Doctor Who 04x12
Jun. 29th, 2008 09:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
karenorAh, I'd hoped the BBC was joking about airing a trailer today. I guess I can't be so lucky. So of course, many spoilers will be about in the next week. Not to mention that I was pretty thoroughly spoiled by the BBC youtube site. Whatevers. I'd actually had the panic attack about THOSE spoilers months ago when they were first leaked. Although I'd seen them so briefly I never knew if they were real or not. Oh well.
As exciting as the episode was, I think, combined with all I know and don't know, that it left me with a very bad taste in my mouth.
Ok. What I didn't like or find questionable (i.e. i make squinty eyes of woe):
-Obviously the,Dalek cockblock ahem, botched reunion. Of course I saw it coming a mile away, but that doesn't make it okay. It would have had almost the same effect on the general populace (if not more) if they were allowed that hug and THEN he got shot. I was sobbing throughout that whole run because I knew something would get in the way. Preemptive crying.
-The "regeneration." Ok, what do you think the chances are that the BBC managed to secretly pull the biggest upset in television history? It ain't sticking. Somehow And as such, it's a bit of a cheap ploy on our emotions. Like there wasn't ENOUGH high emotion running around? WTF?
-This Osterhagen key business. Again, there are enough mysteries that I don't need another. I'm assuming it's some sort of Earth self destruct button, that will take the Daleks down along with the humans. And someone (presumably Martha, but probably the Doctor, eventually) will have to make the decision of whether or not to use it. Eh. Rusty, there's a limit to how much rehashing the past I can take. Parallels and puzzles are nice and stuff, but they get OLD. Dammit. And in any case, I don't want that to happen. I know the name has some sort of Nazi connection, but I didn't look very closely at that connection as I don't really want to know any more about it.
-Donna, Donna, Donna. That's the $64,000 question innit. What's the deal? I've heard people say she was hearing drums? It sounded distinctly like a heartbeat. A human one at that. Whereas you might argue that Yana/Saxon/Master's 4-beat drums echoes the Time Lord heart beat. So. If they pull out a "Donna is a fob-watched Time Lord/Romana/The Rani, etc. etc." I'm throwing my hands up and walking away. I'm fucking DONE. See above about redoing storylines. But it's not just that. I want Donna to be MORE important than that. I want her to be human, too. The whole POINT of Donna is that she is both very ordinary and VERY special. I'd buy her being magical/goddess-like/set in place by Bad Wolf but NOT another Time Lord. PLEASE. Plus, we know her family. So unless she was switched at birth? Meh.
-Was the Time War just totally retconned? It's not time locked anymore (which thanks for explaining that business), so now pretty much ANYthing can happen, right? If there are ways through the time lock. What's to stop all sorts of things happening. Any other single Dalek can worm it's way out of the Time War and this can happen all over again. Or any Time Lord. The whole society. What's to stop that from happening? And i don't WANT it to happen. Look, i'm not one of those that says my show has to conform to my idea of canon and that characters can't change (like some prefer the Doctor to ever be asexual, and loving a particular companion ruins the show, etc.), but having him be the LAST of his kind is absolutely essential to the character. It adds a weight of gravity and responsibility to the character that he never had in the classic show. He IS the highest authority. And he always has to struggle with that line of how and what to change, for the sake of saving people and preserving time. It's who he is now. And I'd rather not see Time Lord politics and/or squabbles return to this show. The Master (for all the faults with THAT storyline) was enough. It was well done. It was perfect, him dying in the Doctor's arms and the Doctor alone again. PLUS, there's Jenny out there, really, if they wanna do something with that. AND i'm not entirely opposed to time babies (for serious), if the Doctor wants to start again. I just don't want a ship to pop out of E-space or for other refugees from the Time War to start showing up.
