elisi: Edwin holding a tiny snowman (Lonely God by imagi_nation)
elisi ([personal profile] elisi) wrote2008-04-13 10:22 am
Entry tags:

DW 4.2

Just very quick thoughts. (meta, as usual)

I have links to longer and more in-depth reviews below. For me *this* stood out:

Doctor: "Don't you think I've done enough? History's back in place and everyone dies."

OUCH OUCH OUCH OUCH OUCH! We really see the consequences of S3 here, and I love it. He lives to save, and yet he can't save those he most wants - couldn't save the Time Lords, couldn't save the Master. And then of course we get Donna, whom I adore so very much, and who I really think needed the cuteness and happy solution of the Adipose, because she - more than any of the other companions so far (bar Jack maybe, but that's different) - gets to see the dark side of the Doctor, and has since the beginning. And she is just so wonderfully human:

Donna: "Not the whole town - just save *someone*."

And I think he does it for her.

Because this *also* ties in with 'Voyage of the Damned':

"But if you could decide, Doctor, who lives and who dies... that would make you a monster." [from memory, sorry if it's inaccurate]

There is a sense of 'damned if he does, and damned if he doesn't'... if he saves someone on a whim, what does that make him? I think this is why he needs a Companion - someone to be his moral center, because he is totally messed up, and he knows it. He knows what he has to do, but when it comes to what he *can* do, it gets complicated.

This of course again ties in with the Master storyline in S3, and what happens when a Time Lord decides to play god for real. Yes, the Master was evil and insane, but what he did the Doctor *could* do. (Of course I dealt with this at great length in this essay, so won't do so here.) Where to draw the line is the problem - he has so much power, but using it without becoming a monster (and oh, we saw him cross that line in 'Family of Blood') is the balancing act he keeps trying to get right.

Finally, I LOVE the waterpistol - can't you just see little kids running around playing Doctor Who all summer? "I bloody love you!" indeed! :)


Obligatory pimp:

Review by [livejournal.com profile] neadods.

Review by [livejournal.com profile] selenak.

Both really excellent, go check them out!

[livejournal.com profile] wendymr has been converted to Donna here. :)

[identity profile] zanthinegirl.livejournal.com 2008-04-13 03:48 pm (UTC)(link)
I love this episode so, so much! Aside from the wacky, silly moments ("I"m Spartecus". "I'm Spartecus too") it did deal with some serious issues. When the Doctor realized that it was him who ultimately killed all those people my heart just broke for him. How much do I love Donna putting her hands over the doctor's on that lever?

I love Rose and Martha, but I'm really digging Donna. I think she's old enough to be secure in herself and stand up to the Doctor when he needs it. It's a much more equal relationship than with either of the main companions in the new series so far.

OH, and I loved the squirtgun. Loved it. Figured out how to make screencaps to capture the magic; I'll have to post them after church!




Edited 2008-04-13 15:49 (UTC)

[identity profile] zanthinegirl.livejournal.com 2008-04-14 04:47 am (UTC)(link)
screencap attempts posted!