NaBloPoMo: Series 1, Episode 13 (Finale Part 2 of 2), "The Parting of The Ways"

WARNING: THIS ANALYSIS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT WATCHED DOCTOR WHO OR AT THE VERY LEAST HAVE NOT SEEN THIS EPISODE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. 

Hi there! This post is a day late, as noted in my previous post. Sorry about that!

Anyway, welcome to my Day 13 NaBloPoMo post, covering the 2nd and final part of the Series 1 finale, "The Parting Of The Ways."

This episode covers the fight against the Daleks at the Game Station and the end of the Ninth Doctor. That really sums it up, actually.

Jack really proved himself in this episode. He helped the Doctor rescue Rose from the Daleks, then took charge and led a team of volunteers to take down an army of Daleks that were gradually inching their way up into the control room, distracting them so the Doctor could set up a Delta Wave that could destroy the rest of the Dalek fleet. He is a pretty darn good Companion.

The Doctor really shows a crisis of conscience in this episode. When the Dalek Emperor points out that using the Delta Wave to take out the Daleks could take out the humans in the vicinity as well, he asks the Doctor if he'll be "a coward or a killer." The Doctor has to think before he responds, then declares that he'd choose to be a coward any day. This hearkens back to "Dalek" where the Doctor tells the lone Dalek that all the other Time Lords died, and the Dalek replies, "And the coward survived." That's been the Doctor's struggle all through the season - he could have stayed and brought an end to the Time War in some braver fashion, but instead he unleashed something (canon doesn't say what, but the comics - the canon status of which is questionable - tell us he used some powerful Time Lord weapon) that took out all the Time Lords and most of the Daleks, then stole a TARDIS, and ran away.

The Doctor also shows a crisis of conscience when he sends Rose home for her own safety. Clearly, he had planned to do so ahead of time - since he had the time to not only pre-program the TARDIS to take her home but also record a farewell hologram - and yet when the camera shows him pointing the Sonic Screwdriver at the TARDIS to send it away, and you hear Rose banging on the door and crying out in the background, the pain on his face is pretty obvious. He really doesn't want to have to do it, but he cares enough for her safety that he has to.

And that brings us to the whole "Bad Wolf" scenario with Rose saving the Doctor. I knew it was coming, but the whole way it played out seemed rather underwhelming. I mean, if the Heart of the TARDIS is going to grant Rose reality-warping-goddess powers à la Haruhi Suzumiya, don't you think it would be more, well, epic? Sure, she pilots the TARDIS back to the Doctor, resurrects Jack (and, we find out later - in Torchwood and in Series 3 of Doctor Who - made him immortal), and destroys the entire 200-ship Dalek fleet, including the supposedly omnipotent Dalek Emperor. But there's no pizazz about it, no explosions, no epic music, nothing. Just Rose with glowing eyes and face, with the ability to see all of space and time, and minus her London accent. It seems very anticlimactic for being such a key moment.

The ending of the episode, with the Doctor kissing Rose to get the Time Vortex she absorbed out of her before it kills her, and the ensuing regeneration scene, were also pretty anticlimactic. Sure, the kiss was great, although a little creepy with the energy flowing between their eyes. And the brief moment where the Doctor's eyes are golden and he releases the energy through his mouth is pretty creepy too. I mean, he never looks more alien than in that moment.

But in the scene that follows, the Doctor is dying, yet he jokes his way through it. It seems rather inappropriate for the nature of the scene. Maybe it's just his personality (after all, this is the Doctor who says "fantastic" at the most inappropriate times). Still, it bugged me that he could joke about noseless dogs and about whether he'd have two heads or no head at a time like this! Why didn't Rose tell him off either? Grr!

Well, that's the end of that, the end of Series 1, the end of Nine. As his successor would say, "Allons-y!"

Speaking of Ten, we get a brief glimpse of him in this episode, right at the end when the Doctor regenerates. David Tennant in all his goofy glory. He only gets a couple lines in this episode, but here he is!

Tune in next time for the Series 1 Christmas Special and the Tenth Doctor's first adventure!

Final Thoughts on the Ninth Doctor

This being the Ninth Doctor's last episode, I wanted to give some final thoughts on him, like how I wrote about my first impression of him in the Episode 1 analysis.

As I have mentioned before, I went into this series/season expecting to like the Ninth Doctor a lot, since he fit my mental idea of what I imagined the Doctor to be like. But as the series progressed, I became more and more dissatisfied with Nine. He has a penchant for dark humor (saying "fantastic" in situations that are clearly not), is extremely judgmental of humans, and is overall not a very pleasant guy. Ok, so he has PTSD and all that from the Time War. And PTSD is a serious deal; it's not something to joke about. It still doesn't give him an excuse to be as much of a jerk as he was. I found myself liking Rose more than him (much like how I like Amy more than Eleven), and even liking JACK more than him - and I never expected to even like Jack. Sure, he had his good moments, but overall he just didn't do it for me.

I'm not saying Christopher Eccleston isn't a good actor; I'm sure he's a great actor. I'd be willing to see him in something else. (He's going to be in Thor: The Dark World, which comes out this November, as the main villain Malekith the Accursed, so maybe I'll go see him in that). But, as they say, sometimes an actor's only as good as their script. Eccleston even said in a recent Q & A that he felt he could've done more with the character if he'd stuck around. (Interestingly, he said that at a Q & A for a production of Antigone, in which he played Creon - having read that play multiple times, I'd be really interested to see how he plays that role...or any other stage role for that matter, cause he seems like he'd be a good stage actor. But then pretty much every British actor of note has spent some time "treading the boards"...it's almost like a requirement there; I wish it were here, maybe we'd have better actors). Also, it's worth noting that over half the season was written by one guy: Russell T Davies, the showrunner. My experience so far with Doctor Who has been that the later seasons, which feature a greater variety of writers, seem to just work better. And yes, I realize the current showrunner, Steven Moffat, does write a lot of the episodes himself. And both him and Davies were big fans of Who before they were even involved with it. But Moffat had a lot of experience on the writing staff before becoming showrunner, which may have helped. But that was one thing I noticed watching Series 1 was that almost all the episodes were written by Russell T Davies (8 out of 13 to be exact; he also wrote the Christmas Special and the Children in Need Special), and I would actually get excited when his name did NOT appear along with the episode title. So that may have influenced how things went as well. So, I can't blame it all on Eccleston.

That all being said, I would say Nine is not my favorite Doctor. And that's my final opinion.

***

NaBloPoMo Special:

The Love of the Doctor and Rose Tyler

Part Thirteen: The Farewell

Since the theme of NaBloPoMo this month is "Love and Sex" (probably because of Valentine's Day), I feel compelled to write something about love in my posts. Hence, since I am exploring Series 1 and 2 in this challenge, I am going to write a little special essay throughout the month about the growing love between the Doctor and Rose. Please note I am in no way an expert on relationships.

This episode brings a sad moment in the romance of the Doctor and Rose - the farewell. Not the final farewell, mind you - that comes later. But a farewell nonetheless.

The Doctor's feelings for Rose, though not expressed in words, come out in this episode. Not only does he save her from the Daleks, just as he vowed to do, but when things get really dangerous, he protects her -- by sending her home. Even Rose's mum points this out, by saying that even though she never much liked the Doctor, he did the right thing sending Rose home to her mother. He also saves her when she returns to him anyway, by kissing her in order to absorb the Time Vortex and send its power back to the Heart of the TARDIS. He knows doing so will kill him, but he does it anyway. If that's not love, I don't know what is.

Rose also realizes in this episode just how much traveling with the Doctor has changed her life. He made her life better when she didn't have much to live for. As she puts it, before she met the Doctor, all she did each day was get up, catch the bus, go to work, come home, eat chips, go to bed. She actually has something to live for now, and she just can't go back to a normal life. So she takes drastic measures, cracks open the TARDIS console with some help from Mickey and her mum, and looks into the Heart of the TARDIS for the Doctor's sake.

Now, one could argue that it was the "Bad Wolf" meme that truly inspired Rose to action in this episode - after all, that was the whole purpose of the meme in the first place. The Bad Wolf scattered the meme across time and space precisely to give Rose the courage to go back and save the Doctor at this point in time. And yet I don't think that was the only thing motivating Rose. After all, to give her the power to become the Bad Wolf, the telepathic powers within the Heart of the TARDIS had to latch on to something - some thought or feeling. And I'm sure it latched on to her love for the Doctor and her desire for him to live. I don't see any other explanation.

But now that the Doctor has a new face, will Rose be able to love him just as much? We'll see!

***

Tune in next time for Day 14 of my NaBloPoMo challenge! The halfway mark woohoo!

Picture from Sonic Biro.

NaBloPoMo: Series 1, Episode 12 (Finale Part 1 of 2), "Bad Wolf"

WARNING: THIS ANALYSIS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT WATCHED DOCTOR WHO OR AT THE VERY LEAST HAVE NOT SEEN THIS EPISODE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. 