-The everybody and the kitchen sink aspect. Don't throw stuff at me. It was nice seeing everyone, to be sure. Gwen and Ianto were a nice surprise, I thought those rumors were crap when I heard them ages ago (but did it confuse the begesus out of the kiddies?). And Sarah Jane and Luke and everything. And the facebook interaction was cute and stuff. But honestly? I really thing it detracted from the rest. And yes I am talking about the Doctor/Rose stuff. And go ahead and say my shipper heart is skewing my vision. I don't care. But I wanted them to have more time. Not just at the end, obviously. But the build up. The looking for and forward to each other. There was some of that, of course. The Doctor's marvelous little smile at the beginning. Rose's jealousy stuff (which I at first thought silly, but then upon rethinking, didn't begrudge her at all, because Rose would totally do that). The Doctor looking for her on the monitor and her woe that he couldn't see her (where i about lost it). But I wanted MORE of that. I wanted more of that moment where the Doctor gave up and Donna talking him round. That was an amazing, pivotal moment. He never gives up! Why couldn't we just pause there for a moment? Because we had to fit so many people in there!
-Prophetic!Dalek. YAWN. Is that necessary? Oooooh, mysteries. Who's going to bite it??? Ooooooh. It's cheap and stupid. But looook, crazy fans will go looks stuff up and speculate all week. Why wasn't the Dalek in "Dalek" crazier then? He fell through time. Presumably out of the Time War. Too. Oh whatever. Ok, deep breath. I'm not that annoyed by this. It just seemed a bit over the top.
That said... Stuff That Was Awesome:
-Harriet Jones! I'm really glad we got to see her. And yes, this was a complete surprise for me (there are SOME things I managed to steer clear of). I thought her stance was interesting. She stood by what she did in TCI, but also clearly felt that she needed redemption for it. I really love that. And that her tech was funded by Mr. Copper! Bless him.
-Rose, obviously. Pretty much everything she did. She was just so awesome. I mean the aforementioned snerking at the monitor and the Martha stuff... it bugged me a bit, but it's remaining true to her character. I mean, for some reason, Rose didn't know about Martha's existence (though she seems to know just about everything else, so that's a bit confusing), so she sees an unknown companion, who is apparently hot and sort of badass, and clearly important to him, what's she to think? Of COURSE she'll be jealous. It wouldn't be Rose if she wasn't. And also, the frustration of not being able to be seen. I get it. If she was all benevolent the whole time the ep would be even MORE like bad fanfic (the St. Rose syndrome) than it already was. Ok, well done bad fanfic, but still. I love that she scared off the looters. That she saved Wilf and Silvia. I loved her (a bit petulant) insistence that he COULDN'T regenerate. Her repeated i've come all this way or after all this time and and everything. *sniffles*
-Wilf! Does his awesomeness even need to be touted. I love when he's defending his family, and those moments when you really see that he's a father. That he knows what's up. How'd he figure out the eyestalk thing anyway? I actually kinda wish the paint thing would have worked. I love surprising low-tech world saving things. And by Gum, I want my Wilf w/paint gun action figure! So say we all!
-Again, my love for Gwen and Ianto. I thought maybe the phonecall to Rhys was a bit overkill, but otherwise I loved the rest. Loved Jack's hug and kiss of them when he found it was the Daleks. And I loved Gwen's insistence that they weren't going out like no punks. They'd go like Tosh and Owen and at least try to kick some ass. I don't suspect that they'll die (unless there's to be another reset button, in which case, *eyeroll*), but if they do somehow? I'll be very very very sad. And I think with whatever companion is gonna bite it (if loony!Caan only speaks the truth), that would be WAY too much sadness for one ep. However, past experience has shown us that Rusty doesn't exactly back down from TOO much sadness. So... ready those pitchforks now, kiddies. But i firmly belief they're safe. Somehow. And Gwen and Ianto's reactions to the Doctor's appearance. Precious. *huggles them*
-The Doctor's refusal to lead a war. This was relatively subtle, but I really loved it. Yes it was a bit predictable. But I really loved the obvious and complete aversion. Also, loved the whole figure it out scene. With Donna and the lost planets (and the Moon of Poosh!). At least that whole thing wasn't a red herring. And Donna does have pretty good memory. But really, I loved the Doctor extra much every damned minute he was on screen (never mind how short it was). His desperation for Rose. His almost stubborn refusal to hope until Donna made him. And his giving up of hope. Because he's almost accepted that he can never be happy. What he loves is always out of reach. Poor Doctor. And of course he was pretty much right. But at least there is a tiny modicum of hope now. DT is such a fabulous actor. Really really. Hotness and fangirling aside.
