Doctor Who 4.13 Journey's End
Jul. 6th, 2008 07:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakThis will probably not be my last post on the episode, or the season, or several themes and characters of same (season 4 = my favourite season of New Who, bar none), but I'm leaving for Bali tonight, courtesy of the Aged Parents, so I'm getting this first review done before I possibly (don't know yet) lose internet access for the next two weeks.
First and foremost: I never believed Donna was literally going to die, precisely because of all those anvils, but her getting a Jamie and Zoe fate was one of my guesses, with Donna turning into a TARDIS the crack!other guess. (Explanation for New Only Whovians: Jamie and Zoe were the Second Doctor's companions, who at the end of his run were forced to separate from him, with their memories of their travels together taken away by the Time Lords.) However, I had no idea how the Jamie and Zoe fate would be justified since there were no other Time Lords to take the blame for it, and if it had happened via Davros or whomever, the Doctor would have no reason not to reverse it. The way it's been done - Donna burning up inside if the Doctor didn't do it (and btw, must think about Caan-Donna parallels/contrasts in further posts) - and dying works for me. Works in the sense of "I cried and cried and cried", mind you, but I couldn't see him letting her die rather than take her memories. No. And you know what, I think it was the right decision, despite what it took from Donna - all those wonderful adventures, all that she had become - because when they met, back in Runaway Bride, she already was a force of nature in her own right, and brimming with potential. As opposed to many a viewer, I fell for Donna right from the start, obliviousness to world wide events and all. She became more, true; she still can, even without the Doctor. Turn Left illustrated that in a dark way, and I firmly believe it will become true in world that's not going to pieces as well. (And of course I will yearn for fanfic in which a way is found for Donna to regain her memories without dying, much as a lot of Old School fans believe in season 6b, aka canon weirdness caused by multiple Doctor episodes that allows for the possibility at least Jamie might have regained his memories and travelled with the Doctor some more.)
If this was the last we've seen of the Doctor and Donna together on screen, though (and I wouldn't be sure about that - again, good old Jamie made it back in the multiple Doctor eps, once as a ghost and once as himself) - the biggest love declaration to characters and actors were the two Doctors and DoctorDonna scenes. You could see Catherine Tate and David Tennant merge each other's performances so wonderfully, really selling us on the DoctorDonna. The DonnaDoctor. The resolution of the cliffhanger I first thought lame, but then thought totally worth it because of Blue!Donna'ish Doctor and TennishDonna, and Donna saving the day. (Also offers some good character stuff re: Human!Doctor repeating the Time War solution, but that will have to wait for another post.) Brilliant on both a characters and actors level.
Excuse me, I need to cry some more.
Okay, back. Also squeeworthy was the TARDIS steered by six, Sarah Jane using the sonic lipstick, Sarah Jane's own little standoff with Davros (and Davros recognising her - he'd better!), Sarah Jane throughout, Tosh saving the day post-mortem, the Doctor recognising Gwen (sort of) as Gwynneth-related (and Rose doing the same) - all the crossover goodness, and lest we forget: the Doctor hearing about Harriet, which we all hoped he would.
As predicted, there was Davros rant (he always ends up doing that); as not predicted, Dalek Caan basically came to the conclusion the Dalek in the Big Finish audio Jubilee (the one the New Who episode Dalek is loosely based on) did: that not only he needed to die but all the Daleks did. As I said, I'll have meta stuff later, whenever later will be, because Caan actually got development over seasons if you think of it, and much as that particular two parter wasn't a highlight, his scenes in Daleks in Manhattan/ Evolution of the Daleks, with the World War I allusions, the Dalek Sec argument and the last Caan-Doctor exchange where the Doctor explicitly draws parallels between them really paid off here. As for Davros, his most effective blow against the Doctor was the whole "you turn people into weapons and make them die for you" argument, which is the twisted kind of partial truth a good villain excels at.
