Srsly TL;DR, wtf
Jan. 3rd, 2010 02:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dragonessa24Tsk tsk, I've been terrible about updating my journal. There's three posts I want to make - a photo post of Christmas etc, that decade meme and my thoughts on End of Time. I'll start with the last, since I've now seen the Confidential.
All in all, I'm mostly disappointed and frustrated. Ten deserved a much better send-off, and it's not like RTD isn't capable of heart-wrenching writing. I was pretty much shaking at the end of Waters of Mars and no matter how many times I watch it, I get flaily all over again. End of Time should have been like that. Hmph. What it was is a lot of mediocre stuff, little things here and there that were really awesome, and some big WTF and NOT OKAY moments.
EoT 1, I'll go with the general "what was RTD smoking?" opinion. The Master race... I get that it was supposed to be terrible, the whole human race erased and replaced by the Master, but... wtf. You just don't feel that while there's John Simm running around in drag and waving from every balcony and all this nonsense. And don't get me started on the cult of Saxon and the incestuous Naismiths and the Master's superpowers (and the TARDIS car alarm, but we knew that already XD). I feel bad that I didn't care about Donna much in this, even though she used to be my favorite companion. There just... wasn't enough of her in it at all. She was mostly just one of the people running around in the background, which sucks for someone who used to be so awesome and perfect for Ten.
What I really loved was the narration, it was a novel idea and gave the whole thing a sense of... epicness, like a legend, or a fairy tale. Really lovely. The score was also great in some places, especially the variations on This Is Gallifrey. I also liked the Vinvocci, they were snarky and fun, and of course Ten and Wilf's scenes. The Doctor/Master stuff was really really good in this and Part 2 too. I don't know if it's because I didn't know about their history back when I first saw Sound of Drums/Last of The Time Lords, but I didn't see their connection at all then. It was really tangible and low-key in EoT. ALSO THE TARDIS CHURCH WINDOW. <3
EoT 2, I think was better than part 1, which isn't saying much, but there you are. XD I really don't like the Doctor's ranting at Wilf. It works for Ten at this point, I suppose, since he is unhinged and has lived too long. (I will take a moment, though, to self-indulgently point out that my RP TARDIS mirrors this nicely by railing against a decision she ultimately knows she will make. Oh, the fucked upness. XD ) But the Doctor would be more dignified about it, just like when the Lord President said "You will die with us" and he simply replied "I know." So... hmph.
Also, did we really need a spaceship fight in there? And a flying Doctor? I bet they just did the whole falling through the glass ceiling thing so they could make him look all beat up without wasting much time on it. I felt pretty cheated on that, since I had expected epic Ten whumping. Ever since I first saw that pic of Eleven in his torn up clothes, I thought "omg what are they going to do to poor Ten D:" and then it ends up being self-inflicted by a stupid harebrained stunt. :|
Two more irky things... First, the Time Lords being this horrible at the end of the War. I think that's totally cheapening his terrible decision to wipe them out along with the Daleks and his subsequent guilt and harping on about it. I mean, yes, genocide is bad, but if they were a greater threat to the universe than even the Daleks, then it wasn't even a dilemma. I liked it SO MUCH better when it was still the murder of his innocent people for the sake of saving the universe. It made it heart-breaking to think about him being forced to make that decision and justified his guilt and his putting them on a pedestal even though he couldn't stand them for most of his life. Now it just... doesn't make sense. I really hate this, it retroactively ruins every instance of him feeling bad about it for me.
Second, yes, he died too long. I more or less liked the good-byes at the end, but it did take the tension out. And then he dragged himself through the snow. And then he dragged himself around in the TARDIS (and hey, would it have killed them to have her doors swing open for him or something? It's not that hard to include a little shippy moment for those two, geez). And then he was whiny. Although, having seen the "emotional" take in the Confidential, the one in the episode doesn't seem too bad, heh. I'll just pretend the TARDIS was trying to be comforting and preparing him for the regeneration and he was talking to her. AND THEN HE WENT AND BLEW HER UP. Not cool, Ten. :|
There are good things about this episode though! The Master was great, obvs. I just love how his plan goes all to hell and he's all "But I summoned you! D: D: D:" So very in character. XD And of course his final act of awesomeness. The Lord President was powerful and a great enemy, and kinda hawt, ngl. The musical score, again. Wilf's quiet knocking, oh dear. Brilliant and so sad. The fact that the Doctor found a third option when everyone was expecting him to kill either the President or the Master. That's the Doctor, and I love it to bits. Jack's scene in the bar, because all the aliens from the past four years and the music felt like a sweet wrap-up. And Rose's scene, because it was lovely done and understated, instead of the sobfest it could have been. And above all the acting, because it makes my heart break despite all my dislike for what is said. I can criticise his whininess all I want, but damn if his "I don't wanna go" doesn't make me want to cling to him and bawl. A+, David. I've also realized that upon second and third rewatch, it gets to me more than at first. Probably because I automatically keep myself together when watching with my Mom, lol.