That will do for now, methinks. I'm distracted again. And it's plenty long already. I know there were more things I loved about this ep (and undoubtably more that I didn't love). But I should pause to recollect my thoughts. So as maintain some sort of coherency.
As exciting as the episode was, I think, combined with all I know and don't know, that it left me with a very bad taste in my mouth.
Ok. What I didn't like or find questionable (i.e. i make squinty eyes of woe):
-Obviously the,
-The "regeneration." Ok, what do you think the chances are that the BBC managed to secretly pull the biggest upset in television history? It ain't sticking. Somehow And as such, it's a bit of a cheap ploy on our emotions. Like there wasn't ENOUGH high emotion running around? WTF?
-This Osterhagen key business. Again, there are enough mysteries that I don't need another. I'm assuming it's some sort of Earth self destruct button, that will take the Daleks down along with the humans. And someone (presumably Martha, but probably the Doctor, eventually) will have to make the decision of whether or not to use it. Eh. Rusty, there's a limit to how much rehashing the past I can take. Parallels and puzzles are nice and stuff, but they get OLD. Dammit. And in any case, I don't want that to happen. I know the name has some sort of Nazi connection, but I didn't look very closely at that connection as I don't really want to know any more about it.
-Donna, Donna, Donna. That's the $64,000 question innit. What's the deal? I've heard people say she was hearing drums? It sounded distinctly like a heartbeat. A human one at that. Whereas you might argue that Yana/Saxon/Master's 4-beat drums echoes the Time Lord heart beat. So. If they pull out a "Donna is a fob-watched Time Lord/Romana/The Rani, etc. etc." I'm throwing my hands up and walking away. I'm fucking DONE. See above about redoing storylines. But it's not just that. I want Donna to be MORE important than that. I want her to be human, too. The whole POINT of Donna is that she is both very ordinary and VERY special. I'd buy her being magical/goddess-like/set in place by Bad Wolf but NOT another Time Lord. PLEASE. Plus, we know her family. So unless she was switched at birth? Meh.
-Was the Time War just totally retconned? It's not time locked anymore (which thanks for explaining that business), so now pretty much ANYthing can happen, right? If there are ways through the time lock. What's to stop all sorts of things happening. Any other single Dalek can worm it's way out of the Time War and this can happen all over again. Or any Time Lord. The whole society. What's to stop that from happening? And i don't WANT it to happen. Look, i'm not one of those that says my show has to conform to my idea of canon and that characters can't change (like some prefer the Doctor to ever be asexual, and loving a particular companion ruins the show, etc.), but having him be the LAST of his kind is absolutely essential to the character. It adds a weight of gravity and responsibility to the character that he never had in the classic show. He IS the highest authority. And he always has to struggle with that line of how and what to change, for the sake of saving people and preserving time. It's who he is now. And I'd rather not see Time Lord politics and/or squabbles return to this show. The Master (for all the faults with THAT storyline) was enough. It was well done. It was perfect, him dying in the Doctor's arms and the Doctor alone again. PLUS, there's Jenny out there, really, if they wanna do something with that. AND i'm not entirely opposed to time babies (for serious), if the Doctor wants to start again. I just don't want a ship to pop out of E-space or for other refugees from the Time War to start showing up.
-The everybody and the kitchen sink aspect. Don't throw stuff at me. It was nice seeing everyone, to be sure. Gwen and Ianto were a nice surprise, I thought those rumors were crap when I heard them ages ago (but did it confuse the begesus out of the kiddies?). And Sarah Jane and Luke and everything. And the facebook interaction was cute and stuff. But honestly? I really thing it detracted from the rest. And yes I am talking about the Doctor/Rose stuff. And go ahead and say my shipper heart is skewing my vision. I don't care. But I wanted them to have more time. Not just at the end, obviously. But the build up. The looking for and forward to each other. There was some of that, of course. The Doctor's marvelous little smile at the beginning. Rose's jealousy stuff (which I at first thought silly, but then upon rethinking, didn't begrudge her at all, because Rose would totally do that). The Doctor looking for her on the monitor and her woe that he couldn't see her (where i about lost it). But I wanted MORE of that. I wanted more of that moment where the Doctor gave up and Donna talking him round. That was an amazing, pivotal moment. He never gives up! Why couldn't we just pause there for a moment? Because we had to fit so many people in there!
