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remindmeofthe) wrote2008-05-03 07:24 pm
remindmeofthe) wrote2008-05-03 07:24 pm
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God, I never post anymore, what's that all about? Do I have to be spamming drabbles to motivate myself or what? I suppose I could throw up a snippet of the recent-past-paradigm, as I said I would and I, uh, haven't.
Anyway! Doctor Who!
I was right about the clone. Died she did. Ah, well. The Earth would probably have buckled from the sheer force of awesome from having two Marthas, anyway.
Looks like we have another running theme: the use of Earth by an alien race for propagating itself. I wonder if the Sontarans also had a planet disappear on them, or if they just needed the extra forces because of their war, as the Doctor put it, "not going so well."
Plus! Another theme of former companions! We had:
* Martha. Obvs.
* The glimpse of Rose on the TARDIS's viewscreen, shouting the Doctor's name. (Does that count as one of Billie Piper's three episodes? Because if it does, I would be okay with that. It probably doesn't, though, 'cause that would also be kinda lame.)
* A mention of Jack. In the context of implied shagging, natch, though that was a weirdly forced joke. Does Jack have a clone fetish I missed or what? I did find it interesting that Jack was mentioned alongside the clones, when Martha and her clone had a parasitic connection not unlike Gwen and Suzie in "They Keep Killing Suzie," but that was probably coincidence.
* I don't know anything about the Brigadier. Did he ever travel with the Doctor? Because if he did, that would count as another former companion reference. On the other hand, though, it's not as if they could do a UNIT episode and NOT mention the Brig at some point. Even I know enough to know that.
They were a couple of mentions of past incidents, too. Although one of them was totally a shout-out to fans, because they knew perfectly well what we were ALL thinking as soon as we saw the gas masks. "Are you my mummy?" Man, I'm glad I was watching this alone, because my subsequent struggles to keep from either spraying my mouthful of soda everywhere or choking on it were utterly graceless. And then I laughed and laughed and laughed. It may have been an unnecessary wink at the audience, but it was also completely in character for Ten, aka the Personification of Random Tangents, so I'm okay with it.
Plus, it does work on that subtextual level of references to past events and past companions - that was when Jack first became part of the Whoniverse. And then a few minutes later there came the Valiant, which of course was a major reference to the year that wasn't, when Martha saved the world. I wondered at first why the clone was having such a reaction to seeing it, but in retrospect, I would guess that she was experiencing the memories Martha would associate with it. That would make sense, given that she went from not understanding why the Doctor asked her about contacting her family to realizing that Martha loved them; seeing the Valiant, and experiencing a year's worth of Martha's fear for them, allowed her to make the connection.
Which is all my way of explaining a story that didn't make a ton of sense and didn't seem to have much point other than to keep Martha from being able to take care of things from the inside, but whatever, I've gotten lots of practice with that from Torchwood. I can do it ALL DAY LONG.
Right. Speaking of tangents. Anyway. Don't read the rest of this paragraph if you don't want unspoiled speculation regarding the trailer for next week's ep, because I just thought of something. The whole "PS there is a daughter" thing is - annoying, but! Susan, from waaaaay back when the show first started, was the Doctor's granddaughter, and she had to have a mother, right? if this is her mother, that would be interesting, it would make the sudden-relative thing forgivable, AND it would be another reference to a past companion. (Also, dude, thinking of how your standard Gallifrey family unit would WORK makes my head spin. Much in the way that I also try not to think too hard about the Time War, because as far as I can tell, the fact that the Time Lords are all dead NOW doesn't mean that the Doctor couldn't run into past versions of them in his own future, yes? So you could meet children you haven't had yet or your dead parents or OH MY GOD not thinking about it anymore.)
Okay, you can read again. There was also a lot of plot stuff going on which I found reasonably satisfying. In brief bullet points:
* I can almost forgive Donna's mother for being so one-dimensional, because she was the only one with the sense to break a fucking car window before Donna's grandfather choked to death. I mean, DUH.
* The whole thing with Ross was weird. They set him up so specifically as a CHARACTER, rather than just a warm body, that I saw speculation that he might be a new companion, or possible Torchwood material. They even gave him a quick clip in the previouslies. And then - they killed him? Just like that? Just so the Doctor could bust out with his "he had a NAME" spiel? LAAAAME.
