5 posts tagged “the doctor”
Doctor Who 4.11
Ever since I was little, I never liked the what-if episodes that show a very different path and life. I don't really know why, but they just leave me feeling very, very sad. So this episode essentially had several strikes against it before it began. But props to me for realizing it was a "what-if" ep from the promo.
So while I may not love the episode like many other people do, I liked it a lot, all things considered. Reasons: Rose and Donna. Donna and Rose. I love those two together! They just played so well off of each other. And Rose! Good to see Pete's World Torchwood taught her well. I was so proud watching her be all expository and technobabbling. She was still Rose, but she had bits of the Doctor worked in with her. The way she strutted around, knowing everything. The way she looked at the trouble and adventure. She had this smile on her face when she explained things to Donna when she ended up at U.N.I.T. Not to mention she did the whole saluting thing that the Doctor did. I love that they had that connection, even though they didn't know it. I think the most Doctory Rose moment was when she told Donna she was "the most important woman in the whole of creation". If that didn't come straight from the Doctor's playbook... I smiled with that line and the way Rose said it. Again, so much like the Doctor. I'm not going to lie, I love that she's adopted much of his personality, not that I blame her, the dude's kind of infectious with his clever words and strutting. Oh the strutting.
Oh lord, I missed Rose. I missed the way she took things on, I missed the way she talked, I missed chavtastic Rose! And what I love even more if that Billie loves being Rose. I watched the Confidential episode, which means this episode was pretty damn important to me, and she just seemed to happy to be back. David was giddy as can be about it, but Billie was so adorable. So this return was planned when she left, I thought RTD had just BSed that, but apparently Billie said the arrangements were made right as she decided to leave, which kind of makes me love Billie even more. Too bad I can't get through an episode of Secret Diary of a Call Girl without getting really skeeved out. I'd like to watch her every week, maybe I'll try to watch it more. But back to the cast, David is as adorable as ever. He kept pestering RTD to explain 'Bad Wolf', and the way that he talks about the show is like a fan. Actually, all the actors talk about it like fans, I love that. They just have this keen insight into the story and the characters, it's really impressive.
Oh Doctor Who, I love that you are a family friendly program that isn't afraid to nuke cities and imply genocide! That's what makes this show so brilliant, it doesn't dumb down reality to fit the younger demographic. It really is a show for everyone, adults and children. But not going to lie, this is the kind of episode that would have turned me off of a show for a long time if I saw it when I was 10. I think I had similar experiences when I watched shows that did this, I just got so sketched out that I had to walk away from the show. So... good thing more kids aren't nutty like me, right?
I see a few people wanting to rewatch "The Runaway Bride", because they can't remember why they hated Donna so. I'm more than a little curious myself, I hated her. I just could not stand the sight of her. But watching that little bit included in the episode, and eventually the scene that led to the Doctor's death, that sounded like the Donna we knew. And to be frank, the Donna we saw this week was the angry, shouty, kind of funny Donna that seemed straight out of "Runaway Bride". This week's Donna was very different from the compassionate and caring that makes her a great companion. I'm debating watching it again, maybe I hated that Donna because she was snippy with the Doctor, and nobody does that to our pretty boy. Back to Donna, I was dying seeing her go off on her boss after she got fired. That was so amazing, and stealing the stapler? Perfect.
So... is Donna special? She's got her own unique time signal thingy. Sorry, I didn't pay enough attention during the exposition to really get what that means. So, was Donna teleported to the parallel world? Was she physically in that tent, but her mind went elsewhere? To another Donna in another world? I'm still shakey on the details of how this worked, might just chalk this up to timey-wimey stuff. But back to Donna and her parallel worlds. What role will she play in the big finale? Maybe she's like they key to keeping the universes safe. I'm not going to lie, I wished that Davies seeded this in throughout the series. I understand that not everything is planned in advanced, but this felt distinctly tacked on in this episode. Lets see how this plays out. I'm still worried about Donna, I don't think she's still in the clear, safety wise. Remember, River Song acted like Donna had died when she met the Doctor.
