Quote Originally Posted by SuperPanda View Post
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I love that inner darkness about the character, and I'd love the Valyard plot to be coming to fruition... the frustration I've been having is in the dissonance between what the show has been saying and what the show has been showing.

For 9 and 10 it was very clearly laid out that the Doctor's inner darkness is very powerful, so much that he keeps people around so that they'll stop him from becoming the very thing he fights against. The Doctor knew it, he struggled with it, he hated that about himself and he fought it, but ultimately he knew it.

From Season 5 on I've felt that actors have kept that battle very much alive while the show has taken a firm stance that "the doctor is the hero because he is." instead of leaving that ambiguity that you could feel in "Waters of Mars" or "Dalek" where you look at the Doctor and realize that he's more of a force of nature than a hero.

For how this relates to Dinosaurs:
I'd have liked exactly what they did, if they'd made Solomon less completely unlikable, or included some reaction from the companions, or had not had te whole "good man" arc in the previous season (since I mentioned I didn't like that one).

They easily could have had the Doctor do exactly what he did and had Neffie say something about the Doctor being too kind to Solomon, or having wished he'd suffered more. Then you give Matt Smith a reaction shot where it dawns on him that he's nodding in agreement and is a little scared by that. Another option would have been to have Rory ask about what happened, have the Doctor or Neffie tell them and have the Rory and/or Brian challenge the Doctor's choice, ask about due process or legal system or the likes.


Overall, its such a minor issue that I didn't mind it at all, it just felt extremely deliberate (for the Doctor) and a wasted opportunity because no one calls him on it (yet... who knows about the rest of the season).
Yes, that. Exactly that.

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I wasn't surprised or shocked about the Doctor killing Solomon, because it's very much in character with what we know of him. but I had expected it would be a lit more expanded upon.

Also, on the whole stance taken by the show on this matter... we know the Doctor at least doesn't self-identifies as a good man. "Good men don't need rules. Today is not the day to find out why I have so many"