* Donna: Still awesome. I loved, loved, loved the contrast between her and Martha's reactions to the Doctor's safe return from the Sontaran ship. Martha is immediately at his side, hugging him. Then Donna marches over and swats him hard on the shoulder . . . then reaches out and takes his arm in both hands to reassure herself that he's really there. I wibbled. Oh, Donna.
* Also, the whole bit with the phone was initially annoying, but now I get it - of course she would assume she was supposed to call him. That's Donna. She doesn't sit around and wait for his ass, she gets shit done herself. And here she can't, because the Doctor doesn't actually have a phone (which, he's got to trick her phone out soon, I'm surprised he hasn't yet) (I am assuming that the phone Donna used was Martha's ex-phone, because otherwise that entire thing was just stupid), and she still uses her time wisely by calling her family instead of just waiting. I love Donna.
* I want more stuff with Donna and her grandfather, too. The bond between them is lovely. They understand each other so well. And there was something about their goodbye that made me a little uneasy; it seemed a lot more final on his part than hers. Is that just showing that he understands how dangerous it is to travel with the Doctor? Or does he have some other reason to think he might not see Donna again?
* THE SKY WAS ON FIRE. This hurt my head. It was SPECIAL fire, feeding ONLY on the weird Sontaran particles. And that's why it didn't totally devastate the atmosphere. Yes. Seriously, that's the sort of awesome-yet-completely-nonsensical thing that would be a lot easier to handwave on The Sarah Jane Adventures. It does fit in nicely with the happily fluffy sci-fi I was gushing on about last week, though, so I guess that's okay.
* Speaking of SJA (no spoilers!): the existence of three separate shows within this one universe often makes things more interesting and complicated, at least from my fannish perspective. When something happens on one of the shows that visibly impacts the entire planet, I always wonder - what are the others doing? Is Sarah Jane in intense confab with Mr Smith, searching for answers even as she knows time is running out? Does the Torchwood SUV have ATMOS and is Jack stuck in there dying while the others are out trying to figure out what's making the system tick? When the flames in the sky burn out and leave the atmosphere safe once more, do Sarah Jane and Jack have the simultaneous thought: He's here?
* Also, how are the timelines lining up? DW S3 and TW S1 ran roughly concurrently, and logic would dictate that the respective series two and four are doing the same. So, when did this happen and what the fuck was Torchwood doing? If you (read: I) wanna get really anal about matching things up, then you can say this happened during "Adam," since it was also the fifth episode of its series. In which case, the Torchwood folks were too busy being turned into geeks, bitches, and serial killers to really notice everyone having car trouble. Works for me. I'm much more willing to believe they fucked it up than I am to believe Sarah Jane couldn't handle it, anyway. Sarah Jane could run Torchwood all by herself. And her death toll would be much lower than Jack's.
. . . okay, I totally derailed myself with that. And I've spent an hour on this post anyway. So that's it. I await next week's episode with curiosity and caution.
Anyway! Doctor Who!
I was right about the clone. Died she did. Ah, well. The Earth would probably have buckled from the sheer force of awesome from having two Marthas, anyway.
Looks like we have another running theme: the use of Earth by an alien race for propagating itself. I wonder if the Sontarans also had a planet disappear on them, or if they just needed the extra forces because of their war, as the Doctor put it, "not going so well."
Plus! Another theme of former companions! We had:
* Martha. Obvs.
* The glimpse of Rose on the TARDIS's viewscreen, shouting the Doctor's name. (Does that count as one of Billie Piper's three episodes? Because if it does, I would be okay with that. It probably doesn't, though, 'cause that would also be kinda lame.)
* A mention of Jack. In the context of implied shagging, natch, though that was a weirdly forced joke. Does Jack have a clone fetish I missed or what? I did find it interesting that Jack was mentioned alongside the clones, when Martha and her clone had a parasitic connection not unlike Gwen and Suzie in "They Keep Killing Suzie," but that was probably coincidence.
* I don't know anything about the Brigadier. Did he ever travel with the Doctor? Because if he did, that would count as another former companion reference. On the other hand, though, it's not as if they could do a UNIT episode and NOT mention the Brig at some point. Even I know enough to know that.
