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Jan. 2nd, 2010 11:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rynneTonight ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
velesia and I ate pizza and watched Doctor Who.
I don't really have that many thoughts, actually. I am glad, though, that I waited to watch Waters of Mars until now.
Crazy!Ten did freak me out. I knew it was coming but it really was like watching a train wreck, that sort of "oh no no no this is wrong" reaction. I was relieved that he snapped out of it so soon (though poor Adelaide), but you know, thinking about that moment in Waters of Mars is especially interesting in light of End of Time.
During WoM, the Doctor hadn't been acting like the Time Lords of the Classic series, which were who we knew until End of Time. Classic!Time Lords might have been arrogant sticks, but that would have made them leave the base without looking back or hesitating, not deciding to change time.
But the Time Lords as they were revealed to be in EoT at the end of the Time War--the Doctor had acted like them, and I'm glad he realized he didn't want to.
On the whole, I thought EoT was very well done. There were some definite OMGWTFBBQPOLARBEAR moments (SIX BILLION MASTERS?! That one lasted awhile, obviously. Also, Martha/Mickey wtf? What happened to Tom Milligan?), but mostly I liked it. Though I did wonder how the hell all the different Masters weren't fighting each other for supremacy? I kept thinking, why are they taking orders, even from other Masters? Oh well.
I'm very pleased with what killed Ten--that was so very Doctor. Just like Five trading his life for Peri, and Nine for Rose. I approved. I especially liked that this time it wasn't his companion, not someone he'd ever intended to travel with, but an old man who'd even said he'd had a long life. A life cut short is a life cut short, whether it's at eight or eighty. I'm glad the Doctor couldn't let it happen.
What's sort of amusing me now though is that all over my flist I'm seeing people say things like "Ten, you're still my Doctor", and what this episode really emphasized for me is that Ten Is Not My Doctor. That's still Nine.
That is one of the few things I did not appreciate about this episode--the melodrama. Or at least it felt like melodrama to me. Building up Ten's regeneration is something I really wish RTD hadn't done--seriously, two different prophecies and Ten knowing it was coming and freaking out? None of his other regenerations got that. They were always sudden. What makes Ten's death so special that he needs prophecies and ridiculous amounts of build-up and enough melodrama to power a planet if it ran off angst? Sometimes I think RTD's love for BIGGER BETTER MORE really works against him--I mean, Four fell from a radio tower, Five got sick, Seven got screwed by a human surgeon who didn't know he was an alien.
It just seemed...too much for me. And Ten was playing it up. I mean, I'd never got the impression that the Doctor was all that afraid of death before, even a final death. And I'm not even talking about his suicidal moments in the new series--he'd just always seemed like the kind of guy who'd do his best to weasel his way out of it but accept it if it came. And sure, Ten accepted it, but more like WHINE WHINE THE UNIVERSE IS UNFAIR and then I'm going to make it SO OBVIOUS that I'm being the better man and sacrificing my life for you.
I don't know what purpose those prophecies served, other than to ramp up the Doctor's fear. But then I don't know what purpose ramping up the Doctor's fear served. Was it to make it more poignant when the Doctor finally did sacrifice his life despite his fear?
If that was supposed to be the point, RTD totally missed it with me. He piled so much angst up on Ten that I was mostly numb to any poignancy and annoyed when Ten pretty much literally went out with a whimper.
God, I need to watch S1 again. Nine will be so refreshing after that--at least he didn't shove his angst in my face.*
Though speaking of S1, I was happy with the Rose scene. Once again she was the last person he saw before he regenerated, and I was not expecting that. Too bad it's unlikely Moffat will do anything with it (not that I really want him to, since I can't trust him to handle it right).
I am also very glad that it was a past version of Rose and not the current one. It showed up much he wanted to see her if he was willing to potentially mess up her timeline, and to me it preserved the relationship without messing it up. When I'd heard that Rose was going to be making another appearance in this episode, I'd been so afraid that it'd be a drive-by "I'm so happy, sorry you're not but I chose your clone so I'm just here to torture you now" kind of thing. I'm so glad that didn't happen, that in his last interaction with her he got her compassion and her mega-watt smile and the knowledge that she's about to have a fantastic life.
*I don't hate Ten, even if it sort of comes across that way. The melodrama was not enough to ruin the episodes or even the show for me. It's more of a lingering exasperation that I wanted to explain, but I still anticipate reading and watching and enjoying Ten as much as I ever have. But now that I've seen Ten's entire run, I can really say that Ten is not my Doctor, and Nine will most likely forever hold that title.
velesia and I ate pizza and watched Doctor Who.I don't really have that many thoughts, actually. I am glad, though, that I waited to watch Waters of Mars until now.
Crazy!Ten did freak me out. I knew it was coming but it really was like watching a train wreck, that sort of "oh no no no this is wrong" reaction. I was relieved that he snapped out of it so soon (though poor Adelaide), but you know, thinking about that moment in Waters of Mars is especially interesting in light of End of Time.
During WoM, the Doctor hadn't been acting like the Time Lords of the Classic series, which were who we knew until End of Time. Classic!Time Lords might have been arrogant sticks, but that would have made them leave the base without looking back or hesitating, not deciding to change time.
