Doomsday post part 2
Jul. 8th, 2006 08:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
icepixieMore in-depth commentary on "Doomsday."
Fair warning: Lots of capslock. Lots of anger. If you liked this episode and don't want your high spoiled, back away now.
*
So...Parting of the Ways, Part 2, Cyber-Dalek Boogaloo?
Yeah. The more I think about it, the more not so much with the impressed I am.
- Okay, one of the Daleks--I think it was "Kahn" (OMG)--sounded like freaking Fozzie Bear. Seriously. I was giggling.
- Aw, I knew Daleks were the superior villain! Heh, and they traded insults with the Cybermen. Only on a British show, man.
- "I'll think of something!" Doctor, you sound a bit desperate...
- "You're gonna listen for once." Ooooh, I liked that. You tell 'im, Pete.
- Okay, the "Time Lord" ark was a surprise. Unlike many things this year. But hey, hands up all of those who were secretly hoping that, say, Romana was in there? Or some other Time Lord? Since the Daleks intimated that they didn't know what it was (although of course they were lying).
- ...But I like Harriet. Grrr.
- Um. Doctor. Newsflash: AU!Pete and Our!Jackie? RECIPE FOR DISASTER. That is NOT how healthy relationships work. JACKIE DOES NOT NEED TO BE PREGNANT, OH MY GOD. They are not the same people they each married, and trying to say that basically they are? NOT COOL. I'm not sure if I hated this bit or Rose's "end" more. See below.
- I think actually what bothered me the most about their "reunion" was that it caused an episode that had until then been rollicking along to come to a GRINDING. CRASHING. HALT. about halfway through. Lord. Way to not integrate your emotional beats at all, RTD. Usually you're pretty good at that, too.
- So Rose does remember POTW! Er, how, exactly? Although I should think she would, seeing as this was BASICALLY A REPLICA OF IT.
- "Fall of Arcadia"? FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, GIVE US MORE INFO ABOUT THE TIME WAR. NOW, DAMN YOU.
- Oh, look. Another bunch of Daleks flying about in formation. Where have I seen this before?
- Aw, together forever! She'll never leave him! "And every planet out there, he does it alone!" Rose, did you learn nothing from Sarah Jane? Arrrrgh. Way to completely ignore all past companions!
- Is it wrong that I laughed out loud when the Doctor put the chest-thing over her head and sent her to the alternate universe?
- Also laughing at the One Emo Cyber-Tear from Yvonne. Dude. Cheesy.
- Oh, look, a Dalek escaped the void. I wonder who's going to show up next season finale?
- Oh, the emo! Oh, the tears! Oh, the mascara running down Billie's cheeks!
- My goodness, this reminds me of POTW, what with Rose banging her hands and crying against a door/wall and wailing to be taken back. Possibly because the key emotional moment is EXACTLY THE SAME.
- Okay, the weird not-quite-pop-not-quite-muzak music? Not a good idea. That might have been an emotional few minutes there, but the music ruined it. Possibly that was what I most hated about this episode.
- Rose? He's Not. Your. Dad. Did we not go through all of this in ROTC/AOS? Didn't we? How convenient that we can let it fall away when we need you to be separated for good from the Doctor.
- Oh, look, another hologram. Although at least they can interact, sort of.
- "Bad Wolf Bay"? That's it for the build up they pointed at in T&C?
- Billie goes for the BAFTA!
- The "I love you"? Doing pretty much nothing for me. Sorry.
- Oh, look, I'm crying a single emo tear, just for you, Rose.
- Actually, no. She got SCREWED. It is sad. She gets to be safe and taken care of BY HER DADDY, good for her! WAY TO IGNORE ALL THE GROWTH SHE'S HAD. Yeah, she's going to work for Torchwood. What-the-fuck-ever. When she said she was working in a shop again? I didn't disbelieve her for a moment, because with how she's been regressing this season, THAT WAS TOTALLY BELIEVABLE.
Okay, I'm pissed off now. Yeah, I've been liking Rose less and less this season, but she deserved better.
