DW Thoughts (Spoilerish)

[alixtii]

I expect a show about time travel to have reset buttons, and it was clear from the beginning that they weren't going to go the "Year of Hell" ( a Voyager episode I've never actually seen, actually) route without utilizing the rest button. Actually, its shocking how little stuff like that is utilized in a series about time travel. I mean, we've had, what, three causality loops so far in the new series? All of them in season 3? (Sally Sparrow, the face of Boe, and the tie-less Doctor in "Smith and Jones.") Unless there's been one that I missed. (I'm not counting "Father's Day" as a causality loop because I'm not really sure what happened in that episode--didn't she actually change history a little bit?)

Anyway, I like reset buttons and causality loops and temporal paradoxes--that's what time travel stories are for. *Goes off to re-read "All You Zombies"*

And given that all the causality loops fall in season 3, are we assuming that the tie-less Doctor and the Sally Sparrow stuff were really foreshadowing for the Face of Boe revelation?

Jack = Face of Boe is full of awesome and how come I didn't see that coming? (Well, I did, but only seconds before the revelation came.) Now I want to watch all of the Face of Boe episodes over again.

It's awfully easy to forget when watching these episodes that the Jack we see on Torchwood is not a nice guy, his team is not made up of good people, and that they're still engaging in questionable extralegal activities. But it does make one wonder if he believes what he told the Doctor and if so, when he's going to realize the truth. Also whether RTD believes what Jack told the Doctor.

Did the Master seriously believe that the Doctor had asked Martha to kill? Because Ten's right--"as if."

Decimation always makes me think of X-Men now. I like seeing people use the older (I won't say "correct" because language shifts) definition, though.

I love Lucy Saxon and do hope that was her fishing her dead husband's ring out of the ashes. Not unrelatedly, the actress has excellent skin and is generally hot.

The "Doctor harnesses the population of the Earth thinking in unison" climax was everything I want from science fiction--equal parts sentimentality, will-to-power, and sheer awesomeness. And it's all because of Martha, who not only was awesome but got to save the world, and then bow out gracefully with dignity intact. Martha rocks.

I really wish they didn't feel the need to end the season on a cliff-hanger, though. The appearance of the runaway bride at the end of "Doomsday" made a thematic point about the Doctor moving on, but we didn't need that this time 'round and the Titanic thing was just silly. And I'm trying to imagine potential plots on the Titanic and the Charley Pollard comparisons are just too obvious. (And will there still be evil Christmas trees and Santa Clauses?)

And it makes me want casting spoilers. Will Tennant be the only name in the credits for the Christmas special?

I'd like to see Harriet Jones again. I love the world-building in general, the balance of power between the Prime Minister and Torchwood (and thus the Crown) and UNIT and the American president and . . . and the people they create to inhabit this world/

But the one thing I still want to know is:

What in the world did Saxon tell Francine about the Doctor?

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/peasant_/]

The Titanic thing was totally thematic - because just when we thought he had nothing left to lose the last and most permanent thing he does have - the Tardis - is grievously wounded by a bloody great ship bashing through it. For me it was hugely poignant and the emotional sting at the end of the episode. Anyway, you need something to say 'the story goes on' because even if it was just a teaser that is still very important, otherwise things would have been too neatly rounded off.


It's awfully easy to forget when watching these episodes that the Jack we see on Torchwood is not a nice guy, his team is not made up of good people, and that they're still engaging in questionable extralegal activities.

I see the Torchwood team as incompetent (that's the fun of it) but I wouldn't say they were bad people. And what they do isn't that questionable or extralegal - the PM knows all about them (even if Jack does avoid talking to him, but that is standard civil service behaviour) and they were originally established by the Crown, so the only slightly doubtful thing is that they sometimes drug the whole of Cardiff. But honestly, who doesn't occasionally want to do that?

[alixtii.livejournal.com]

The PM knows all about them, but it's established in the Christmas Invasion that the PM isn't supposed to know about Torchwood, so it seems to operate without Parliamentary oversight. And since as far as I can tell contemporary interpretations of the British unwritten constitution have the Sovereign's power originating in Parliament, Torchwood is thus a criminal organization.

And I don't know if I'd call them bad people, but they're certainly not good people. That's pretty much established in that montage from the first episode, but driven home most forcefully in the Gwen/Own relationship, in the torture scene in Countrycide, the parallels with Suzy, etc.