Doctor Who 6x10: The Girl Who Waited - small further reaction

[kerravonsen]

I consider it ironic that people have complained about this episode for opposite reasons.

Some people have complained about Older!Amy sacrificing herself, saying that it's unfair, and all too convenient, and "She was real, dammit!" and "She was awesome and therefore the writers had to kill her because they dislike women with agency"... and stuff like that.

Some people have complained about Older!Amy not wanting to sacrifice herself, saying that she should have been glad to give up 36 years of hell, that it made no sense for her to be so stubborn, that if it were them they would have done so in a flash... and stuff like that.

Er, people? Both things happened.
Sacrifice-hating crowd: remember she didn't rush to sacrifice herself.
Sacrifice-loving crowd: remember that she did sacrifice herself in the end.

Comments

[vilakins]

I didn't complain. I just said that if it were me, I'd give up that time. Amy is quite different from me (luckily for viewers).

I think they gave us both: Amy desperately wanting to live and acknowledging that if Rory opened the doors, she force her way in, and realising that wasn't an option that would work when she told him to keep her out. I wonder why she had to sacrifice herself though, now I think of it. Why didn't she just stop existing when her timeline was changed?

[kerravonsen]

Oh, I wasn't just thinking of you - there were other people who said similar things, with a greater or lesser degree of WTF-ness.

I wonder why she had to sacrifice herself though, now I think of it. Why didn't she just stop existing when her timeline was changed?

I think what happened was that she stopped existing when the TARDIS left - there was a sort of white-out in which went across the screen at that point, as if Older!Amy and the robots around her were dissolving. I think what that means was that Older!Amy kept on existing while there was potential for her to exist, while it was possible for Rory to open the door and let her in (at which point, presumably, the Younger!Amy would cease to exist). But once the TARDIS left, the timeline was irrevocably altered, and Older!Amy ceased to exist.

[vilakins]

I didn't notice the white-out, but at that point she'd basically let the robots kill her which I found much sadder. it would have been kinder had she faded out once she'd convinced Rory not to let her in, and at one point it looked as if she was.

[jhall1]

Some people have complained about Older!Amy sacrificing herself, saying that it's unfair, and all too convenient, and "She was real, dammit!" and "She was awesome and therefore the writers had to kill her because they dislike women with agency"... and stuff like that.

The writers had to kill her because there was no way that Karen Gillan could have handled the workload of continuing to play both roles, especially with one requiring heavy use of prosthetics and make-up. I suppose that they could have had her survive and be dropped off somewhere by the Doctor, but I don't think that would have been a very satisfying resolution, as it would have separated her from Rory. And much of the poignancy which was what made the episode so strong (IMO) would have been lost.

Some people have complained about Older!Amy not wanting to sacrifice herself, saying that she should have been glad to give up 36 years of hell, that it made no sense for her to be so stubborn, that if it were them they would have done so in a flash... and stuff like that.

If she had wanted to give up, then she would surely have done so years earlier. I thought that the sheer bloody-minded determination to survive was actually very much in character, and that it's part of what makes Amy so awesome.

[kerravonsen]

The writers had to kill her because there was no way that Karen Gillan could have handled the workload of continuing to play both roles, especially with one requiring heavy use of prosthetics and make-up.

Well, yes, but certain people were not thinking of the practicalities.
Me, I prefer thinking in terms of Watsonian explanations rather than Doylist ones.

but I don't think that would have been a very satisfying resolution

For me, I think it would have felt too easy, almost cheap, if both Amys had survived.

[ikindofrock]

I think that most people wanted her to give herself up right away, but once we got to know her, they didn't. This isn't contradictory, this is a statement on the difference between informed and uninformed decision-making.

It's fine that she died when we didn't know her. Once we did know her, it wasn't ok.