Journey's End (please note non-spoilery illustration)
My first thoughts on Journey's End...
I'm just going to address the emotional and character stuff for now, though there are tons of plot elements I could mention and probably will. One overall one - it's a dream that won't materialise, but I'd love to see that Team TARDIS work together a bit more.
MARTHA - I loved her in this. Her joy and acceptance of Rose completely made her in my book.
JACK - Well, what can you say? Except he'll be mad that he missed out on Unexpected Naked Ten.
DONNA - I'll come back to her in a moment.
DOCTOR/ROSE - It was the ending I'd predicted and wanted. It suffered badly from not having time to develop and my main problem was I felt Billie didn't engage with Blue Ten, at some level she didn't feel he was the real deal. Which in some ways, he wasn't. That made for some rather wooden acting from everyone except Brown Ten on the beach.
With more set-up it could have been a beautiful scene, but time did not permit. If ever there was a scene crying out for some serious ficcage, that's it. As it was, it was rushed, which left us with the feeling that Rose didn't get a choice and that Blue Ten was a bit of a two-dimensional character. But I think that was just inevitable given all they had to pack in.
It was the nearest to a happy ending we could have had. I've read fics where Rose ages and he doesn't and in the end they all boil down to the same thing - they're heartbreaking and for him it's just prolonging the agony. I think we need to bear that in mind when judging Brown Ten's actions here.
Having said that, it really annoyed me that the whole Bad Wolf thing was left hanging. There are absolutely no interaction between Rose and Jack and the Doctor handwaved/lied about Jack's immortality and its cause. Again, lack of time. Lots of ficcage has been done already, and more will follow, I'm sure. But they could have squeezed in something - they fitted in the Gwen/Gwynneth connection and Jackie's baby, for goodness' sake.
What if Rose isn't mortal? Was that ever fully established? Again, the solution was a quick bodge and we just have to accept it, I guess.
I don't think it would have done any harm to have had a big smile, eye contact and a bit of banter from Blue Ten and Rose on the beach. Just something as simple as "Well, you're stuck with me now." Doctor grins. "Stuck with you, that's not so bad." And off they go with a giggle and a cuddle. They just seemed so uneasy with one another. I found that very sad.
I think we can also take it as absolute canon now that the Doctor is asexual in his Time Lord form.
DONNA -
Oh, MFG. That tore me to pieces. Yeah, I know she was going to leave and fair enough but GAH. Couldn't they have just implied that the two of them pottered around together happily for a while before S5. I think I'd rather have him come back devastated at the start of S5 because she'd just died than what they did with her. No, no, a thousand times no. Not just for Ten's sake. For Donna's too. Every finale breaks someone's heart. S1, it was Nine we lost. S2, Doomsday. S3, The Master and Martha. And now Donna. I'm sorry, I don't think I'm going to come to terms with this one. I'm really pretty gutted, even though I was spoiled. The scene with Wilf made me cry.
See, if I'd known he was still with Donna, I'd have been happy for Ten, because I really felt that with her around he could deal with losing Rose and move on. Now, I just dunno. I think they implied that but it's just too much loss, too close together.
I think, unless we're going to get AU Blue Doctor/Rose spin-offs (which would be nice, and fun) it's going to be better when DT leaves now. We need a new more old-school Doctor who doesn't let us see deep into his pain and angst. It's just too much to bear, because there's obviously going to be no resolution whatsoever. So bring on Eleven, I say.
Meanwhile, the opportunities for good fanfic are legion. And I hope the daft prat has the sense to go straight to Sarah Jane or the Hub, and not brood alone in the TARDIS. But, knowing previous form, that seems most unlikely.
I'm just going to address the emotional and character stuff for now, though there are tons of plot elements I could mention and probably will. One overall one - it's a dream that won't materialise, but I'd love to see that Team TARDIS work together a bit more.
MARTHA - I loved her in this. Her joy and acceptance of Rose completely made her in my book.
JACK - Well, what can you say? Except he'll be mad that he missed out on Unexpected Naked Ten.
DONNA - I'll come back to her in a moment.
DOCTOR/ROSE - It was the ending I'd predicted and wanted. It suffered badly from not having time to develop and my main problem was I felt Billie didn't engage with Blue Ten, at some level she didn't feel he was the real deal. Which in some ways, he wasn't. That made for some rather wooden acting from everyone except Brown Ten on the beach.
With more set-up it could have been a beautiful scene, but time did not permit. If ever there was a scene crying out for some serious ficcage, that's it. As it was, it was rushed, which left us with the feeling that Rose didn't get a choice and that Blue Ten was a bit of a two-dimensional character. But I think that was just inevitable given all they had to pack in.
It was the nearest to a happy ending we could have had. I've read fics where Rose ages and he doesn't and in the end they all boil down to the same thing - they're heartbreaking and for him it's just prolonging the agony. I think we need to bear that in mind when judging Brown Ten's actions here.
Having said that, it really annoyed me that the whole Bad Wolf thing was left hanging. There are absolutely no interaction between Rose and Jack and the Doctor handwaved/lied about Jack's immortality and its cause. Again, lack of time. Lots of ficcage has been done already, and more will follow, I'm sure. But they could have squeezed in something - they fitted in the Gwen/Gwynneth connection and Jackie's baby, for goodness' sake.
What if Rose isn't mortal? Was that ever fully established? Again, the solution was a quick bodge and we just have to accept it, I guess.
I don't think it would have done any harm to have had a big smile, eye contact and a bit of banter from Blue Ten and Rose on the beach. Just something as simple as "Well, you're stuck with me now." Doctor grins. "Stuck with you, that's not so bad." And off they go with a giggle and a cuddle. They just seemed so uneasy with one another. I found that very sad.
I think we can also take it as absolute canon now that the Doctor is asexual in his Time Lord form.
DONNA -
Oh, MFG. That tore me to pieces. Yeah, I know she was going to leave and fair enough but GAH. Couldn't they have just implied that the two of them pottered around together happily for a while before S5. I think I'd rather have him come back devastated at the start of S5 because she'd just died than what they did with her. No, no, a thousand times no. Not just for Ten's sake. For Donna's too. Every finale breaks someone's heart. S1, it was Nine we lost. S2, Doomsday. S3, The Master and Martha. And now Donna. I'm sorry, I don't think I'm going to come to terms with this one. I'm really pretty gutted, even though I was spoiled. The scene with Wilf made me cry.
See, if I'd known he was still with Donna, I'd have been happy for Ten, because I really felt that with her around he could deal with losing Rose and move on. Now, I just dunno. I think they implied that but it's just too much loss, too close together.
I think, unless we're going to get AU Blue Doctor/Rose spin-offs (which would be nice, and fun) it's going to be better when DT leaves now. We need a new more old-school Doctor who doesn't let us see deep into his pain and angst. It's just too much to bear, because there's obviously going to be no resolution whatsoever. So bring on Eleven, I say.
Meanwhile, the opportunities for good fanfic are legion. And I hope the daft prat has the sense to go straight to Sarah Jane or the Hub, and not brood alone in the TARDIS. But, knowing previous form, that seems most unlikely.