All right, it's good that the Doctor didn't send her off, and I realize that it was pretty much either Pete grabs her or she dies in the void, and it's nice that she's not dead. But COME ON! It would've been better had she been given the choice, you know? How much better would it have been had RTD given her the opportunity, the power to say, "I'm needed here, not with you, Doctor"? Of course, they'd set up the whole "I'll be with you FOREVER because we have the TWU WUV!" thing, but so what? It's not like they didn't forget everything about the AU being an AU, no touchie, so why not ignore that when it suits them?
ARRRGGGHHHH.
And then the ending, with the bride (apparently the actress is well-known and well-hated in Britain?) and...WTF? In poor taste, I think. Of course, so was much of the episode. Bah.
Okay, I'm done being bitter now. Rage has reduced from boil to simmer, and will eventually cool completely. *shrug*
ETA: I read through this again, and I want to clarify it (if for nothing else than posterity). Had this been real life, I'd be very pleased that Pete pulled Rose out of the way of certain death (or certain voidyness). But it's a TV show, and as such it has license--perhaps even something approaching a mandate--to be more thematically put-together than RL does. So Rose made her choice: stay with the Doctor, come hell or high water or getting sucked into a vortex. Either let her face the consequences of that decision--let her die--or don't put her in it at all. Make it necessary for her to seal the breach and end up in the AU; let her sacrifice mean something, rather than having it negated when Pete pulls her out of harm's way. Rose doesn't get to act; she has things happen to her. She's tossed around like a football; she's objectified. (You know I'm angry when I trot out the English major buzzwords.) This is not the same girl who expounded about how the Doctor makes you a better person in POTW. This is her opposite, one who has things happen to her because she's not bright enough to do things on her own. If last season was about Rose growing up, this moment--many moments this season, but mostly this one--is about her being put back in her place, a child who can't think for herself. And it's not the way the Rose I thought I was seeing onscreen should have gone out.
Fair warning: Lots of capslock. Lots of anger. If you liked this episode and don't want your high spoiled, back away now.
*
So...Parting of the Ways, Part 2, Cyber-Dalek Boogaloo?
Yeah. The more I think about it, the more not so much with the impressed I am.
- Okay, one of the Daleks--I think it was "Kahn" (OMG)--sounded like freaking Fozzie Bear. Seriously. I was giggling.
- Aw, I knew Daleks were the superior villain! Heh, and they traded insults with the Cybermen. Only on a British show, man.
- "I'll think of something!" Doctor, you sound a bit desperate...
- "You're gonna listen for once." Ooooh, I liked that. You tell 'im, Pete.
- Okay, the "Time Lord" ark was a surprise. Unlike many things this year. But hey, hands up all of those who were secretly hoping that, say, Romana was in there? Or some other Time Lord? Since the Daleks intimated that they didn't know what it was (although of course they were lying).
- ...But I like Harriet. Grrr.
- Um. Doctor. Newsflash: AU!Pete and Our!Jackie? RECIPE FOR DISASTER. That is NOT how healthy relationships work. JACKIE DOES NOT NEED TO BE PREGNANT, OH MY GOD. They are not the same people they each married, and trying to say that basically they are? NOT COOL. I'm not sure if I hated this bit or Rose's "end" more. See below.
- I think actually what bothered me the most about their "reunion" was that it caused an episode that had until then been rollicking along to come to a GRINDING. CRASHING. HALT. about halfway through. Lord. Way to not integrate your emotional beats at all, RTD. Usually you're pretty good at that, too.
- So Rose does remember POTW! Er, how, exactly? Although I should think she would, seeing as this was BASICALLY A REPLICA OF IT.
- "Fall of Arcadia"? FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, GIVE US MORE INFO ABOUT THE TIME WAR. NOW, DAMN YOU.
- Oh, look. Another bunch of Daleks flying about in formation. Where have I seen this before?
- Aw, together forever! She'll never leave him! "And every planet out there, he does it alone!" Rose, did you learn nothing from Sarah Jane? Arrrrgh. Way to completely ignore all past companions!
