Monday, May 10, 2010

Doctor Who S05E06-Vampires in Venice

In order to get Amy back in love with her fiancĂ© Rory, The Doctor decides to take the two of them on a romantic getaway to Venice, Italy in 1580. But romance is not the main course of the day as all three travelers on separate occasions encounter mysterious girl, robbed in white with sharp fangs and a strong distaste for the sun. There are vampires in Venice, or at least that is the initial belief. But once Amy infiltrates the mysterious Calvierri School for Girls, she learns that these mysterious bloodsucking females may be the least of everyone’s worries when she discovers the full scope of their plans for the city.

Vampires in Venice is a decent episode for the new series, decent being the word of choice since it comes nowhere near as amazing as the last two weeks two part story. The dual opening is interesting choice to start off with a bit of horror in the form of the vampiric Calvierri girls claiming another victim and the awkward humor in the form of The Doctor party crashing Rory’s bachelor party to get his attention. To be honest, I liked the second part of the opening better. It was awkward and funny and was a better place to start off after Amy’s Doctor seduction session last week.

I was a little worried to see Rory on the TARDIS even though I knew it would happen eventually. But cudos to The Doctor for choosing to do so as he doesn’t want to screw up a companions life back home because of her adventures with him. Rory ended up being a pretty good character, even if he is kind of a Mickey knock off. I’m finding it difficult to figure out how his new companion status on the TARDIS will affect the already awesome dynamic between Amy and The Doctor. At the end of the episode, it looks as though Amy chooses Rory and convinces The Doctor to let him tag along, but I’m not convinced this is the end of the subject with this new love triangle.

The villains du jour were the reptilian/vampiric Saturnynians, led by the lovely Rosanna (played by guest star Helen McRory, who, if your up on your Harry Potter alums as I am, played Narcissia Malfoy in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince). I couldn’t help but feel that this group of bloodsuckers were a bit like the characters in 1987’s “The Lost Boys”. The exclusive club meant for chosen ones, ones that every guy wanted to get with but couldn’t. Still, I liked Helen McRory’s Rosanna and her characters interactions with The Doctor. The two big conversations they have in the episode were well written and played out. Plus, she was a sympathetic character. Sure she was trying to drown Venice, but then again she was also trying to repair the damage done to her race by those ever pesky cracks in time. It was a sad ending for her and it sucked to see her meet her fate. A character I was totally Unsympathetic towards was her “son” Francesco. From the moment I set eyes on him I couldn’t wait to see him get his butt kicked, amusingly enough by a double team effort by Amy and Rory. Whereas Rosanna was a cool and calculating opponent, Francesco was just flat out annoying. Although, the “what’d you say about my momma?” look on his face when Rory taunted him was priceless.

I also have to take a second to applaud the Production Team for its work on a very nice looking Venice. After just recently playing Assassin’s Creed II, which is set in Venice, I thought the city was well recreated and it didn’t feel small scale, similar to the work the crew did on Series Four’s “Fires of Pompeii”. The money spent of the production of this show is spent very well indeed, just check out the visually stunning real versions of the Saturnynians.

So what now? Rory’s on the TARDIS and we get our first real glimpse of “the silence,” which to be honest scared the crap out of me. This wasn’t a great follow up to “Time of the Angels/Flesh and Stone”, and to be honest that was going to be a tough one to top. But “Vampires in Venice” was still a lot of fun with Doctor wit (Best Line: “Oh this is Christmas!!!”), decent action, and a sense that things are definitely going to get worse for the Time Lord as the series goes on. Series Five continues to roll on strong and show no sign of slowing down anytime soon.

Next Week-Trapped in a dream world with a pregnant Amy, even The Doctor has to admit, “This is gonna be a tricky one.”

Rating-8/10

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