Regarding Journey's End
I wrote this essay shortly after seeing Journey's End. I know it's been a while since the episode aired, but I figure I've been sitting on it long enough, I may as well post it.
Title: Why The Stolen Earth / Journey's End did not work for me
Author: pncwho
Rating: G
Summary: An essay on my feelings about the Series 4 Finale
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this essay are completely my own; your mileage may vary. The Doctor, Rose Tyler and other characters belong to the BBC, they are not mine, otherwise I'd be a lot richer than I am now.
Author's Notes: S4 spoilers
Like many Doctor Who fans, I eagerly looked forward to the season 4 two-part finale. Upon watching it, however, I was left baffled and bewildered. I cannot believe that this story was written by professionals. There are many plot holes and problems, including scientific, logical and characterization blunders that left me shaking my head in sheer disgust.
First off, I admit that I am not a scientist. I am but a mere layperson. Keep in mind, though, if a mere layperson can spot these scientific blunders, they must be pretty blatantly obvious. I can imagine how an actual scientist would react to this; either hurling throw pillows at the screen or rolling on the floor laughing.
I am also well aware that "it's just a show." I can suspend my disbelief enough to allow for a double-hearted, human-looking alien who travels through space and time in a dimensionally-transcendent machine, and all of the bizarre creatures and worlds he comes across. However, disbelief can only be suspended so far. All fiction, even pure fantasy, must operate under the logic of its own universe. There must be an intrinsic set of rules for it to follow, otherwise the whole story falls apart. And since the Doctor Who series is operating in what is presumably our universe (as opposed to Narnia or Middle Earth, for example), it should follow the laws of our universe. So, let us begin.
The story starts out with twenty-seven planets being moved from their proper places in the universe. It would take an astronomical amount of energy to move one planet, let alone twenty-seven. How can the Daleks produce or harness such energy? Is there even that much energy existing in the universe?
The effects of the move on the Earth are badly understated. All we see are some milk bottles fall and a few bits of furniture knocked around. I would think the tectonic plates of the Earth's crust would be slamming into each other like a set of dishes in a clothes dryer, resulting in major earthquakes all across the planet and severe destruction everywhere. Plus, all of those planets in close vicinity of the Earth would wreak serious havoc with the ocean, causing massive tidal waves that would wipe out many cities. And let us not forget that being taken away from the sun would pretty much freeze all life on earth to death.
Not to mention the damage that moving the planet would inflict upon Earth's atmosphere. Oh, yes, the Daleks in their generosity have protected the Earth's atmosphere. Why? They know the humans would fight them, and they're planning on exterminating the human species anyway. Wouldn't it be easier and faster to destroy the atmosphere, suffocating all life on Earth in a matter of moments? Why, considering that they're planning to obliterate the human race, are they now protecting it? Logical Fallacy Number One.
Why are the Daleks doing all of this? They are constructing a "reality bomb" which would destroy all matter in the universe. This would include the Daleks themselves, as they are as much matter as we are. Even if the Daleks managed to survive, what next? They would be rulers of Nothing. Zero. Zilch. Nada. With nobody to conquer and nothing to destroy, what could they do except turn on each other? Somebody didn't think this one through, and thus we have Logical Fallacy Number Two.
Martha's job is to use the Osterhagen Key; a device that, in the event of an unconquerable enemy threatening all life on Earth, would extinguish all life on Earth. Gee, that's clever, let's make the enemy's job even easier. It's the most extreme case of cutting off the nose to spite the face. Logical Fallacy Number Three.
Then we come to the matter of The Hand. The hand that was severed from the Doctor while he was on the hull of a Sycorax spaceship many miles above the Earth's surface. Now, why is this hand still in existance? How did it survive the freefall to Earth? If you throw a piece of meat off the top of a skyscraper, it goes splat all over the ground, and the spaceship was much higher up than any skyscraper. The Doctor is an alien with non-human genes and abilities, yes, but nowhere in canon does it state that the Doctor is made of anything but ordinary flesh and bone. When the Doctor's hand fell from the spaceship to the Earth, it should have shattered into a million pieces upon impact with the ground. Even if it fell into a body of water and managed to stay intact, the tissue should have died as the blood drained from it, and it should have rotted away or been eaten by wild animals before anyone found it. And yet, it stayed intact and recognizable, not a cut or bruise, and alive enough to generate a clone. Surely I am not the only one who called "baloney" on this?
Okay, I've explored the scientific and logical problems that I saw. Now, on to the characterization problems.