4.12 Preview
OK, I just need to take a moment to flip the fuck out: Sarah Jane - Check. Martha Jones - Check. Jack Harkness - Check. Ianto and Gwen - Fuck Yes! How did I NOT KNOW GWEN AND IANTO WOULD BE IN THE SHOW? Like, that is just so incredible, having those two meet the Doctor (I hope anyway). After all the vagueness Jack gives them, they deserve some info straight from the horse's or Time Lord's mouth. And Martha! And Jack! OK, I am so pumped for Rose to see Jack again. I wonder if she knows she brought him back forever? The Rose we have now is very different from the Rose who absorbed the Time Vortex and saved Jack. I wonder how she'll react, I don't even think she remembers. And Jack's always had a little something for Rose, well to be fair Jack's got a little something for everyone, but Jack will be so thrilled to see her. I keep replaying this moment in my head from "Bad Wolf" when Jack realizes Rose hasn't been vaporized. "Rose could still be alive!" He's going to be happy to see her again.
I know this is a really big longshot, but Gwen/Gwyneth from "The Unquiet Dead"... Maybe it'll come up. Like a line that she looks familiar, or maybe the Doctor will see something very odd about her. Or... you know... it could just be let go.
Rose and Martha! I've been looking forward to this for some time. Mainly because Martha got sick of hearing about Rose. In "Utopia" she had this line when Jack mentioned Rose. "OH! She's blond!" We'll see if Martha's really over the Doctor when his old companion comes back.
Donna and Rose already met, sort of. Now that she knows, or will know, that it's Rose, I wonder if she'll react differently to her. I don't see why, Donna just knew that Rose was gone, so she'll probably be happy for her.
And Rose and the Doctor. Well, we've already seen him be terrified by her warning (loved it!), but I don't doubt that we'll see some incredible hugging. Oh there will be hugging. And tears. Lots and lots of tears, mostly mine. I've only been waiting two years for this, that's all. I wonder if Rose will notice a change in the Doctor. I wonder if the Doctor notices how much Rose has changed? All I know is I can't wait. Is it Saturday yet?
Thought I'd do an update on the Transformers 2 filming. I saw them setting up, and tomorrow and Tuesday will be the shooting days. There was a helicopter with a big round thing attached to its nose, which I'm guessing is the camera, and they were doing aerial shots. It was so cool, the helicopter was flying almost sideways so the camera was facing the college campus. It's looking like my sister, her friend, and I will be getting up super early and spending the day stalking the set. Rainn Wilson will be there, so I'm going to try to get him to sign my second season Office DVD set. Shia is apparently kind of a douche, the PA's described him as "inaccessible", I hope Rainn is much nicer, he seems nice. Check out my Twitter or Plurk pages for updates, I'll be checking in there.
Today it finally warmed up enough for me to wear just a fleece, not my big ass parka. I had my hopes up for an end to this fucking winter. Of course it's getting cold again and it's supposed to snow towards the end of the week. Yay.
Torchwood 2.12
Wow! Torchwood kinda pulled a Lost with this one, not that there's anything wrong with that. Actually, it worked wonderfully! For me, the biggest disappoint last series was the "mystery" of Jack. And by mystery, I mean things we knew from Doctor Who but were teased with for 12 episodes. So, FINALLY we get some backstory. Sure it was brief, but we had some awesome drunken Jack. "First I'm going to kiss him[the Doctor], then I'm going to kill him", which kinda made my life.
And as with any allusion to Doctor Who, my heart jumped when that tarot card girl (wasn't she in "Dead Man Walking") told Jack he wouldn't find the Doctor until the world turned to ice. Anybody catch that awesome reference to "Utopia", as in the end of the universe? As in everything turning to ice? As in the best episode ever? *breathes*
So Jack was involved with Torchwood when they were out for the Doctor and when they were still sketchy and evil. Interesting. Nice to see him making a stand against Torchwood London, I mean they were pretty evil, too bad they were destroyed and all. Could have been a nice Frenemy for the Doctor/Jack.
Oh Toshiko... Loved the British Gitmo. So her back story was pretty boring, we know she's hard working, quiet, shy, impressionable... Didn't really say much, except Jack rescued her, seeing her genius and all. It's been a few days since I saw this episode, and her story was the one I remembered the least.
IANTO! I'm not imagining he wasn't always as awesome as he is this series. I mean, coffee boy? So first series, loved the callback. And he was funny, which was nice. Funny and persistent! Puppy!Ianto amused me to no end. I was a little irked by the awkward Jack falling on Ianto moment, because back in the beginning of the first series, there wasn't any of the sexual tension (that I remember). So that moment felt retconned. But other than that, loved his past.