MY THEORIES OF GREAT IMPORTANCE
- Rassilon: At first I was all wtf, but it does make sense that the Time Lords would resurrect their most revered leader, and that he'd be an ass about NEVAR DYING and screwing the universe over for it. And as Jazzy pointed out, messing with batshit people is kind of what he does. XD Needed moar talking in capslock though.
- The old lady in white: I've read several theories, and I think I like the Susan one the best. It certainly makes more sense than her being Donna or (god forbid) Rose, and still explains the focus on Donna when Wilf asks who she was. I mean, besides the obvious "how the hell did Donna get to Gallifrey?" I also wonder why she'd call her gramps Wilfred and old soldier. It doesn't really matter though, because my shipper heart insists it's the TARDIS and that is what I will believe forever. She seems so eternally sad and wise, and that look they exchange while the Doctor's Theme is playing would set my heart a-flutter if it's her. You can say the TARDIS was lost before the Doctor found her, right? And maybe she just used that Time Lady's appearance or... IDK IT MAKES SENSE IN MY HEAD OKAY.
- Ten's reward. When you have a time machine living in your head, you do not take well to the Doctor's final act being SAVING EVEN MORE PEOPLE THAT ARE SUPPOSED TO DIE. Technically it was like Waters of Mars, just without the fuss. But since that ruins all kinds of things for me, I'm trying to convince myself that he didn't set out to save them, that they weren't fixed points and therefore it isn't any different than the meddling he always does by showing up in the middle of some events. I mean, he didn't even know in what year he was visiting Rose. Maybe he just told the TARDIS to find him Martha and Mickey, and Luke and Sarah Jane, and her parting gift to him was to take him to moments where he could do something good for them. She always takes him places where he's needed anyway, it's not any different, right? Hmmph.
RP WHININGS
Whaaat am I supposed to do with theoldgirl now? I've been keeping her in canon and I would really like to continue doing so, but I can't not play her for four months or whatever. But keeping her stuck in emoing about Ten's impending death for that time until I can let her catch up with canon would suck too. She's not exactly a barrell of laughs right now (though I guesssss her mood will improve some once Zagreus fixes Ten for her, but who knows how that all will even turn out, and she'd still have to worry about whether or not he'll die permanently and wtf is happening to Time). And I can't make her go AU with Ten not dying, because she's seen his death coming and all. I'm just... stumped. Halp, anyone?
And for everyone who made it through this post, have a cute shippy gif cuz those are the best.
All in all, I'm mostly disappointed and frustrated. Ten deserved a much better send-off, and it's not like RTD isn't capable of heart-wrenching writing. I was pretty much shaking at the end of Waters of Mars and no matter how many times I watch it, I get flaily all over again. End of Time should have been like that. Hmph. What it was is a lot of mediocre stuff, little things here and there that were really awesome, and some big WTF and NOT OKAY moments.
EoT 1, I'll go with the general "what was RTD smoking?" opinion. The Master race... I get that it was supposed to be terrible, the whole human race erased and replaced by the Master, but... wtf. You just don't feel that while there's John Simm running around in drag and waving from every balcony and all this nonsense. And don't get me started on the cult of Saxon and the incestuous Naismiths and the Master's superpowers (and the TARDIS car alarm, but we knew that already XD). I feel bad that I didn't care about Donna much in this, even though she used to be my favorite companion. There just... wasn't enough of her in it at all. She was mostly just one of the people running around in the background, which sucks for someone who used to be so awesome and perfect for Ten.
What I really loved was the narration, it was a novel idea and gave the whole thing a sense of... epicness, like a legend, or a fairy tale. Really lovely. The score was also great in some places, especially the variations on This Is Gallifrey. I also liked the Vinvocci, they were snarky and fun, and of course Ten and Wilf's scenes. The Doctor/Master stuff was really really good in this and Part 2 too. I don't know if it's because I didn't know about their history back when I first saw Sound of Drums/Last of The Time Lords, but I didn't see their connection at all then. It was really tangible and low-key in EoT. ALSO THE TARDIS CHURCH WINDOW. <3
EoT 2, I think was better than part 1, which isn't saying much, but there you are. XD I really don't like the Doctor's ranting at Wilf. It works for Ten at this point, I suppose, since he is unhinged and has lived too long. (I will take a moment, though, to self-indulgently point out that my RP TARDIS mirrors this nicely by railing against a decision she ultimately knows she will make. Oh, the fucked upness. XD ) But the Doctor would be more dignified about it, just like when the Lord President said "You will die with us" and he simply replied "I know." So... hmph.
