Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel

[saiyako]

Okay, this episode gets weirder for me every time I watch it. And most of it is the whole Barty Crouch thing. Cos you know the Role Association Game? When you apply it to this ep, well - having Barty Crouch Jr flying about saving the universe is one thing, but this is the one where he has to save it from his dad. And obviously none of my extra associations about the confrontation between the Doctor and Lumic mean anything, but because I can't cut away those layers, it makes watching that last half of AoS really, really weird for me.

Especially watching Ten be so vehement about keeping his soul ("You might as well kill me"), while knowing that Barty lost his.

Just like I can't watch Hot Fuzz or Shaun of the Dead without - you know.

A bit more relevantly, I also can't watch this ep without ending up with this song in my head.

Spoilers for Amy's Choice.

That tech sounds familiar - may have to look him up. (But imdb says no, he must have just have one of those voices or something.) "Skin of metal. And a body that will never age, or die. I envy it." You're such a liar, Crouch.

I like the lighting here, the Cyberman's sort of haloed out so you can't quite see. That voice, though, and then slowly we start to see its shape, and we know that silhouette, don't we....

Poor tech guy. He's a bit daft, though, standing up to your unhinged boss is dangerous enough, why would you stand in front of the dangerous invention while doing it? Especially when you're alone with him.

I wonder who died for them to make that one, though...

And Crouch sets sail for Great Britain and off we go.

"Rise of the Cybermen", in which the Doctor finds himself shipwrecked, Rose Tyler chases gingerbread, and Mickey Smith considers his position

Ten and Rose reminiscing is adorable! Poor MIckey feels left out, though. So do I, actually, I wanna see that adventure!

"How long's it been since I could have stopped?"
"Oh, ten minutes? Twenty? Twenty-nine...?"
Okay, I do feel sorry for Mickey in this ep - he thought he was part of the team now, and they're just ignoring him, and the Doctor's even forgotten he asked him to hold the button down, which is really, really bad of him...

Not much to say about the crash, although the Doctor's panic is - oh, why do I bother trying to describe his expressions when you lot are doing picspams, I dunno... - oh, wait, was that the Chameleon Arch that just fell out of the ceiling?!

First thought is to check the others are okay, not forgetting Mickey this time, he's not that neglectful, but then -

"She's dead." The quiet shock in his voice kills me. The 'she' is a pretty big deal, too, considering how often he calls her 'it' onscreen. "This TARDIS is dead." (And this is why I didn't believe the TARDIS-world in AC, apart from it being too obvious from the start - Eleven's reaction just didn't ring true, he sounded worried but not devastated - and since he didn't believe it, I didn't either.)

Rose isn't quite getting the meaning of "dead".

"There's nothing to fix. She's perished." He presses a few buttons anyway, cos he can't quite believe - "The last TARDIS in the universe. Extinct." And he knew this was coming, but he expected to go first, and as always when he talks about death and loss, he's talking about more than he'll admit to.

"We fell out of the vortex, through the void into nothingness. We're in some sort of no-place. The silent realm. The lost dimension."
"Otherwise known as London."
And the look on Ten's face, cos he has hope again!

Only... "So it's London. Your city, just as we left it. .... And that includes the zeppelins?" XD

He already knew it wasn't their world, though. He could feel it - well, couldn't feel it, which is the point - the man who can see everything that is and was and will be, and he couldn't pick up anything at all on this planet. He was honestly convinced they were nowhere, which means it messes with his senses like it does with the TARDIS power-supply.

And Mickey understands it, good boy! But Rose is more precoccupied with finding her dad.

And Ten's unusually urgent in warning her against something you wouldn't, at first, think would be such a big deal. I need to go find some of the old parallel universe eps, I think, see what happened to him, cos this isn't just an abstract danger to him, he looks like he's been burned by this before. :"You can't see him, not ever!" It's not like she's looking to move into her other self's life, but just seeing him, talking to him?

Alt-Jackie is absolutely horrible. She makes me appreciate ours so much more, though.

Anyone find it really jarring when "Rose" shows up and is a dog? That's just not right.

"Famous day!" Not sure what this is supposed to mean.

Oh... I love the way Jackie's earpods extend and connect when Lumic hacks into them, looks like something, doesn't it? XD

"I told you to keep an eye on her!" Wait a minute, when did that become Mickey's job to keep an eye on the girl? And the Doctor's asking a bit much, actually, for Mickey to just trust the bloke who's been ignoring and excluding him all day.

Though I suppose it's also asking a bit much of the Doctor, to be rational when his ship just died and they're trapped in another universe that feels like nowhere.