It's Day 12 of my NaBloPoMo challenge! Today I'm analyzing the first part of the Series 1 finale: Series 1, Episode 12: "Bad Wolf."

In this episode, after returning the egg that was Blon Slitheen to Raxacoriofallapatorius and a brief stop in 1336 Kyoto from which the Doctor, Rose, and Jack barely escaped (this was during the very beginning of the Nanboku-chō period, a tumultuous time in Japanese history during which the Northern and Southern Imperial Courts fought over who was the legitimate ruler of the country, which may explain why they barely escaped), some weird beam enters the TARDIS and the Doctor, Rose, and Jack get separated.

That's all revealed in flashback, though. The episode starts with each member of the trio waking up in some weird place and having no clue how they got there, until the initial amnesia from the transmat wears off.

The Doctor wakes up curled in a closet, where he's found by a bubbly girl named Lynda. To his surprise, he finds out he is on Big Brother. Yeah, the reality show Big Brother. Soon after arrival, he is called to the "diary room" (a sort of confessional room), where a big red chair sits against a black background. This produces probably my favorite Ninth Doctor moment ever, which I've liked since I saw the clip in a special:

DAVINA [OC]: You are live on channel forty four thousand. Please do not swear.
DOCTOR: You have got to be kidding. 

(This is supposedly a play on the actual UK Big Brother show, where Davina McCall, who was the host of Big Brother UK at the time this episode aired, would say, "You are live on Channel 4; please do not swear" when delivering the live eviction results [Source]).

Rose, meanwhile, wakes up on some studio set, where an android is being activated minutes before the show goes live. Though Rose insists she's not supposed to be there, a guy named Rodrick directs her to a podium with her name on it, telling her to do everything the android says. When the people activating the android step away, Rose suddenly realizes the robot in front of her isn't an android. It's an "Anne Droid." She's on The Weakest Link, and the droid is supposed to be that show's host, Anne Robinson.

Jack wakes up on a couch in a strange white room, with two female-looking droids looking over him and criticizing his fashion sense. The droids are Trine-E and Zu-Zana, and Jack is on What Not to Wear. Unlike Rose and the Doctor, Jack revels in the situation, even flirting with the robots, and comments that their viewing figures just went up after they strip him nude using some laser gun called a Defabricator. (The scene is shot very deliberately so that you only see Jack nude from the waist up. After all, this is a "family show").

The bulk of the episode has to do with them getting out of their respective situations. Rose is forced to just play her game, at which she does miserably because she's not from the century they're currently in. She finds out how dangerous the game is as well: anyone who is voted the Weakest Link gets disintegrated by a beam from the Anne Droid's mouth. Someone who tries to quit and run away gets disintegrated as well. Jack goes with the flow until he realizes the droids are going to cut his head off. He then pulls a gun out of somewhere (not sure where cause he's naked...I can guess, but I don't want to go there) and shoots the Trine-E and Zu-Zana robots, then MacGuyvers a gun out of the Defabricator. The Doctor, failing to find a way out of the Big Brother house, sits with the three real housemates while they wait to find out who's being evicted, and is then alarmed when evicted housemate Crosbie is disintegrated by some beam. He then remembers that Lynda mentioned that another housemate - Linda with an I - was forcibly evicted for damaging a camera. (There is no specific rule prohibiting this in real life, though you are required to not mess with the fittings or the furniture and to keep items in the House in working order). He thus uses his Sonic Screwdriver to damage a camera, and sure enough, a pre-programmed response chooses him for eviction. But, as he predicted, the beam does not activate for him (he's already figured out somebody wants him there), and he escapes with Lynda.

As the episode progresses, the Doctor realizes that the Game Station is really Satellite Five - but 100 years after he last visited it. And despite all he did to make things better for people by destroying the Jagrafess and stopping the news programming that was - he thought - keeping people on the Earth enslaved, it turns out he just made things worse. Now the Earth is covered with dangerous smog and people are stuck watching reality and game shows from the Game Station all the time, never knowing when they might get randomly transmatted to the station to play some game or other (there are apparently 10 floors of just Big Brother, with 60 Big Brother houses operating simultaneously). For the first time (in the reboot series anyway), the Doctor is faced with the unforeseen consequences of his actions, and needless to say, he's not quite sure how to fix things.

Meanwhile, Jack finds the Doctor, having scanned for the Doctor's 2-heart system using his handy wristwatch computer. He lends the watch to the Doctor so he can determine Rose's location using one of the satellite's consoles. They find it just in time, right after Rose has been determined the loser of the final round of The Weakest Link. But before they can get to her, she gets hit with the disintegrator beam!

The Doctor is distraught over this turn of events, believing Rose is now dead. He, Lynda, and Jack storm Floor 500, once again the center of operations. Jack manages to get into Archive Six - despite the protests of the Controller - where he finds the TARDIS and figures out that Rose is alive, just transmatted somewhere else in space.

Just when things couldn't possibly get worse...they do. The Doctor finds the signal hidden behind the Game Station's transmissions, and what does he find?

200 warships, heading for Earth, armed to the teeth...with dangerous armored brass pepper pots. Guess who's back!

That's right...the Daleks. They were behind this from the start, those darn resilient, unusually intelligent, hate-filled robots.

But now the stakes are higher. Not only are they out to invade Earth - with the Earthlings not having a clue - but they have Rose. And the Doctor has to decide between saving her and saving the Earth.

As noted below (in the "NaBloPoMo Special" section - in case you've noticed repetition between the main post and that part, it's because I sometimes write that part first), he chooses both. He'll save both. The Daleks take this as throwing down the gauntlet and commence their attack.

As the title of the episode suggests, the "Bad Wolf" meme comes to a head in this episode. The group behind the Game Station is the "Bad Wolf Corporation," and Rose is reminded of how many times she's encountered the words "Bad Wolf."

I liked the reality show references in this episode. I have some familiarity with all three shows the trio ends up on, though only in their U.S. versions. I have the most familiarity with What Not to Wear cause my mom watches the U.S. version all the time. That the show was able to get the real-life hosts of the featured shows to cameo - yes, that is really Davina McCall, Anne Robinson, Trinny Woodall, and Susannah Constantine's voices you hear coming from those droids - makes it cooler.

Somehow the fact that losing the news programs on Satellite Five would devolve to a reality show-orientated setup actually doesn't surprise me. I mean, isn't that what's happening now in the real world? All the quality TV is getting replaced with trash, mostly in the form of reality TV. This episode is probably meant as a warning about that very thing.

Now, don't get me wrong, I have reality shows I like. I like American Idol, I am a big fan of most of the shows on HGTV, and I have been a devoted fan of The Amazing Race since season 5. But a lot of the reality shows these days just are trash. Just the other night my mom was saying she can't understand why people watch The Bachelor.

Anyway, I'm ranting now, so I'll end here. What will the second half of the Series 1 finale bring? We'll see!

***

NaBloPoMo Special:

The Love of the Doctor and Rose Tyler

Part Twelve: The Doctor's Choice

Since the theme of NaBloPoMo this month is "Love and Sex" (probably because of Valentine's Day), I feel compelled to write something about love in my posts. Hence, since I am exploring Series 1 and 2 in this challenge, I am going to write a little special essay throughout the month about the growing love between the Doctor and Rose. Please note I am in no way an expert on relationships.

In this episode, the finale of Series 1 begins. If there was any time for the truth of the Doctor and Rose's relationship to come out, it would be now.

And it does. First off, the Doctor, Rose, and Jack get separated on the Game Station, meaning the Doctor must search for his Companions while also trying to figure out what the heck is going on and how he got on this satellite. When he does finally find Rose, he's unable to get to her before she gets vaporized by the mysterious disintegrator beam that zaps anybody who loses one of the games on the Station. As far as the Doctor knows, she's dead - and it's his fault for not being able to save her.

Luckily, Jack manages to get into the access-forbidden Archive Six on Floor 500 of the station, where he finds the TARDIS. Using the TARDIS's computer, he is able to find out that the beam is not in fact a disintegrator beam, but a transmat beam. He rushes back to tell the Doctor the news -- that Rose is not in fact dead but has been transported somewhere else in space. He and the Doctor rush to a computer to try to determine the origin of the signal behind the transmat beam.

But, just when things couldn't get any worse, the Doctor discovers (yet again) that his mortal enemies, the Daleks, are alive and well and the ones behind this whole Game Station/Satellite Five business. And they have 200 ships, armed to the teeth with angry Daleks, about to invade the Earth, and the people of Earth have no idea.

But then it gets worse. The Daleks initiate communications with the Doctor...and they have Rose. Their ultimatum: do what we say, or Rose gets exterminated.

At this moment, the Doctor has a choice to make. Does he save Earth, or save Rose?

