The psychic pollen (from the candle meadows of Karass Don Slava) was invented for this episode.
A season with an insane Doctor would be darkly spectacular. They try and keep causality intact with various pronouncements of things being fixed in time or the impossibility of directly interfering/crossing with your past events, but the timey-wimey stuff is fairly fluid; there have been multiple multiple Doctor episodes, so it wouldn’t be impossible.
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If it’s not a setup for later episodes, the ending seemed a bit deus ex Tardina. Not that many aren’t also like that, but the thirty-second epilogue seemed tacked on.
I’m awfully glad this episode (seems to have) dispensed with an Amy/Doctor liaison. I hope that after this episode Ponytail Boy doesn’t get dropped off while Amy continues on, and if he does, I hope they drop the Tin Dog bit and make him more of a capable character. And Amy should get her prissy little shit together. Her “but it’s a time machine so I didn’t really leave to go gallivanting off the night before our wedding” was a cheap, lame, and shitty excuse. I love the show, but I’d prefer not watching a pack of assholes wander about time and space.
Well, the ending makes it clear she really cares about Rory. My take is that after losing both her parents, ending up with an aunt who leaves a 7-year-old girl alone in a big scary house, and being abandoned by the Doctor himself - twice - she’s got serious commitment issues.
This Doctor is a bit of a goofus and Rory’s a dullard, but they’re not assholes. Both of them will willingly risk they’re lives for others. Rory for Amy, the Doctor for just about everybody.
I can’t say that “The Hungry Earth” really filled me with anticipation for the second half of the two-parter. Not that it was a terrible episode or anything; it was just kind of there. Maybe it would be different if the Silurians meant a lot to me, but I think I was just half-sorta paying attention during the one classic-era appearance of theirs that I did see.
Ah, so the Sleestaks… erm, Silurians were introduced in classic Who. I am not fully versed in the older shows, so I didn’t know, but now it makes sense that the Doctor was saying he knew what they were before he saw them.
I am wondering what is the significance of the Doctor at the beginning of the episode spotting the “future” Amy and Rory in the distance waving at them. Maybe it was an attempt at a warning? But then, they should know it wouldn’t have worked. And maybe they’re not really from the timeline that they are currently visiting. Rory took some satisfaction that he and Amy will still be together in ten years, but I’m betting they are going to do some time-jumping in the next episode and end up waving at themselves as they first arrive. If that makes any sense.
Also various UNIT personnel:
the Brigadier
Sgt Benton
Mike Yates
All of whom were recurring characters who count as short-term companions, and all of whom managed to be competent companions. The younger two had flirtations with female companions, too.
The Hungry Earth dragged a bit. It felt too short for a first half.
The biometric earch was a cute idea. So was Silurian mask to bridge between the old and new. But why would reptiles evolve human features?
I hate the Doctor always promising that everyone will be saved. Everything’s not in your control. People mess up; bad guys are bad, etc.
Was it explained how the villagers noticed the missing body in the grave? If the ground wasn’t disturbed, why did they dig her up (and thereby find her missing)?
The Silurians are all in hibernation until someone drills into their city, but what were they waiting for? The Earth has long been habitable, so why didn’t they come out and claim it long ago? The biometric earch could have sensed favorable conditions. You left long ago and now that it’s livable you want it back? No thanks.
The woman and her husband had wanted to be buried together in the family plot. The grave was opened up to bury her husband.
Yes, that’s right. The show was dragging along so much that I forgot.
On an unrelated note; I have high hopes to be able to ride in the Tardis now. Apparently everyone is getting a turn.
I think the Doctor making promises he can’t keep is an intentional character flaw, and it relates to the ease with which he can be talked into letting someone aboard the Tardis in that this is a Doctor who needs to be liked more than any recent incarnation.
As for the reptiles evolving human features… eh. Maybe the more intellectually, socially, and emotionally complex a species becomes, the more important it is to be able to communicate quick and subtle emotions. Have you ever seen a real lizard attempt a sly grin? It’s almost embarrassing.