"Parallel world, it's like a gingerbread house! Temptation's calling her!" Yeah, and what happened to Hansel and Gretel? They nearly got cooked and eaten. Yeah, he's definitely expecting worse than some emotional upset...

"Oh, so it's just Rose, then, nothing out there to tempt me."
"Well, I dunno, I can't worry about everything!" Ah, dammit. This conversation's kind of tormenting me to go through, mostly because I keep having to admit Mickey has a point. Being shunted off into 'everything', when the Doctor's worrying in a very specific fashion about the TARDIS and Rose, has got to sting, and it's not fair to him. Trouble is, he's again picking the wrong time to start confronting people, the Doctor's freaked out enough about everything that's already gone wrong without adding Mickey's insecurity on top of it, which he surely didn't have to deal with right this minute.

And, there he goes kicking the console. Poor battered TARDIS.

"Does that help?" "Yes." "Does it hurt?" "...yes." Oh, Mickey. At least you get to be right a little bit before you go.

And Rose gets some exposition off her phone, while the Doctor explains parallel universes and power sources to Mickey. Full quotage here because it's the only time they really connect, and it means something that the Doctor opens up to him here, it's one of the few moments when we see that Mickey actually does matter to him.

"We're not meant to be here. The TARDIS draws its power from the universe, but it's the wrong universe. Like diesel in a petrol engine."
And Mickey sits down next to him. "But - I've seen it in comics, people all hopping from one alternative world to another, it's easy."
"Not in the real world. Used to be easy. When the Time Lords kept their eye on everything, you could pop between realities, home in time for tea. Then they died, took it all with them. The walls of reality closed, the worlds were sealed. Everything became that bit less kind."
"Then how did we get here?"
"Oh, I dunno." I love the way he rubs his hand over his face here, and Mickey looks at him with something that might be actual concern. "Accident. Should have been impossible, now we're trapped."

And then he spots the green light, and goes from despair to delight in about 10 seconds flat. "We've got power!" I love how he keeps asking Mickey if it's a light, as though he doesn't dare to hope.

Damn it. Thought I could rush through this next lot, but then Ten and Mickey have to go have important conversations where they might actually bond, and slow me down again, I dunno.

And hello, Jake! And he's trying to stop the homeless people from going with Lumic's men, and one of them almost would have listened...

"One of those insignificant little power cells no one ever bothers about and it's clinging on to life!" And it's what saves them. *snuggles Ten and Mickey cos they look so happy and adorable*

And the power cell needs charging: "Wrong sort of energy. Gotta be something from our universe." "But we don't have anything." "There's me."
Okay, okay, I admit it - Doctor/TARDIS is clearly the show's OTP. That blissful look when he gives up his life-energy for it, how can we take it any other way? And then he KISSES THE POWER CELL! *dies*

Oh, I wish Mickey could have stuck around for longer, he and Ten are finally starting to get on.

24 hours. Oh, Ten, did you really think you could tell them that and not have them go running off after gingerbread? If they didn't, they'd just be moping about all day about how you wouldn't let them go...

And of course he knew Rose wpuld go, but he looks so confused when Mickey runs off too. "Got things to do and all."
"Like what?" Oh, there's the voice going up an octave, kinda love that too.
"Well, you don't know anything about me, do ya? It's always about Rose, I'm just the spare part." Yep. Sorry. But, you know, he just kissed a spare part, so there's hope for you yet, Mickey.
And the look on Rose's face when she turns back, and is she reacting partly to that?

And Ten's stumped, cos they're both running in different directions, but Mickey knows what he'll do before he does. "Go on then. You can only chase after one of us, and it's never gonna be me, is it?"
And he's right again, so the Doctor gives up and runs after Rose. "Back here, 24 hours!"
"Yeah. If I haven't found something better." For once, he doesn't seem angry about it though. Just resigned.

I rather like the president. And Pete's line about Lumic's insanity is interesting: "Not the word I would've used." Doesn't mean he thinks he's not, though,does it?

Mickey looking up at the rich peoples' houses where Rose and the Doctor have run off to: "I wish." Oh, Mickey.

Rose explaining about Mickey's family. Oh, I wish Amy and Eleven would have a conversation like this.

The Doctor's still nervous about the parallel. "Like I said, gingerbread house. We need to get out of here as fast as we can."

And that download is frelling creepy. The way they just all stop and then they all even laugh at the same time. *shudder*

And then they find out Pete's connected to Lumic, and that triumphant grin on Rose's face, cos she knows he can't resist now. XD Plus, you know, five and a half hours...

