Doctor Who - The Parting of the Ways

[raven]

Eeeee. I am broken.

I feel ever so slightly cheated.

No, bear with me. This episode had a brilliant build up, what with the websites, the teasers, the teasing on the part of the Beeb, and the building up actually continued into the episode. Stuff I liked:

-The effect of the TARDIS materialising on the Dalek ship. The blurry Doctor and Jack were particularly cool.

-The Doctor's sheer arrogance. On the Dalek homeworld, he is known as "The Oncoming Storm." I like that.

-The kiss. The kisses, plural. The relationship between the Doctor, Jack and Rose is the best thing about this series, full stop. I love this gorgeous, haunting farewell: Jack says, sincerely, "Rose, you were worth fighting for." And he kisses her.

"Doctor, I wish I'd never met you." And he kisses him too, with the same gentleness.

All together now - Awwwww. I'd watch that scene over and over.

-Jack the solider. He kicks arse. He just does.

-the Doctor's double-cross. I was taken in. I believed it. And then Rose is hurtling through space and the Doctor is sitting there looking broken, and we all think: ohhhh.

The message the Doctor left for Rose smacks of forward planning - what's the betting he put that in straight after making that promise to Jackie in WW3? - and it made me tear up. The bit about the world moving on, the Doctor and the TARDIS being forgotten, and the best way she can remember him is to have a good life. Waaaah!

-the Emperor Dalek thing, I didn't get; I wasn't sure how the Daleks survived even with the explanation. And the god thing reminded me way too much of Battlestar Galactica (2003). I did like the meta, though - the "half-human!" / "Blasphemy!" thing really made me giggle.

-when Rose arrived back in twenty-first century London, couldn't you just feel her pain? The whole scene where she's first crying over, and then shouting at, her mum and Mickey - that's right, that's how she would react, and it's weird but it reminded me of Educating Rita all over again. The Doctor has taken Rose away, educated her, shown her a brave new world, and then he's gone and it's all gone and you really feel for her.

-I liked Jack defending the lower levels, but the scenes seemed almost like... well, filler. And obviously Lynda was going to die. Another one the Doctor failed.

-Actually, Jack's acceptance of what the Doctor did to Rose was another fabulously in-character thing about the story. I really liked it.

-And then - coward or killer, Doctor? He killed them once and he can't do it a second time? That's almost exactly what happens in Dalek, so I very much approve of that.

-I also like the scenes where Mickey and Jackie try to help Rose. Where Rose tells him categorically that there is nothing left for her, nothing - implying not even him - but he still tries to help her: well, I really adore Mickey at that point. And Jackie turns up with a tow truck! Fabulous.

But now the quibbles. Firstly, a minor one - how on earth did Rose and Mickey reach that bench without noticing the "BAD WOLF" on the floor? Amazing.

But most of all, I feel cheated because it's like Boom Town, it's TARDIS ex machina all over again. I actually think this episode would have worked better if Rose had stayed stuck where she was, and the Doctor had come for her afterwards.

But he couldn't have done, because he'd be dead. Hmmm.

So what is it? The time vortex is Rose? Rose is the bad wolf? Rose saves the Doctor, who then has to save her?

That sounds right to me. So Rose looks into the time vortex, courtesy of the TARDIS, plants the bad wolf clues throughout her own and the Doctor's history, brings Jack back to life (I squeaked when he died, really - I seem to have become a raving Jack fangirl without noticing) and then the Doctor takes her away.

Leaving Jack behind. Why? They were OT3, dammit! And they don't know for sure that he's dead! Which he isn't. Damn.

And the Doctor saves Rose from what she's unleased by kissing her? Sort of like Doyle and Cordelia in season one of Angel - it's functional, and then Rose can't remember it afterwards. I didn't like it. It wasn't romantic, it wasn't platonic, it was functional and kind of blah.

Also, the Doctor talks a lot for someone on the point of death. I wasn't sure I liked the regeneration effect, but David Tennant's expression was perfect.

I called Colleen afterwards, but got onto her mum. "It's Iona," I said.

"Are you traumatised?" she said without preamble. "Colleen's traumatised."

Colleen arrived. "He was supposed to be Scottish!"

"I know, I know," I soothed.

"You get what I'm talking about!"

Of course I did. I wanted him to be Scottish, too. He'd better be good, David Tennant as Ten (and he was credited, I watched out for it).

So, in conclusion - started off well, did not finish well. And I am peeved, because as the announcer guy said, Doctor Who will be back in The Christmas Invasion. Waaah. Six months!

It's a long time till Christmas.

Comments

Disjointed.

[quackaquacka.livejournal.com]

I think this was you - a few posts back, in the comments, you posted a wikipedia link to Jack, and it said that he was coming back in the second half of next season.

