Doctor Who - The Parting of the Ways
Jun. 18th, 2005 09:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ravenEeeee. 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.
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.