Mickey's conversation with his grandmother is so sweet and sad. "I should have fixed it way back, but I guess I'm just useless." *hugs him* Wasn't your fault, Mickey. Just bad luck.

And here come the resistance! Mrs Moore! I love her.

And the way they look at him when he doesn't know who their main suspect for everything is, and they say it in unison: "Cybus Industries!"

"A cradle of copyrighted chemicals." This makes me twitch. "Copyrighted." They want to make humans into these things and they talk about copyright, it's just not right.

Lumic's desperate, and I understand it, but - he's taking homeless people on the street and killing them to do this! He's upgrading people against their wills! "I don't want to die" isn't nearly close to a justification for that!

Liar, Mr Crane, you so are having fun.

"I am governed by greater laws, old friend. The right of a man to survive." And that means taking away other people's rights to live, does it?

Oh god... RTD loves his musical dissonance, doesn't he?

And at last, we meet Ricky - about time, the Doctor's been talking about him for a whole year now.

Jackie's birthday is 1st Feb. She's an Aquarius, for those who care about that sort of thing.

And Rose is not impressed with his choice of cover story.
"If you wanna know what's going on, work in the kitchens."
Oh, Rose, don't get jealous of the waitress, he's just trying to get information! And, seriously, not every single person he ever talks to is a potential companion, let alone possible competition...

And poor Rose, watching her alt!parents together. "They've got each other. Mum's got no one."
"She's got you, those two haven't. All these different worlds, not one of them gets it right." Oh, come on, stop teasing us, RTD, I wanna know how he got hurt...

And the look she gives the dog. And then the one she gives him when he laughs.. oh, come on, Rose, he can't help it. And he badly needs something to laugh about today.

"It could be that Cybus industries have perfected the science of human cloning. Or your father had a bike." XD I love Mrs Moore.

And Mickey's dad ran off to Spain. Definitely stuff to unpack about his abandonment issues, especially after the Doctor just ran off on him too...

Oh, and Pete just instinctively picks Rose to go and talk to! Aww...
They get on so well! Until he starts to wonder why he was drawn to her and drifts away to talk to someone else. "How's it going with Torchwood?"

The resistance have found Pete's house, and Mickey's suddenly a lot more urgent about the mission.

Oh, nothing else sounds like Cybermen footsteps, does it?

And the Doctor's hacked into the computer and found Lumic's pitch, and he looks horrified.

And Rose goes out to find Jackie and that was... well, started off well, but talking about Pete was pushing it. "Are you commenting on my marriage?" Oh, she probably thinks Rose is sweet on him, doesn't she? I thought she was just being a bitch, but...

And Ten sees the graphic just as the Cybermen approach the house, and now he's frantic.
"It's happening again. I've seen them before." And by "before", he means "I used to run into them every other year and they sort of killed me once." Don't ever underestimate anything the Doctor's scared of.

And the hurried explanation.

Oh, the President's trying to pull the same thing the Doctor usually does, listen to his phrasing:
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for what's been done to you, but this experiment ends tonight" and "What happens if I refuse?" But the Doctor knows how the Cybermen will take it: "I'm telling you, don't!"

And they run: "There's nothing we can do." "My mum's in there!" "She's not your mother, come on!" See, there's the danger of getting involved, but I'm still not sure it covers his reaction.

And Pete's clever and runs with them, and has the presence of mind to wonder how the Doctor know him. The Rose/Ricky hug would have been quite sweet if it'd actaully been, you know, Mickey... XD

And they're surrounded, and the Doctor knows how to lie to Cybers now... pity they don't recognise Time Lords as compatible stock... "Inferior," my arse. Stupid Cybers. I reckon his horrified look is as much at the word itself as at being about to be killed, cos imagine that - being the cleverest person on the planet, last survivor of the mightiest race in the galaxy, and then some jumped-up cyborgs come along and go, "Oh, no, we don't want you, you're a bit crap." *pats Ten*

And no trailer, which was probably a good choice.

Next: The Age of Steel. Featuring more of Barty Crouch Sr and the two Ronnies Mickeys.

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Okay, just a quick pause to note - this whole Cyberman thing? We've very much got an echoes/mirrors of humanity theme going on here. The original Cybermen came from Earth's twin planet that had gone rogue. This lot are created on an alternate Earth in an alternate universe. Twisted humans from the other side of the looking-glass.

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Recap leading straight into credits. What does "Maximum Deletion" mean, anyway? You kill him here and then you go to every universe and kill all the other hims? And then go back along his timeline and rekill him repeatedly? I dunno... just sounds... how can you minimally kill someone?