They were a couple of mentions of past incidents, too. Although one of them was totally a shout-out to fans, because they knew perfectly well what we were ALL thinking as soon as we saw the gas masks. "Are you my mummy?" Man, I'm glad I was watching this alone, because my subsequent struggles to keep from either spraying my mouthful of soda everywhere or choking on it were utterly graceless. And then I laughed and laughed and laughed. It may have been an unnecessary wink at the audience, but it was also completely in character for Ten, aka the Personification of Random Tangents, so I'm okay with it.
Plus, it does work on that subtextual level of references to past events and past companions - that was when Jack first became part of the Whoniverse. And then a few minutes later there came the Valiant, which of course was a major reference to the year that wasn't, when Martha saved the world. I wondered at first why the clone was having such a reaction to seeing it, but in retrospect, I would guess that she was experiencing the memories Martha would associate with it. That would make sense, given that she went from not understanding why the Doctor asked her about contacting her family to realizing that Martha loved them; seeing the Valiant, and experiencing a year's worth of Martha's fear for them, allowed her to make the connection.
Which is all my way of explaining a story that didn't make a ton of sense and didn't seem to have much point other than to keep Martha from being able to take care of things from the inside, but whatever, I've gotten lots of practice with that from Torchwood. I can do it ALL DAY LONG.
Right. Speaking of tangents. Anyway. Don't read the rest of this paragraph if you don't want unspoiled speculation regarding the trailer for next week's ep, because I just thought of something. The whole "PS there is a daughter" thing is - annoying, but! Susan, from waaaaay back when the show first started, was the Doctor's granddaughter, and she had to have a mother, right? if this is her mother, that would be interesting, it would make the sudden-relative thing forgivable, AND it would be another reference to a past companion. (Also, dude, thinking of how your standard Gallifrey family unit would WORK makes my head spin. Much in the way that I also try not to think too hard about the Time War, because as far as I can tell, the fact that the Time Lords are all dead NOW doesn't mean that the Doctor couldn't run into past versions of them in his own future, yes? So you could meet children you haven't had yet or your dead parents or OH MY GOD not thinking about it anymore.)
Okay, you can read again. There was also a lot of plot stuff going on which I found reasonably satisfying. In brief bullet points:
* I can almost forgive Donna's mother for being so one-dimensional, because she was the only one with the sense to break a fucking car window before Donna's grandfather choked to death. I mean, DUH.
* The whole thing with Ross was weird. They set him up so specifically as a CHARACTER, rather than just a warm body, that I saw speculation that he might be a new companion, or possible Torchwood material. They even gave him a quick clip in the previouslies. And then - they killed him? Just like that? Just so the Doctor could bust out with his "he had a NAME" spiel? LAAAAME.
* Donna: Still awesome. I loved, loved, loved the contrast between her and Martha's reactions to the Doctor's safe return from the Sontaran ship. Martha is immediately at his side, hugging him. Then Donna marches over and swats him hard on the shoulder . . . then reaches out and takes his arm in both hands to reassure herself that he's really there. I wibbled. Oh, Donna.
* Also, the whole bit with the phone was initially annoying, but now I get it - of course she would assume she was supposed to call him. That's Donna. She doesn't sit around and wait for his ass, she gets shit done herself. And here she can't, because the Doctor doesn't actually have a phone (which, he's got to trick her phone out soon, I'm surprised he hasn't yet) (I am assuming that the phone Donna used was Martha's ex-phone, because otherwise that entire thing was just stupid), and she still uses her time wisely by calling her family instead of just waiting. I love Donna.
* I want more stuff with Donna and her grandfather, too. The bond between them is lovely. They understand each other so well. And there was something about their goodbye that made me a little uneasy; it seemed a lot more final on his part than hers. Is that just showing that he understands how dangerous it is to travel with the Doctor? Or does he have some other reason to think he might not see Donna again?
* THE SKY WAS ON FIRE. This hurt my head. It was SPECIAL fire, feeding ONLY on the weird Sontaran particles. And that's why it didn't totally devastate the atmosphere. Yes. Seriously, that's the sort of awesome-yet-completely-nonsensical thing that would be a lot easier to handwave on The Sarah Jane Adventures. It does fit in nicely with the happily fluffy sci-fi I was gushing on about last week, though, so I guess that's okay.