The Osterhagen Key: was suitably chilling, slightly impaired for us German viewers by the fact everybody had none too stellar accents when speaking German and "Exterminieren" just sounds funny. (Also, Nuremberg? Subtlety, thy name is not RTD, but then again, it's completely in the tradition of Terry Nation who invented the pepperpots, so that's not a complaint.) But I thought letting someone make the counterargument to Martha was a good idea, story telling wise, and also conveyed Martha feeling the enormity better than a monologue would have done.
Stop it with the UNIT bashing, Jack. You're just envious because they're better organized and have the far longer history with the Doctor. If you continue to do that on Torchwood, I'll reconsider my season 2 caused love for your show. However, this definitely makes it look like Martha and Mickey will be replacing Tosh and Owen next season. Also, Jack's mind wandering to where Jack's mind would when confronted with two Doctors and a DoctorDonna was priceless.
Rose: you know, I'm torn. On the one hand, the ending with Rose and Blue!Doctor in the parallel world didn't come across as trite, which was what I feared when indiscreet people posted rumours without spoiler warning. (NO THANKS, YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE. ) Because it was actually more with the bitter than with the sweet, if you ask me; the Doctor very deliberately manouevred her into accepting that other self and that other self into distracting her and being distracted by her, and made his getaway, and Rose ended up basically where she started, in more than one sense. (Not just where she started after the end of s2 but at the end of Rosewhen she first hooked up with Nine.) Which is why I'm torn; I'm not invested in Rose the way I am in other companions, but I would have preferred it if in the intervening years she had moved on to the point where she, like Sarah Jane or Jack or Martha, could leave the Doctor because she had her own life to get back to. I also expect massive fanwank over this, both from shippers and anti-shippers. But as I said - lack of true emotional investment makes for a shrug on that front.
The Doctor: I predict massive debates on that point, but to me he came across as emotionally better than after the last two finales because the way the farewell with Sarah Jane played out to me was that he believed her re: family. He's on his own again now and has just lost the best friend he had in this regeneration, but he knows he still has friends to come back to. And Wilf. That scene with Wilfe just tore out my heart some more.
*back to crying*
Brief glimpse in the future: yay for David Morrissey at Christmas!
First and foremost: I never believed Donna was literally going to die, precisely because of all those anvils, but her getting a Jamie and Zoe fate was one of my guesses, with Donna turning into a TARDIS the crack!other guess. (Explanation for New Only Whovians: Jamie and Zoe were the Second Doctor's companions, who at the end of his run were forced to separate from him, with their memories of their travels together taken away by the Time Lords.) However, I had no idea how the Jamie and Zoe fate would be justified since there were no other Time Lords to take the blame for it, and if it had happened via Davros or whomever, the Doctor would have no reason not to reverse it. The way it's been done - Donna burning up inside if the Doctor didn't do it (and btw, must think about Caan-Donna parallels/contrasts in further posts) - and dying works for me. Works in the sense of "I cried and cried and cried", mind you, but I couldn't see him letting her die rather than take her memories. No. And you know what, I think it was the right decision, despite what it took from Donna - all those wonderful adventures, all that she had become - because when they met, back in Runaway Bride, she already was a force of nature in her own right, and brimming with potential. As opposed to many a viewer, I fell for Donna right from the start, obliviousness to world wide events and all. She became more, true; she still can, even without the Doctor. Turn Left illustrated that in a dark way, and I firmly believe it will become true in world that's not going to pieces as well. (And of course I will yearn for fanfic in which a way is found for Donna to regain her memories without dying, much as a lot of Old School fans believe in season 6b, aka canon weirdness caused by multiple Doctor episodes that allows for the possibility at least Jamie might have regained his memories and travelled with the Doctor some more.)