Also, did we really need a spaceship fight in there? And a flying Doctor? I bet they just did the whole falling through the glass ceiling thing so they could make him look all beat up without wasting much time on it. I felt pretty cheated on that, since I had expected epic Ten whumping. Ever since I first saw that pic of Eleven in his torn up clothes, I thought "omg what are they going to do to poor Ten D:" and then it ends up being self-inflicted by a stupid harebrained stunt. :|
Two more irky things... First, the Time Lords being this horrible at the end of the War. I think that's totally cheapening his terrible decision to wipe them out along with the Daleks and his subsequent guilt and harping on about it. I mean, yes, genocide is bad, but if they were a greater threat to the universe than even the Daleks, then it wasn't even a dilemma. I liked it SO MUCH better when it was still the murder of his innocent people for the sake of saving the universe. It made it heart-breaking to think about him being forced to make that decision and justified his guilt and his putting them on a pedestal even though he couldn't stand them for most of his life. Now it just... doesn't make sense. I really hate this, it retroactively ruins every instance of him feeling bad about it for me.
Second, yes, he died too long. I more or less liked the good-byes at the end, but it did take the tension out. And then he dragged himself through the snow. And then he dragged himself around in the TARDIS (and hey, would it have killed them to have her doors swing open for him or something? It's not that hard to include a little shippy moment for those two, geez). And then he was whiny. Although, having seen the "emotional" take in the Confidential, the one in the episode doesn't seem too bad, heh. I'll just pretend the TARDIS was trying to be comforting and preparing him for the regeneration and he was talking to her. AND THEN HE WENT AND BLEW HER UP. Not cool, Ten. :|
There are good things about this episode though! The Master was great, obvs. I just love how his plan goes all to hell and he's all "But I summoned you! D: D: D:" So very in character. XD And of course his final act of awesomeness. The Lord President was powerful and a great enemy, and kinda hawt, ngl. The musical score, again. Wilf's quiet knocking, oh dear. Brilliant and so sad. The fact that the Doctor found a third option when everyone was expecting him to kill either the President or the Master. That's the Doctor, and I love it to bits. Jack's scene in the bar, because all the aliens from the past four years and the music felt like a sweet wrap-up. And Rose's scene, because it was lovely done and understated, instead of the sobfest it could have been. And above all the acting, because it makes my heart break despite all my dislike for what is said. I can criticise his whininess all I want, but damn if his "I don't wanna go" doesn't make me want to cling to him and bawl. A+, David. I've also realized that upon second and third rewatch, it gets to me more than at first. Probably because I automatically keep myself together when watching with my Mom, lol.
MY THEORIES OF GREAT IMPORTANCE
- Rassilon: At first I was all wtf, but it does make sense that the Time Lords would resurrect their most revered leader, and that he'd be an ass about NEVAR DYING and screwing the universe over for it. And as Jazzy pointed out, messing with batshit people is kind of what he does. XD Needed moar talking in capslock though.
- The old lady in white: I've read several theories, and I think I like the Susan one the best. It certainly makes more sense than her being Donna or (god forbid) Rose, and still explains the focus on Donna when Wilf asks who she was. I mean, besides the obvious "how the hell did Donna get to Gallifrey?" I also wonder why she'd call her gramps Wilfred and old soldier. It doesn't really matter though, because my shipper heart insists it's the TARDIS and that is what I will believe forever. She seems so eternally sad and wise, and that look they exchange while the Doctor's Theme is playing would set my heart a-flutter if it's her. You can say the TARDIS was lost before the Doctor found her, right? And maybe she just used that Time Lady's appearance or... IDK IT MAKES SENSE IN MY HEAD OKAY.
- Ten's reward. When you have a time machine living in your head, you do not take well to the Doctor's final act being SAVING EVEN MORE PEOPLE THAT ARE SUPPOSED TO DIE. Technically it was like Waters of Mars, just without the fuss. But since that ruins all kinds of things for me, I'm trying to convince myself that he didn't set out to save them, that they weren't fixed points and therefore it isn't any different than the meddling he always does by showing up in the middle of some events. I mean, he didn't even know in what year he was visiting Rose. Maybe he just told the TARDIS to find him Martha and Mickey, and Luke and Sarah Jane, and her parting gift to him was to take him to moments where he could do something good for them. She always takes him places where he's needed anyway, it's not any different, right? Hmmph.
RP WHININGS
Whaaat am I supposed to do with theoldgirl now? I've been keeping her in canon and I would really like to continue doing so, but I can't not play her for four months or whatever. But keeping her stuck in emoing about Ten's impending death for that time until I can let her catch up with canon would suck too. She's not exactly a barrell of laughs right now (though I guesssss her mood will improve some once Zagreus fixes Ten for her, but who knows how that all will even turn out, and she'd still have to worry about whether or not he'll die permanently and wtf is happening to Time). And I can't make her go AU with Ten not dying, because she's seen his death coming and all. I'm just... stumped. Halp, anyone?
And for everyone who made it through this post, have a cute shippy gif cuz those are the best.