The Doctor spends much of Series Three and Four pining for Rose. He was heartbroken when he lost her in Doomsday, and wept openly when his transmitted goodbye was cut off. Naturally, he's thrilled to see her again and goes running to her, as well he should, embracing her in absolute happiness after his partial regeneration. So why does he send her back to the parallel world? This woman loved him more than her own life, enough to cross universes for him. Most people would give their eye teeth for someone to love them with that deep and profound a love. And the Doctor just throws this away like so much garbage! What an absolute cad!
Rose, obviously, is just as desperate to see the Doctor again as he is to see her. So why is Rose, after crossing universes and braving Daleks just to see the Doctor again, willing to go off with his clone? Who of any of us would happily dump the one we desperately love for a clone of said person? Who in their right mind would turn down a diamond in favor of a rhinestone? This cheapens the character of Rose into a rather shallow person and makes a lie of her love for the Doctor.
And how can anyone say the clone is The Doctor? Admittedly, our knowledge of cloning is still in its infancy, but the few successful cloned animals (C.C. the cat, for example) do not have the same personalities as the originals. Identical twins do not have identical personalities, and they are certainly not the same person. Two bodies, two souls/personalities. For all we know, this clone could turn out to be obnoxious, dull, or even totally evil.
The Doctor condemns the Clone for committing genocide. Hypocritical much, Doctor? And he tells Rose that she is the only one who can help the Clone. The Doctor manipulates Rose into taking what should be his responsibility, and cleaning up his mess. While the Seventh Doctor was a bit manipulative from time to time, it's way out of character for the Tenth.
Finally, we have Donna's dilemma. Okay, she couldn't handle the Time Lord knowledge inside her own brain. I can understand that, it would be like a newborn infant having its brain suddenly flooded with Stephen Hawking's knowledge. But why did the Doctor have to wipe every memory she had of him? Why not just the part where she went all Time Lordish? Why did he have to take away all of her growth, her accomplishments, everything about the times she had with him? He may as well have lobotomized her! How very Machiavellian of him, and certainly not like the Doctor I have come to know and love.
In conclusion, I feel that The Stolen Planet / Journey's End is an unsatisfying end to Series Four. It lacks logic and common sense, screws over the laws of science and sends characterization straight to Hell. I cannot accept such a badly flawed storyline, one that makes classic blunders like The Horns of Nimon and The Twin Dilemma look good.
Title: Why The Stolen Earth / Journey's End did not work for me
Author: pncwho
Rating: G
Summary: An essay on my feelings about the Series 4 Finale
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this essay are completely my own; your mileage may vary. The Doctor, Rose Tyler and other characters belong to the BBC, they are not mine, otherwise I'd be a lot richer than I am now.
Author's Notes: S4 spoilers
Like many Doctor Who fans, I eagerly looked forward to the season 4 two-part finale. Upon watching it, however, I was left baffled and bewildered. I cannot believe that this story was written by professionals. There are many plot holes and problems, including scientific, logical and characterization blunders that left me shaking my head in sheer disgust.
First off, I admit that I am not a scientist. I am but a mere layperson. Keep in mind, though, if a mere layperson can spot these scientific blunders, they must be pretty blatantly obvious. I can imagine how an actual scientist would react to this; either hurling throw pillows at the screen or rolling on the floor laughing.
I am also well aware that "it's just a show." I can suspend my disbelief enough to allow for a double-hearted, human-looking alien who travels through space and time in a dimensionally-transcendent machine, and all of the bizarre creatures and worlds he comes across. However, disbelief can only be suspended so far. All fiction, even pure fantasy, must operate under the logic of its own universe. There must be an intrinsic set of rules for it to follow, otherwise the whole story falls apart. And since the Doctor Who series is operating in what is presumably our universe (as opposed to Narnia or Middle Earth, for example), it should follow the laws of our universe. So, let us begin.
The story starts out with twenty-seven planets being moved from their proper places in the universe. It would take an astronomical amount of energy to move one planet, let alone twenty-seven. How can the Daleks produce or harness such energy? Is there even that much energy existing in the universe?
The effects of the move on the Earth are badly understated. All we see are some milk bottles fall and a few bits of furniture knocked around. I would think the tectonic plates of the Earth's crust would be slamming into each other like a set of dishes in a clothes dryer, resulting in major earthquakes all across the planet and severe destruction everywhere. Plus, all of those planets in close vicinity of the Earth would wreak serious havoc with the ocean, causing massive tidal waves that would wipe out many cities. And let us not forget that being taken away from the sun would pretty much freeze all life on earth to death.