And apparently the Emperor Dalek has always been around. Dad says he's called Davros. (Naturally, we misheard him. Hence why he's called 'Stavros the Greek Dalek' in our house.)

Loved David Tennant's first words - "Hmm, new teeth."

There was a phonecall about ten minutes in. When Mum came back at eight o'clock, she was greeted with this exchange:
"Daleks go boom!" says Dad.
"Boom," inputs I, helpfully.
"Rose does it!"
"Yes, Rose saves...people."
"No, she has to watch it. We won't tell her that Rose becomes a super-hero-demony thing."
"A glowy super-hero-demony thing."
"Right."

Re: Disjointed.

[hathy-col.livejournal.com]

I thought Bad Wolf was Davros the whole way through. (Boy, was I wrong.) But the Emporer Dalek? So not Davros.

http://www.daleklinks.co.uk/images/davros1.jpg

The Face of Boe, now he would have been a vaguely believebale Davros. But, y'know, Davros is just half-Dalek and a Mad Scientist to boot. Definitely not an emporer, and as mad as a badger long before he was abandoned in space. I think Six bumps him off, or something. I'm not too sure, I must admit.

Re: Disjointed.

[bekkypk.livejournal.com]

Nope, Davros was never the emporer dalek, he was creator of the daleks :D
xx

Re: Disjointed.

[kowarth.livejournal.com]

technically Davros styled himself as emporer in rememberance of the daleks. this emporer though is the one from Evil of the daleks in the 60's

Re: Disjointed.

[bekkypk.livejournal.com]

He was a bit mad by then though. :D
xx

Re: Disjointed.

[kowarth.livejournal.com]

shameless plug for the next McGann Big Finish audio 'Terror Firma' in which the 8th Dr faces off against Davros, whatever state he's in ;)

Re: Disjointed.

[bekkypk.livejournal.com]

*cough*barmy.
xx

Re: Disjointed.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Stavros the Dalek. *is dead* zomg. That is brilliant and there should be fanart.

Nothing further to say, except this comment probably made my day. :)

[bekkypk.livejournal.com]

The doctor has been known as Ka Fariq Gatri (i think? Something like that) - The Oncoming Storm - for a lot longer then this episode :D

I love Jack's kisses. He's so TENDER with the Doctor and Rose. He's wonderful, he really is. It's a privilage to share my head with one :)

The daleks frightened me when they started chanting Blasphemy. They reminded me of... well, my family, my very christian Auntie :o/ Thats the most frightening the Daleks have ever been for me.

I cried when Jack died - butI had this odd feeling throughout he would, even knowing he's going to return.

I hated that they left him behind WTF RTD, I will shoot you up with coke and hand you to the police! *miffed*

And it's not that long. Don't focus on it and it will *fly* by.
xx

[kowarth.livejournal.com]

Ben Aaronovitch created the Ka Fariq Gatri for the novel of rememberance of the Daleks. its been about in the new adventures ever since.

tender is right ;)

course, they said that Jack aint in it til later in the second series, and then you got the question of when in his timeline they meet again ;)

[bekkypk.livejournal.com]

I want more Jack on TV. *teehee*
xx

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Mmm, I knew about the name for him; I just really really liked the reference to it. (So, what? Are baby Daleks told to go to bed or else the Doctor will get them?)

Jack's tenderness with Rose and the Doctor was the highlight of this episode and one of the highlights of the series. So perfectly done and so sweet.

And why did they leave him behind?

[bekkypk.livejournal.com]

Bahahaa they should be - they should be told the tale of how the evil 4th doctor sneaked into their nursary and nearly killed them all, had a brave little dalek spawn not wrapped itself around his neck while he was dithering :D
Jacks fantastic. He really is. Oh dammit, he has an ego in my head now. But why, why why why!?! *hugs Jack very tightly*

I wrote something for my AU jack once I'd seen this, but i'm not sure if i wrote it because of the look on his face as the TARDIS dematerialised.

I have to wonder, is Rose going to ask the Doctor if Jacks dead, in the special? Poor Jack...
xx

[cedara]

I have to wonder, is Rose going to ask the Doctor if Jacks dead, in the special?

He'd have to fess up then. Since she couldn't remember having saved them.

[bekkypk.livejournal.com]

Does the Doctor know, though? He was preoccupied when she brought him back, he must've known that if the daleks had reached him then Jack had been killed on the way up... And he was not in the Doctor's sight at the time for him to see what Rose had done.

Chances are the Doctor thinks Jack's dead too :(
xx

[cedara]

True... Hmmm... maybe a sudden flash of remembering is in order? ;)

[bekkypk.livejournal.com]

I hope not, there's been enough plot holes filled by silly answers this season :(
xx

[beccaelizabeth]

I feel ever so slightly cheated.