Owen :-( As if I needed another reason to completely adore his character, he had a sad love story. Nice how everything about his character is falling into place... It's as if they're preparing to end this zombie arc... To be honest, I'm not sure I'm ready for Owen to leave, but maybe that's what Davies is getting at. He's lulling everyone into thinking things are getting back to normal, and then Owen will just cease to be. And I'll be a sad mess, because it'll be a shock and, if I know Davies, tragic.
And we're left with the return of John Hart, which I've been waiting for! After Marsters' first episode, I kept looking for when he was coming back, I mean we had this whole Grey bit to tidy up. Then we're at the second to last episode, and I was getting confused... Of course he would show up in the last few minutes... with Jack's hermano! Looks like next week's going to be fucking awesome: lots of things going boom!
So it's almost April, and my nerd-sense is telling me that Doctor Who should be starting up soon. So I went online, and Wikipedia has a start date of April 5th! That's the Saturday after next! It's the day after the Torchwood finale! And since Torchwood has been fucking incredible, I have a glimmer of hope for this Donna-infested series...
And then Battlestar Galatica is starting up April 4th, so my little lull in TV activity is finally ending, which is good? I don't know, I've managed to get a bunch of homework done during this blackout. But then again, I've also started watching reality shows, which is evil.
Finally, on the Joss Whedon return to TV front, Dollhouse is starting to cast, and DUDE, Helo (Tahmoh Penikett) from BSG's been cast! Yay!
OK, here's the deal, I stumbled upon some Twilight set pictures, and I think I'm going to have to actually read this series, at least the first book. Those hilarious Canon Wikipedia descriptions are too hysterical to overlook, plus Robert Pattinson is so adorable in those pictures, even if his hair is slightly orange and his pancake makeup is a little intense. I promise I won't talk about it with you if I detest it.
Doctor Who 3.11
I've now watched "Utopia" like 6 times plus the Confidential episode. That's a record, even for me. I'm now calling "Utopia" my favorite Doctor Who episode ever. It's just perfection. So after watching it for the billionth time, I have a lot of detail-oriented observations.
Let's start with Martha Jones. Poor girl, she had to listen about how great and amazing Rose was all episode long. But alas! Martha now knows why she's not as good as Rose. As far as she knew, Rose was just a favorite, not super special. The Doctor revealed everything anyone needs to know about Rose in order to see why Martha is no Rose. Rose risked her life and disobeyed the Doctor in order to save his life and eventually Jack's. It's something Martha never really considered. She just listened and followed the Doctor. We haven't had an incident with Martha like what happened in "Father's Day," no almost end of the world because of Martha. She's just been a stray dog with the Doctor. But Rose... she was so much more. She had these instincts and seemed to figure things out and she even managed to save the day once or twice. We all knew this, but now Martha does. That look on Martha's face when the Doctor reveals Rose is trapped is key. She has this dawning of understanding and pity. The Doctor and Rose were forced apart, and Martha gets it. She also gets the sacrifice that Rose made. That's why I think Martha is going to do something remarkable in the finale. I think she will save the world and earn not only the Doctor's respect, but ours. After the bit with Jack fixing the couplings, Martha commented: "I don't understand half the things he's saying." It just shows how much the Doctor is keeping from her. It's not unlike what Nine did with Rose. He was very guarded with her, actually he was pretty condescending. But after he regenerated, Ten kept Rose in the loop. He explained things, he even let her take the lead on occasion. I think if Martha does step up and risk her life, I think we'll see a much different relationship between Ten and Martha. I think they will be more like comrades than just the Doctor and his companion, not unlike with Rose. But I think Martha will always know she's living in the shadow of Rose.
I'm doing this next bit based on one line the Doctor said to Jack. He said if a Time Lord absorbed the vortex, he would become a vengeful god. Hmm... Just noting it, perhaps the Doctor or the Master will take that power. The Master certainly is crazy enough to do it, what with all the regeneration energy flowing through him.
How on Earth (or Malcassairo) will the Doctor, Martha, and Jack escape the Futurekind. Two words: Vortex Manipulator. That thing on Jack's wrist burnt out, but luckily, the Doctor's got his handy-dandy sonic screwdriver.
