selenak

In which Helen Raynor proceeds to make me very happy with the Old Schoolness of it all, and New School continuity goodness rocks as well.

As expected, the cliffhanger was resolved in 60 seconds flat (see also: beginning of Age of Steel or Sound of Drums), though it was by axe, not by stone, as everyone had suggested. Sylvia shows where Donna has the practicality from by saving her father and smashing the windshield, and the plot can proceed. Which was about as subtle as The Green Death or Invasion of the Dinosaurs were about their anti-pollution, pro-environment messages back in the day, and I loved it.

That the Doctor picked upon Clone!Martha not being Real Martha pretty early on was obvious (at the very latest when he didn't tell her where Donna was), but why he let her continue was not (to me, at least) and yet made absolute sense once he revealed it. Seven (aka the Regeneration specializing in these kind of things) would have approved. Best of all, as opposed to what some people feared, Clone!Martha was not overwhelmed by sudden love for him (thus resurrecting last year's crush), nor was she used to lecture him (which I, for one, did not need: even if I had not already thought the Doctor knew about his part in screwing things up with Martha in the end scene of LOTLL, Partners in Crime spelled it out as main text). Instead, Real Martha was the one who got through to her somewhat by virtue of her memories of her family and her own goals in life, but not to an unrealistic degree, and yet the death of the clone was treated unexpectedly poignant (though inevitable), not as a cheap plot device.

Speaking of poignant deaths: alas, Ross. I don't suppose we could hope you were just unconscious? The Doctor really liked you, you know. (Though he was responding to the loss of life in general as well.)

Great cognitive dissonance as last year's residence of tyranny-plus-prison, the Valiant, was used to (temporarily) save the day, simultanously foreshadowing both what the Doctor does later and what Luke Rattigan does, showing that brilliant designs can be used for good as well as evil, depending on who does it, and hoorah for UNIT proving tactical skills! (Though I bet the Doctor won't set foot on that ship any time soon on his own volition.) But of course the very best moment for UNIT fans was THE BRIGADIER REFERENCE. We love the Brig, oh yes we do, and so does the Doctor, and so, it seems, does Colonel Mace. Who if he calls him "Alastair" must be a good friend. And "stuck in Peru", huh? You know what this means? Other than "yes, he's still alive and well in 2008" which is happy-making enough - retirement evidently does not keep him from returning to the service when needed. Fanfic writers, you've just been handed lots of golden opportunities.

I really liked what they did with Luke Rattigan's fellow geniuses/geeks. The scene efficiently demonstrated to both audience and Luke R. that no, being picked on at school does not automatically make you okay with mass slaughter, and being bright among other things means you can think for yourself instead of playing follow-the-leader. Listening to the podcast for the last episode made me feel a bit smug because Helen Raynor mentioned something I had picked up in my review from last week, that Luke is a shadow double for the Doctor, a might have been, and in The Poison Sky, they use that further; Luke literally substitutes himself for the Doctor, thus saving him; and that kind of grand suicidal day saving would be something he with his ideas about himself would find appealing, after the double rejection of his fellows and the Sontarans, so again, ic rather than a sudden Saul/Paul conversion.

Speaking of suicidal day-saving: observe to the twist to Ten's previous "giving the other one chance to choose peaceful withdrawal" thing (proving that he wanted to save Miss Foster in Partners in Crime despite her already having rejected the chance was no fluke). He knew the Sontarans and that there'd be basically no chance of them doing the sensible thing and withdrawing, but he's really sick of saving by killing (especially with Pompeii very recently) and still has his survivor's guilt going on, so the Sontarans get their chance at the expense of his own life. I just knew Donna would smack him for that one. Oh, Doctor.

Donna's unimpressed reaction to getting her TARDIS key earlier on was a neat demonstration of New Who self-directed irony (as it was an inversion of the usual emo-ness of such a gesture), while of course the emotional buttons were pushed later on when she found herself alone on a Sontaran warship and made the New Who Companion phonecall to her family. I continue to adore Catherine Tate's performance, with Donna's fear and courage later while being talked through infiltrating the Sontaran ship by the Doctor both so palpable.

And wow, the ending was a pleasant surprise, as I fully expected we'd say goodbye to Martha again until the last three episodes or so, and now we get bonus Martha for at least one more ep! Excellent. And of course the trailer just begs for a poll.

Space in case you haven't watched the trailer.

[Poll #1182139]