![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
manicsfanI rather thought the whole things with the Master and Time Lords ended rather suddenly. I was expecting some rather more... involved I guess. Especially with someone as awesome as Timothy Dalton playing the Lord President. I assume they were keeping time for the Doctor's regeneration. I was also kinda sad they had made the Time Lords evil through them being warped by the Time War.
Why wasn't the woman explained? Everyone had these wild theories over who she was, and I wanted to know, dammit! So most people believe it was his mother, as was rumoured, but it would have been nice to have it explained one way or another. Um, so Rassilon was was the Lord President... that didn't make much sense. Unless they resurrected him especially for the Time War, he was supposedly immortal afterall, as seen in The Five Doctors.
I actually thought the regeneration bit was pretty drawn out. Maybe it's just me, but I feel it would have had more impact had it been done quicker. When the Doctor got into that machine I just thought this can't be what kills him, there is 20 minutes of the episode left, they can't draw his death out for 20 mins can they? But they did. Nonetheless I was actually very moved by the Doctor's death scene. David's acting was just as brilliant as ever!
He still is, and always will be, my Doctor. So of course I still found it sad that he was going. I started welling up with tears a soon as Sarah Jane saw him and did the same, and cried until the end of the episode. But let's be fair, I'd have still cried if Ten had fallen head first into a toilet and drowned and regenerated that way! Basically, yes it was moving, the Doctor last line was particularly heart wrenching. But I do think it could have been done better. It was also sad that he regenerated alone in the TARDIS. With no companion by his side, not even Wilf, whom he "died" saving.
I also hoped for more sense about the Master's drumming. Afterall, if we really are to believe he has had it since he was 8, implanted by the Time Lords, why was it never mentioned before in the classic series? Surely the Master would have mentioned it at some point before Utopia? I was hoping for an explaination for that. There seems to be much better fanon theories in fanfics I have read as to why that was, compared to what actually turned out to be the canon reason.
Jack hooking up with Alonzo... well just don't get me started! It just seemed like them giving the finger to both Ianto and Janto fans. They clearly didn't care that it would piss some fans off to see Jack hooking up with someone else this soon after Ianto's death. (And yes, I know it could have been centuries for Jack in his timeline, but even still!) We also got a lot less Donna and other companions than I was expecting.
On a purely Doctor/Master shipper note, this episode was good. That wonderful exchange between them when the Doctor was tied down about how the Master could be beautiful. Here I thought nothing could beat that wonderful wasteland scene from the first part. NOw I'm sad that we're never going to get any new canon Ten/Simm!Master shippy moments again.
All in all I think it was an alright episode, but rather too rushed in some places, and too drawn out in others. Just bad paceing in general. Many things remained unanswered. It just seems like a VERY typical RTD script. He does build ups very well, but generally disappoints on the finale. IMO, he just can't write endings! Most the time anyway.
Matt Smith as Eleven seemed pretty cool from the brief moment we had with him. Hyperactive, but that's to be expected straight after regeneration. I am actually looking forward to his first episode. The trailer for it looks pretty great. Ok, so I wont like him as much as Ten, obviously, but I really hope I do still like him.
Stay Beautiful,
Aissa.
Why wasn't the woman explained? Everyone had these wild theories over who she was, and I wanted to know, dammit! So most people believe it was his mother, as was rumoured, but it would have been nice to have it explained one way or another. Um, so Rassilon was was the Lord President... that didn't make much sense. Unless they resurrected him especially for the Time War, he was supposedly immortal afterall, as seen in The Five Doctors.
I actually thought the regeneration bit was pretty drawn out. Maybe it's just me, but I feel it would have had more impact had it been done quicker. When the Doctor got into that machine I just thought this can't be what kills him, there is 20 minutes of the episode left, they can't draw his death out for 20 mins can they? But they did. Nonetheless I was actually very moved by the Doctor's death scene. David's acting was just as brilliant as ever!
He still is, and always will be, my Doctor. So of course I still found it sad that he was going. I started welling up with tears a soon as Sarah Jane saw him and did the same, and cried until the end of the episode. But let's be fair, I'd have still cried if Ten had fallen head first into a toilet and drowned and regenerated that way! Basically, yes it was moving, the Doctor last line was particularly heart wrenching. But I do think it could have been done better. It was also sad that he regenerated alone in the TARDIS. With no companion by his side, not even Wilf, whom he "died" saving.
I also hoped for more sense about the Master's drumming. Afterall, if we really are to believe he has had it since he was 8, implanted by the Time Lords, why was it never mentioned before in the classic series? Surely the Master would have mentioned it at some point before Utopia? I was hoping for an explaination for that. There seems to be much better fanon theories in fanfics I have read as to why that was, compared to what actually turned out to be the canon reason.
Jack hooking up with Alonzo... well just don't get me started! It just seemed like them giving the finger to both Ianto and Janto fans. They clearly didn't care that it would piss some fans off to see Jack hooking up with someone else this soon after Ianto's death. (And yes, I know it could have been centuries for Jack in his timeline, but even still!) We also got a lot less Donna and other companions than I was expecting.
On a purely Doctor/Master shipper note, this episode was good. That wonderful exchange between them when the Doctor was tied down about how the Master could be beautiful. Here I thought nothing could beat that wonderful wasteland scene from the first part. NOw I'm sad that we're never going to get any new canon Ten/Simm!Master shippy moments again.
All in all I think it was an alright episode, but rather too rushed in some places, and too drawn out in others. Just bad paceing in general. Many things remained unanswered. It just seems like a VERY typical RTD script. He does build ups very well, but generally disappoints on the finale. IMO, he just can't write endings! Most the time anyway.
Matt Smith as Eleven seemed pretty cool from the brief moment we had with him. Hyperactive, but that's to be expected straight after regeneration. I am actually looking forward to his first episode. The trailer for it looks pretty great. Ok, so I wont like him as much as Ten, obviously, but I really hope I do still like him.
Stay Beautiful,
Aissa.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-02 11:18 am (UTC)On the other hand, I've been grumpy with RTD for about a year now so I wasn't exactly going in with an objective viewpoint! Your comments reminded me there were some good moments.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-02 01:09 pm (UTC)Heh yeah, I get you about the RTD thing. Throughout these epsiodes I've been desperately trying to keep my (none too positive) feelings about RTD seperate to the episodes so as not to automatically spoil them. However, this episode really did remind me how he has a terrible habbit of writing really poor finale episodes to what where good build ups. Which he has done for the last two seasons of Doctor who prior to this one (and don't even get me started on Torchwood!) IMO he just can't write good endings. Not since Doomsday anyway, and even then he messed that up with the whole Journey's End episode afterwards!
no subject
Date: 2010-01-04 07:51 pm (UTC)You're a better person than me, I'd given up separating my feelings on him from the episodes... >_> but yes, he does often fail to deliver on finale endings. I think he just doesn't have the knowledge of how to wrap up complicated plots. *sighs* He has written some good episodes. I just wish he hadn't written the finales...