan", the Eleventh Doctor comes across a moment he can't change, the birth of a fixed moment in time that would lose him both of his companions Amy & Rory. The moment he pleads with Amy to not leave and the cry of anguish after she does are epic in Smith's simple portrayal of desperation and despair. The almighty Doctor is losing the people he cares about, and can't do a single solitary thing to stop it.

Well, folks, there you have it. My top 3 Matt Smith, Doctor Who moments. Sound off in the comments below. What were your favorite moments from the Eleventh Doctor?



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