As it turns out, both:

DOCTOR: No.
(Everyone looks at the Doctor.)
DALEK [on viewscreen]: Explain yourself.
DOCTOR: I said no.
DALEK [on viewscreen]: What is the meaning of this negative?
DOCTOR: It means no.
DALEK: But she will be destroyed.
DOCTOR [on viewscreen]: No!
DOCTOR: Because this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to rescue her.
DOCTOR [on viewscreen]: I'm going to save Rose Tyler from the middle of the Dalek fleet
DOCTOR: And then I'm going to save the Earth, and then, just to finish off, I'm going to wipe every last stinking Dalek out of the sky!
DALEK: But you have no weapons, no defences, no plan.
DOCTOR: Yeah. And doesn't that scare you to death. Rose?

ROSE: Yes, Doctor?
DOCTOR [on viewscreen]: I'm coming to get you.

Clearly, the Doctor has developed some sort of feelings for Rose, enough to risk invading a Dalek warship just to get her back, even though he knows all too well how dangerous the Daleks are. Not only that, but he doesn't even choose between her and the Earth - he's developed enough affection for Earth to not even make that choice. He's going to save her AND the world, while taking revenge on his people by wiping out the Daleks while he's at it. It's a dangerous plan, but he's going to go for it no matter what.

But can he keep that up? Can he save her from the Daleks? We'll find out next time!

***

Check in tomorrow for Day 13 of the challenge, covering the second and final part of the Series 1 finale!

Quotes from The Doctor Who Transcripts

NaBloPoMo: Series 1, Episode 11, "Boom Town"

WARNING: THIS ANALYSIS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT WATCHED DOCTOR WHO OR AT THE VERY LEAST HAVE NOT SEEN THIS EPISODE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. 

It's Day 11 of my NaBloPoMo challenge! Today's episode: Series 1, Episode 11, "Boom Town."

In this episode, the Doctor, Rose, and Jack stop off in modern-day Cardiff to refuel the TARDIS at the Time-Space Rift. Remember that Rift Gwyneth sacrificed her life to close in episode 3? Well, it's still closed, but kind of like in the His Dark Materials trilogy (which had tears in the fabric of space made by the Subtle Knife), there is still a scar of it left, and the power from that is apparently just right for refueling the TARDIS.

Meanwhile, Mickey meets up with the trio to give Rose her passport, and they wander around Cardiff to pass the time till the Rift opens.

However, trouble is brewing. Remember those Slitheen from episodes 4 and 5? Well, turns out one of them - Blon Slitheen, alias Margaret Blaine of MI5 - survived the bombing of 10 Downing Street by teleporting out at the last minute and has installed herself as the Lord Mayor of Cardiff in the six-month interim. And she's got her hands on a super high-tech pan-dimensional surfboard which she intends to ride on straight out into space using the power from the Rift.

There isn't much action in this episode, not to the extent there is in the original Slitheen-focused 2-parter. There is some character and relationship development, though, which is good so close to the finale. Mickey and Rose finally get some alone time after being separated for ages, and the Doctor has an awkward (perhaps that's an understatement) date with Margaret/Blon. All while poor Jack is left alone making repairs to the TARDIS.

Margaret attempts to make herself a sympathetic character in this episode, but it's hard to imagine she's actually sincere, considering the very name of the game for her kind is deception (through the wearing of skin suits) and murder. And in the end, it's revealed that she intends to take the TARDIS out with her using the Rift's power, while she surfs to safety on her high-tech surfboard (and she even tries to take Rose with her).

But instead of killing her - or taking her back as is to her home planet, where she and her whole family have been sentenced to death - the Doctor does something pretty surprising. He gives her a second chance. He has her look into the Heart of the TARDIS, which was exposed due to the damage done to the ship by the Rift, and she regresses to an egg (leaving her skin suit behind). They then head off to Margaret's unpronounceable home planet to give her egg to a different family so she can get a fresh start.

It's also notable that in this episode the Doctor realizes the "Bad Wolf" theme has been following him and Rose. (The reference in this episode is Margaret's nuclear station project, called "Blaidd Dwwg," or "Bad Wolf" in Welsh). He, however, dismisses it as coincidence.

Well, next time the finale starts! See you then!

***

NaBloPoMo Special:

The Love of the Doctor and Rose Tyler

Part Eleven: The Love Triangle

Since the theme of NaBloPoMo this month is "Love and Sex" (probably because of Valentine's Day), I feel compelled to write something about love in my posts. Hence, since I am exploring Series 1 and 2 in this challenge, I am going to write a little special essay throughout the month about the growing love between the Doctor and Rose. Please note I am in no way an expert on relationships.

This episode brings to the forefront something that was bound to come up sooner or later in the Doctor and Rose's relationship: the issue of the love triangle between the Doctor, Rose, and Mickey.

Mickey finds out that Rose's request for her passport was a ruse, and is excited that she wants to spend time with him. He suggests they go out for a drink, and possibly even stay at a hotel overnight (clearly one of those euphemisms intended for the adults watching), since the TARDIS can't leave till the next day anyway. Rose agrees, and they go off together (which we see the Doctor watching on a CCTV-like monitor in the TARDIS, though when he's asked about it, he brushes it off). But all she talks about are the places she visited with the Doctor. Finally Mickey decides it's time to Define the Relationship:

MICKEY: So, what do you want to do now?
ROSE: Don't mind.
MICKEY: We could ask about hotels.
ROSE: What would Trisha Delaney say?
MICKEY: Suppose. There's a bar down there with a Spanish name or something
ROSE: You don't even like Trisha Delaney!
MICKEY: Oh, is that right? What the hell do you know?
ROSE: I know you, And I know her. And I know that's never going to happen. So who do you think you're kidding?
MICKEY: At least I know where she is!
ROSE: There we are, then. It's got nothing to do with Trisha. This is all about me, isn't it
MICKEY: You left me! We were nice, we were happy. And then what? You give me a kiss and you run off with him, and you make me feel like nothing, Rose. I was nothing. I can't even go out with a stupid girl from a shop because you pick up the phone and I comes running. I mean, is that what I am, Rose, standby? Am I just supposed to sit here for the rest of my life, waiting for you? Because I will.
ROSE: I'm sorry.
...
MICKEY: I'm not asking you to leave him, because I know that's not fair. But I just need something, yeah? Some sort of promise that when you do come back, you're coming back for me.

It's been pretty clear all series that Rose has never cared for Mickey as much as he does for her. Or if she did once, she doesn't anymore. And this episode more or less clenches that. Mickey doesn't break up with her officially till next season though, so I suppose this love triangle will last a bit longer (though I guess it's a love square actually, with Jack in the mix).

The Doctor also acknowledges Rose's relationship with Mickey, not only by allowing Mickey to help him, Rose, and Jack catch Blon, but also by being willing to delay the TARDIS leaving so Rose can find Mickey. Rose turns down the offer, however, which may be because she and Mickey kinda left on a sour note.

How will the Doctor and Rose's relationship hold up going into the Series 1 finale? We'll see!

***

Check in tomorrow for Day 12 of the challenge, covering Part 1 of the Series 1 finale!

Quote from The Doctor Who Transcripts

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NaBloPoMo: Series 1, Episode 10, "The Doctor Dances"

WARNING: THIS ANALYSIS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT WATCHED DOCTOR WHO OR AT THE VERY LEAST HAVE NOT SEEN THIS EPISODE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. 

Welcome to Day 10 of my NaBloPoMo challenge. Today's episode: Series 1, Episode 10: "The Doctor Dances."

This episode is the 2nd part of the 2-parter begun with "The Empty Child." The title comes from a running gag in the episode about whether or not the Doctor knows how to dance, since Rose mentioned to him that she and Jack had danced (in the previous episode). The title itself is stated in the episode by Rose:

ROSE: Jack'll be back. He'll get us out. So come on. The world doesn't end because the Doctor dances.

The creepiness of the gas-mask children still freaked me out. I'm just saying.

I continued to be surprised by Jack Harkness in this episode. He's definitely not camp. Just a rascal and a ladies' man. Kind of a Han Solo type but way more flirty. And he knows his way with a blaster, which means he's actually of some use in this episode. And much like Han didn't think much of Obi-Wan and Luke's Jedi ways, Jack has the audacity to diss the Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver:

JACK: Who has a sonic screwdriver?
DOCTOR: I do.
ROSE: Lights.
JACK: Who looks at a screwdriver and thinks, ooo, this could be a little more sonic?
DOCTOR: What, you've never been bored?
ROSE: There's got to be a light switch.
DOCTOR: Never had a long night? Never had a lot of cabinets to put up?

I liked the use of 1940's music in this episode, like Glenn Miller's "Moonlight Serenade." I'm really into that kind of music so it was fun to hear!

