New Who Review for Journey's End

[puppetmaker]

End of the season so the entire season is now open for discussion in the comments.

Yes, RTD did make me cry. It was brilliant conclusion to the season. More on what made me cry behind the cut.

Even though this was loaded with companions, or the children of time as Dalek Caan called them (why do I hear Kirk screaming Caaaaaan?), I thought everyone got their moment last night. It was nice to see all these people interacting as a group and everyone played nice.

I know a lot of people didn't like the ending but honestly I didn't see anyway to really finish things out. And they did leave the door open just a crack.

Lots of stuff for David Tennant to do too even though most of it had to do with reacting rather than acting. Emo Doctor can be fun.

Daleks were menacing again. Davros was played very well.

The more I see this episode, the more I like it.

I am grateful for this entire season of Doctor Who



The more I watch the season and knowing that Catherine Tate had signed on for one season only, this was the best way for it to end for Donna. The alternative was to kill her. We have already had the Doctor suck the energy out of another companion so that was not the way. And I think on some level Donna knew this was the only way but like Charlie in Flowers for Algernon, she didn't want to go back to what she was. If you haven't read Flowers for Algernon I strongly encourage you to get a copy and read it.

The Children of Time was an interesting concept. That the Doctor, according to Davros, may not carry a weapon but he wields one just the same. He creates them. It is of course through the lens of Davros but I think he has something there. The Doctor encourages people to be the best they can be and helps them find their strengths.

I loved Sarah Jane and Davros meeting up again.

All though in terms of Dialogue it was Captain Jack for the win, "I can't tell you what I'm thinking right now." Him and a bunch of fanfic writers were probably going to the same place in fact I think some wrote it.

Then there was the three-fold man the Doctor, The DoctorDonna and the DonnaDoctor. Everything Dalek Kaan said came true in one form or another. It was interesting to see David play Donna and Catherine play the Doctor. They had me smiling a lot. And considering the set up of how important Donna was, this was a good way to go with it. Dalek Caan knew what had to happen for everything to get this point. It also showed the amount of story pipework they are willing to put down to get to the end with all the loose ends tied up so there will be no fan complaints about dangling storylines. (Not that the fans didn't complain.)

It was nice to have the K-9 cameo as the deus ex machina of the piece to get Earth back where it belongs. Everyone got to say their good-byes and set up where they might go.

The end did make me cry. I felt so sorry for Donna and all the actors played the moments so well. I love Wilf at the end asking the Doctor who has he got and promising to look up in the sky for what Donna can never know about. I also hope that her mother treats her better now or at least sees how her behavior affects her daughter.

Good episode and a fine season.

Comments

[gryphonrose.livejournal.com]

Everyone's mileage will vary, of course, but I hated what they did to Donna. Particularly because, like Charlie, she really does go back to EXACTLY who she was before Runaway Bride.

I also REALLY disliked the whole shipper "Oh here, you can have Doctor 10.2, Rose" bit. I'm sure dozens (if not hundreds) of fan-ficcers have written something very similar, and this felt exactly like one of those.

I did love Sarah Jane and Davros, and I loved seeing the Children of Time working together and I loved some of the lines. I just really disliked those two elements I mentioned. I suppose it's a mark of Davies' talent, as both a show-runner and a writer, that I'm disappointed when an episode is not uniformly brilliant.

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

I was glossing over the Rose and the Doctor because it just felt like RTD was putting his Mary Sue in a happy place before he walked away from it.

The question is did she or did they leave it that Moffat could play with Donna if he wanted to. I mean Rose was suppose to be forever and it lasted one season. I consider how unhappy she would have been (worse than Sarah Jane I think) if she did remember what happened.

[gryphonrose.livejournal.com]

Heh, yeah, "Mary Sue" has come up a lot in connection to the Rose ending. :)

Others have also suggested that Moffat might be able to rescue/restore Donna, but I'm not sure he will. I think he'll want to start fresh with a new Companion. And I have no problem with Donna leaving, or with her having to make a sacrifice. It's the fact that, between them, they should have been able to figure out a way to save her without doing that, and the fact that all that personal growth was simply washed away. If they could have left her unaware but more confident anyway, I'd have felt a lot better about it. This way it almost felt like RTD saying "I loved THIS Companion so look, ridiculous happy ending for her! I didn't like this one, though, so ha ha you're screwed!" There was also an element of "If I'm out of the sandbox I'm taking or breaking all my toys so you can't have them."

[jafinnola.livejournal.com]

I totally thought of "Flowers for Algernon" as well. The sadness of having to revert back. At least Donna won't remember it.

I also thought of Icarus flying too close to the sun when I thought of Donna's fate.

I always thought that the comment that the gay son made to Donna, "You're a grand lady," in the Agatha Christie episode seemed like a strange non sequitor. Now it makes sense.