- Is it wrong that I laughed out loud when the Doctor put the chest-thing over her head and sent her to the alternate universe?
- Also laughing at the One Emo Cyber-Tear from Yvonne. Dude. Cheesy.
- Oh, look, a Dalek escaped the void. I wonder who's going to show up next season finale?
- Oh, the emo! Oh, the tears! Oh, the mascara running down Billie's cheeks!
- My goodness, this reminds me of POTW, what with Rose banging her hands and crying against a door/wall and wailing to be taken back. Possibly because the key emotional moment is EXACTLY THE SAME.
- Okay, the weird not-quite-pop-not-quite-muzak music? Not a good idea. That might have been an emotional few minutes there, but the music ruined it. Possibly that was what I most hated about this episode.
- Rose? He's Not. Your. Dad. Did we not go through all of this in ROTC/AOS? Didn't we? How convenient that we can let it fall away when we need you to be separated for good from the Doctor.
- Oh, look, another hologram. Although at least they can interact, sort of.
- "Bad Wolf Bay"? That's it for the build up they pointed at in T&C?
- Billie goes for the BAFTA!
- The "I love you"? Doing pretty much nothing for me. Sorry.
- Oh, look, I'm crying a single emo tear, just for you, Rose.
- Actually, no. She got SCREWED. It is sad. She gets to be safe and taken care of BY HER DADDY, good for her! WAY TO IGNORE ALL THE GROWTH SHE'S HAD. Yeah, she's going to work for Torchwood. What-the-fuck-ever. When she said she was working in a shop again? I didn't disbelieve her for a moment, because with how she's been regressing this season, THAT WAS TOTALLY BELIEVABLE.
Okay, I'm pissed off now. Yeah, I've been liking Rose less and less this season, but she deserved better.
All right, it's good that the Doctor didn't send her off, and I realize that it was pretty much either Pete grabs her or she dies in the void, and it's nice that she's not dead. But COME ON! It would've been better had she been given the choice, you know? How much better would it have been had RTD given her the opportunity, the power to say, "I'm needed here, not with you, Doctor"? Of course, they'd set up the whole "I'll be with you FOREVER because we have the TWU WUV!" thing, but so what? It's not like they didn't forget everything about the AU being an AU, no touchie, so why not ignore that when it suits them?
ARRRGGGHHHH.
And then the ending, with the bride (apparently the actress is well-known and well-hated in Britain?) and...WTF? In poor taste, I think. Of course, so was much of the episode. Bah.
Okay, I'm done being bitter now. Rage has reduced from boil to simmer, and will eventually cool completely. *shrug*
ETA: I read through this again, and I want to clarify it (if for nothing else than posterity). Had this been real life, I'd be very pleased that Pete pulled Rose out of the way of certain death (or certain voidyness). But it's a TV show, and as such it has license--perhaps even something approaching a mandate--to be more thematically put-together than RL does. So Rose made her choice: stay with the Doctor, come hell or high water or getting sucked into a vortex. Either let her face the consequences of that decision--let her die--or don't put her in it at all. Make it necessary for her to seal the breach and end up in the AU; let her sacrifice mean something, rather than having it negated when Pete pulls her out of harm's way. Rose doesn't get to act; she has things happen to her. She's tossed around like a football; she's objectified. (You know I'm angry when I trot out the English major buzzwords.) This is not the same girl who expounded about how the Doctor makes you a better person in POTW. This is her opposite, one who has things happen to her because she's not bright enough to do things on her own. If last season was about Rose growing up, this moment--many moments this season, but mostly this one--is about her being put back in her place, a child who can't think for herself. And it's not the way the Rose I thought I was seeing onscreen should have gone out.
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no subject
Date: 2006-07-10 05:58 pm (UTC)Probably should be said though: I'm not trying to convince you of anything here, or expecting that I could. Mostly trying to explain myself...and defend any image I might have in your mind as a guy with half a brain! *snerk*
Pete and Jackie: Is it ridiculous and unrealistic? Sure. But we're talking about a show where people travel throughout time and space. I can buy some romanticism now and then. Heck, it's me...I can buy a lot of romanticism. But I actually think...part of it also depends on your take on psychology. How much of our personality is inborn, and how much is experience? If it's mostly inborn, then Pete and Jackie might not be so different between worlds. And the way I see it...love is ALWAYS rather irrational in some respect, but these two people have a lot of reason to work for it. So I'm hopeful about 'em.
