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remindmeofthe) wrote2008-06-21 11:55 pm
remindmeofthe) wrote2008-06-21 11:55 pm
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OMG DOCTOR WHO.
OMG OMG OMG. YOU GUYS. OMG. I have been hoping ALL SERIES for a companions extravaganza episode with Martha and Jack and Rose and Sarah Jane. AND NOT ONLY AM I GETTING WHAT I WISHED FOR, THEY ARE DOING ME ONE BETTER. LUKEAND MARIA (edit: okay, she wasn't there, but whatever, I'm still holding out hope for the episode proper) AND IANTO AND GWEN AND OH MY GOD MASSIVE CROSSOVER TIME YOU GUYS HOLY FUCKING SHIT. I AM SO EXCITED I CANNOT EVEN DEAL WITH THE WORLD. And was that one guy the Brig? It had to be. I can't think of any other reason they'd throw a random military guy into the trailer. FUCKING EXTRAVAGANZA. OH MY GOD.
Uh. I'm still a spastic mess from the previews, so - a few bullet points. (Naturally, this post grew a bit longer than I thought it would. Does this ever not happen?)
* I love AUs. Apparently RTD does too. I can work with that. I love the idea of Donna the Awesome being just that important. Super Fucking Temp Donna Noble! I love Donna. How did I ever not love Donna? The mind boggles.
Anyway. I am now going to pick at some of the continuity.
Let's start with a big YAY for finally establishing The Sarah Jane Adventures's place in the Whoniverse timeline. It occurred either concurrently with DW series three/TW series two, or before it. (Okay, SJA spoilers incoming, but I'm sure next week's DW will spoil the crap out of this particular detail anyway.) Sarah Jane adopted Luke in the premiere special of SJA, and he was mentioned specifically in the report about the hospital, so at the very least the Bane incident had occurred by then. There is also the possibility that the entirety of SJA's series one had occurred by then, which makes more sense in terms of sensible continuity with Torchwood, because things HAPPENED in SJA that the good folk at Torchwood could not POSSIBLY have missed, and it gives me less of a headache to assume they happened offscreen, before TW resumed, while Jack was gone. You with me? Good. If not, then just trust me. It works better if SJA happened first.
Okay, with the YAYing behind me, I'm gonna crap all over the rest of Sarah Jane's mention, because: Sarah Jane was in the hospital? Seriously? With Luke, Maria, and Clyde? What in the blue hell? What, exactly, could possibly have changed that would have had Sarah Jane going there herself? How would she have known to go in time? And why would she go in the AU but not in the regular verse? Even if, somehow, she had known the Doctor would be there (how, I don't know, but anyway), what would that change? Sarah Jane is not going to say, "Oh, the Doctor will take care of it, guess I'll go do the grocery shopping instead." HELL NO.
So there are four suggestions here:
AU: Sarah Jane knew something was going down, knew she had to do something because no one else would (read: she somehow knew the Doctor was dead; probably from UNIT) rounded up the kids, and headed to the hospital. (Or maybe the kids were there first. That sounds a bit more likely than Sarah Jane taking them all with her.)
Regular Verse A: Sarah Jane knew the Doctor was there and somehow did not go anyway. This is ludicrous. Aside from the above ranting in re: Sarah Jane not being the passive type, her not going to where she knows the Doctor is is about as likely as - well, about as likely as Jack, Rose, or Martha not going to where they know the Doctor is.
Regular Verse B: Sarah Jane was not there.
Either Verse: Sarah Jane and the kids just happened to be there. I would easily buy an injury happening that didn't leave time for her to take any of the kids home. This works fine for the AU - is, indeed, the simplest and most logical option and it's the explanation I'm going with - but does not work for the regular verse. The Smith in "Smith and Jones" was not Sarah Jane. Yes, a hospital is big, and yes, there were about a thousand people in it, but I have a really hard time with the idea that she and the Doctor, both investigating, could have missed each other the entire time.
All of which leaves me with the following conclusion, and mother of FUCK this is exactly the kind of overthinking that leads to all the geek stereotypes: the Doctor's death in the AU caused some small difference that placed Sarah Jane, Luke, Maria, and Clyde in that hospital on that day. (Their presence cannot be ignored, since someone had to be there to stop the MRI machine going kablooey and toasting half the Earth.) And they died, which broke my heart way more than Ianto and Gwen dying on the Sontaran ship, which I think says everything about which show I feel more connected to right now. (And Alan . . . aw, dammit. I need to watch some SJA soon, I think.) Or maybe it's just because TW cast members dying is old hat. Whichever.
* Still on the hospital thing, but a different aspect: I love that they got that actor back. That was so cool. A really nice touch. And Martha sacrificing herself to save another - snf. Oh, Martha. Made of awesome in any reality.