As for why this tribe of Silurians hasn’t emerged earlier, remember that they were sure the earth was going to be devastated for a long, long … long time. So they didn’t think it was necessary to scan the surface constantly to see if conditions were OK – only when sufficient time had passed, or when under attack.
Okay, but you think they might want to check every million years just for the hell of it. 
Pop out when Australopithecus arrives and no problems at all.
Not my favorite episode, but I’m willing to give it a “B”. I know that Steven Moffat is trying to reintroduce classic Whoniverse villains (so as soon as it was revealed that the baddies were cold-blooded, I said to my wife, “Silurians!”. She rolled her eyes and made the “L” sign on her forehead), and these guys are pretty good. Better than the damn Daleks and Cybermen again, anyway.
I agree with the earlier posters who don’t like the Doc promising that he’s going to rescue everyone. What happens when he inevitably can’t?
So, looking forward to next week, but still thinking that this season hit its peak with “The Time of Angels”, so far.
“Did you just shush me?” Great line.
The Hungry Earth definitely met this demand —he seemed to work together fine with the Doctor, and Amy really was a non-factor in the episode. I think they’re letting him develop nicely.
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Are we watching the same series? I see a lot of positive reactions to this season, yet I hate it, and my wife is bored by it. Gaping plot holes, an incredibly bland portrayal of the Doctor, generally poor storytelling.
I don’t mean to threadshit - I loved the Eccleston series, and most of the Tennant - but this season I’m finding actively annoying, and I’m genuinely confused. Are my tastes so far out? I shouldn’t think so…
Can you give some examples? I can chalk up your dislike of the Doctor to chemistry, but I’m curious as to what you see as plot holes so large as to be called gaping and poor storytelling.
I was set to not like Matt Smith because the early photos made him look odd, but I’m liking his interpretation. I’m starting to see some cracks in his façade, but that works with his character - cheerful optimist hiding deep dark sadness. And I’m liking the theme this season of ‘dark fairytale’. I’m not terribly fond of Amy’s fiance, but at least they aren’t making him a Mickey clone.
At first I saw Smith as a Tennant clone, but as the show goes on he’s slowly developing his own identity. Actually, one difference from the start is his quick temper.
Anyway, looking at spoilers from episodes not shown here in America yet, and possible spoilers about shows that haven’t even showed in the UK, I am extremely looking forward to watching how this season ends.
I actually just started watching this season, and I’m loving Matt Smith. Of course I had nothing to compare him to at first, but I’ve been catching Tennant reruns and I like him too.
I haven’t seen a whole lot of the previous seasons, but a few people have remarked that Smith seems less enamored of humanity in general than Tennant, and I’d agree. But what I like is that he seems to actually *notice *people more, and engage them more personally. Again, my perspective is limited, but as a fr’instance, it appears to me that Smith has already shown more interest in Rory than Tennant ever did in Mickey. Smith is more alien, but less alienating, if that makes any sense.
It should be noted that the Doctor and Mickey had some history before Tennant’s tenure.
And Rory’s less irrationally jealous of the Doctor than Mickey was (Mickey flipped out just because the Doctor was THERE…Rory’s been surprisingly restrained, considering the Doctor randomly popped up at his stag to inform him that his fiancee had snogged him. … Frickin’ pronouns. You know who each ‘him’ should refer to, I hope…)
I don’t exactly hate it, but I can’t say I care much for it and I’m a long-time Who fan. I’m watching on UK pace, though, so while I thought the early episodes were pretty bland, the later episodes improve a good bit. To me, it’s easily the worst season of the new series, reminds me a lot of the Sylvester McCoy period. I still hold out some hope that there will be a season-ending reveal of a major story arc that has been playing out this season that will improve things.
Ah. I just ordered the previous seasons on DVD, so I’m looking forward to seeing that.
I have to ask though… is it really irrational to be jealous of a guy your girlfriend chooses to spend all her time with? I wouldn’t be interested in being the Doctor’s companion’s boyfriend.