Synth Beat: Whoops. Sorry. Me not wanna make Becca smash!
The Doctor moving on: Can't say I'd call the bride scene the Doctor moving on...he just got a WTF moment. My guess is the Doctor's gonna be mopy-angst for an episode or two...and then we do know he'll move on, 'cause he always does, and the show wouldn get hold if it clung to the angst too long. But I don't think RTD is gonna forget that emotional weight he's built up.
Rose's arc: Obviously I still think Rose is gonna move on...I will believe in the best for a character until shown otherwise. (At which point I will probably grumble and curse and decide to forget the episode ever happen. *Looks at Voyager's Kes, Star Trek Nemesis...*) But as for Rose's arc being short-changed...I think Rose's arc is just different than the one we expected. But still valid. You might not like the tragic version as much, but I enjoyed the melancholy...that's just mileage variance. But where I'm *really* gonna get into trouble here...
I think we DID see the getting over it/moving into a better life arc onscreen. It just didn't belong to Rose...
It was Mickey's. I know, you're not a fan. I loved the guy, though...and his relationship with Rose was very much like Rose's could have been with the Doctor. He hangs on and hangs on and wants forever something that can never really be...but finally he looks around and says, "There's another world out there and it needs me", and he steps up and kicks ass. You might say he was still hung up on Rose when he came back, and from the fact that he was living with the Tylers, but I don't think that's necessarily true. He still cares about Rose, but he's far from the puppy dog he was once, and I think it's anybody's guess if their relationship now is platonic or romantic.
And for me, the little moment in Doomsday where he called the Doctor "boss" was gold. I love how their relationship developed.
*Goes into hiding* :?P
no subject
Date: 2006-07-11 03:57 am (UTC)*snerk* I think you're correct in that we're looking at this from enitrely different, equally valid, perspectives, and we're never going to agree on what we take from this episode. So I don't think you're brainless, or that you're trying to make me change my mind, and I assume you don't think the same of me. *g*
Pete & Jackie: I think we're just going to have to agree to disagree here. Not many people seem to have as much of a problem with it as I do, which may mean it's a particular squick of mine.
Bridezilla and the Doctor Getting Over His Emo: Interesting. A lot of people do seem to see it as "the Doctor moving on," myself included. Maybe he'll still have emo for a couple episodes, but he's got to focus on this new problem, move the plot along in the Christmas special, etc. Maybe a bit more "life goes on," rather than "moving on," in the emotional sense? Whereas the last image of Rose we have is back with her family--which she's been indicating for two years she'd like to break ties with--and broken-hearted about the Doctor, a sobby, snotty grief which they focused on in excess of ten minutes in a show that's only forty-five minutes long. Seems unequal to me.
Rose's arc: Maybe I'm less trusting of my PTB? ;) Sure, she'll probably move on. I certainly hope so. But if Rusty's going to show that life goes on for the Doctor, then, if he wants me to believe the same of Rose, he should show it. Saying, oh, I'm working at Torchwood, my mom's having a baby, is not the same as showing. Possibly I'm a harder sell.
Mickey: I actually really like your idea about Mickey getting a conclusion to his arc. He's still not my favorite character in the world, but I liked him tons better starting with ROTC/AOS then I ever did in S1. But him seeing a bit of the universe with the Doctor and being inspired to do good things is actually a very plausible sort of arc. (Although if we find out at some later date that he and Rose got back together? I WILL NEVER WATCH THE SHOW AGAIN.)
The more I think about it, the more I wonder if Rose's "arc" is actually a wickedly incisive satire on the "Boomerang Generation." Heh. (That would give credence to my theory that T&C might have been a satire on the decline of the British Empire, as well, score!) But I think that's born of overthinking things a bit much... *g*