I'm so relieved to see you say all this, because I felt just the same, and all everywhere I'm seeing only people being yaay.


I think the life saver kiss should have instead been some kind of joined hands thing, part of some collaborative effort that ended the threat. As it was it was more like the Doctor got out of the way and Rose fixed everything on her own. Which doesn't seem quite right to me. Joined hands would have been more theme-y.



Leaving Jack behind. Why?
The answers I'm coming up with all involve complicated scheming and how Jack can catch up with them under his own power. They're very fanfic sort of answers tho.
Or they could meet him before they met him and that turn out to be why he has memories missing, kind of like when the Brigadier met himself.
I guess it multiplies story possibilities, because now there is mileage in getting them back together somehow. Very star crossed. With added angst.
I seem to trust that the writers will get him back. They spent long enough setting him up it feels like he'll stay around.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Mmm, yes. I thought I was the only one, too.

Rose saves everything, the Doctor's out the way, then he saves her. Almost like dancing in and out of danger. It didn't quite gel for me. I very much like the joined hands idea.

I hadn't thought about that for Jack. Awww, Jack! There are some good reasons for the writers to leave him behind, but why would the Doctor and Rose?

[beccaelizabeth]

but why would the Doctor and Rose?
only reason I can think of is ignorance. Rose forgot reanimating him, Doctor had heard him die. And was probably a bit busy with the dying thing himself.

I like the dancing thing. Nice idea.

[pinkishmew.livejournal.com]

What's 'meta'? I have always wondered. Oh, and 'beta' too. Not a clue.

I didn't like it. It wasn't romantic, it wasn't platonic, it was functional and kind of blah.
He did it out of love. He loves her so much that he died for her, and he saved her life and showed his love all through that final kiss - oh god I'm crying again.

And obviously Lynda was going to die.
Really? I thought she would be companion #3. I was really disappointed.

how on earth did Rose and Mickey reach that bench without noticing the "BAD WOLF" on the floor?
She's destroyed. She thinks her life is utterly gone now. .. Or they could have just been basketball markings or something.

Oh, and sorry for just disagreeing with everything you wrote. (But thank god for you! Everyone else on my f-list is alarming silent/has written 2 sentences, both of which are obscure and make no sense.)

Wasn't he Scottish? Hmm, wasn't paying attention.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

A beta-reader is like a beta-tester for software; ie, someone to read over your fic and spot the spelling, grammar, characterisation, canon details, etc., etc., that might have gone wrong, and suggest how to make it better.

Meta (which doesn't rhyme with beta!) is hard to explain; it's sort of like post-modernism within fic. My example in this post is that "Half-human!" / "Blasphemy!" thing - the point is, within the context of the episode, it was just someone saying the Daleks were now half-human and the Daleks calling it blasphemous. But in the context of fandom and the real world, it could be a reference to the fans who think it blasphemous that the Eighth Doctor called himself half-human.

So, yeah - it's like a veiled reference to the real world. Characters who know they're being written about is the classic example.

Lynda - well, so many other women the Doctor's befriended, ie Jabe, Cathica, Gwyneth, have gone on to die. Except Nancy. *loves Nancy*

Mmm, the kiss. I don't know what to make of it, still. Someone else has said it might have been good if they had held hands; thematic cohesion and all that. I ought to re-watch.

Oh, and sorry for just disagreeing with everything you wrote.

Variety is the spice of life. :) And I'm glad you like the review if not the opinions. *g*

[schlagen.livejournal.com]

To be perfectly honest, I'll actually miss these updates of yours each week, for I do look forward to them so.

The kiss between the Doctor and Rose - I screamed at the television something along the lines of, "No! That's not supposed to happen, EVER!" My family were quite scared, but I just didn't like it. Had it been more, well animated, perhaps, but no.

Jack & The Doctor. I can't have been the only one thinking, "Oh my God, slashslashslashyslashslash."

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

*g* That gives me warm fuzzies.

Yes, amen. More animation, less... functionality. I'm abusing that word, but still.

You weren't the only one. The slash is amazing and I'm just waiting for all the mini-movie icons to start appearing.

[dougs.livejournal.com]

I bet katemonkey feels even better about her fic "18 seconds (http://www.livejournal.com/users/katemonkey/1039335.html)" now:

"But you...you should..."
"If I had stayed there, yeah."

Really really wonderful stuff.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Indeed it was. *g*

[beccaelizabeth]

TARDIS ex machina all over again.
wolfling just pointed out in my LJ that if you read it with the TARDIS as a *character* and what Rose says once she is shiny as the TARDIS speaking through her then the whole spin changes and it turns into relationships and choices again. Which is much more interesting.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

I do like the idea of the TARDIS being a sentient being in its own right, it's just the use of it to miraculously clear up the plot that bothers me. Like I said, I need to re-watch.