elisi: Edwin holding a tiny snowman (Welsh Overlord (RTD) by ?)
elisi ([personal profile] elisi) wrote2012-06-09 03:20 pm
Entry tags:

This post is COMPLETELY tongue-in-cheek!

OK, so Promethia and I stared arguing over which episodes were worst/the maddest - the S4 finale or EoT. Now, I need to explain that this is not some kind of RTD-bashing excuse. I love those episodes like pancakes. I watched TSE six times when it first aired. I watch EoT through a haze of 'Mmmmm Doctor/Master... Wait, was there something else happening?' Seriously - give me crack, I will eat it up with a spoon.

HOWEVER. EoT - IMHO - makes NO SENSE plot wise. Cut & pasted from another post:

Stuff happens just because it happens. I mean, what's the deal with the Doctor's mother talking to Wilf? How does she do it? WHY? How do the Naismith's know about the Master returning? Why is Wilf the only one who can remember the dreams? Why does Rassilon narrate, and from what point in his personal timeline does he do so? WHO gave the Ood the gift to see through time? I just... It's not MD levels of bad (the continuity is fine), it's just a lot of random stuff tied together. *shakes head and tells self to focus on the Doctor/Master* (Also the EPIC EPIC ANGST is sort of undercut by the fact that... he's not really DYING, y'know? He's going to be FINE. It's such a storm in a teacup. But then Ten always ate up ALL his drama-flakes.) [...] If actual angels had appeared at that point and helped the Doctor on his final STRUGGLING walk I wouldn't have been the least surprised. It's so OTT that it's almost collapsing from lack of oxygen.

The best explanation is actually this one, by [livejournal.com profile] 10littlebullets:

'I found that EoT makes perfect sense if you think of the whole thing as Ten's regeneration-sickness-induced fever dream: somewhere, somewhen, he tripped over a brick and hit his head and was so disappointed at his anticlimactic regeneration that he dreamed of an epic universe-imperilling death sequence where he is the most important person in the universe, his angst is so tragic and full of pathos look at all the burdens on his poor shoulders, he gets final confirmation that he was right to blow up the Time Lords, the Master is staring into his eyes and wibbling about their lost childhood on Gallifrey, and the whole thing works by dream logic.'

Again, I mock BECAUSE I LOVE. Honestly, mostly I just want to hug EoT. However, it doesn't make sense. Promethia, though, thinks that TSE/JE is worse in the sense making department:

'Whereas Ten siphoning off his regeneration energy into his amputated hand, which then calls out to Donna backwards through time to make her touch it, thus producing a human/Time Lord clone which can be left in a parallel universe with the slightly clingy girlfriend is the epitome of sense making, yes you are right. ;)'

Personally I can easily hand-wave all that stuff because of 'These things happen on a Hellmouth'. (You know what I mean.) Timelords can do all kinds of mad things. It's like magic. Those episodes might be crammed full of more STUFF than should be possible, but at least it mostly makes sense... Comparatively.

ETA: Promethia wishes to clarify her position: 'My argument was really that TSE/JE are worse episodes in general, of which the blatant trampling on sense is only a part.'


So, gentle flist, what is your opinion? Again, this is NOT an invitation to say nasty things about RTD. I luff him very much. He just writes MAD stuff (which is one reason I luff him - logic is for losers. *g*)

[Poll #1845878]

(Although if you want something more serious, then I posted the final chapter of My Immortal 2 yesterday.)

[identity profile] beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com 2012-06-09 02:40 pm (UTC)(link)
Rationally, they're both utterly bonkers. Emotionally, EoT works far better for me than TSE/JE. Probably exactly because it goes so far over the top. It leaves any pretense of being anything but emotional porn in the first act and then just keeps on going down the same road.

And I like [livejournal.com profile] 10littlebullets' explanation.
promethia_tenk: (river)

[personal profile] promethia_tenk 2012-06-09 02:42 pm (UTC)(link)
*checks poll* YES, I'M WINNING!

; )

Though I would like to clarify that my argument was really that TSE/JE are worse episodes in general, of which the blatant trampling on sense is only a part.
promethia_tenk: (tv girl)

[personal profile] promethia_tenk 2012-06-09 02:55 pm (UTC)(link)
This was basically my argument. EoT isn't even trying to make sense and contains very many excellent scenes, so I have no problem in ignoring/enjoying the ridiculous and savoring all the Wilf and Doctor goodness.

