I'm so glad to know I'm not the only one who got to WoM a week late. I posted the most brief reaction post EVER last night, but there's a lot more in the comments. One of my friends has basically decided that Ten is His Very Own Greek Tragedy (TM) and is destined for a mighty fall in the next episode. I'd like to have that much faith in Rusty, but I don't, so I am hedging my bets.
I did like Adelaide quite a lot, but then, how were you not going to like Lindsay Duncan, who rocks like a giant rocking thing? And Yuri was fun. The husband comment was gold. He also reminded me of a very good friend of mine. Ed, on the other hand, reminded me of a cross between Alan Rickman and Sean Bean, which I found most intriguing.
But the last 10-15 minutes, yeah...too much. And it wouldn't be bad if we saw him getting from "I have to go" to "Fuckitall, the laws of time obey me!" I'm sure all the listening was how we were supposed to get there, but it wasn't enough. We need to see the character make a shift that big if we're going to buy it without rolling our eyes and saying, "Oh, here we go again!" like I did.
Anyway. My two cents thus far. More as the most recent entry in my journal, if you're curious!
Yeah, I tend to be late to the party on these things if they tend to happen during the school year, so I didn't get to watch it until this weekend...
What is it with Russel T. Davies and the last 10-15 minutes of episodes? It happened with the end of S4, it happened with the Christmas episode, it just... the guy does not know how to do endings. About the only thing that comforted me about Ten pulling his arrogant "fuckitall!" speech was the fact that at the end, he didn't meet with cheering, clapping crowds and rising music to show how much of a hero he was. Instead, he was met with insanity and Adelaide shooting herself in the head. It did happen too quickly, but at least it wasn't approval. Adelaide was the true tragic hero of the episode, I think. I can't tell if that's what RTD intended, though.
I'm not sure what to expect for this Christmas, but I'm keeping my expectations pretty blank, honestly, because I can see your point about not having so much faith in RTD. Honestly, I'm just waiting for Eleven to show up and see what happens there. A clean slate's always good.
--hm, on the Ten Is His Very Own Greek Tragedy note, Greek tragedies often works because they take mythic, iconic characters you shouldn't like (Oedipus kills his father and marries his mother, Helen causes the war at Troy) and makes you like them by justifying their actions through plot and characterization. Whereas Davies seems to be doing the opposite--letting the Doctor do bad things we don't like, but assuming we'll stick with him until he finally turns around because he is a mythic, iconic character we should like. Like, he's counting on the fact that we already like Doctor Who to get us to watch it. (Which, admittedly works to get us to watch an episode the first time, but I don't know if it'll get us watching again, you know?)
Rusty has one of the worst track records on endings that I've ever seen in my life. Have you seen his Casanova? The last half hour is so wildly out there it's a wonder he managed to get it put on film. (How DOES this man continue to win awards??) This time, though, I'm not quite sure it's as bad as we want to think. For one, he had a co-writer, who may be why the episode was as good as it was. For another, if you follow the Greek Tragedy theory (which I think rests pretty solely on the idea of out-of-control hubris), it does start with Ten's first moments, knocking down Harriet Jones, etc. And you can build an argument that it just continues to intensify, if you're willing to ignore all the episodes where it doesn't (which, for me, includes pretty much ALL of S4) and say that this is the logical conclusion, which not only accounts for the "OMG I'M TOTALLY INSANE" bits but also the "Isn't anyone going to thank me?" at the very end, which I almost think is even more obnoxious. So I do see where they're coming from, even if I think the argument (and the attempt, if this indeed what it's been) isn't all that strong.
As for your last paragraph, I think you raise fantastic points, and wonder if you'd mind me posting it in the comments on stoplookingup's entry? I think she'd find it worth considering, but the post is locked, so I don't know of any other way to share your words of wisdom. (I may quote you in my journal, too, if I ever get round to writing something that looks more like a real reaction post than the one I have!) I just can't help but think, as you say, that Rusty has it backwards--not that the dark side isn't worth exploring, mind, but that he's playing with fire as he takes one of the world's most popular characters and all but turns him into a raving lunatic. (Oh, what am I thinking?? He'll keep winning awards for this year's ending and going about being lauded as the greatest writer of all time and having his ego built up to the point where a good strong breeze could make it pop...)
I did like Adelaide quite a lot, but then, how were you not going to like Lindsay Duncan, who rocks like a giant rocking thing? And Yuri was fun. The husband comment was gold. He also reminded me of a very good friend of mine. Ed, on the other hand, reminded me of a cross between Alan Rickman and Sean Bean, which I found most intriguing.
But the last 10-15 minutes, yeah...too much. And it wouldn't be bad if we saw him getting from "I have to go" to "Fuckitall, the laws of time obey me!" I'm sure all the listening was how we were supposed to get there, but it wasn't enough. We need to see the character make a shift that big if we're going to buy it without rolling our eyes and saying, "Oh, here we go again!" like I did.
Anyway. My two cents thus far. More as the most recent entry in my journal, if you're curious!
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What is it with Russel T. Davies and the last 10-15 minutes of episodes? It happened with the end of S4, it happened with the Christmas episode, it just... the guy does not know how to do endings. About the only thing that comforted me about Ten pulling his arrogant "fuckitall!" speech was the fact that at the end, he didn't meet with cheering, clapping crowds and rising music to show how much of a hero he was. Instead, he was met with insanity and Adelaide shooting herself in the head. It did happen too quickly, but at least it wasn't approval. Adelaide was the true tragic hero of the episode, I think. I can't tell if that's what RTD intended, though.
I'm not sure what to expect for this Christmas, but I'm keeping my expectations pretty blank, honestly, because I can see your point about not having so much faith in RTD. Honestly, I'm just waiting for Eleven to show up and see what happens there. A clean slate's always good.
--hm, on the Ten Is His Very Own Greek Tragedy note, Greek tragedies often works because they take mythic, iconic characters you shouldn't like (Oedipus kills his father and marries his mother, Helen causes the war at Troy) and makes you like them by justifying their actions through plot and characterization. Whereas Davies seems to be doing the opposite--letting the Doctor do bad things we don't like, but assuming we'll stick with him until he finally turns around because he is a mythic, iconic character we should like. Like, he's counting on the fact that we already like Doctor Who to get us to watch it. (Which, admittedly works to get us to watch an episode the first time, but I don't know if it'll get us watching again, you know?)
Reply
As for your last paragraph, I think you raise fantastic points, and wonder if you'd mind me posting it in the comments on stoplookingup's entry? I think she'd find it worth considering, but the post is locked, so I don't know of any other way to share your words of wisdom. (I may quote you in my journal, too, if I ever get round to writing something that looks more like a real reaction post than the one I have!) I just can't help but think, as you say, that Rusty has it backwards--not that the dark side isn't worth exploring, mind, but that he's playing with fire as he takes one of the world's most popular characters and all but turns him into a raving lunatic. (Oh, what am I thinking?? He'll keep winning awards for this year's ending and going about being lauded as the greatest writer of all time and having his ego built up to the point where a good strong breeze could make it pop...)
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