Nancy was still really great in this episode, much the way Gwyneth was in episode 3 - a minor character who still manages to shine. I liked the conversation she and Rose had about there being a future:

NANCY: Who are you? Who are any of you?
ROSE: You'd never believe me if I told you.
NANCY: You just told me that was an ambulance from another world. There are people running around with gas mask heads calling for their mummies, and the sky's full of Germans dropping bombs on me. Tell me, do you think there's anything left I couldn't believe?
ROSE: We're time travellers from the future.
NANCY: Mad, you are.
ROSE: We have a time travel machine. seriously!
NANCY: It's not that. All right, you've got a time travel machine. I believe you. Believe anything, me. But what future?
ROSE: Nancy, this isn't the end. I know how it looks, but it's not the end of the world or anything
NANCY: How can you say that?? Look at it.
ROSE: Listen to me. I was born in this city. I'm from here, in like, fifty years time.
NANCY: From here?
ROSE: I'm a Londoner. From your future.
NANCY: But, but you're not
ROSE: What?
NANCY: German.
ROSE: Nancy, the Germans don't come here. They don't win. Don't tell anyone I told you so, but you know what? You win.
NANCY: We win?
ROSE: Come on!

The twist at the end of the episode - that Nancy was not in fact Jamie's sister but his MOTHER - was pretty surprising. The 1940's is one of the last time periods you'd expect to hear of teenage unwed mothers. But in retrospect, it makes sense. If you watch how Nancy is with the homeless kids, you can tell she's got a strong maternal instinct, stronger than she would have from just taking care of a little brother or sister. At any rate, I'm glad she was finally able to admit to being a mother and to save everyone in the process.

Speaking of saving people, the Doctor once again shows some appreciation of humankind in this episode, by getting super excited about everyone surviving:

ROSE: What are you doing?
DOCTOR: Software patch. Going to email the upgrade. You want moves, Rose? I'll give you moves.
(He throws the nanogenes to the waiting patients, who fall to the ground..)
DOCTOR: Everybody lives, Rose. Just this once, everybody lives! 
...

DOCTOR: The nanogenes will clean up the mess and switch themselves off, because I just told them to. Nancy and Jamie will go to Doctor Constantine for help, ditto. All in all, all things considered, fantastic!
ROSE: Look at you, beaming away like you're Father Christmas.
DOCTOR: Who says I'm not, red bicycle when you were twelve?
ROSE: What?
DOCTOR: And everybody lives, Rose! Everybody lives! I need more days like this. 

Now, I'm not sure why he's so ecstatic about the idea that "everybody lives," or why that to him is a good day, though I suppose it's not just out of an appreciation for humankind. I think it has something to do with the Time War. From what we've heard through dialogue, the Doctor was responsible in some way or another for his people and all the Daleks dying in the Time War. So I think he's happy that he doesn't have to face that again.

Oh, and Jack has probably the funniest conversation with a computer I've heard since Jeff Bridges's conversation with Clu in the original Tron:

JACK: Okay, computer, how long can we keep the bomb in stasis?
COMPUTER: Stasis decaying at ninety percent cycle. Detonation in three minutes.
JACK: Can we jettison it?
COMPUTER: Any attempt to jettison the device will precipitate detonation. One hundred percent probability.
JACK: We could stick it in an escape pod.
COMPUTER: There is no escape pod on board.
JACK: I see the flaw in that. I'll get in the escape pod.
COMPUTER: There is no escape pod on board.
JACK: Did you check everywhere?
COMPUTER: Affirmative.
JACK: Under the sink?
COMPUTER: Affirmative.
JACK: Okay. Out of one hundred, exactly how dead am I?
COMPUTER: Termination of Captain Jack Harkness in under two minutes. One hundred percent probability.
JACK: Lovely. Thanks. Good to know the numbers.
COMPUTER: You're welcome.
JACK: Okay then. Think we'd better initiate emergency protocol four one seven.
COMPUTER: Affirmative.
(A martini appears. Jack drinks it.)
JACK: Oo, a little too much vermouth. See if I come here again. Funny thing. Last time I was sentenced to death, I ordered four hyper-vodkas for my breakfast. All a bit of a blur after that. Woke up in bed with both my executioners. Mmm, lovely couple. They stayed in touch. Can't say that about most executioners. Anyway. Thanks for everything, computer. It's been great.

It seems so appropriate for Jack's "emergency protocol" to be a glass of alcohol appearing, based on what we know about him so far.

Luckily for Jack, Rose made one last request of the Doctor, and she and the Doctor appear in the TARDIS alongside his invisible ship and save him before his ship explodes. Jack walks in, says the "bigger on the inside" line, and watches the Doctor finally showing off his dance moves.

Well, till tomorrow! Next episode: Episode 11, "Boom Town." Mickey reunites with Rose and the Doctor in Cardiff, and we learn that not all the Slitheen perished at 10 Downing Street...

***

NaBloPoMo Special:

The Love of the Doctor and Rose Tyler

Part Ten: Dance With Me

Since the theme of NaBloPoMo this month is "Love and Sex" (probably because of Valentine's Day), I feel compelled to write something about love in my posts. Hence, since I am exploring Series 1 and 2 in this challenge, I am going to write a little special essay throughout the month about the growing love between the Doctor and Rose. Please note I am in no way an expert on relationships.

Again, due to the impending danger, the Doctor and Rose don't have a lot of time for romance in this episode. But there are moments, mainly because of the running gag about the Doctor's dancing ability. Rose, who's clearly interested in Jack, is looking for that same romantic side from the Doctor, and although he's busy trying to fix the incoming crisis, he's insistent that he too can be romantic and dance with her. It's not quite an argument; it's just Rose asking for a deepening of their relationship that the Doctor isn't quite sure how to deal with.

In the end, though, Rose and the Doctor finally get to dance. He's not much good at a waltz, but once Rose changes the music to a swing song, he catches on and does very well. It's a fun scene to watch, and the Doctor's excitement about it gives this intense and horror-movie-like episode a nice and cute ending, which I like.

***

See you tomorrow for Day 11 of the challenge!  

Quotes from The Doctor Who Transcripts.

NaBloPoMo: Series 1, Episode 9, "The Empty Child"

WARNING: THIS ANALYSIS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT WATCHED DOCTOR WHO OR AT THE VERY LEAST HAVE NOT SEEN THIS EPISODE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. 

Hi there! It's Day 9 of my NaBloPoMo challenge, and today's episode is episode 9 of Series 1, "The Empty Child," also the first part of a 2-parter with tomorrow's episode, "The Doctor Dances."

In this episode, the Doctor and Rose chase some mauve object (mauve being the color of danger for everyone in the universe except us apparently) through the Time Vortex and end up in 1941 London, smack dab in the middle of a German air raid. Not the safest place to be for sure.

This episode also marks the debut of Captain Jack Harkness (played by John Barrowman) to the series for a 5-episode stint (with later cameos to come); he's also the star of the spin-off series Torchwood. Despite my initial impression of Barrowman combined with bits and pieces I heard about Harkness, he's actually not camp at all. Though he's clearly a bit of a rascal and likes to flirt with women. I was also surprised to hear Barrowman speaking in an American accent, as I assumed he was British; turns out he was born in Glasglow but grew up in America. 

The episode primarily revolves around a creepy child wearing a gas mask who goes around saying "Mummy" and has some sort of power over electronic devices like phones and radios. I admit, that kid did creep me out. Supposedly, it creeps most Whovians out; that's the vibe I've gotten from the Doctor Who Google+ community. But me, I'm not into horror films and stuff, plus I was watching this late at night, which makes everything on this show seem scarier.

I liked the character of Nancy a lot. She's a strong girl who's just trying to help the other homeless kids. Granted, the fact that she's sneaking into other people's houses during air raids and stealing their food isn't right, but you can kind of understand why she does it.

It's also worth noting this is the very first in-canon Doctor Who TV episode to be written by Steven Moffat (his official first Who writing credit is the Comic Relief special Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death). This is notable not only as Moffat's first writing credit for the series but also because, if you look at the episodes in Series 1, 8 out of the 13 are written by Russell T Davies (Who's showrunner at the time), as is the Series 1 Christmas Special. So to see an episode in this season actually written by someone other than Davies is interesting. (Moffat also wrote the second part of this 2-parter, "The Doctor Dances").

The Doctor shows a rare moment of appreciation (well, rare for Nine) for the human race in this episode which I thought was interesting:

DOCTOR: Amazing.
NANCY: What is?
DOCTOR: 1941. Right now, not very far from here, the German war machine is rolling up the map of Europe. Country after country, falling like dominoes. Nothing can stop it. Nothing. Until one, tiny, damp little island says no. No. Not here. A mouse in front of a lion. You're amazing, the lot of you. Don't know what you do to Hitler, but you frighten the hell out of me.

