Of Songs and Music (DW 4x03)
I made the mistake of reading some other reactions to Planet of the Ood before posting my own. Since others have already voiced most of my thoughts -- great ep, loved the way the Doctor was just an observer for once, Donna continues to rock, hello skience! -- instead of a proper review this evening, you get more of a meta from me. Aren't you just so lucky? *g*
I must say, what most fascinated me about in this episode is the music. To be honest, I'm not particularly musical myself, so I rarely pay close attention to the scores in an ep unless someone points it out to me. But the music this season seems to be just as full of potential hints and clues as the dialogue, so I've been finding myself listening much more closely. And wow, have there been a number of possible clues dropped. Unfortunately, it's impossible to know right now just what it will end up meaning .. but that makes it all the more fun to theorize.
Now me, I'm a romantic and a diehard shipper, so I won't deny I'm hoping for an ultimately "happy ending". I'm not sure what a happy ending might look like as it relates to the Doctor and Rose, but I just can't imagine that RTD has been setting up this story line for the past 3+ years, only to have it end in complete heartbreak when it's all over. (And by "all over", I guess I mean at the end of DT's run as the Doctor, though obviously that's debatable, too.) As a writer, it just doesn't make sense to tell a love story over four (or more, if the 2009 specials come into play) seasons, and not have some type of payoff at the end. This is a family show, after all, and it seems a bit sadistic -- to both the characters and viewers -- to set up this wonderful romance (S1-2), focus on the devastation of it being lost (S3), then have the characters ripped apart again instead of being reunited (S4 and beyond).
"I think your song must end soon."
"Meaning?"
"Every song must end."
I have to admit, I get chills when I watch this scene, not just for the dialogue, which is clearly a BIG HONKIN' CLUE DESIGNED TO FREAK US OUT, but for the music that replaces the Ood song during this exchange. I've seen various descriptions of it, from people much more qualified to analyze it than me, but it seems pretty clear that, even if it's a score we haven't specifically heard before, it's somehow related to Rose -- whether as the music playing as she enters the TARDIS for the first time, or as the heartbreaking Doomsday score, or some derivation of the two. Not to mention the fact that we've had a Rose reference in each episode so far (her appearance at the end of PiC, "She is returning" in FoP), and this seems to be it for PotO.
So my theory? I think -- I hope! -- that "the end of the song" is not referring to the Doctor's upcoming regeneration (since DT has said in interviews that he's signed on through 2009), but to the fact that the Doctor's song of sadness may finally, finally be ending.
The line that really jumps out at me here is when the Doctor allows Donna to hear the Ood's song of captivity -- of heartbreak, of mourning -- and she is devastated to realize that, even though he can take it away from her, "you can still hear it." I think it's very likely that the Doctor isn't just talking about the Ood's song when he says "All the time." I think he could just as easily be talking about his own song of sadness -- of mourning, of being trapped in the life that he's living -- when he responds.
He tells Donna early in the episode that he still feels "the fear, the joy, the wonder" of exploring, and that's why he keeps doing it, even after all this time. And I believe that to be true. Yet, if we look back on pretty much all of Season 3, as well as the various music that has been written for the show, we know that the Doctor is also getting weary of this life, or at least of the way he's been living it. So could they really be gearing up for a resolution to this story line?
And could the song, "Love Don't Roam", be more prophetic than we'd ever realized?
And all I have is this anguished heart
For you have vanished, too
Oh, my girl, my girl, my precious girl
Just what is this man to do?
So reel me in, my precious girl
Come on, take me home
Cause my body's tired of traveling
And my heart don't wish to roam.
Given that RTD has said that he was lying all through S3, that he knew all along that Rose was going to return at the end of S4 ... could it be that the writer of this song, written for S2, knew full well what the show had planned for this couple? And that the song, a blatant love song for the Doctor and Rose, assures us that things will work out in the end?
A fighting man forgets each cut
Each knock, each bruise, each fall
But a fighting man does not forget
Why his love don't roam no more.
Walk with me, oh, my love
Walk tall, walk proud, walk far
For you know, my love, you are, you are
You are my shining star.
