3 endings and a beginning
Let me begin with the endings, because I am seriously distraught.
oo1. Torchwood S2 finale: I knew I needed to watch this one at home, and not on a crowded metro train. I've literally just finished watching it and...good gods. I stayed away from spoilers but even still, I was pretty sure we were going to lose Owen. So I was preparing myself for that end, but Toshiko...I wasn't expecting that - although there was a point in the episode when I thought everyone was going to die.
I don't have anything intelligent to say about the episode, not really. I liked this season so much more than the first, and even for its flaws, I love every one of the characters (yes, even Gwen). Losing Owen and Tosh is hard. When he began raging against his impending death, and Tosh stops him by saying "you're breaking my heart," I just...dissolved. I've been crying off and on for twenty minutes now. Owen's character developed so much this season, and blossomed in such interesting ways - and so did Tosh's. It hurts that they're gone (well as gone as anyone ever is in TW-land).
I'm glad that Gwen got to marry Rhys, and I've enjoyed Rhys so much in the last couple episodes. A part of me wonders why it took them so long to incorporate him more fully. Ianto came into his own this time around and Jack...Jack made me love him even more.
I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the fact that he was tortured horribly by the Master and then buried alive for almost two thousand years, doomed to revive, and die again, revive, and then die again during that entire time. And all that time to live with the crushing guilt - not just of losing his brother, but of all the deaths in his name - all the people Gray kills in his twisted vengeance scheme to make Jack pay for his childhood crime.
I do think that the idea of Jack's vengeful little brother coming back to make him pay was a bit weak, but oh, well. I can't say that I will ever mind Jack's angst because he wears it so well.
oo2. Bara no Nai Hanaya finale: I really enjoyed it! Another episode that I knew I needed to watch at home - I'm rather tender when it comes to endings, and sure enough, by the end of the episode, I was quite tearful. It was fairly low-key, as finales go, and definitely rather pat, but still, I don't mind so much that it wrapped everything up so neatly.
Eiji confesses to Shizuku that he isn't her biological father, and Mio's father is saved by Shun. Eiji & Shizuku love each other just as much as ever. Shun goes back to the U.S. (with his shiny recommendation in hand, but no forgiveness from his daughter's grandfather) with a DVD of Shizuku's mother that Eiji sneakily gives him before Shun leaves. Mio and her father go away and work at a rose nursery. Dr. Anzai apologizes to Eiji and offers to help him get his business back, but Eji turns him down - he borrowed the money from Shun, I think, and both Hishida-san and Naoya come back to live with him in the little house.
Some images I liked from the finale:
Eiji & Shun at the airport before Shun leaves:
Eiji & Shizuku, together again:
Eiji eventually figures out where Mio is, and the scene where he goes to find her is beautiful, and beautifully filmed.
The scene that killed me, though, is near the end, when everyone has gathered to celebrate Eiji's birthday: Mio, Dr. Anzai, Naoya, Hishida, Shizuku, Ono-sensei & Kengo. Eiji is overwhelmed with happiness and begins to sob. He can't speak, and he can't stop crying. I love how both Shizuku and Mio hold his hands and how Mio won't let him hide away - she wants him to stay there with all the people who love him. I confess, I cried right along with Eiji.
The final moments of the episode were so interesting: although we never properly see his face, the boy Shogo comes to the flowershop on a very rainy day. Mio tries to talk to him, and Eiji finally comes to her side, sees who it is, and speaks to him very gently, telling him that "life is beautiful." Eiji and Mio both draw him inside.
The end. I loved this drama! Definitely my favorite of the season, and SHINGO, Shingo, you made me forget Shingo-Mama. :) Such a fabulous, beautifully-played role.
Although a teensy part of me is sorry that it wasn't darker, ahem. You'd think I'd had my fill of darkness after finishing the TW finale! After all, I thought Eiji was a terrible criminal in hiding, and instead it turns out that he was not just a good guy, but THE BEST guy, all along.
oo3. Shikaotoko Aoniyoshi - I finished this drama a couple weeks ago, and I loved the ending. This was another favorite drama of mine from the winter season; while it was a bit slow in the beginning, I love how everything came together in the end. It made me smile a lot, and both Ayase and Tamaki did fine jobs with their roles. I particularly like how Fujiwara finally gained the deer's approval, and how she bargained for Ogawa's head to be restored (since he gave his wish to Hotta, so her head could be restored).
However, some of the best things about this drama were the history and myth and most of all, the gorgeous, gorgeous locations. They were such a vital part of the drama - I got to see parts of Japan that I'd never really seen before, and I could watch it all over again just for the scenery. After all that, Ayase's adorableness is just icing. :)
oo4. Doctor Who, S4, episodes 1 & 2: I'm frankly quite surprised to say that I actually like Catherine Tate as Donna quite bit! I did not love her after the Christmas special, but I love how they've developed her, and I love how flaily and excited she is. (Donna: "It's always like this with you, isn't it?" Doctor: "YES IT IS") I like the details - the brazen way he introduces himself in the first episode as a Time Lord, his regret over past mistakes, his palpable sadness over having lost Rose, and of things going wrong with Martha (to name a few).
I love Donna and her grandfather - he's such a sweet man! And Donna's mother is a piece of work. Who wouldn't want to strangle her in ten seconds flat. Donna's mother is a real downer - Jackie Tyler might have been abrasive, but she always wanted the best for her daughter, and encouraged her. Donna's mother just makes me grind my teeth.
The Pompeii episode was hilariously anachronistic, which I think was sort of the point, and also a little creepy - I liked the scary eyes on the hands of the sisters (I was reminded of Pan's Labyrinth). I did want to smack Donna, however, for not understanding the importance of not changing history. And my goodness, it broke my heart to hear her railing at the Doctor for not trying to save the people of Pompeii when he has so many deaths on his conscience already, and he's only recently dealt with the Master, etc. *sigh* Donna has a lot to learn. (I am glad that she's so compassionate, though - I don't think I could like her so much if she wasn't).
However, the moment when they're in the escape pod and the Doctor is faced with the fact that he is responsible for the eruption of Vesuvius and for the deaths of twenty thousands people - that moment when Donna finally understands and puts her hand on his, on the lever - it raised a lump in my throat. Total heartbreaker.
AND OMG, ROSE.
Having stayed away from all spoilers, I was totally unprepared for that. I was on the metro, but I was shrieking inside, shrieking.
"SHE IS COMING BACK." Wow. I can't wait to see how this plays out.
Terrific start to the series!
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er, this seems rather rambly and probably quite incoherent. Sorry about that.