It's true - Hitler was able to conquer every other country he set his eyes on, but never Britain. In fact, Britain has the proud accomplishment of having never been successfully invaded since 1066 (the Norman Conquest). It was invaded plenty of times before 1066 but not successfully since then. And believe me, people have tried. Napoleon tried, the Kaiser's army in World War I probably tried, Hitler tried - and those are just the ones I know of.

I also liked Rose calling the Doctor "Spock." It was hilarious. What's odd is that the Doctor doesn't recognize the reference, because according to "Fear Her," the Doctor is apparently a Trekkie, since he flashes the classic Vulcan salute in that episode. But maybe that was just a Tenth Doctor thing.

Ugh...well I'm tired, and I need to get that creepy kid out of my head. Good night!

***

NaBloPoMo Special:

The Love of the Doctor and Rose Tyler

Part Nine: Enter a Rival

Since the theme of NaBloPoMo this month is "Love and Sex" (probably because of Valentine's Day), I feel compelled to write something about love in my posts. Hence, since I am exploring Series 1 and 2 in this challenge, I am going to write a little special essay throughout the month about the growing love between the Doctor and Rose. Please note I am in no way an expert on relationships.

Everything in this episode happens so fast, it's hard for any romance to develop between the Doctor and Rose in this episode. So there really isn't any to write about.

But it is worth noting that a potential romantic rival enters the picture in this episode: Captain Jack Harkness. He's suave, debonair and seems to know how to treat a lady, even if he is a rascally con man. And Rose seemed somewhat attracted to him, though it's hard to say as she was probably not thinking that clearly in that scene, since she was still recovering from the frightening experience of hanging on for dear life from a German barrage balloon in the middle of the London Blitz, and then she probably got a little tipsy off that champagne Jack gave her. 

I guess we'll see if Jack proves to be a rival at all!

*** 

Tune in tomorrow for Day 10 of the challenge! 

Quote from The Doctor Who Transcripts. 

NaBloPoMo: Series 1, Episode 8, "Father's Day"

WARNING: THIS ANALYSIS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT WATCHED DOCTOR WHO OR AT THE VERY LEAST HAVE NOT SEEN THIS EPISODE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. 

It's Day 8 of the NaBloPoMo challenge for TARDIS Thoughts! Today's episode: Series 1, Episode 8, "Father's Day."

This episode is all about the relationship between Rose and her dad. The dad she never got to know because she was just a baby when he died. So, it's very emotional.

I find an interesting parallel in this episode to the Series 2 finale. This episode is bookended with lines by Rose introducing her father:

ROSE [OC]: Peter Alan Tyler, my dad. The most wonderful man in the world. Born 15th September 1954. 

ROSE [OC]: Peter Alan Tyler, my dad. The most wonderful man in the world. Died the 7th of November, 1987. 

And in the Series 2 finale, the first of the 2 episodes starts with Rose stating about herself (a moment that is recapped at the start of part 2):

ROSE [OC]: Planet Earth. This is where I was born. And this is where I died....This is the story of how I died.

Ok, maybe it's not a good parallel. But I just found the parallel of the intros interesting.

I liked the interaction between Rose and her dad in this episode. Shaun Dingwall does a great job playing Pete Tyler, a man with a lot of dreams and ideas, but who can't succeed at any of them, but who has a great heart. It made me very glad that my own father, who I am very close to, is still around. He got cancer about 15 years ago, and I was afraid of what would happen, especially since I was out of town on a church retreat the weekend he was supposed to get the surgery that would take the cancer out. I am happy to report that he is doing fine and is cancer-free now.

I have to admit, it was interesting seeing a younger Jackie, especially with that classic '80's hair...oh my.

And it's interesting how the episode contrasts the way Jackie talks about Pete to young Rose at the beginning of the episode and the way she treats him in the past. Apparently, they had marital issues due to Pete being kind of a good-for-nothing who Jackie thinks is cheating on her (considering that she flirted with the Doctor in the first episode of this series, I'd call this hypocrisy).

This episode also showed that Doctor Who does at least follow some of the supposed "rules" about time travel, like not letting your past self see your future self - an idea also invoked in Back to the Future Part II when Marty goes back to 1955 a second time and in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban when Harry and Hermione use the Time-Turner to go back in time and save Sirius Black. Granted, that Rose meets her own parents - and they find out she's their daughter - has got to be some sort of paradox too, but this is ignored. (Well, actually, this is ignored to a greater extent later with Amy, Rory, and River Song. A much greater extent).

As in the last episode, the Doctor is not the one who saves the day. Pete does that by accepting his fate is to die that day and running out in front of the car on purpose. The Doctor does try to save the day, but he admits that not even he can actually stop the creatures. It's the first time in the series the Doctor doesn't actually have the ability to save everyone, which is interesting indeed.

This episode does feature a funny scene where we learn that the Doctor is definitely not fond of Rose's mom:

JACKIE: What's happening? What are they? What are they?
DOCTOR: There's been an accident in time. A wound in time. They're like bacteria, taking advantage.
JACKIE: What do you mean, time? What're you jabbering on about, time?
DOCTOR: Oh, I might've known you'd argue. Jackie, I'm sick of you complaining.
JACKIE: How do you know my name?
DOCTOR: I haven't got time for this.
JACKIE: I've never met you in my life!
DOCTOR: No, and you never will unless I sort this out. Now, if you don't mind, I've waited a long time to say this. Jackie Tyler, do as I say. Go and check the doors.
JACKIE: Yes, sir.
DOCTOR: I should have done that ages ago.

I also liked the scene with the Doctor and the couple that are supposed to be getting married in the church, Stuart and Sarah:

STUART: Excuse me, Mister
DOCTOR: Doctor.
STUART: You seem to know what's going on.
DOCTOR: I give that impression, yeah.
STUART: I just wanted to ask
SARAH: Can you save us?
DOCTOR: Who are you two, then?
STUART: Stuart Hoskins.
SARAH: Sarah Clark.
DOCTOR: And one extra. Boy or girl?
SARAH: I don't know. I don't want to know, really.
DOCTOR: How did all this get started?
STUART: Outside the Beatbox Club, two in the morning.
SARAH: Street corner. I'd lost my purse, didn't have money for a taxi.
STUART: I took her home.
DOCTOR: Then what? Asked her for a date?
SARAH: Wrote his number on the back of my hand.
STUART: Never got rid of her since. My dad said.
SARAH: I don't know what this is all about, and I know we're not important.
DOCTOR: Who said you're not important? I've traveled to all sorts of places, done things you couldn't even imagine, but you two. Street corner, two in the morning, getting a taxi home. I've never had a life like that. Yes. I'll try and save you. 

If that doesn't show the Doctor can be considerate and nice, I don't know what does. Plus it shows that the Doctor hasn't had a chance for a "normal" life like the rest of us, which is kinda sad if you think about it.

According to the DVD commentary, both Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper named this their favorite episode of Series 1, because of its emotional depth. [Source] I can see why!

Bad Wolf hint for this episode: the words "Bad Wolf" appear on one of the "Energize" posters shown soon after the Doctor and Rose arrive in 1987.

Also, ironically, this episode originally aired on May 14, 2005 - right after Mother's Day (which was May 8 that year). Interesting, huh?

Overall, a touching episode. Series 1 is heading to the finish line now - only 5 more regular episodes left, plus the Christmas Special!

Next episode starts John Barrowman's stint on the show as Captain Jack Harkness. Honestly, I'm not looking forward to it. Just seeing Barrowman on the Doctor Who Brit List special didn't give me a good impression. He came across as very camp. And I don't care for camp. I mean, maybe he was just being camp on purpose. But on the other hand, he could be like Robert Downey, Jr where the attitude he portrays in his roles is very similar to how he is in real life. (Compare some interview with Downey Jr to how he plays Iron Man some time - especially in The Avengers). We'll see. I know Jack is supposed to be this weird, kinda pansexual dude (he likes men, women, AND aliens), so that could come across as very awkward for my *cough* conservative tastes.

And I'll stop right there before I get some people mad at me. You who are smart - or know anything about Barrowman - can guess why. It's not that I don't want to say where I stand on certain *issues*, it's just that I am aware of what happens to people online who are perceived as, well, that, and I really don't want to deal with that sort of backlash.

See you guys tomorrow!

***

NaBloPoMo Special:

The Love of the Doctor and Rose Tyler

Part Eight: The First Fight

Since the theme of NaBloPoMo this month is "Love and Sex" (probably because of Valentine's Day), I feel compelled to write something about love in my posts. Hence, since I am exploring Series 1 and 2 in this challenge, I am going to write a little special essay throughout the month about the growing love between the Doctor and Rose. Please note I am in no way an expert on relationships.

So far in this series, one thing Rose and the Doctor haven't had that a lot of couples have sooner or later is an argument. A real, honest-to-goodness argument where voices are raised and harsh things are said.