But the Time Lords as they were revealed to be in EoT at the end of the Time War--the Doctor had acted like them, and I'm glad he realized he didn't want to.
On the whole, I thought EoT was very well done. There were some definite OMGWTFBBQPOLARBEAR moments (SIX BILLION MASTERS?! That one lasted awhile, obviously. Also, Martha/Mickey wtf? What happened to Tom Milligan?), but mostly I liked it. Though I did wonder how the hell all the different Masters weren't fighting each other for supremacy? I kept thinking, why are they taking orders, even from other Masters? Oh well.
I'm very pleased with what killed Ten--that was so very Doctor. Just like Five trading his life for Peri, and Nine for Rose. I approved. I especially liked that this time it wasn't his companion, not someone he'd ever intended to travel with, but an old man who'd even said he'd had a long life. A life cut short is a life cut short, whether it's at eight or eighty. I'm glad the Doctor couldn't let it happen.
What's sort of amusing me now though is that all over my flist I'm seeing people say things like "Ten, you're still my Doctor", and what this episode really emphasized for me is that Ten Is Not My Doctor. That's still Nine.
That is one of the few things I did not appreciate about this episode--the melodrama. Or at least it felt like melodrama to me. Building up Ten's regeneration is something I really wish RTD hadn't done--seriously, two different prophecies and Ten knowing it was coming and freaking out? None of his other regenerations got that. They were always sudden. What makes Ten's death so special that he needs prophecies and ridiculous amounts of build-up and enough melodrama to power a planet if it ran off angst? Sometimes I think RTD's love for BIGGER BETTER MORE really works against him--I mean, Four fell from a radio tower, Five got sick, Seven got screwed by a human surgeon who didn't know he was an alien.
It just seemed...too much for me. And Ten was playing it up. I mean, I'd never got the impression that the Doctor was all that afraid of death before, even a final death. And I'm not even talking about his suicidal moments in the new series--he'd just always seemed like the kind of guy who'd do his best to weasel his way out of it but accept it if it came. And sure, Ten accepted it, but more like WHINE WHINE THE UNIVERSE IS UNFAIR and then I'm going to make it SO OBVIOUS that I'm being the better man and sacrificing my life for you.
I don't know what purpose those prophecies served, other than to ramp up the Doctor's fear. But then I don't know what purpose ramping up the Doctor's fear served. Was it to make it more poignant when the Doctor finally did sacrifice his life despite his fear?
If that was supposed to be the point, RTD totally missed it with me. He piled so much angst up on Ten that I was mostly numb to any poignancy and annoyed when Ten pretty much literally went out with a whimper.
God, I need to watch S1 again. Nine will be so refreshing after that--at least he didn't shove his angst in my face.*
Though speaking of S1, I was happy with the Rose scene. Once again she was the last person he saw before he regenerated, and I was not expecting that. Too bad it's unlikely Moffat will do anything with it (not that I really want him to, since I can't trust him to handle it right).
I am also very glad that it was a past version of Rose and not the current one. It showed up much he wanted to see her if he was willing to potentially mess up her timeline, and to me it preserved the relationship without messing it up. When I'd heard that Rose was going to be making another appearance in this episode, I'd been so afraid that it'd be a drive-by "I'm so happy, sorry you're not but I chose your clone so I'm just here to torture you now" kind of thing. I'm so glad that didn't happen, that in his last interaction with her he got her compassion and her mega-watt smile and the knowledge that she's about to have a fantastic life.
*I don't hate Ten, even if it sort of comes across that way. The melodrama was not enough to ruin the episodes or even the show for me. It's more of a lingering exasperation that I wanted to explain, but I still anticipate reading and watching and enjoying Ten as much as I ever have. But now that I've seen Ten's entire run, I can really say that Ten is not my Doctor, and Nine will most likely forever hold that title.
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Date: 2010-01-03 02:20 pm (UTC)Ditto. It’s not that I hate Ten. It’s just…
Once upon a time, there was a show about a little blonde girl in a red hoodie who met an alien that travelled through time and space in a telephone box from the 1960s. It could be silly, that show—it had bad puns, and farting aliens, and homicidal pepperpots. But it made me laugh, and it made me cry, and it made me proud to be human—because look at what ordinary people can do if they’re brave and clever and determined.
I miss that show.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-08 06:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-03 03:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-08 06:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-03 11:44 pm (UTC)(And it made me super happy because I was still annoyed by the way "Torchwood" ended this summer, and this made it okay for me! Seriously, watch "The History Boys" and let me tell you why I love the actor who plays Alonso in "Doctor Who.")
no subject
Date: 2010-01-08 06:52 am (UTC)I will definitely watch The History Boys at some point! I've heard of it, just never got around to watching it.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-08 08:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-08 08:40 pm (UTC)Also, I think the Rose cameo was quite possibly the best return RTD could have done! I was worried as well, since I didn't want Rose from altverse to show up because what could she have done? What could he have done? It would have been a lot of... well, nothing. It'd be angst upon angst with a dollop of angst for dessert. And it would have totally cheapened it. But it tied up Rose's story neat and wonderful and after all my doubts about JE, I'm actually really glad now that it happened that way because TEN STILL LIVES ELSEWHERE WITH ROSE. Offscreen, where Moffat won't be touching him.