Final note: Jack said he arrived back on Earth in 1869. Another thing that took place in 1869: Gwyneth and the Gelth. That's right, it all comes back the "The Unquiet Dead" and Gwen/Gwyneth. I feel like a crazy conspiracy theorist with this, but Jack could have very well met up with Gwyneth in Cardiff. He did say he got shot at Ellis Island, which means that he could have come from Great Britain to the States. Maybe I do have a reason to watch Torchwood after all.
Doctor Who 3.10 + preview for 3.11
"Blink" was definitely scary. I wasn't as scared as I was when I saw "Empty Child" or "Impossible Planet", but I definitely got creeped out. I've also decided Steven Moffat is a genius and should write many more terrifying episodes. Oh and Sally Sparrow is up there with throwaway characters who I'd love to be a companion. She joins Lynda with a Y and Elton with people who'd be effing awesome companions. Now, sure the Doctor can explain time paradoxes as "a big ball of wibbly-wobbly...timey-wimey...stuff," but I still hate stupid loop-ey time paradoxes. Like the Doctor would never have known to tell Sally these things had Sally not given it to the Doctor. But Sally would not have given this stuff to the Doctor had he not done those things. I know... timey-wimey stuff, but still doesn't make me feel better about it.
Oh and Martha, though only having like 3 lines, was pretty awesome. Looks like she's gotten some attitude after "Human Nature"/"Family of Blood". Good for her, I think that's what bugged me about Martha. She was just sorta there... along for the ride, not really questioning and taking everything as is. Since "Human Nature", Martha's gotten some balls and I love her for it.
Now, as amazing as that episode was, the best part for me was seeing Captain Jack in the previews. God I've been waiting for this a long while now. Finally! Oh, it's going to be fucking awesome. Jack and the Doctor, back again.
The Sopranos Finale
Now, I'm not a Sopranos fan, but I checked out the end just for kicks. I've never been a big fan of open endings as it is, but this one was open to a whole new level. Not only did we have minutes of suspense, but we didn't even get a tease as to what could happen. No one pulled a gun, we didn't see a known hitman enter. Just... Journey. What a bizarre song choice to end the Sopranos. It's not what I would have gone with to end a badass show. So... yeah... underwhelmed. I mean, it felt like just another episode. Nothing catastrophic happened that signaled end of show. Plus, if you're going to just end, have an end title card or something. Don't abruptly fade to black for 5 seconds making everyone think their cable went out. I guess I expected something more... Oh well, at least I didn't have anything invested in the show. Now that would have sucked.
Oh and I graduated.
Doctor Who 3.08
YES! YES! YES! Finally an episode I loved. So far the only other likeable episodes have been "Smith and Jones" and "Gridlock." Everything else I've found to be dull, boring, and/or frustrating. That's why I haven't talked about Doctor Who in a while. I just haven't had much to say about it. But for the first time this season, I can't wait until next week.
Let's start with the human Doctor. I loved his allusions to regeneration and how Martha still has no idea. I also loved how they were able to touch on real life 1913 issues, like Martha's race or gender issues. I think it really took the episode to another level. That and the Doctor's sketch book. Seeing that picture of Rose reminded me just how much I've missed her. I mean, I've always been aware that she's not there, and I've missed her, but this really made me feel what I imagine the Doctor feels. It was so funny/heartbreaking hearing how nonchalant John Smith (whose accent just made me swoon) was with that book. He was just looking over, scribbling down adventures from the past 3 seasons like it was no big deal. Which technically it wasn't. Technically, they were just dreams.
Oh Martha, I was feeling for you up until you went all "Why'd he have to fall for another human besides me." I'm getting really annoyed by this crush. But other than that I was totally excited to see her slap John Smith. Honestly, I would have done the same if I was burdened with protecting the most important man in the universe without him even being aware. How frustrating. Even I was getting aggravated, but in a good way.
Then there was that adorable blond boy who somehow is "good at guessing." I'm not sure what to think about him, but I sure want to kick his ass for taking the watch. Little alien/robot/clairvoyant thief. But life lesson children: if you're picking on someone, odds are they have super powers. Why can he hear the essence in the watch and how does he know all of this? (How creepy was it when he saw himself die. Yick)
At first those scarecrows didn't frighten me, but when that one popped up in the windows, I jumped. I haven't been that scared since I first saw "Empty Child" at 1 in the morning. Now that was scary.
iGoogle is taking over my life. Save me.