That all changes in this episode. When Rose, without even thinking, changes history by saving her dad from death, the Doctor is livid. Even as she is excitedly showing him her dad's memorabilia, the Doctor won't even speak to her. Finally, he lays it on her hard:

DOCTOR: When we met, I said travel with me in space. You said no. Then I said time machine.
ROSE: It wasn't some big plan. I just saw it happening and I thought, I can stop it.
DOCTOR: I did it again. I picked another stupid ape. I should've known. It's not about showing you the universe. It never is. It's about the universe doing something for you.
ROSE: So it's okay when you go to other times, and you save people's lives, but not when it's me saving my dad.
DOCTOR: I know what I'm doing, you don't. Two sets of us being there made that a vulnerable point.
ROSE: But he's alive!
DOCTOR: My entire planet died. My whole family. Do you think it never occurred to me to go back and save them?
ROSE: But it's not like I've changed history. Not much. I mean he's never going to be a world leader. He's not going to start World War Three or anything.
DOCTOR: Rose, there's a man alive in the world who wasn't alive before. An ordinary man. That's the most important thing in creation. The whole world's different because he's alive.
ROSE: What, would you rather him dead?
DOCTOR: I'm not saying that.
ROSE: No, I get it! For once, you're not the most important man in my life.
DOCTOR: Let's see how you get on without me, then. Give me the key. The Tardis key. If I'm so insignificant, give it me back.
ROSE: All right then, I will.
(Rose hands over the key.)
DOCTOR: You've got what you wanted, so that's goodbye, then.
ROSE: You don't scare me. I know how sad you are. You'll be back in a minute, or you'll hang around outside the Tardis waiting for me. And I'll make you wait a long time!

Of course, in the end, Rose is totally right -- he isn't able to stay away from her. And it's a good thing too, because her little change in history causes these weird creatures to appear to mend the wound in time, threatening the whole world. Even though the Doctor admits even he can't stop them, he does his best, and sacrifices himself to the creatures to keep everyone safe. But before he does, he and Rose manage to reconcile:

(The Doctor is talking to baby Rose in her carrycot by the choir stalls.)
DOCTOR: Now, Rose you're not going to bring about the end of the world, are you? Are you?
(Rose walks up.)
DOCTOR: Jackie gave her to me to look after. How times change.
ROSE: I'd better be careful. I think I just imprinted myself on Mickey like a mother chicken.
DOCTOR: No. Don't touch the baby. You're both the same person. That's a paradox, and we don't want a paradox happening, not with these things outside. Anything new, any disturbance in time makes them stronger. The paradox might let them in.
ROSE: Can't do anything right, can I?
DOCTOR: Since you ask, no. So, don't touch the baby.
ROSE: I'm not stupid.
DOCTOR: You could have fooled me. All right, I'm sorry. I wasn't really going to leave you on your own.
ROSE: I know.
DOCTOR: But between you and me, I haven't got a plan. No idea. No way out.
ROSE: You'll think of something.
DOCTOR: The entire Earth's been sterilised. This, and other place like it, are all that's left of the human race. We might hold out for a while, but nothing can stop those creatures. They'll get through in the end. The walls aren't that old. And there's nothing I can do to stop them. There used to be laws stopping this kind of thing from happening. My people would have stopped this. But they're all gone. And now I'm going the same way.
ROSE: If I'd realised.
DOCTOR: Just tell me you're sorry.
ROSE: I am. I'm sorry.
(They hug.)

The Doctor also gives Rose a chance at the very end of the episode to truly be with her dad as he's dying. Rose and her dad don't exchange a word in that moment, she just stays with him until he dies, and then she and the Doctor leave. And the party outside the church, including a younger Jackie Tyler, see her do so, which changes the story we see Jackie telling a young Rose at the beginning of the episode - instead of her father being hit in a hit-and-run, with no one with him as he died, it becomes a happier ending:

JACKIE [OC]: The driver was just a kid.
[Memory - Jackie's bedroom]
JACKIE: He stopped, he waited for the police. It wasn't his fault. For some reason, Pete just ran out. People say there was this girl, and she sat with Pete while he was dying. She held his hand. Then she was gone. Never found out who she was.

So, even though they had a fight - a fight which could've ended Rose's career as a Companion right then and there - in the end, the Doctor couldn't stay away from Rose. He clearly cares about her. Even Rose's dad sees it, mentioning to Rose after the Doctor is captured: "The Doctor really cared about you. He didn't want you to go through it again, not if there was another way. Now there isn't." He also shows he cares for her at the beginning when he agrees to take her back in time to see her dad when he was alive - they see her parents' wedding day in addition to the day her father died. Not only that, but he shows concern for Rose's own feelings in that same conversation:

ROSE: That's what Mum always says. So I was thinking, could we, could we go and see my dad when he was still alive?
DOCTOR: Where's this come from, all of a sudden?
ROSE: All right then, if we can't, if it goes against the laws of times or something, then never mind, just leave it.
DOCTOR: No, I can do anything. I'm just more worried about you.
ROSE: I want to see him.
DOCTOR: Your wish is my command. But be careful what you wish for.  

That second line of the Doctor's is the key there. "No, I can do anything. I'm just more worried about you." He's more worried about how Rose will hold up seeing her dad alive than he is about how the trip there might affect time itself. And time is pretty important to the Doctor - remember, last episode he kicked Adam off the team for trying to change history. That shows a genuine level of concern on his part, which we haven't really seen from him thus far. Because frankly, he doesn't seem to care about anybody but himself, on the surface. He's all wrapped up in his war trauma and what not. Which, in part, is justified, given what he went through (though the details as of yet are hazy). But even PTSD - or whatever the heck he's got - is no justification for being the stuck-up, judgmental jerk Nine is a majority of the time. I mean, he's always talking about humans as "you lot" or "stupid apes," with a tone of arrogant disdain. Ok, sure, he's an alien - but it kinda maddens me that he's like that. It doesn't make him very likable at all.

But being with Rose is changing the Doctor. He's becoming more actually concerned about others' welfare now. He's becoming better. Which, unlike for the Dalek a couple episodes ago, is a GOOD THING.

Still, even though I'm not done with Series 1 yet, I'm not liking Nine as much as I thought I would. How did the Doctor go from this judgmental view of humans to considering Earth and its people precious? It must've happened somewhere in the regeneration from Nine to Ten, because Ten and Eleven are the only Doctors in the new series we ever hear say that quote (the one by my Kaufda badge).

I guess we'll see what happens next episode. Cause next episode we get the London Blitz...and the introduction of Jack Harkness. Hmm.

***

See you tomorrow for Day 9 of the challenge!

Note: To relieve some of the stress of this challenge, from next week's posts onward I am going to watch a bunch of episodes at a time, write posts for them, and schedule them ahead of time to post on the appropriate days. I made the decision to do this because with my current work schedule it's been tough for me to work in watching one episode every night after work and posting afterwards, especially since I've been getting off at 10pm every night (except tonight), with little to no time to watch the episodes before work. Part of me doesn't like the idea of writing posts ahead of time, because then you are putting a "posted on" date on something that you didn't actually write on that date, which seems a little dishonest. But maybe I'm just being ridiculous on that point; people do the scheduled post thing all the time. Anyway, just wanted to let you guys know ahead of time that I will be doing that. Cheers!

Quotes from The Doctor Who Transcripts. Picture from Sonic Biro.

NaBloPoMo: Series 1, Episode 7: "The Long Game"

WARNING: THIS ANALYSIS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT WATCHED DOCTOR WHO OR AT THE VERY LEAST HAVE NOT SEEN THIS EPISODE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. 

It's Day 7 of my NaBloPoMo challenge! This time it's Series 1, Episode 7, "The Long Game," that I'm analyzing.

In this episode, the Doctor, Rose, and Adam go to a place called Satellite Five in the year 200,000. Adam is more in wonder than Rose is, as this is his first adventure as a Companion.

Long story short, it becomes evident to the Doctor that things aren't what they should be, and he realizes all the humans on Satellite Five - heck all the humans on Earth at that time probably - are being manipulated. Manipulated by a man called The Editor (played by Simon Pegg, a.k.a. Scotty from the J.J. Abrams Star Trek movies, the voice of Thompson in The Adventures of Tintin, and the voice of Reepicheep in The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader). Who's not actually the one in charge. He himself is being manipulated by a creepy alien blob he calls "Max" (it's easier to say than its real name), and most likely by the banks he represents too.

While the Doctor and Rose are trying to save the day, Adam wanders off on his own and ends up doing the stupid thing some time travelers to the future do - try to send information from the future to the past. He does so initially by trying to leave messages on his parents' answering machine (using Rose's phone, which he borrowed earlier); that being too slow, he opts to have one of the forehead ports the Satellite Five people have installed in his head so he can access the information more directly. This unfortunately puts him at the mercy of The Editor, who uses the ports to read the brains of the people on his Satellite and squash any doubt in the system. He gets out of it, but in the end he's not better off, because the Doctor kicks him off the team for trying to change history, destroys his parents' phone on which he left the messages, and doesn't do anything about Adam's head port -- which his mom accidentally sees when she snaps her fingers (which is how they are activated).