* I was so confused about the lack of the year that wasn't, but then I remembered: without the Doctor, Martha, and Jack going to the end of the universe, that - uh, didn't not happen. (Right?) Professor Yana probably lived out his life and died without ever knowing who he really was. And even if he didn't, the TARDIS wasn't there for the Master to steal. I can't believe I had to remind myself of that. I think I'm just fixated on the year that wasn't. Heh, it would have made the AU extra-super complicated, though. I wonder how big a paradox machine the Master would have needed to support not only a world where the future humans could kill their ancestors with impunity, but also a world that could not have happened at all because the Doctor wasn't there to accidentally lend a hand in its creation?
* Donna! Was awesome. As always and forever. I wonder if that was the death that's been foreshadowed all series, or if RTD just wants us to think it was.
* . . . but awesome as Donna is, that whole thing with the neighbors being taken to a "labor camp" because they're not white? As moving as it was to see a shocked and heartbroken Donna chasing after the vehicle, how naive does RTD want us to think she is? What reasonably educated human being over the age of ten wouldn't notice the parallels with the Holocaust or the US interment camps? Come on, now. Donna's smarter than that.
* In my review of "Partners in Crime," I jokingly complained about what's-her-face overlooking America, aka the fattest nation in the world, in favor of London. I am vindicated! With London destroyed, of COURSE she went for the States! I laughed. USA REPRESENT.
* Unlike most DW fans, I do not feel strongly one way or another about Rose's return. I thought RTD used her very cleverly - there had to be someone in the know who could get Donna back on track; while Jack could have done some of that, he doesn't have access to the technology that Rose was using - without her taking over Donna's story. I don't think I'm going to be ecstatic over it no matter what, but I do think her presence was fully justified in this episode and (pure speculation here) I would even accept this Darkness thing as the reason why she is able to cross between the universes when it was so painstakingly established that she could not ever ever EVER do that. As long as it doesn't get annoying.
* I was intrigued by the Doctor's musing that his and Donna's history together is rife with coincidence. I've been cataloguing "coincidences" all series; I assumed they were the overarching themes, but maybe they, too, were partly of the remarkably coincidental nature of the story of the Doctor and Donna. I'll be interested to see if this is explored further.
In conclusion, this was pretty much your basic RTD finale arc fodder - look at it too closely and it ceases to make any damn sense, but it's some really entertaining TV with lots of food for fannish thought.
I was late seeing this episode because I met up with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
fiareynne and sockherder after work, which was a blast that I'm sure Fia will chronicle in more detail, but next week I am going to freaking RUN home to DL the ep as soon as possible. Sorry, Fia, the pub crawl and subsequent trip round the solar system will just have to wait. ;)
OMG OMG OMG. YOU GUYS. OMG. I have been hoping ALL SERIES for a companions extravaganza episode with Martha and Jack and Rose and Sarah Jane. AND NOT ONLY AM I GETTING WHAT I WISHED FOR, THEY ARE DOING ME ONE BETTER. LUKE
Uh. I'm still a spastic mess from the previews, so - a few bullet points. (Naturally, this post grew a bit longer than I thought it would. Does this ever not happen?)
* I love AUs. Apparently RTD does too. I can work with that. I love the idea of Donna the Awesome being just that important. Super Fucking Temp Donna Noble! I love Donna. How did I ever not love Donna? The mind boggles.
Anyway. I am now going to pick at some of the continuity.
Let's start with a big YAY for finally establishing The Sarah Jane Adventures's place in the Whoniverse timeline. It occurred either concurrently with DW series three/TW series two, or before it. (Okay, SJA spoilers incoming, but I'm sure next week's DW will spoil the crap out of this particular detail anyway.) Sarah Jane adopted Luke in the premiere special of SJA, and he was mentioned specifically in the report about the hospital, so at the very least the Bane incident had occurred by then. There is also the possibility that the entirety of SJA's series one had occurred by then, which makes more sense in terms of sensible continuity with Torchwood, because things HAPPENED in SJA that the good folk at Torchwood could not POSSIBLY have missed, and it gives me less of a headache to assume they happened offscreen, before TW resumed, while Jack was gone. You with me? Good. If not, then just trust me. It works better if SJA happened first.
Okay, with the YAYing behind me, I'm gonna crap all over the rest of Sarah Jane's mention, because: Sarah Jane was in the hospital? Seriously? With Luke, Maria, and Clyde? What in the blue hell? What, exactly, could possibly have changed that would have had Sarah Jane going there herself? How would she have known to go in time? And why would she go in the AU but not in the regular verse? Even if, somehow, she had known the Doctor would be there (how, I don't know, but anyway), what would that change? Sarah Jane is not going to say, "Oh, the Doctor will take care of it, guess I'll go do the grocery shopping instead." HELL NO.
So there are four suggestions here:
AU: Sarah Jane knew something was going down, knew she had to do something because no one else would (read: she somehow knew the Doctor was dead; probably from UNIT) rounded up the kids, and headed to the hospital. (Or maybe the kids were there first. That sounds a bit more likely than Sarah Jane taking them all with her.)