Where TSE/JE, Rusty is wallpapering like a lunatic *and* trying to tick all his cameo boxes and . . .

whhhyyyyyy
promethia_tenk: (lynda bitch editor from hell)

[personal profile] promethia_tenk 2012-06-09 03:00 pm (UTC)(link)
I have to savor my initial victory because I don't actually expect it to last . . .

And I shall amend the post to more correctly reflect your position.
I thank you *salutes*
platypus: (Default)

[personal profile] platypus 2012-06-09 03:12 pm (UTC)(link)
I thought TEOT Part One had a lot of good setup, but none of it ended up getting any follow-through or making any sense. Sometimes RTD just throws stuff at the wall because it sounds good (like he liked the "one of them will die!" tagline for S4 but then couldn't really DO it, or the way he had Rose/Handy in his mind as an endgame forever but then had to rush into it because he ran out of time to develop them properly). I love a lot of his work, but I think his best finale was Parting of the Ways.

I do have a lot more sympathy for the incoherence when I read The Writer's Tale; this is not a man unaware of his faults. But I find TEOT extra frustrating because there was so much good stuff there, if only some use were made of it.
promethia_tenk: (kiss kiss bang bang)

[personal profile] promethia_tenk 2012-06-09 03:38 pm (UTC)(link)
Actually, I was trying to avoid using the word "schlock" again, lest I start a flame war in the very first thread of your carefully-disclaimered post. Lucille was just a bonus ; )

[identity profile] a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com 2012-06-09 03:41 pm (UTC)(link)
I love all of it.

I mean, I'm watching DOCTOR WHO. Even as a kid, reality and sense-making was not the theme. So...I loves it all. And the Doctor/Master thing...guh, sorry, there was plot during that?!
promethia_tenk: (lynda bitch editor from hell)

[personal profile] promethia_tenk 2012-06-09 03:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Should I point out here that that's not actually a ticky box? No, probably not.

The ticky box always wins . . .

[identity profile] a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com 2012-06-09 04:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Right?! *Laughs and then makes a happy sigh* Though I must say - as much as TSE/JE made me headdesk, I have to agree that EoT left me all O_o more often than not. When you are all:



And



When watching DOCTOR WHO. Yeah, lol!!

Mmmmm...Doctor/Master. I forgave RTD everything nonsensical with those shippy moments. Like the TARDIS being alive, we've always known there was SOMETHING going on with those two. GUH. And *WIBBLE*. And GUH.

*SQUISHES*

[identity profile] honeynoir.livejournal.com 2012-06-09 04:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Hmm, I want to say that the Time Lords' plan makes more sense than Davros's Reality Bomb... but TSE/JE concludes the Arc of Ten's Hand... and I need coffee.

[identity profile] a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com 2012-06-09 04:40 pm (UTC)(link)
I love it all...even the 'Whut?!' moments. I do not do wank (nu-uh) cause it makes me all wibbley and weepy. There's something to be found in EVERY episode - a lesson, an idea. Just...not with the sense making on that one, lol!! And at that time, I was blissfully unaware of fandom reactions, lol!!

OH. WANT THAT. Gimme!! Love it when the Doctor is a bastard *chuckles*

OMG...want that too!! YAY Random!!

[identity profile] honeynoir.livejournal.com 2012-06-09 04:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Aw, yay, coffee!

(Oh, right, didn't see that part of the post... *drinks moar coffee* Maybe the Ood found her and told on the Doctor... and also taught her to appear out of nowhere?) Admittedly, I haven't seen EoT in ages, and the question I remember coming back to is whether the Master dyed his hair or if it was a side-effect of him returning, so.

[identity profile] skipthedemon.livejournal.com 2012-06-09 04:46 pm (UTC)(link)
You have a point, about the Time Lord's plan. It's a gigantic dick move for the rest of the universe, but if all you care about is the continued existence of your people, it makes sense.

[identity profile] skipthedemon.livejournal.com 2012-06-09 04:48 pm (UTC)(link)
I think they are both equally not sense making. But EoT has some better emotional beats, and moments of good acting.

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