In thinking about this, I thought of the movie Back to the Future Part II, where Doc Brown takes Marty and Jennifer to 2015, and Marty buys a sports almanac with the intent of taking it back with him. But Doc warns that he can't do that, that it will change history in a disastrous way. But, as it happens, the Biff of the future finds the almanac first (which Marty left in the Delorean), steals the Delorean, and gives the book to his past self, which then changes Marty's present of 1985, which Marty has to fix. When Marty realizes what Biff did, Doc comments:

It demonstrates precisely how time travel can be mis-used, and why the time machine must be destroyed, after we straighten all of this out.

Which they do...eventually.

So Adam goes bye-bye. Eh well.

The Bad Wolf reference in this episode is a reference to "BadWolfTV" made by Cathica, who notes that it's currently broadcasting the Face of Boe announcing he's pregnant.

Cathica and Suki were both pretty cool by the way. Suki reminded me a little of Erin from The Office (U.S. version). She looks like her. That such an unassuming person was actually an anarchist investigating Satellite Five incognito was an interesting twist.  Cathica was also awesome in that, really, she saved the day. It wasn't the Doctor this time. She looked familiar, but I'm not sure where I would've seen her before.

This episode reminded me a little of the video game The World Ends With You, which I played recently. In it, the main character Neku, as well as others, are trapped in a game called The Reaper's Game, set in an alternate version of Shibuya. As the game progresses, more and more info is revealed, and you see just how much the baddies have their hands in everything and how messed up the Reaper's Game is. (That's about as much as I can tell you without spoiling the whole plot. Go play it! It's a great game for the DS).

This episode also shows the dangers of media consolidation and putting the power of the media into the hands of the few. Not to mention using the media to influence people's thinking, especially so intimately and in a way unbeknownst to those with the ports. No wonder the Doctor says the technology is wrong. Assuming that that's what he means by that.

Well, that's pretty much all I have to say about that. Bye!

***

NaBloPoMo Special:

The Love of the Doctor and Rose Tyler

Part Seven: I Only Take the Best

Since the theme of NaBloPoMo this month is "Love and Sex" (probably because of Valentine's Day), I feel compelled to write something about love in my posts. Hence, since I am exploring Series 1 and 2 in this challenge, I am going to write a little special essay throughout the month about the growing love between the Doctor and Rose. Please note I am in no way an expert on relationships.

In this episode, the Doctor and Rose are back to saving the world together. Sure, Adam's there, but he goes off on his own pretty early on. 

The Doctor seems to be liking Rose more and more in this episode. He praises her for asking "the right kind of question," that being why it's so hot in Satellite Five, when Cathica refuses to ask it. At the end of the episode, after kicking Adam off the team for misusing time travel for his own purposes, the Doctor praises Rose further by saying, "I only take the best. I've got Rose." And in the middle of those two events is this brief conversation between Rose and the Doctor in the elevator right before they reach Floor 500:

DOCTOR: That's her gone. Adam's given up. Looks like it's just you and me.
ROSE: Yeah.
DOCTOR: Good.
ROSE: Yep.    

It's like they becoming more like equals, more in sync. The romance is definitely growing, though we're not seeing it explicitly. Before, Rose came to the realization that the Doctor was a stranger to her, but now they're definitely not strangers. 

As we also see in other episodes, people are catching on to Rose and the Doctor's closeness, even if the two of them are oblivious. Adam, who was the one to point this out last episode, does it again this time before going off on his own:

ADAM: No, no, you stick with the Doctor. You'd rather be with him. It's going to take a better man than me to get between you two. Anyway, I'll be on the deck.

I think it's very true. Rose would rather be with the Doctor than anyone at this point. More than her mother, even more than Mickey, who's supposedly her boyfriend, or her best friend Shareen who she always mentions but we never see. The Doctor may tease her about boyfriends - first about Mickey and then in this episode with Adam, telling them to go off on a date, then later reprimanding her for giving Adam her TARDIS key, exclaiming "You and your boyfriends!". But in reality, Rose's relationship with Mickey does not appear to have much weight in it for her - he's definitely more committed to it than she is - and although Adam and she had shown interest in one another, nothing romantic kindled. It's only with the Doctor that anything seems to be happening for Rose.

Well, we'll see what happens next episode...when Rose messes up, changes history, and gets the Doctor pretty mad.

***

Tune in tomorrow for Day 8 of my NaBloPoMo challenge!

Quotes from The Doctor Who Transcripts. Back to the Future Part II quote from IMDb.

Unlike other posts with the timestamp 11:59 PM, this post WAS in fact published on 2/7/13, though I published it unfinished so it would have the right date. Therefore, it is not, as I noted before with previous posts, a post published after 11:59 PM that has had its timestamp doctored by me.

NaBloPoMo: Series 1, Episode 6, "Dalek"

WARNING: THIS ANALYSIS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT WATCHED DOCTOR WHO OR AT THE VERY LEAST HAVE NOT SEEN THIS EPISODE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. 

It's Day 6 of my NaBloPoMo challenge! Today's episode: Series 1, Episode 6, "Dalek."


And, as the title suggests, it features the return of the Doctor's mortal enemy, that smarter-than-it-seems squid-in-a-metal-box race known as the Daleks.

Basically, the TARDIS - en route to somewhere unknown - gets diverted to an underground bunker in Utah in the year 2012 by some signal. The Doctor and Rose exit the TARDIS to find themselves in the middle of a big museum full of alien artifacts, including a piece of the Roswell spaceship, moon dust, and the head of a Cyberman (specifically the design from "The Invasion"), which the Doctor tells Rose is an old enemy of his but does not identify by name.

And then, well, the Doctor gets a little too close to some display case, alarms go off, and he and Rose get taken prisoner.

The bulk of the episode is about this egotistical collector, Henry Van Statten, the owner of the museum, who has one living specimen in his collection: a strange metal alien that he's been trying to get to talk for some time. When they let the Doctor in to try to talk to it, he realizes -- to his horror -- that it's a Dalek. As far as he knew, the entire Dalek race perished in the Time War, along with all the other Time Lords except him. So he's pretty surprised to see it, as is the Dalek to see him when it realizes who the Doctor is. He realizes, however, that at the moment it can't "exterminate" (to use the Daleks' favorite word) anyone, because its gun doesn't work, and scoffs at his enemy's powerlessness. He then attempts to destroy it, but is stopped by Van Slatten, who wants his prized piece alive.

That should have been the end of that...well, except that Rose, who'd been left with this guy named Adam, happens to see footage of one of Van Slatten's men torturing the Dalek (to try to make it talk again like it did with the Doctor) and gets angry. She and Adam go down to see the Dalek, and when she speaks to it, it responds, saying that it is in pain and is happy to have met a human who was not afraid of it before it dies. Out of pity, Rose touches its head, and the Dalek regenerates itself. And because of that simple move of pity...all hell breaks loose. As usually happens when the Daleks are around, seeing how much they like to destroy things.

The Dalek goes and kills all the soldiers Van Statten throws at it, finally chasing Adam and Rose to the end of the multi-floor vault in which it was originally held. Van Statten and the Doctor decide to seal the vault to contain the Dalek, but at the risk of putting Adam and Rose in danger. Adam and Rose get toward the final bulkhead door with seconds to spare, and Adam manages to barrel-roll under the nearly-closed door. Rose, on the other hand, isn't so lucky and is trapped in the room with the Dalek. The video feed cuts right after the Dalek gets close to Rose, basically making the Doctor believe she's dead. The Dalek, however, spares Rose's life - a rare show of pity for a Dalek, which normally does not have any emotions other than hatred. Turns out that when she touched it, it absorbed some of her DNA and some of the time energy she'd absorbed from her travels with the Doctor, and when doing so developed some emotions as well. After a moment, the Dalek turns the video feed back on and offers Rose's life in exchange for the vault being unsealed. Though it would be dangerous to let the Dalek out of the vault, the Doctor puts Rose's life first and unseals the vault.

Rose and the Dalek end up in Van Statten's office, after the Doctor has left, armed with an alien gun Adam hung onto (the rest of the alien weapons are in the vault), to pursue the Dalek. The Dalek attempts to kill Van Statten out of revenge for the torture Van Statten subjected it to, but Rose stops it, saying it must want something more than killing. The Dalek admits that what it wants is freedom. They then leave the office and head for an empty hallway, where the Dalek blasts a hole in the roof, letting the sunlight in. Just then, the Dalek opens up its casing to reveal the squid-like being within. The Doctor then arrives, ready to kill the Dalek, but Rose refuses to let him, still feeling pity for it. Gradually, it becomes obvious to them all that the Dalek is mutating into something that no Dalek ever wants to become, and the Dalek begs Rose to order it to die. Rose, after some hesitation, does so, and the Dalek elevates itself into the air, forming a force field around it with those metal balls from its armor, in which it self-destructs.