* Speaking of SJA (no spoilers!): the existence of three separate shows within this one universe often makes things more interesting and complicated, at least from my fannish perspective. When something happens on one of the shows that visibly impacts the entire planet, I always wonder - what are the others doing? Is Sarah Jane in intense confab with Mr Smith, searching for answers even as she knows time is running out? Does the Torchwood SUV have ATMOS and is Jack stuck in there dying while the others are out trying to figure out what's making the system tick? When the flames in the sky burn out and leave the atmosphere safe once more, do Sarah Jane and Jack have the simultaneous thought: He's here?
* Also, how are the timelines lining up? DW S3 and TW S1 ran roughly concurrently, and logic would dictate that the respective series two and four are doing the same. So, when did this happen and what the fuck was Torchwood doing? If you (read: I) wanna get really anal about matching things up, then you can say this happened during "Adam," since it was also the fifth episode of its series. In which case, the Torchwood folks were too busy being turned into geeks, bitches, and serial killers to really notice everyone having car trouble. Works for me. I'm much more willing to believe they fucked it up than I am to believe Sarah Jane couldn't handle it, anyway. Sarah Jane could run Torchwood all by herself. And her death toll would be much lower than Jack's.
. . . okay, I totally derailed myself with that. And I've spent an hour on this post anyway. So that's it. I await next week's episode with curiosity and caution.
no subject
RE: the Time War, I'd always assumed that the Time Lords had been wiped out throughout time, that that was the point of it. TBH I think introducing a back-flipping superdaughter is the height of bad Mary Sue fanfic and I'm not impressed.
THE SKY WAS ON FIRE. This hurt my head. It was SPECIAL fire, feeding ONLY on the weird Sontaran particles. And that's why it didn't totally devastate the atmosphere.
I am waiting for my friend Owain to throw a "SCIENCE DOESN'T WORK THAT WAY" fit any minute now. ;)
Donna's fantastic. She's so unsentimental.
The multiple shows are kind of in danger of leaving this in a state of DCU-ish-ness - how much of the continuity matches up? Will I get a blinding headache trying to fit these things around each other? Haven't the Old School Who Fen been dealing with that for years? Ow, nosebleed.
Sarah Jane could run Torchwood all by herself. And her death toll would be much lower than Jack's.
TOTES. I can't help thinking how well other companions would have handled it. How desperately I'd love to see Ace working for Torchwood. She'd be even more destructive than Jack!
no subject
Hmm. So that might be close enough to count, but, considering that it was a UNIT episode and it would have been silly NOT to have a mention of him, I'm not sure I'd add it to my list.
RE: the Time War, I'd always assumed that the Time Lords had been wiped out throughout time, that that was the point of it.
That does make sense, but the idea of a race like the Time Lords just vanishing from existence without the universe collapsing is right up with the "igniting the atmosphere" for stuff that makes my head hurt. Plus, the existence of the daughter would seem to contradict that, though we'll see how that works out when the actual episode airs. And she'd better be either Susan's mother or Not What She Seems, because otherwise, FAIL.
I am waiting for my friend Owain to throw a "SCIENCE DOESN'T WORK THAT WAY" fit any minute now. ;)
IT DOESN'T. (Hey, I know someone named Owain, too. Weird.) I SUCK at science and even I know that! And it's really a trick more worthy of Torchwood, anyway. Fiery atmosphere and undead doctors and magical non-disintegrating coats, god, I just don't know.
The multiple shows are kind of in danger of leaving this in a state of DCU-ish-ness - how much of the continuity matches up?
Gah, I know. Though, as I have mentioned before, the entertaining side effect of making Sarah Jane look a quizillion times more competent than Torchwood delights me to no end.
no subject
And she'd better be either Susan's mother or Not What She Seems, because otherwise, FAIL.
EPIC, MARY SUE FAIL. Backflipping daughter. *snort*
Yeah, I too fail hard at science but was pretty incredulous that nothing else caught light. Although it did LOOK pretty.
EVERYONE is more competent than Torchwood. At least 50% of that is Jack's fault for being an appallingly bad leader.