Maybe I shouldn't post within an hour of finishing the ep.
Considering we won't be getting any Who until Christmas, I have a feeling this will be the first of many finale-related posts.
Okay.
Look.
So.
Just to put it out there, I loved most of that episode. Even when I couldn't follow the storyline, I was on the edge of my proverbial seat. And everyone on the TARDIS doing the Star Trek acting? Fantastic.
That said, this right here is going to be my negative finale post. A positive one is sure to follow, but right now, I gotta rant.
What the hell, guys? What. The. Hell?
My biggest fear going into this episode, especially in terms of the Doctor/Rose storyline, was that there'd be no closure. Sure, I expected reunions and tearful goodbyes, but without closure, what's the point?
And look what we got: a big, fat, stinkn' hole where closure should be. Also, what happened to even a few seconds of characters meeting/catching up with each other? Did we waste too much time on seeing Daleks explode that we ran out of time?
Anyway, for the sake of organization, my top main problems with the episode:
4. Jack and Rose: How do we go from Rose kneeling by Jack's body going "Oh, my God! They killed him!" to Rose seeing him on the screen all "Holy crap, he's alive!" to absolutely nothing at all? Jack leaves the TARDIS, says goodbye to just the Doctor, and that's about it. He and Rose are never seen conversing again. No mention of the Game Station or the fact that she's the one who brought him back to life. WTF?
3. The ending: So we leave the Doctor alone in the TARDIS after losing both his sorta-parallel world girlfriend and best mate, both of whom he didn't even say proper goodbyes to. Seriously? There are just so many things wrong about this that I can't even get started on it. We have other, more important things to rant about. Speaking of which...
2. Bad Wolf Bay: Now, this and the next topic of choice are a toss up for Element That Makes Me Want To Throw Something The Most, but I can live with this one a little bit more although not by much. Anyway. So the Doctor gave Rose what he always wanted to give her but couldn't: a normal life with an approximation of him.
The sentiment behind it is sweet, it really is. I get it. And I get that Clone!Doctor is the Doctor in that he has the Doctor's memories and he looks like him, but that doesn't change the fact that he is not the Doctor.
I do believe that Rose will grow to love HalfHuman!Doctor as the real Doctor, so she'll be okay. But what about the Doctor? He's been angsting over Rose for the past two mothereffing series, not because he was worried if she was happy (although, okay, he probably worried about this) but because he missed her. And what does he do when he gets her back? Does he listen to her when she says she worked far too hard to find him to leave him again? No, he unceremoniously drops her back on the beach where they parted the first time so she can play house with his PTSD-suffering sorta-clone. He literally turned her back on her and walked away. No proper snog, not even a hug goodbye.
I was so thrown by these kind-of-right-but-not-really events that I couldn't even process the fact that HalfHuman!Doctor told Rose that he loves her and that Rose finally grabbed him and kissed him like we always hoped she would. And yeah, I get that the Doctor just walked away so it would be easier for Rose to move on with HalfHuman!Doctor, but what about his emotions? Why does he have to be so self-righteous about being happy for once?
So HalfHuman!Doctor will be happy with Rose, be with her for the rest of his life, possibly get married and have non-Time Babies and all that, but the Doctor will never know that happiness. Once again, just like in 'Doomsday,' he has no closure. Fan-freaking-tastic.
1. Donna: Not much to say about this one, but the anger factor is bigger. I get that Donna had to have her memory wiped or her head would go a-splodey and that she and the Doctor didn't have a proper goodbye because she obviously didn't remember him. But damnit, this is one of the most disappointing things that could happen. The entire series, Donna thought herself to be nothing special. Finally, she's proven wrong, and she'll remember none of it. She'll go back to being the temp who thinks her life is worthless, the woman who takes jobs in the hopes of finding a man who's marriage material. Donna will never remember the amazing things she's done, the worlds she's helped, the fantastic things she's seen, how awesome she really is. That, I think, is the greatest tragedy.
Oooh, RTD better be planning something spectacular for the specials because if I'm here in one year ranting about how the Doctor is a bloody miserable Time Lord who has no friends because of his own doing, I will fly to Cardiff to personally throw my shoe at him.
As a 'shipper, I'm extremely curious as to what the rest of the fandom is thinking, namely other 'shippers and their reactions to the Doctor/Rose ending. I'm actually quite afraid to look at my DW community flist filter. I'll be sifting through reaction posts for days.