In the end, Van Statten gets arrested by his own men, and the Doctor reflects on having possibly won the Time War. Just then, Adam shows up and informs them that Van Statten has been deposed and that the underground museum is going to get filled in with cement, meaning they all need to get out. Rose manages to talk the Doctor into bringing Adam along with them, since Adam had said earlier he always wanted to see the stars. The Doctor doesn't much like the idea, but Adam creeps in after them anyway.

We got to see a very different side of the Doctor in this episode. A very angry Doctor. I suppose it makes sense considering he's being faced with the possibility of his mortal enemy still being alive, not to mention that the Ninth Doctor is still emotionally unstable from the Time War, with survivor guilt and clear PTSD hanging on him. This is epotimized in the scene where the Doctor tries to kill the Dalek after first meeting it:

DALEK: You are an enemy of the Daleks! You must be destroyed!
(Its gun arm twitches but nothing happens.)
DOCTOR: It's not working.
(The Doctor laughs as the Dalek looks at its impotent weapon.)
DOCTOR: Fantastic! Oh, fantastic! Powerless! Look at you. The great space dustbin. How does it feel?
DALEK: Keep back!
(The Doctor stands inches away, staring into its eyepiece.)
DOCTOR: What for? What're you going to do to me? If you can't kill, then what are you good for, Dalek? What's the point of you? You're nothing.
[Outside the Cage]
DOCTOR [on monitor]: What the hell are you here for?
DALEK [on monitor]: I am waiting for orders.
[Cage]
DOCTOR: What does that mean?
DALEK: I am a soldier. I was bred to receive orders.
DOCTOR: Well you're never going to get any. Not ever.
DALEK: I demand orders!
DOCTOR: They're never going to come! Your race is dead! You all burnt, all of you. Ten million ships on fire. The entire Dalek race wiped out in one second.
DALEK: You lie!
DOCTOR: I watched it happen. I made it happen.
DALEK: You destroyed us?
DOCTOR: I had no choice.
DALEK: And what of the Time Lords?
DOCTOR: Dead. They burnt with you. The end of the last great Time War. Everyone lost.
DALEK: And the coward survived.
DOCTOR: Oh, and I caught your little signal. Help me. Poor little thing. But there's no one else coming 'cause there's no one else left.
DALEK: I am alone in the universe.
DOCTOR: Yep.
DALEK: So are you. We are the same.
DOCTOR: We're not the same! I'm not (pause) No, wait. Maybe we are. You're right. Yeah, okay. You've got a point. 'Cause I know what to do. I know what should happen. I know what you deserve. Exterminate.
(The Doctor pulls a lever on a nearby console and the Dalek is lit up with electricity.)
DALEK: Have pity!
DOCTOR: Why should I? You never did.

The kicker though, is when the Doctor gets mad at the Dalek after it takes down a whole bunch of men in what appears to be a storage room of some sort. 

DOCTOR: And?
DALEK [on screen]: Nothing. Where shall I get my orders now?
DOCTOR: You're just a soldier without commands.
DALEK [on screen]: Then I shall follow the Primary Order, the Dalek instinct to destroy, to conquer.
DOCTOR: What for? What's the point? Don't you see it's all gone? Everything you were, everything you stood for.
[Loading bay]
DALEK: Then what should I do?
[Office]
DOCTOR: All right, then. If you want orders, follow this one. Kill yourself.
[Loading bay]
DALEK: The Daleks must survive!
[Office]
DOCTOR: The Daleks have failed! Why don't you finish the job and make the Daleks extinct. Rid the Universe of your filth. Why don't you just die?
[Loading bay]
DALEK: You would make a good Dalek. 

That last line was the one that got me. It's very appropriate that the video feed of the Dalek cuts out right then, because it really is a whammy line worth a pause. Think about it. All Daleks feel is hate. And in that scene, that is really all the Doctor is exhibiting - hatred. He's turning into exactly what the Daleks are - hatred-filled machines devoted to exterminating all other races. And yet, he feels no remorse for it at this moment (his next line is "Seal the vault"). It's not until the later scene where Rose tells him not to kill the Dalek that he breaks down:

DOCTOR: Get out of the way. Rose, get out of the way now!
ROSE: No. I won't let you do this.
DOCTOR: That thing killed hundreds of people.
ROSE: It's not the one pointing the gun at me.
DOCTOR: I've got to do this. I've got to end it. The Daleks destroyed my home, my people. I've got nothing left.
ROSE: Look at it.
DOCTOR: What's it doing?
ROSE: It's the sunlight, that's all it wants.
DOCTOR: But it can't
ROSE: It couldn't kill Van Statten, it couldn't kill me. It's changing. What about you, Doctor? What the hell are you changing into?
DOCTOR: I couldn't. I wasn't. Oh, Rose. They're all dead.
DALEK: Why do we survive?
DOCTOR: I don't know. 

It's actually a lot like the Doctor of Series 7 - he's becoming a person he shouldn't be, but he's so blinded he can't see it until his Companion points it out. Compare what Amy Pond says to the Eleventh Doctor in "A Town Called Mercy" to what Rose says:

ROSE: It couldn't kill Van Statten, it couldn't kill me. It's changing. What about you, Doctor? What the hell are you changing into? 

AMY: This is not how we roll, and you know it. What happened to you, Doctor? When did killing someone become an option?...And what then? Are you going to hunt down everyone who's made a gun or a bullet or a bomb?...You see, this is what happens when you travel alone for too long. Well, listen to me, Doctor. We can't be like him. We have to be better than him.

I found a very good article today from Tor on the Doctor's regenerations, and in it, the author points out that both the Ninth and the Eleventh Doctors had the guilt of what happened during the Time War:

The Ninth Doctor clearly suffered through Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and was a man frightened of himself and what he could do, who still tried his best to carry on because he couldn't think of anything else to do with himself....

...The Tenth Doctor didn't want to stop being himself, and so there was a lot of hold over to the Eleventh. He got even younger looking, kept a pretty snazzy dress sense, and maintained that ability to posture his way out of a lot of situations. But the guilt from the Time War needed to be set aside, and he needed to stop filling his companions in on the whole story....So the Doctor started to lie again, and buried some things deep down.

So it makes sense that in this sort of situation they would react very similarly, huh?

The Bad Wolf reference here is more explicit: Van Slatten's helicopter is called "Bad Wolf One."

Well, that's all I really have to say about that. In the next episode, the Doctor, Rose, and Adam go to the year 200,000, in which *spoiler* Adam does something stupid and gets kicked off the team.

***

NaBloPoMo Special:

The Love of the Doctor and Rose Tyler

Part Six: Save the Woman You Love

Since the theme of NaBloPoMo this month is "Love and Sex" (probably because of Valentine's Day), I feel compelled to write something about love in my posts. Hence, since I am exploring Series 1 and 2 in this challenge, I am going to write a little special essay throughout the month about the growing love between the Doctor and Rose. Please note I am in no way an expert on relationships.

DALEK [on screen]: Open the bulkhead or Rose Tyler dies.
DOCTOR: You're alive!
ROSE [on screen]: Can't get rid of me.
DOCTOR: I thought you were dead.
DALEK [on screen]: Open the bulkhead!
ROSE [on screen]: Don't do it! 
DALEK [on screen]: What use are emotions if you will not save the woman you love?
DOCTOR: I killed her once. I can't do it again.

Who would've thought that a Dalek would help "define the relationship" between the Doctor and Rose?

The Doctor and Rose are separated for almost the entire episode, much like the Series 2 two-part finale. But his feelings for her are put to the test in this episode when she not only objects to everything he says, but when he is also faced with the fact that he may have killed her. He had that problem in the last episode, when he didn't think Rose would survive the missile hitting 10 Downing Street, but here he has to face a much worse prospect: Rose is trapped in a room, alone, with a Dalek. And Daleks don't spare lives. 

And strangely, it is not Rose or the Doctor who recognizes the growing love between the two in this episode, but a DALEK. A being who feels no love to begin with, usually (this Dalek is an unusual one because it developed emotions from absorbing Rose's DNA). That's got to be Doctor Who history there. Either that or the Doctor and Rose are both so oblivious to the feelings that it takes a freakin' Dalek mentioning it to make them notice.

So, even though it doesn't show much in this episode, things are clearly developing between Rose and the Doctor. We'll see what ensues!

***

Tune in tomorrow for Day 7 of the NaBloPoMo challenge! 

Doctor Who quotes (from this episode) from The Doctor Who Transcripts. Amy Pond quote from this transcript (same site). Quote from Tor article from original article.