The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit
I've got S4 casting spoilers in here as well.
I think this two-parter is my favorite of S2. Sure it's got a bit of a plot hole (or...something that just doesn't make a lot of sense - I'll mention it below) but everything in this episode clicked for me. Everything. Supporting cast, set design, writing, direction, music, character dynamics... I loved it all. I enjoyed the first half a bit more, but the second half gets into some great meta-y type stuff. Having the Doctor wrestle with what he believes? Fantastic.
On to the cute!
They are SO dorky, they crack each other up with their own little jokes. :D
I know some have said that this is "hubris," but I'm not seeing this as them laughing in a "we shall never be defeated!" way. This is them laughing at their inability to turn around simply because there might be danger. I think curiosity and cats (being somewhat reckless) is probably better fitting.
Also...
TARDIS at the beginning: You IDIOT! Very bad place! Stupid Time Lord. *mutters*
TARDIS falling: I TOLD YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!
TARDIS at the end: Fine, I'll save you. Even though you're a moron. Cold showers for you for a WEEK.
Awwww. Rose tries to be brave since the Doctor's hurting, but it crumbles from the hugeness of the situation. They're both feeling lost at the moment and so cling to each other.
And cue yet another relationship-related freakout by the Doctor. Rose could start setting her watch. :D
The first time I watched this episode, this scene made me squirm. It was just so uncomfortable to watch. (I have embarrassment squick issues.) But since then it's become a bit adorable to me. The Doctor and Rose are already joined at the hip - it really would take a whole universe to separate them - but they don't sit around and have big relationship talks. Living something - fine, but talking about it - EEEK! And take a look at the Doctor's body language. He's having an "OMGRELATIONSHIP!!" moment, but he didn't try and put any space between them by leaning back or turning his body away. He may still have his death issues, but he's a goner.
See? You can't help yourself, Doctor! :D
Then you get that "stuck with you's not so bad" "yeah?" "yes" exchange. And you see the beginnings of a smile in him. It's a small recurring theme they have. 1) Rose pushes on the relationship, 2) the Doctor has a mental meltdown, 3) they wind up closer than before. Just look at the resonating concrete scene in "The Doctor Dances."
This cracks me up. Apparently Rose adapting to the Doctor's world is completely normal, but Rose adapting to this environment is WEIRD. You're such a doof, Doctor.
SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! *AHEM*
The Doctor wrestled with what he believes in, which I loved seeing. He had all these rules and beliefs, many of which undoubtedly were tied to Gallifrey. But now that that's gone, does he continue to keep those rules and beliefs? It's all a big question mark. But the one thing he can say he believes in - without reservation - is Rose. It's one more thing that shows how much Rose anchored him, and easier to see why he seems so lost in S3.
*sniffles* I demand S4 reunion hugging!!
I think this two-parter is my favorite of S2. Sure it's got a bit of a plot hole (or...something that just doesn't make a lot of sense - I'll mention it below) but everything in this episode clicked for me. Everything. Supporting cast, set design, writing, direction, music, character dynamics... I loved it all. I enjoyed the first half a bit more, but the second half gets into some great meta-y type stuff. Having the Doctor wrestle with what he believes? Fantastic.
- First I want to mention the supporting cast. They were amazing - the episode hit the ground running with these people and there was an instant reality to them. This episode showed that it is possible to do an ensemble well in Doctor Who, and still have main characters. I've seen some express fears about the Companionpalooza at the end of S4, and that some characters might become wallpaper. I'm gonna stay hopeful because these episodes show that having a group can be done right.
- There were more than a few times that I was cracking up or "awwing" at Rose in this episode. Her "Danny-boy" and "siiir-uh", which was channeling the Doctor, made me snicker. Or her clapping when someone did something (can't remember what it was at the moment.) Or swearing like a sailor at the Doctor for scaring her. Or her insistence that she was not going to leave the Doctor, even if he was dead.
And then there was the fact that she took charge of everyone up top. Rose can definitely handle herself in a crisis, as well as manage other people.
- There was something that didn't quite make sense to me - the Beast's prophesy about Rose. If you'll notice, it's the only actual prophesy that the Beast gives. Everything else concerned people's pasts, which could have been easily gotten since we know the Beast is telepathic. So if the Beast knew that Rose would "die in battle" - obvious foreshadowing to the Battle of Canary Wharf - why didn't the beast know that Rose would shoot out the window? Or that the Doctor would smash the vases? I could have thought that the Beast was referring to that whole "the Beast shall rise from the pit to make war against God" thing - that she'd die in what was happening in this episode, but it's brought up again at the end. Rose asks the Doctor about it and the implication is that this prophesy is still looming - the Doomsday prophesy.
I keep wondering if this is something that was added after the script was first written, to do that whole S2 foreshadowing of doom thing.
Side note - the Beast is obviously working on people's fears. I kinda wonder if the prophesy of Rose's death was meant to kill two birds with one stone. That had to have rattled the Doctor just as much.
- The difference between the Doctor here and in 42 is like day and night. Here the Doctor is full of "humans are amazing" and he's the one rallying others against personal fears. In 42 it's all "humans suck" and he's scared out of his mind. *sniffs* For some reason the Doctor's line from The Idiot's Lantern rang in my head this time around. "Now you, Mr Connolly, are staring into a deep, dark pit of trouble..." The Doctor's kind of got his own caged darkness going on.
On to the cute!
They are SO dorky, they crack each other up with their own little jokes. :D
I know some have said that this is "hubris," but I'm not seeing this as them laughing in a "we shall never be defeated!" way. This is them laughing at their inability to turn around simply because there might be danger. I think curiosity and cats (being somewhat reckless) is probably better fitting.
Also...
TARDIS at the beginning: You IDIOT! Very bad place! Stupid Time Lord. *mutters*
TARDIS falling: I TOLD YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!
TARDIS at the end: Fine, I'll save you. Even though you're a moron. Cold showers for you for a WEEK.
Awwww. Rose tries to be brave since the Doctor's hurting, but it crumbles from the hugeness of the situation. They're both feeling lost at the moment and so cling to each other.
And cue yet another relationship-related freakout by the Doctor. Rose could start setting her watch. :D
The first time I watched this episode, this scene made me squirm. It was just so uncomfortable to watch. (I have embarrassment squick issues.) But since then it's become a bit adorable to me. The Doctor and Rose are already joined at the hip - it really would take a whole universe to separate them - but they don't sit around and have big relationship talks. Living something - fine, but talking about it - EEEK! And take a look at the Doctor's body language. He's having an "OMGRELATIONSHIP!!" moment, but he didn't try and put any space between them by leaning back or turning his body away. He may still have his death issues, but he's a goner.
See? You can't help yourself, Doctor! :D
Then you get that "stuck with you's not so bad" "yeah?" "yes" exchange. And you see the beginnings of a smile in him. It's a small recurring theme they have. 1) Rose pushes on the relationship, 2) the Doctor has a mental meltdown, 3) they wind up closer than before. Just look at the resonating concrete scene in "The Doctor Dances."
This cracks me up. Apparently Rose adapting to the Doctor's world is completely normal, but Rose adapting to this environment is WEIRD. You're such a doof, Doctor.
SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! *AHEM*
The Doctor wrestled with what he believes in, which I loved seeing. He had all these rules and beliefs, many of which undoubtedly were tied to Gallifrey. But now that that's gone, does he continue to keep those rules and beliefs? It's all a big question mark. But the one thing he can say he believes in - without reservation - is Rose. It's one more thing that shows how much Rose anchored him, and easier to see why he seems so lost in S3.
*sniffles* I demand S4 reunion hugging!!