meta: Jack in "Doctor Who: End of Time"

[rose71]

Enough about the long drawn-out exit of RTD as lead writer David Tennant as Ten. (Just kidding--I'm sad too.) Now it's time to talk about the most important 97 seconds of Doctor Who this year... the reappearance of Jack!

SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT

Comments

[rose71]

I'm not 100% sure that Jack is actually drinking alcohol (and who knows, on this planet water might well be one of those drinks that costs a bomb

Ah, you come in like a good detective to unsettle my assumptions! In the spirit of fannish close exegesis, I've just rewatched the scene three times in an effort to figure out what Jack is drinking. It doesn't look quite clear, but it could be water with light in it. His body language suggests boozing (taking a bunch of short sips quickly, and sort of rolling it around before it goes down). But that could be the way he drinks water these days. Maybe Jack is still on the wagon--and setting himself apart from others in the bar (and from his old partying self) even more that way.

Exchange of salutes is indeed entrancing. And more than a little sad. This moment of acceptance comes with an implicit hierarchy of command, and it's so very ironic that the Doctor "orders" Jack to return to his usual flirty self. Or maybe not ironic, since taking commands from the Doctor is (along with omnisexual flirting) intrinsic to Jack's character, for better or worse.

Thanks for commenting!