(no subject)

[ebonlock]

Yeah I'd heard Russell fumbled the second part of the finale so it's not like I went into it expecting something good, still... Man what a mess that was. I mean sure there were some fun little moments:

1) The Daleks bellowing orders in German. They have finally become the Nazis they were always intended to emulate, cool.

2) Mickey! Mickey in Torchwood, I may have to watch next season after all.

3) Davros recognizing Sarah Jane from "Genesis of the Daleks", which made me happy.

4) The moment where Jack realized he was surrounded by the Doctor, the Doctor 2 and Doctor-Donna and he didn't have to say what was going through his brain 'cause it was all too apparent from the look on his face. He'd died and gone to Heaven on Christmas morning.

5) Rose and the Doctor recognizing Gwenn as the ever-so-great grand niece of the psychic chambermaid they met during the Dickens episode.

Things I didn't like: pretty much everything else. Top of the list was the entire Doctor 2 sub-plot which Russell forgot entirely about for a good portion of the episode ("Oh wait, that's right I've got those other characters on the TARDIS. I should get back to them..."). And the end, oh sweet Jesus there was such potential and it was utterly ruined for no goddamn reason. Was it just me or did the Doctor not basically mentally rape Donna? Did he not hear her distinctly say "No!" I heard it, I'm quite sure of it, but apparently he gets to make all the decisions about his companions and they get no say in it at all. It was such a hideous betrayal, and such a pointless one (I mean how likely is it that no one in the entire world is ever going to remind her about the Doctor? Not very, so he's bought her what, like six months?). It was utterly unworthy of the brilliance that was Donna and it made me deeply and profoundly ashamed of the Doctor.

Things that might have saved this episode:

1) Not doing the Doctor-Donna thing, or if you must, not using the Palpatine-esque electrical zap to "stimulate her synapses" and make her super brilliant so she could save the day. Just let her come up with a mundane but eminently practical solution in that moment that allowed her to defeat Davros by doing nothing more amazing than say pushing the right button or pulling the right plug. That is the Donna we've grown to love this season and it would've been incredibly cool to keep her in character for the big finish. Hell if she just tripped over the right plug that would've been even better. Donna is a creature of coincidence, circumstance and profound pragmatism, let her continue to be for the love of god!

2) Killing Martha, but that could make any episode better really. Barring that, though, when she finally met Rose if she'd had the balls to say, "Skinny, white and blonde. Figures." I might have almost respected her for one brief, shining moment. At least I just heard from cyranocyrano that the actress has moved on to another project and won't be appearing on Torchwood after all. I'm totally going to have to watch at least an episode or two next season.

3) The Doctor, again, not playing god with all of his companions. What he did to Rose was pretty messed up on a variety of levels (though admittedly she got a decent, though creepy, consolation prize) and there wasn't much of a reason for it except that Billie wasn't prepared to return to the show.

4) Rose not being in the episodes at all. She didn't really add anything and it really cheapened the second season finale (which was great and romantic and wonderfully tragic) and god Billie looked like hell. A combination of being way too thin for her new show and having just had oral surgery was just not good.

5) If you're determined to go down the plot path on this one give Donna a worthy death. Let her go out like the hero she is, goddammit, not (presumably) sparking out when someone inadvertently mentions the Doctor in her presence. Let her take out Davros and go down fighting or spark out afterwards on the TARDIS saying it was all worth it and she wouldn't change a thing.

Oh my wonderful Donna you deserved so much better than you got on this series and that's a goddamn shame.

On that note, here's a vid I found that does her much better service than RTD could manage:

Comments

[scoreboard.livejournal.com]

well, at least RTD got what he ALWAYS WANTED and Ten and Rose can love happily ever after and OMG HAVE TEH S3XXX. Gah. I could watch a whole season with Martha ahead of one more minute of Rose Frakkin Tyler.

Too much shite going on at once, too crowded, too much like "Superman fights Daleks while a squad of X-Wings takes down the Cylon Basestar." Good when you're seven playing with all your toys at once, unseemly for a season finale.

Not sure about Moffett, though. I don't think I'm up to a whole season of mysterious women that the Doctor pines away for.

BTW I am incredibly drunk so I reserve the right to disavow any of this in the morning once my BAC drops below my GPA.

[elo-sf.livejournal.com]

Yes.

[zdashamber.livejournal.com]

I ranted about it in a comment on a ranty post about it on the FemSF blog... "It was a fun episode, except for the way the Doctor turned into a pathetic piece of mindraping scum." And you have new true points on how it failed! So, word.

[ebonlock.livejournal.com]

OMG your review was so much better than mine and I'm sitting here yelling, "Hell yes!" repeatedly. Also this line nearly killed me:
for years I’ve been hoping for Penelope Keith (since 1984), while another friend is holding out for Shah Rukh Khan

Shah Rukh...dear god, the thought had never occurred but suddenly I'm seeing DW with Bangra musical numbers and a color palette that can best be summed up as "Yes". I...huh...wow.

I did allow myself a brief moment to believe that we might be getting Donna as a sort of Romana Mark II, despite knowing that Catherine wasn't going to be hanging around for another season. Adric (the only companion to ever actually get killed in the history of the show to my knowledge) was previously my favorite, but Donna's totally eclipsed him. Maybe it's because I identify with her a little too much, or just that she is that fundamentally cool. I'm not sure.

[zdashamber.livejournal.com]

I wasn't the one who wrote the original post, there... Not that deep of a Who fan. Glad to hear that Yonmei gets it right, as she's certainly got enough fire to rocket off in whatever direction she's pointing.

I will miss Donna a lot. It was nice to have someone calling the Doctor on his crap.