"The Age of Steel", in which Barty Crouch Jr finally confronts his dad the Doctor decides dying with a soul is better than living without one, Rose Tyler gets a taste of what losing her mother would be like, and Mickey Smith saves the world and finds something better

And Ten neatly solves the cliffhanger by using the power cell to fry the Cybermen's systems so they can escape.

"Never seen a slower getaway in my life!" I do love you, Mrs Moore!

The Cybers are hurting Jackie, you know that won't end well.

And the resistance turn on Pete.
"Keep talking about executions and you'll make me your enemy, and take some really good advice, you don't wanna do that." Yes, he will protect someone who might be the bad guy, I love that. How many other heroes actually do that and come across as sincere?

And the secrets are coming out - Pete's a secret agent (yay!) and Ricky's not as tough as he pretends. And I love how Ten smiles when Ricky comes clean about the parking tickets, while Rose and Pete just headdesk.
"They were deliberate, I was fighting the system, park anywhere, that's me."
And Ten likes him now. "Good policy, I do much the same."

Need to do a bit more than tell on Lumic, though. Oh, Doctor, you know it's never that easy.

"We think of the humans. We think of their difference and the pain. They suffer in the skin, they must be upgraded." No, sorry, I'll take the pain any day over that. This is one of the creepiest bits in the episode. How do you fight something that thinks it's doing you a favour?

"Give anyone a chance to take control and you submit! Sometimes I think you like it!" Some people do... but it's primate instinct, is the thing, herd/pack species have inbuilt dominance/submission stuff going on, and, I mean, humans don't have to follow those instincts, but they are... And then bring in the Doctor, who's naturally inclined to rebellion by both personality and, I'd argue, his natural Gallifreyan instincts... yeah, he won't get it. And naturally he's gonna go for the human outliers, the ones that are rebellious like him, and Rose must get really sick of him generalising human behaviour at her when she's not showing that behaviour half the time. ...I think I just ended up in a completely different place than I started from.

Mickey and Rose kiss, and for once I don't mind. Although she didn't need the extra confusion.

Ricky and Mickey speaking in sync, haha. They're not nearly as different as they thought. XP

"Then you're not that bad." Nope.

And Ricky's down. I like that they didn't tell us to begin with which one it was.

Oh, Mr Crane. You did try.

And now the Cybers turn on their father. "Then breathe no more." Worst thing is, they probably see it as filial duty.

And Mickey comes back alone, poor Jake. "Are you Ricky? Are you Ricky?" And Mickey can't even tell him, not faced with that, and it's up to Rose to take the question from him: "Mickey, that's you, isn't it?"

And Jake just can't - "Don't even talk about him! You're nothin', you are! Nothin'."
And I'm pretty sure Mickey doesn't know what Ricky was to Jake yet, but the Doctor does. "We can mourn him when London is safe."

"You're just making it up as you go along!" "Yup. But I do it brilliantly." I love his ego. XD

And the earpod plan... and of course Rose can't let her dad go alone.
"Doctor, I'm going with him, and that's that." "No stopping you, is there?"
And he lets it pass and goes on to the rest of the plan. And everyone gets something to do but Mickey. "I can what? Stay here and be the tin dog?" And he decides to go help Jake, and Jake doesn't want him. Why would he? This guy with his boyfriend's face?
Ten sends him off with some actual respect, though. "If we survive this, I'll see you back at the TARDIS." "That's a promise." And the look they give each other is... oh crap. I did not need another side-pairing... maybe I'll manage to talk myself out of it.

The Doctor and Mrs Moore - sounds like its own show. AU spinoff or something.

Rose takes Pete's hand for a moment before they get into the line. "Let's just say I'm doin' it for my mum and dad."

And Mickey bringing the moral argument for Jake - "If you kill 'em, what's the difference betwen you and a Cyberman?" And he listens. ...they do make a really good team. And Jake's very, very eager to take these things down.

The Ten/Moore conversation is another bit I love. "All I did was read it. Then suddnly I've got men with guns knocking in the middle of the night." And she just goes and finds herself a way to fight, I love her so much!

"Oh,who needs family? I've got the whole world on my shoulders." And after deflecting her question, he's got the nerve to ask her real name? XD

And then he tries to stop her from worrying about the waking Cybers until they start to move in earnest, I love how he does that.

Rose, you're showing expressions. Stop it.

And worse, you're showing interest in your surroundings, Seriously, they're gonna find you.

The conversion machine never, ever stops being creepy as hell. And there are hundreds of them, at least, in that building.