If this was the last we've seen of the Doctor and Donna together on screen, though (and I wouldn't be sure about that - again, good old Jamie made it back in the multiple Doctor eps, once as a ghost and once as himself) - the biggest love declaration to characters and actors were the two Doctors and DoctorDonna scenes. You could see Catherine Tate and David Tennant merge each other's performances so wonderfully, really selling us on the DoctorDonna. The DonnaDoctor. The resolution of the cliffhanger I first thought lame, but then thought totally worth it because of Blue!Donna'ish Doctor and TennishDonna, and Donna saving the day. (Also offers some good character stuff re: Human!Doctor repeating the Time War solution, but that will have to wait for another post.) Brilliant on both a characters and actors level.
Excuse me, I need to cry some more.
Okay, back. Also squeeworthy was the TARDIS steered by six, Sarah Jane using the sonic lipstick, Sarah Jane's own little standoff with Davros (and Davros recognising her - he'd better!), Sarah Jane throughout, Tosh saving the day post-mortem, the Doctor recognising Gwen (sort of) as Gwynneth-related (and Rose doing the same) - all the crossover goodness, and lest we forget: the Doctor hearing about Harriet, which we all hoped he would.
As predicted, there was Davros rant (he always ends up doing that); as not predicted, Dalek Caan basically came to the conclusion the Dalek in the Big Finish audio Jubilee (the one the New Who episode Dalek is loosely based on) did: that not only he needed to die but all the Daleks did. As I said, I'll have meta stuff later, whenever later will be, because Caan actually got development over seasons if you think of it, and much as that particular two parter wasn't a highlight, his scenes in Daleks in Manhattan/ Evolution of the Daleks, with the World War I allusions, the Dalek Sec argument and the last Caan-Doctor exchange where the Doctor explicitly draws parallels between them really paid off here. As for Davros, his most effective blow against the Doctor was the whole "you turn people into weapons and make them die for you" argument, which is the twisted kind of partial truth a good villain excels at.
The Osterhagen Key: was suitably chilling, slightly impaired for us German viewers by the fact everybody had none too stellar accents when speaking German and "Exterminieren" just sounds funny. (Also, Nuremberg? Subtlety, thy name is not RTD, but then again, it's completely in the tradition of Terry Nation who invented the pepperpots, so that's not a complaint.) But I thought letting someone make the counterargument to Martha was a good idea, story telling wise, and also conveyed Martha feeling the enormity better than a monologue would have done.
Stop it with the UNIT bashing, Jack. You're just envious because they're better organized and have the far longer history with the Doctor. If you continue to do that on Torchwood, I'll reconsider my season 2 caused love for your show. However, this definitely makes it look like Martha and Mickey will be replacing Tosh and Owen next season. Also, Jack's mind wandering to where Jack's mind would when confronted with two Doctors and a DoctorDonna was priceless.
Rose: you know, I'm torn. On the one hand, the ending with Rose and Blue!Doctor in the parallel world didn't come across as trite, which was what I feared when indiscreet people posted rumours without spoiler warning. (NO THANKS, YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE. ) Because it was actually more with the bitter than with the sweet, if you ask me; the Doctor very deliberately manouevred her into accepting that other self and that other self into distracting her and being distracted by her, and made his getaway, and Rose ended up basically where she started, in more than one sense. (Not just where she started after the end of s2 but at the end of Rosewhen she first hooked up with Nine.) Which is why I'm torn; I'm not invested in Rose the way I am in other companions, but I would have preferred it if in the intervening years she had moved on to the point where she, like Sarah Jane or Jack or Martha, could leave the Doctor because she had her own life to get back to. I also expect massive fanwank over this, both from shippers and anti-shippers. But as I said - lack of true emotional investment makes for a shrug on that front.
The Doctor: I predict massive debates on that point, but to me he came across as emotionally better than after the last two finales because the way the farewell with Sarah Jane played out to me was that he believed her re: family. He's on his own again now and has just lost the best friend he had in this regeneration, but he knows he still has friends to come back to. And Wilf. That scene with Wilfe just tore out my heart some more.
*back to crying*
Brief glimpse in the future: yay for David Morrissey at Christmas!
