Reaction Post: "Father's Day"
This is *such* a pretty episode. It’s one that I appreciate more every time I see it. Family drama is one of those things that can become trite and cliché (and it kind of did in S2), but in “Father’s Day,” it’s all about the emotions. Rose has to face *massive* consequences for her decision to save her father, but we still sympathize with her as an audience because she isn’t like Adam. It wasn’t a grand plan, she wasn’t aiming to use time travel to benefit herself, but she saw her father about to die and acted on instinct. And Pete Tyler sacrificing himself for his daughter and the rest of the world while being thankful for those few extra hours is probably one of the most powerful moments of S1.
One thing, I’ve always been a little conflicted on the Doctor/Rose arc in this episode. It’s a *huge* moment in the Doctor/Rose relationship and it’s so obvious just how *close* they’ve gotten. But it’s also an episode where the age-gap between the Doctor and Rose seems so apparent to me. I don’t think this is bad thing necessarily-there *are* centuries between them, and so of course Rose isn’t going to have the same amount of knowledge on the do’s and don’ts of time travel that the Doctor has. But it is part of why Ten/Rose, I think, works more smoothly on a romantic level for me. There’s a lot of conflict over what the D/R relationship is supposed to *be* in this episode, with Pete even pointing out that the Doctor is too old for Rose. (Yeah, Pete. Thanks for helping me on THOSE squick issues. Great job, buckaroo.) There’s the mirrored way both the Doctor and Pete grasp Rose’s cheek, which sets off my “father squick” alarm bells. No, I don’t think the Doctor is a father replacement for Rose (she wants a dad, yeah, her *actual* dad), but he *is* paralleled to Pete several times in this episode, which of course makes me twitch. "For once, you're not the most important man in my life." Sigh.
-Jackie really is amazing, isn’t she? You get her in “Rose,” and you think she’s this one-dimensional, flighty and silly woman, but not only do we watch her grow on this series, but we learn she is so much more than what she first appears. Telling Rose all these wonderful things about her dead father when Jackie could have so many reasons to not say a single word about him… how amazing is that? I mean, he didn’t even get her name right at the wedding!
Hee!!! I love that it makes the Doctor crack up. He’s *always* been kind of insensitive. Not just Ten.
-Randomly, but I really love young!Rose. She bears a remarkable resemblance to Billie Piper. That’s so rare! It reminds me of how in Rome, they randomly switched the actor who played Octavian midway through to show he’d grown up, and I was so traumatized, I had to watch the rest of the series from behind my fingers.
-The little details in this episode are so good. The “no third term for Thatcher” posters on the walls (those give me chills!), the honking huge cell phones, the dark colouring. It makes 1987 feel incredibly far away even though it was only two decades ago.
That’s such a pretty shot of their hands, isn’t it? I love that about the Doctor and Rose; the way they could just be there for each other. It’s something that went deeper than the romance. It’s what makes it impossible for the Doctor to ask Pete to sacrifice himself and what makes Rose ask the Doctor how *he’s* doing after the whole Reinette thing in GitF.
-That fight *is* hard to watch. And yeah, it’s good they had it out and got beyond it, but it reminds me a little of their confrontation in “School Reunion” outside the chip shop. A part of Rose is frightened the Doctor will leave her behind (“I think he left me”), while she simultaneously seems aware of *exactly* what she’s come to mean to him. “You’ll hang around outside the TARDIS waiting for me!” And I think she’s right.
-It’s scary and all that the TARDIS reverts into an ordinary box, but I’ve never really understood exactly *why.* Of course, the first time I watched this, I didn’t really understand the flying dragons that ate people either. Now I go: “Why NOT have giant eating-people dragons? WOO HOO!!!”
Aww! Rose’s initial smile when she sees the Doctor has come back
-“You two. Two in the morning. Street corner. Getting a taxi home. I’ve never had a life like that.” Beautiful. *sniff*
-Pete Tyler is sharp, and so utterly like Rose in that way. He figures out who she is, he accepts the concept of time travel off the bat (just like Rose did!), and he even begins to gently probe her for information as he begins to piece together what happened.
-“Now, Rose, you’re not going to bring about the end of the world, are you?” Hee! So cute!
-Bah. Random peeve: I hate the Doctor’s “Tell me your sorry.” It’s always come across as condescending to me. I mean, obviously she is sorry. It was her decision that is bringing the world to an end. She doesn’t need to be disciplined like a child.
But they make up! I really hate when they fight. I can't even write it properly in fanfiction! They always just wanna cuddle! And stuff!