-Prophetic!Dalek. YAWN. Is that necessary? Oooooh, mysteries. Who's going to bite it??? Ooooooh. It's cheap and stupid. But looook, crazy fans will go looks stuff up and speculate all week. Why wasn't the Dalek in "Dalek" crazier then? He fell through time. Presumably out of the Time War. Too. Oh whatever. Ok, deep breath. I'm not that annoyed by this. It just seemed a bit over the top.
That said... Stuff That Was Awesome:
-Harriet Jones! I'm really glad we got to see her. And yes, this was a complete surprise for me (there are SOME things I managed to steer clear of). I thought her stance was interesting. She stood by what she did in TCI, but also clearly felt that she needed redemption for it. I really love that. And that her tech was funded by Mr. Copper! Bless him.
-Rose, obviously. Pretty much everything she did. She was just so awesome. I mean the aforementioned snerking at the monitor and the Martha stuff... it bugged me a bit, but it's remaining true to her character. I mean, for some reason, Rose didn't know about Martha's existence (though she seems to know just about everything else, so that's a bit confusing), so she sees an unknown companion, who is apparently hot and sort of badass, and clearly important to him, what's she to think? Of COURSE she'll be jealous. It wouldn't be Rose if she wasn't. And also, the frustration of not being able to be seen. I get it. If she was all benevolent the whole time the ep would be even MORE like bad fanfic (the St. Rose syndrome) than it already was. Ok, well done bad fanfic, but still. I love that she scared off the looters. That she saved Wilf and Silvia. I loved her (a bit petulant) insistence that he COULDN'T regenerate. Her repeated i've come all this way or after all this time and and everything. *sniffles*
-Wilf! Does his awesomeness even need to be touted. I love when he's defending his family, and those moments when you really see that he's a father. That he knows what's up. How'd he figure out the eyestalk thing anyway? I actually kinda wish the paint thing would have worked. I love surprising low-tech world saving things. And by Gum, I want my Wilf w/paint gun action figure! So say we all!
-Again, my love for Gwen and Ianto. I thought maybe the phonecall to Rhys was a bit overkill, but otherwise I loved the rest. Loved Jack's hug and kiss of them when he found it was the Daleks. And I loved Gwen's insistence that they weren't going out like no punks. They'd go like Tosh and Owen and at least try to kick some ass. I don't suspect that they'll die (unless there's to be another reset button, in which case, *eyeroll*), but if they do somehow? I'll be very very very sad. And I think with whatever companion is gonna bite it (if loony!Caan only speaks the truth), that would be WAY too much sadness for one ep. However, past experience has shown us that Rusty doesn't exactly back down from TOO much sadness. So... ready those pitchforks now, kiddies. But i firmly belief they're safe. Somehow. And Gwen and Ianto's reactions to the Doctor's appearance. Precious. *huggles them*
-The Doctor's refusal to lead a war. This was relatively subtle, but I really loved it. Yes it was a bit predictable. But I really loved the obvious and complete aversion. Also, loved the whole figure it out scene. With Donna and the lost planets (and the Moon of Poosh!). At least that whole thing wasn't a red herring. And Donna does have pretty good memory. But really, I loved the Doctor extra much every damned minute he was on screen (never mind how short it was). His desperation for Rose. His almost stubborn refusal to hope until Donna made him. And his giving up of hope. Because he's almost accepted that he can never be happy. What he loves is always out of reach. Poor Doctor. And of course he was pretty much right. But at least there is a tiny modicum of hope now. DT is such a fabulous actor. Really really. Hotness and fangirling aside.
That will do for now, methinks. I'm distracted again. And it's plenty long already. I know there were more things I loved about this ep (and undoubtably more that I didn't love). But I should pause to recollect my thoughts. So as maintain some sort of coherency.