Regular Verse A: Sarah Jane knew the Doctor was there and somehow did not go anyway. This is ludicrous. Aside from the above ranting in re: Sarah Jane not being the passive type, her not going to where she knows the Doctor is is about as likely as - well, about as likely as Jack, Rose, or Martha not going to where they know the Doctor is.
Regular Verse B: Sarah Jane was not there.
Either Verse: Sarah Jane and the kids just happened to be there. I would easily buy an injury happening that didn't leave time for her to take any of the kids home. This works fine for the AU - is, indeed, the simplest and most logical option and it's the explanation I'm going with - but does not work for the regular verse. The Smith in "Smith and Jones" was not Sarah Jane. Yes, a hospital is big, and yes, there were about a thousand people in it, but I have a really hard time with the idea that she and the Doctor, both investigating, could have missed each other the entire time.
All of which leaves me with the following conclusion, and mother of FUCK this is exactly the kind of overthinking that leads to all the geek stereotypes: the Doctor's death in the AU caused some small difference that placed Sarah Jane, Luke, Maria, and Clyde in that hospital on that day. (Their presence cannot be ignored, since someone had to be there to stop the MRI machine going kablooey and toasting half the Earth.) And they died, which broke my heart way more than Ianto and Gwen dying on the Sontaran ship, which I think says everything about which show I feel more connected to right now. (And Alan . . . aw, dammit. I need to watch some SJA soon, I think.) Or maybe it's just because TW cast members dying is old hat. Whichever.
* Still on the hospital thing, but a different aspect: I love that they got that actor back. That was so cool. A really nice touch. And Martha sacrificing herself to save another - snf. Oh, Martha. Made of awesome in any reality.
* I was so confused about the lack of the year that wasn't, but then I remembered: without the Doctor, Martha, and Jack going to the end of the universe, that - uh, didn't not happen. (Right?) Professor Yana probably lived out his life and died without ever knowing who he really was. And even if he didn't, the TARDIS wasn't there for the Master to steal. I can't believe I had to remind myself of that. I think I'm just fixated on the year that wasn't. Heh, it would have made the AU extra-super complicated, though. I wonder how big a paradox machine the Master would have needed to support not only a world where the future humans could kill their ancestors with impunity, but also a world that could not have happened at all because the Doctor wasn't there to accidentally lend a hand in its creation?
* Donna! Was awesome. As always and forever. I wonder if that was the death that's been foreshadowed all series, or if RTD just wants us to think it was.
* . . . but awesome as Donna is, that whole thing with the neighbors being taken to a "labor camp" because they're not white? As moving as it was to see a shocked and heartbroken Donna chasing after the vehicle, how naive does RTD want us to think she is? What reasonably educated human being over the age of ten wouldn't notice the parallels with the Holocaust or the US interment camps? Come on, now. Donna's smarter than that.
* In my review of "Partners in Crime," I jokingly complained about what's-her-face overlooking America, aka the fattest nation in the world, in favor of London. I am vindicated! With London destroyed, of COURSE she went for the States! I laughed. USA REPRESENT.
* Unlike most DW fans, I do not feel strongly one way or another about Rose's return. I thought RTD used her very cleverly - there had to be someone in the know who could get Donna back on track; while Jack could have done some of that, he doesn't have access to the technology that Rose was using - without her taking over Donna's story. I don't think I'm going to be ecstatic over it no matter what, but I do think her presence was fully justified in this episode and (pure speculation here) I would even accept this Darkness thing as the reason why she is able to cross between the universes when it was so painstakingly established that she could not ever ever EVER do that. As long as it doesn't get annoying.
* I was intrigued by the Doctor's musing that his and Donna's history together is rife with coincidence. I've been cataloguing "coincidences" all series; I assumed they were the overarching themes, but maybe they, too, were partly of the remarkably coincidental nature of the story of the Doctor and Donna. I'll be interested to see if this is explored further.
In conclusion, this was pretty much your basic RTD finale arc fodder - look at it too closely and it ceases to make any damn sense, but it's some really entertaining TV with lots of food for fannish thought.
I was late seeing this episode because I met up with
fiareynne and sockherder after work, which was a blast that I'm sure Fia will chronicle in more detail, but next week I am going to freaking RUN home to DL the ep as soon as possible. Sorry, Fia, the pub crawl and subsequent trip round the solar system will just have to wait. ;)
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... oh, I don't know. I'm not supporting the man's terrible writing. I tell you what, though, I'm hoping Moffat's first act is to ressurrect the Master and make him so scary that I flinch every time I see the actor/actress in any other role. Screw RTD and his pathological hatred of allowing interesting characters airtime and his obsession with normality.
But OH DONNA. You are brilliant. BRILLIANT ALL ON YOUR OWN.
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If Moffat's first act is to do exactly as you suggest, especially with Simm!Master - somehow, he could pull it off - I will love him forever.
Though my love for Moffat hasn't waned yet at all, and it's been four years. *g*