Not to mention the damage that moving the planet would inflict upon Earth's atmosphere. Oh, yes, the Daleks in their generosity have protected the Earth's atmosphere. Why? They know the humans would fight them, and they're planning on exterminating the human species anyway. Wouldn't it be easier and faster to destroy the atmosphere, suffocating all life on Earth in a matter of moments? Why, considering that they're planning to obliterate the human race, are they now protecting it? Logical Fallacy Number One.
Why are the Daleks doing all of this? They are constructing a "reality bomb" which would destroy all matter in the universe. This would include the Daleks themselves, as they are as much matter as we are. Even if the Daleks managed to survive, what next? They would be rulers of Nothing. Zero. Zilch. Nada. With nobody to conquer and nothing to destroy, what could they do except turn on each other? Somebody didn't think this one through, and thus we have Logical Fallacy Number Two.
Martha's job is to use the Osterhagen Key; a device that, in the event of an unconquerable enemy threatening all life on Earth, would extinguish all life on Earth. Gee, that's clever, let's make the enemy's job even easier. It's the most extreme case of cutting off the nose to spite the face. Logical Fallacy Number Three.
Then we come to the matter of The Hand. The hand that was severed from the Doctor while he was on the hull of a Sycorax spaceship many miles above the Earth's surface. Now, why is this hand still in existance? How did it survive the freefall to Earth? If you throw a piece of meat off the top of a skyscraper, it goes splat all over the ground, and the spaceship was much higher up than any skyscraper. The Doctor is an alien with non-human genes and abilities, yes, but nowhere in canon does it state that the Doctor is made of anything but ordinary flesh and bone. When the Doctor's hand fell from the spaceship to the Earth, it should have shattered into a million pieces upon impact with the ground. Even if it fell into a body of water and managed to stay intact, the tissue should have died as the blood drained from it, and it should have rotted away or been eaten by wild animals before anyone found it. And yet, it stayed intact and recognizable, not a cut or bruise, and alive enough to generate a clone. Surely I am not the only one who called "baloney" on this?
Okay, I've explored the scientific and logical problems that I saw. Now, on to the characterization problems.
The Doctor spends much of Series Three and Four pining for Rose. He was heartbroken when he lost her in Doomsday, and wept openly when his transmitted goodbye was cut off. Naturally, he's thrilled to see her again and goes running to her, as well he should, embracing her in absolute happiness after his partial regeneration. So why does he send her back to the parallel world? This woman loved him more than her own life, enough to cross universes for him. Most people would give their eye teeth for someone to love them with that deep and profound a love. And the Doctor just throws this away like so much garbage! What an absolute cad!
Rose, obviously, is just as desperate to see the Doctor again as he is to see her. So why is Rose, after crossing universes and braving Daleks just to see the Doctor again, willing to go off with his clone? Who of any of us would happily dump the one we desperately love for a clone of said person? Who in their right mind would turn down a diamond in favor of a rhinestone? This cheapens the character of Rose into a rather shallow person and makes a lie of her love for the Doctor.
And how can anyone say the clone is The Doctor? Admittedly, our knowledge of cloning is still in its infancy, but the few successful cloned animals (C.C. the cat, for example) do not have the same personalities as the originals. Identical twins do not have identical personalities, and they are certainly not the same person. Two bodies, two souls/personalities. For all we know, this clone could turn out to be obnoxious, dull, or even totally evil.
The Doctor condemns the Clone for committing genocide. Hypocritical much, Doctor? And he tells Rose that she is the only one who can help the Clone. The Doctor manipulates Rose into taking what should be his responsibility, and cleaning up his mess. While the Seventh Doctor was a bit manipulative from time to time, it's way out of character for the Tenth.
Finally, we have Donna's dilemma. Okay, she couldn't handle the Time Lord knowledge inside her own brain. I can understand that, it would be like a newborn infant having its brain suddenly flooded with Stephen Hawking's knowledge. But why did the Doctor have to wipe every memory she had of him? Why not just the part where she went all Time Lordish? Why did he have to take away all of her growth, her accomplishments, everything about the times she had with him? He may as well have lobotomized her! How very Machiavellian of him, and certainly not like the Doctor I have come to know and love.
In conclusion, I feel that The Stolen Planet / Journey's End is an unsatisfying end to Series Four. It lacks logic and common sense, screws over the laws of science and sends characterization straight to Hell. I cannot accept such a badly flawed storyline, one that makes classic blunders like The Horns of Nimon and The Twin Dilemma look good.