Doctor Who - Utopia

[raven]

Wow. This one, for me, was a whirl of colour and light and mayhem. I am not sure if this was the episode itself or merely a function of my current addled state. We shall see.

To start with: oh, Jack. I haven't seen Torchwood, and wasn't planning to until hathy_col threatened gruesome death (I am conceding, we are spending our respectively useful and productive summers watching it, Heroes and Life On Mars) so my last memory of Jack is from The Parting of the Ways and oh, Jack. I love him. A lot. There is nothing I do not love about him. I rest my case.

-And, oh, Doctor. I am in a minority here, but I love this dark-eyed ruthless Doctor who's so... well, himself. And he left Jack behind on purpose, but you just know that the mask slips on for some deep and angsty reason there. (David Tennant remains fabulous, naturally.)

-"Oh, she was blonde." Martha, I love you. And I love the Doctor too; does the word "blogging" mean what the Doctor thinks it means, there?

-Is it just me, or does too much happen at the beginning? It's all, ooh, Doctor, ooh, Jack, ooh, end of the world, ooh, end of the universe, ooh, people with teeth, military people, the Doctor doesn't like guns, teeth more teeth (and hee, I liked the resonance with the Doctor's "new teeth" comment, back in the last episode where we saw Jack), refugees, no, passengers, small children with Scottish accents, very bright light, ooh, laboratory.

-Yep, that was the point where I started to focus and enjoy the episode. Jacobi was great as Professor Yana, and I knew there was something funny about the name! (Didn't call it, but caught on that there was something to call, so to speak.) And I like the details throughout this scene - Martha's conversation with Chantho, and with the little girl.

-Speaking of which, I do hope she becomes significant later.

-The Futurekind were a bit rubbish, I think. Well, maybe not - perhaps I should reserve judgement until we know who they are and why they are. I was just a bit baffled by the one who sneaks in and sabtotages the coupling mechanism - if they're not human, who are they? And why don't they want the humans to leave?

-Actually, I got a sense here of old-skool episodes. Running around in a futuristic post-apocalyptic world, vivid lighting and shadows, lots of running. I don't know what specifically gave me the impression.

-The best bit of the episode, I think, was the gloriously red-lit scene where the focus is ostensibly on Jack, oh, saving the day, but is really on the conversation through the glass. The Doctor is scared of Jack. I have so much love for this concept - Jack as a "fixed point in time and space", the Doctor's instinctive revulsion, and all that they aren't saying, with the Doctor being much less calm than he makes out, and Jack somewhere between being pissed off and just happy to see the Doctor again.

-"You are not alone."

Oh, yes. Where all of it comes together - the Face of Boe's last words, the watch in Human Nature, Rose bringing Jack back to life, all together into one single plot twist. The Master's back! And he doesn't hang around and tell you his evil plans! Because that would not be cool!

John Simm - very much of the good. I was worried I'd look at him and just think Sam Tyler, but no! He does evil very well.

-And, oh, Doctor. The way he says, "Master," is very very suggestive, and very slashy, as others have said. I wonder if he'd rather be the last, or have the Master exist so he isn't? There needs to be fic.

And that's all, because I am addled and need to see this again, but I'm looking forward to the next part, if I ever get to see it.

Comments

[emily-shore.livejournal.com]

I didn't watch it either, I must admit. I thought it did much wrong...