-“No, luv. I’m your dad. It’s my job for it to be your fault.” *sniffs again* GAH. I wish they hadn’t brought in alt!Pete in S2. He never felt *quite* the same. “Father’s Day” really should have been the end of the Rose-Pete arc. (And I have an alt!people squick. *twitch*)
I love this last shot of the Doctor and Rose, walking hand-in-hand back to the TARDIS.
There's something almost... gentle about it, isn't there? A quiet, but assured sense of comfort. So pretty!
One thing, I’ve always been a little conflicted on the Doctor/Rose arc in this episode. It’s a *huge* moment in the Doctor/Rose relationship and it’s so obvious just how *close* they’ve gotten. But it’s also an episode where the age-gap between the Doctor and Rose seems so apparent to me. I don’t think this is bad thing necessarily-there *are* centuries between them, and so of course Rose isn’t going to have the same amount of knowledge on the do’s and don’ts of time travel that the Doctor has. But it is part of why Ten/Rose, I think, works more smoothly on a romantic level for me. There’s a lot of conflict over what the D/R relationship is supposed to *be* in this episode, with Pete even pointing out that the Doctor is too old for Rose. (Yeah, Pete. Thanks for helping me on THOSE squick issues. Great job, buckaroo.) There’s the mirrored way both the Doctor and Pete grasp Rose’s cheek, which sets off my “father squick” alarm bells. No, I don’t think the Doctor is a father replacement for Rose (she wants a dad, yeah, her *actual* dad), but he *is* paralleled to Pete several times in this episode, which of course makes me twitch. "For once, you're not the most important man in my life." Sigh.
-Jackie really is amazing, isn’t she? You get her in “Rose,” and you think she’s this one-dimensional, flighty and silly woman, but not only do we watch her grow on this series, but we learn she is so much more than what she first appears. Telling Rose all these wonderful things about her dead father when Jackie could have so many reasons to not say a single word about him… how amazing is that? I mean, he didn’t even get her name right at the wedding!
Hee!!! I love that it makes the Doctor crack up. He’s *always* been kind of insensitive. Not just Ten.
-Randomly, but I really love young!Rose. She bears a remarkable resemblance to Billie Piper. That’s so rare! It reminds me of how in Rome, they randomly switched the actor who played Octavian midway through to show he’d grown up, and I was so traumatized, I had to watch the rest of the series from behind my fingers.
-The little details in this episode are so good. The “no third term for Thatcher” posters on the walls (those give me chills!), the honking huge cell phones, the dark colouring. It makes 1987 feel incredibly far away even though it was only two decades ago.
That’s such a pretty shot of their hands, isn’t it? I love that about the Doctor and Rose; the way they could just be there for each other. It’s something that went deeper than the romance. It’s what makes it impossible for the Doctor to ask Pete to sacrifice himself and what makes Rose ask the Doctor how *he’s* doing after the whole Reinette thing in GitF.
-That fight *is* hard to watch. And yeah, it’s good they had it out and got beyond it, but it reminds me a little of their confrontation in “School Reunion” outside the chip shop. A part of Rose is frightened the Doctor will leave her behind (“I think he left me”), while she simultaneously seems aware of *exactly* what she’s come to mean to him. “You’ll hang around outside the TARDIS waiting for me!” And I think she’s right.
-It’s scary and all that the TARDIS reverts into an ordinary box, but I’ve never really understood exactly *why.* Of course, the first time I watched this, I didn’t really understand the flying dragons that ate people either. Now I go: “Why NOT have giant eating-people dragons? WOO HOO!!!”
Aww! Rose’s initial smile when she sees the Doctor has come back
-“You two. Two in the morning. Street corner. Getting a taxi home. I’ve never had a life like that.” Beautiful. *sniff*
-Pete Tyler is sharp, and so utterly like Rose in that way. He figures out who she is, he accepts the concept of time travel off the bat (just like Rose did!), and he even begins to gently probe her for information as he begins to piece together what happened.
-“Now, Rose, you’re not going to bring about the end of the world, are you?” Hee! So cute!
-Bah. Random peeve: I hate the Doctor’s “Tell me your sorry.” It’s always come across as condescending to me. I mean, obviously she is sorry. It was her decision that is bringing the world to an end. She doesn’t need to be disciplined like a child.
But they make up! I really hate when they fight. I can't even write it properly in fanfiction! They always just wanna cuddle! And stuff!
-“No, luv. I’m your dad. It’s my job for it to be your fault.” *sniffs again* GAH. I wish they hadn’t brought in alt!Pete in S2. He never felt *quite* the same. “Father’s Day” really should have been the end of the Rose-Pete arc. (And I have an alt!people squick. *twitch*)
I love this last shot of the Doctor and Rose, walking hand-in-hand back to the TARDIS.
There's something almost... gentle about it, isn't there? A quiet, but assured sense of comfort. So pretty!