I'm off to listen to the commentary with Julie Gardner and Phil Collinson. Maybe they'll make me feel better about this.
Okay.
Look.
So.
Just to put it out there, I loved most of that episode. Even when I couldn't follow the storyline, I was on the edge of my proverbial seat. And everyone on the TARDIS doing the Star Trek acting? Fantastic.
That said, this right here is going to be my negative finale post. A positive one is sure to follow, but right now, I gotta rant.
What the hell, guys? What. The. Hell?
My biggest fear going into this episode, especially in terms of the Doctor/Rose storyline, was that there'd be no closure. Sure, I expected reunions and tearful goodbyes, but without closure, what's the point?
And look what we got: a big, fat, stinkn' hole where closure should be. Also, what happened to even a few seconds of characters meeting/catching up with each other? Did we waste too much time on seeing Daleks explode that we ran out of time?
Anyway, for the sake of organization, my top main problems with the episode:
4. Jack and Rose: How do we go from Rose kneeling by Jack's body going "Oh, my God! They killed him!" to Rose seeing him on the screen all "Holy crap, he's alive!" to absolutely nothing at all? Jack leaves the TARDIS, says goodbye to just the Doctor, and that's about it. He and Rose are never seen conversing again. No mention of the Game Station or the fact that she's the one who brought him back to life. WTF?
3. The ending: So we leave the Doctor alone in the TARDIS after losing both his sorta-parallel world girlfriend and best mate, both of whom he didn't even say proper goodbyes to. Seriously? There are just so many things wrong about this that I can't even get started on it. We have other, more important things to rant about. Speaking of which...
2. Bad Wolf Bay: Now, this and the next topic of choice are a toss up for Element That Makes Me Want To Throw Something The Most, but I can live with this one a little bit more although not by much. Anyway. So the Doctor gave Rose what he always wanted to give her but couldn't: a normal life with an approximation of him.
The sentiment behind it is sweet, it really is. I get it. And I get that Clone!Doctor is the Doctor in that he has the Doctor's memories and he looks like him, but that doesn't change the fact that he is not the Doctor.
I do believe that Rose will grow to love HalfHuman!Doctor as the real Doctor, so she'll be okay. But what about the Doctor? He's been angsting over Rose for the past two mothereffing series, not because he was worried if she was happy (although, okay, he probably worried about this) but because he missed her. And what does he do when he gets her back? Does he listen to her when she says she worked far too hard to find him to leave him again? No, he unceremoniously drops her back on the beach where they parted the first time so she can play house with his PTSD-suffering sorta-clone. He literally turned her back on her and walked away. No proper snog, not even a hug goodbye.
I was so thrown by these kind-of-right-but-not-really events that I couldn't even process the fact that HalfHuman!Doctor told Rose that he loves her and that Rose finally grabbed him and kissed him like we always hoped she would. And yeah, I get that the Doctor just walked away so it would be easier for Rose to move on with HalfHuman!Doctor, but what about his emotions? Why does he have to be so self-righteous about being happy for once?
So HalfHuman!Doctor will be happy with Rose, be with her for the rest of his life, possibly get married and have non-Time Babies and all that, but the Doctor will never know that happiness. Once again, just like in 'Doomsday,' he has no closure. Fan-freaking-tastic.
1. Donna: Not much to say about this one, but the anger factor is bigger. I get that Donna had to have her memory wiped or her head would go a-splodey and that she and the Doctor didn't have a proper goodbye because she obviously didn't remember him. But damnit, this is one of the most disappointing things that could happen. The entire series, Donna thought herself to be nothing special. Finally, she's proven wrong, and she'll remember none of it. She'll go back to being the temp who thinks her life is worthless, the woman who takes jobs in the hopes of finding a man who's marriage material. Donna will never remember the amazing things she's done, the worlds she's helped, the fantastic things she's seen, how awesome she really is. That, I think, is the greatest tragedy.
Oooh, RTD better be planning something spectacular for the specials because if I'm here in one year ranting about how the Doctor is a bloody miserable Time Lord who has no friends because of his own doing, I will fly to Cardiff to personally throw my shoe at him.
As a 'shipper, I'm extremely curious as to what the rest of the fandom is thinking, namely other 'shippers and their reactions to the Doctor/Rose ending. I'm actually quite afraid to look at my DW community flist filter. I'll be sifting through reaction posts for days.
I'm off to listen to the commentary with Julie Gardner and Phil Collinson. Maybe they'll make me feel better about this.