[jenny_evergreen]

I loved it. I desperately wish Catherine Tate had signed on for more time, because I adored Donna, but I have no problem with how it wound up. I'm glad they didn't literally kill her.
I said last week that Wilf is my favorite "bit part" character ever, and this week utterly cemented it.
And I'm totally fine with Rose getting human-Doctor; sure, it's convenient, but I think totally viable in the universe and I don't have a problem with making fans happy; in fact, I despise the idea that one shouldn't make the fans happy. (Still pissed off about the Xena finale, for example, because they went AGAINST the universe JUST to NOT make the fans happy. Blah.)
Jack definitely got the best line of the episode!
I loved Sarah Jane and Davros, too. And K-9. :)

P.S. And I absolutely LOVED the twist of Caan having turned on the Daleks when he saw what they were. Loved it a lot, actually. :)

[querldox.livejournal.com]

Did have a problem with the start of the ep; Sarah Jane and Torchwood are in bad situations due to stupidity (SJ taking off into the Dalek infested streets for no reason and abandoning Luke in the process, Jack not bothering to take Gwen and Ianto out of the Hub, which is a target due to the signal, and not leaving them with a Dalek affecting weapon). And both are resolved via not set up in advance complete deus ex machinas.

Mickey and Jackie just happen to appear right at Sarah Jane's location with their Dalek-killers. Not even intentional on their part, nor something set up before. And Tosh just happens to have been doing a time defense that we've never heard of before. The resolution of the poorly thought out to begin with cliffhangers just screamed bad plotting to me.

[thenodrin.livejournal.com]

I was yelling at the screen, "You took two people with you last time! Take Gwen and Ianto!"

Theno

[michael-b-lee.livejournal.com]

The end with Donna really affected me, too. I would have loved a season or two with DoctorDonna(!) along for the ride! That would have been fantastic!

[auryn29a.livejournal.com]

I loved this very much. Yeah, I have problems with the second Doctor. And is this still the 10th regeneration or is he on #11 now? And I, too, kept wanting to shake my fist and shout, "CAAAAAAAAN!" In fact, I think I did once. Seeing Sarah Jane when she first heard the Daleks just made me shiver. And the emotions were all on her face. Wow. I loved the Oesterhagen Key interaction even if the object itself seems kind of silly.

I would love to see Mickey and Martha on Torchwood next season (even though I already know Freema Agyeman had a prior commitment *pout*).

The most disappointing part of the episode was seeing what's coming next. After all that we're going to Cyberman? Really? Ugh.

My tuppence

[lyonessnyc.livejournal.com]

I was bitterly disappointed with what happened to Donna. I was disgusted with the MarySue-ing of Rose and the not-Doctor. I was annoyed with the SciFi Channel's stupid spoiling of this ep for those who hadn't seen it yet by their weekly promos showing DT/Ten, safe and sound. [sigh]

But it's been a heck of a ride this season. I will keep watching. I don't have to always agree with the plot twists to love the show. But dammit, Donna was *awesome*. She's the companion I've most identified with. Now she's back to being superficial. [sigh]

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

The more I watch the season and knowing that Catherine Tate had signed on for one season only, this was the best way for it to end for Donna. The alternative was to kill her.

I hadn't thought of that, but in all fairness, there are many other ways to deal a companion out so that there's no question of why she isn't around next season.

[sneezythesquid.livejournal.com]

Has anyone else called the hand Doctor "Doctor Deux," or is it just me?

Loved the finalle, and thought that RTD did a fine job leaving things "just so" for Moffat to run with next season, free to go anywhere. Though I was honestly expecting Cann's trip back into the Time War to have broken the time-lock on it, opening up a chance for the restoration of Gallifrey. I suppose that could still happen, but I really expected it in this story.

It may not have been a perfect run, but I'm very glad that RTD was able to bring back The Doctor, and do it in such a successful way. Not as a re-imagining, or a reboot, but in his full glory along with two well-done spin-offs. Thank you, RTD, all Science Fiction fans owe you a debt. Thank you for bringing back the Doctor.

[ysobelle.livejournal.com]

ICON LOVE!

[sneezythesquid.livejournal.com]

Isn't it great? Feel free to take and credit jassalol

[(Anonymous)]

Ok some one help me out. What was the reference about when Rose and The Doctor where talking to Gwen?

Topher

[ysobelle.livejournal.com]

Waaay back in Series One, "The Unquiet Dead." The one with Dickens? The maid Gwyneth serves as the conduit for the Gelth, and dies defeating them. Gwyneth and Gwen Cooper are both played by Eve Myles. The Doctor and Rose note that the two look identical when they see Gwen at modern-day Torchwood.