(no subject)
MD ep.10 - Oh, sigh. Good parts, a couple of really brilliant, powerful scenes, especially for Gwen, some ridiculous parts, liked it overall, but seriously, the ending? ... [Oh, God, I was just typing lj-cut death="" here... *facepalm*] WTF? Seriously, RTD, I love you and everything, but what the hell were you thinking there? The ending could have been powerful if the story had just ended with the deaths to emphasise the point that it's now business as usual again and what that means, but suddenly!immortal!Rex as a version of the DW running gag? This kind of thing maybe works if you've already got a signed contract for a next season and know what to do with that story arc, but even then it wouldn't fit the tone of the show. This is most definitely not something you just randomly throw in, because it's one hell of a loose end to remain loose for presumably forever, especially after the entire story made a point about how wrong immortality is, not to mention the whole immortality related angst Jack went through. Will it be forever? Will it wear off again? What?! I need to know, damn it.
I find this jarring especially after the (comparative) finality of CoE .
What I also thought was missing was how Jack feels about becoming immortal again, although that in a way makes sense. People die again, and Jack is immortal again, the world is back to normal. And in between he got the chance to look at his life and realise it wasn't quite that bad. I hope he'll remember that, and the moment where he wanted to live.
Loved Gwen when she tells Rex to keep going, and in fact the whole part about how she brings back death to the world... that's when MD really rang true. That was the moment when I felt that this was what MD was all about and why it was written, and that there's a whole arc starting with The Second Coming and spanning the whole of RTD's DW, as well as TW, that comes to an end here.
Mostly, what makes me a bit sad is that MD could have been a lot better. On the balance, I'm glad it happened, because it gave me closure for Jack, which I really needed after CoE and that the snippet in The End of Time didn't provide, but I was hoping for something more, especially with that theme.
More when I find the time to rewatch the whole thing.
As an afterthought, though... there's something that occurred to me. CoE was essentially, or at least partly, written so that it would work as an ending for TW. Maybe bringing TW back to life was the problem? Everything has its time, and everything dies, and maybe RTD is simply better at killing/ending than he is at resurrecting? Come to think of it, the Doctor/Rose arc had the same problem. It should have ended with Doomsday, everything that came afterwards was mediocre at best, and RTD kept fighting with an ending that refused to work. Hm. Maybe he should start paying attention to his own motifs?
I find this jarring especially after the (comparative) finality of CoE .
What I also thought was missing was how Jack feels about becoming immortal again, although that in a way makes sense. People die again, and Jack is immortal again, the world is back to normal. And in between he got the chance to look at his life and realise it wasn't quite that bad. I hope he'll remember that, and the moment where he wanted to live.
Loved Gwen when she tells Rex to keep going, and in fact the whole part about how she brings back death to the world... that's when MD really rang true. That was the moment when I felt that this was what MD was all about and why it was written, and that there's a whole arc starting with The Second Coming and spanning the whole of RTD's DW, as well as TW, that comes to an end here.
Mostly, what makes me a bit sad is that MD could have been a lot better. On the balance, I'm glad it happened, because it gave me closure for Jack, which I really needed after CoE and that the snippet in The End of Time didn't provide, but I was hoping for something more, especially with that theme.
More when I find the time to rewatch the whole thing.
As an afterthought, though... there's something that occurred to me. CoE was essentially, or at least partly, written so that it would work as an ending for TW. Maybe bringing TW back to life was the problem? Everything has its time, and everything dies, and maybe RTD is simply better at killing/ending than he is at resurrecting? Come to think of it, the Doctor/Rose arc had the same problem. It should have ended with Doomsday, everything that came afterwards was mediocre at best, and RTD kept fighting with an ending that refused to work. Hm. Maybe he should start paying attention to his own motifs?