Well, it's certainly an intriguing theory.
ETA: There are now spoilers/rumors for post-S4 in the comments. *sigh* Read at your own risk.
I must say, what most fascinated me about in this episode is the music. To be honest, I'm not particularly musical myself, so I rarely pay close attention to the scores in an ep unless someone points it out to me. But the music this season seems to be just as full of potential hints and clues as the dialogue, so I've been finding myself listening much more closely. And wow, have there been a number of possible clues dropped. Unfortunately, it's impossible to know right now just what it will end up meaning .. but that makes it all the more fun to theorize.
Now me, I'm a romantic and a diehard shipper, so I won't deny I'm hoping for an ultimately "happy ending". I'm not sure what a happy ending might look like as it relates to the Doctor and Rose, but I just can't imagine that RTD has been setting up this story line for the past 3+ years, only to have it end in complete heartbreak when it's all over. (And by "all over", I guess I mean at the end of DT's run as the Doctor, though obviously that's debatable, too.) As a writer, it just doesn't make sense to tell a love story over four (or more, if the 2009 specials come into play) seasons, and not have some type of payoff at the end. This is a family show, after all, and it seems a bit sadistic -- to both the characters and viewers -- to set up this wonderful romance (S1-2), focus on the devastation of it being lost (S3), then have the characters ripped apart again instead of being reunited (S4 and beyond).
"I think your song must end soon."
"Meaning?"
"Every song must end."
I have to admit, I get chills when I watch this scene, not just for the dialogue, which is clearly a BIG HONKIN' CLUE DESIGNED TO FREAK US OUT, but for the music that replaces the Ood song during this exchange. I've seen various descriptions of it, from people much more qualified to analyze it than me, but it seems pretty clear that, even if it's a score we haven't specifically heard before, it's somehow related to Rose -- whether as the music playing as she enters the TARDIS for the first time, or as the heartbreaking Doomsday score, or some derivation of the two. Not to mention the fact that we've had a Rose reference in each episode so far (her appearance at the end of PiC, "She is returning" in FoP), and this seems to be it for PotO.
So my theory? I think -- I hope! -- that "the end of the song" is not referring to the Doctor's upcoming regeneration (since DT has said in interviews that he's signed on through 2009), but to the fact that the Doctor's song of sadness may finally, finally be ending.
The line that really jumps out at me here is when the Doctor allows Donna to hear the Ood's song of captivity -- of heartbreak, of mourning -- and she is devastated to realize that, even though he can take it away from her, "you can still hear it." I think it's very likely that the Doctor isn't just talking about the Ood's song when he says "All the time." I think he could just as easily be talking about his own song of sadness -- of mourning, of being trapped in the life that he's living -- when he responds.
He tells Donna early in the episode that he still feels "the fear, the joy, the wonder" of exploring, and that's why he keeps doing it, even after all this time. And I believe that to be true. Yet, if we look back on pretty much all of Season 3, as well as the various music that has been written for the show, we know that the Doctor is also getting weary of this life, or at least of the way he's been living it. So could they really be gearing up for a resolution to this story line?
And could the song, "Love Don't Roam", be more prophetic than we'd ever realized?
And all I have is this anguished heart
For you have vanished, too
Oh, my girl, my girl, my precious girl
Just what is this man to do?
So reel me in, my precious girl
Come on, take me home
Cause my body's tired of traveling
And my heart don't wish to roam.
Given that RTD has said that he was lying all through S3, that he knew all along that Rose was going to return at the end of S4 ... could it be that the writer of this song, written for S2, knew full well what the show had planned for this couple? And that the song, a blatant love song for the Doctor and Rose, assures us that things will work out in the end?
A fighting man forgets each cut
Each knock, each bruise, each fall
But a fighting man does not forget
Why his love don't roam no more.
Walk with me, oh, my love
Walk tall, walk proud, walk far
For you know, my love, you are, you are
You are my shining star.
Well, it's certainly an intriguing theory.
ETA: There are now spoilers/rumors for post-S4 in the comments. *sigh* Read at your own risk.