Cyber-Jackie, oh god... and she even bothers to tell them who she is, why?! I thought cruelty was an emotion.

"Upgrade this!"
"What the hell was that thing?!" And, oh, he likes her... She'd have made a good companion, too...
And now they can examine one up close, and there's the inhibitor.
"So they cut out the one thing that makes them human." "Because they have to:"

I can't talk about Sally. I can't - she was about to get married, and they -

And there's the answer. Disable the inhibitors and: "They'd realise what they are."
"What happens then?"
"I think it would kill them." And he hates the thought. "Can we do that?"
"We've got to. Before they kill everyone else." She hates it too, but they have to.

And, well, she's not part of the decision-making anymore, and he's furious. The look he gives the Cybers as they lead him off, I really hope someone's capped that. And they've finally figured out he's not human, and that's interesting enough to spare him.

Oh, they've noticed Mickey's activity...

"Oh, no, I've been captured, but don't worry, Rose and Pete are still out there, they can rescue me, oh well, nevermind."

And out comes the cybercontroller... Oh, the look on Ten's face when he sees him. Not exactly how the Crouch family reunion was supposed to go, was it?

And the earpods are down, and the people are running. "I think that's a vote for freewill, don't you?"

"Then the Cybermen will take humanity by force." Um. That's compassion, is it? That's helping out a suffering people? I think you lost the plot a very long time ago, Lumic.

"I will bring peace to the world. Everlasting peace. And unity. And uniformity."
"And imagination, what about that? The one thing that led you here. Imagination, you're killling it dead!"

"Oh, Lumig, you're a clever man. I'd call you a genius, except I'm in the room." Attempts at flattery kinda fall flat when you start complimenting yourself... still, how can you not love it?

And the emotional argument again, and he's got to know by now it can't work, but Mickey and Jackie are still out there. Still, he's a scientist. Tell him all advancement will just stop, and... I don't think there can possibly be enough left of him to listen, though.

"You are proud of your emotions?"
"Oh yes."
"Tell me, Doctor, have you known grief? And rage, and pain?"
"Yes. Yes, I have."
"And they hurt?"
"Oh, yes!" And he looks so happy about that.
"I can set you free. Would you not want that?"
"You might as well kill me."
"Then I take that option."
"It's not yours to take!" And outraged moral rants are very, very good for hiding messages to Mickey in, aren't they? XD

And just distract the Cybers with babbling until he can break the code, and down they go. "I gave them back their souls! They can see what you've done, Lumic, and it's killing them!"

And Mickey's figured out how to fly the zeppelin!
"Welcome to Mickey Smith Airlines. Please enjoy your flight!" Never caught that bit before.
And look, the spare part just saved the world, ha.

Oh, his face when the TARDIS powers up. He loves her so much... Oh, he must have been alone in his head these whole two episodes, no wonder he's been so cranky, and now she's back.

And Rose tries to connect with Pete and he can't handle the truth - yet. Well, how could he? She's the daughter he could have had, and he can't possibly be prepared for that.

And Mickey finds the suit! Well done, Mickey!

Ten sends Jake to find Mrs Moore's family. "Tell them how she died saving the world."

And he's taken completely off-guard by Mickey's decision, but he's right... "My old gran, she's still alive, remember her? ... She needs me." "What about me, what if I need you?" "Yeah, but Rose, you don't. It's just you and him, isn't it? We had something a long time ago, but - not anymore."
And Rose tries to promise to visit, and, oh, he hadn't told her it was impossible, cos he was alone with Mickey, and oh hell, isn't this music The Lone Dalek?!

And the Doctor doesn't wanna lose Mickey any more than Rose does, but he knows now what he's been doing to him, and he's used to them walking away when they find something better. Rose doesn't get it yet cos this is the first time she's seen anyone leave...

"Jake, you wanna watch this. That's the Doctor, in the TARDIS, with Rose Tyler."

And they go straight to Jackie's, see, he can get it right when it matters enough, and Jackie doesn't know why Rose is crying, but she's always ready with the hugs cos that's what mums do.

"Where did you go?" "Far away. That was - far away."
"Where's Mickey?"
"Hes gone home." Well, it's not completely a lie, is it?

And Mickey getting into the car with Jake and sorting things between them.
"We can remember him, by fighting in his name."
There's a deleted line here where Jake calls Ricky his boyfriend, and Mickey is just a bit taken aback. It's still canon in my head, though. XD

And off they go to liberate Paris!

Next up: The Idiot's Lantern, featuring a weird tv lady and the worst hair Ten's ever had.