Midnight

[mrv3000]

I typed up this post this morning and then started responding to comments, but I'm completely worn out at the moment – the medication's killing my energy, so I've got to go back to bed. But I'm doing a bit better this morning. *HUGS FLIST*



This was the first episode since Partners in Crime that I watched twice, if that's saying anything. Wait. Did I watch the Sontaran eps again? I can't remember.

Anyway, while it got creepy I still wasn't scared, but the tension was FANTASTIC. (I have no idea what's wrong with me. Maybe the pills. :D Really the only three I can say ever truly freaked me out are The Empty Child, The Impossible Planet and Blink.) The episode was the classic "ensemble in a pressure cooker" and done really really well, in my opinion.

• How much do I love that the Doctor and Donna went to some spa? LOVE IT. :D And it's just so THEM that the Doctor would want to do the dorky educational outing while Donna wanted to sit pool-side.
  
  Oh, so that's what those transports looked like? For some reason I pictured it hovering for some reason. (Why didn't they just have flying transports to get them there quicker if the surface is that toxic?) Anyway, what do you want to bet that right after the Doctor got off the phone, half those gumballs there wound up in his pocket? You know, for later.
  
  
  I think Donna just edged everyone else out for Coolest Companion Ever. This reminds me of when Mel insisted on going to a spa, while Seven was thoroughly bored at the thought. However, Donna's cool levels > Mel's cool levels.
  
  
  
• We get to see the Doctor on his own again and the trouble he can run into by being alone. Without backup it's a hell of a lot easier for people to turn on him. Because if you were in a crisis situation, would you trust the random stranger who spazzes and wants to help the thing that you think is threatening you? It's asking a lot to put your life in someone's hands.
  
  Things would have gone quite a bit differently if Donna had been with him. Or any companion, really. This shows there are times when he's not instantly accepted as the "highest authority" simply because he's smart.
  
  
  
• Man, I loved the chaos and people flopping back and forth on opinions. Some people obviously motivated purely by fear and others trying to reason things out but still have fear creeping in. And the Doctor having very little patience for the fear, which probably didn't help the situation at all. Yes he can problem-solve his way out of a crisis, but he doesn't make a very good diplomat or counselor sometimes.
  
  
  
• It was interesting to see the Doctor get in over his head. Double-teamed by an entity that was stronger than him and humans at their worst, and he was no match. He thought he could contain the entity – he was wrong. He promised to save everyone – he was wrong. In the end he became a victim and needed saving himself. I don't really need to see this every week, but I really like seeing this every once in a while. Times when the Doctor isn't in control.
  
  Completely powerless against things stronger than him – the entity and fear.
  
  
  
• Another instance of Rose popping up on the monitor, and...HUH. The TARDIS I could begin to understand, but this was directed at the Doctor, way out in the middle of nowhere in who knows what century. How's she doing this? Is it still being funnelled through by the TARDIS or something?
  
  They're finally in the same frame!! *FLAILS* (Shudup.)
  
  
  
• Something I didn't understand – at the end the entity has the Doctor's voice. Does this mean it was still the Doctor talking at the end? Like with that allons-y? Then why would the Doctor be telling them to throw him out? Or was that allons-y simply the Doctor getting slight control back, like with being able to hook his foot on the chair?

Next week – ROSE! Donna and Rose! Rose and Donna!! Now when Rose said "you're going to die" I'm guessing that's a bit out of context. I'm thinking it'll probably be "you" in the general sense, rather than Donna specifically. They luuuurve doing promos out of context to try and create drama. (Anyone remember the tagline for Army of Ghosts? It was something like "Rose Tyler. She's not human. Not any more." Well, that turned out to mean something else in context, as opposed to my flailing thinking that she'd be cyberized by the end.)

Comments

[syokhan.livejournal.com]

Or was that allons-y simply the Doctor getting slight control back, like with being able to hook his foot on the chair?

I'm wavering between this, and the idea that when the entity stole his voice, it also stole his way of speaking ('the emptiness', 'the midnight sky', and so on). I'm guessing the Doctor was right in thinking that it would eventually become him (in a manner of speaking), and some of his odd... verbal quirks slipped through. Or the entity was just mocking and taunting him.

I don't know. *scratches head*

[fakymcfakerson.livejournal.com]

I agree- I think it was speaking with his "voice"- it didn't take his intelligence or will, just kind of locked-up his system while it stole his communication methods/synapses/whatever. Thus, he couldn't really do anything, couldn't react, and because his way of speaking is terribly distinct and unique, became a dead giveaway to those who were paying attention. Hooray hostess! (also, I'm terribly glad of the "what was her name?" bit- it made me think that perhaps the Doctor has a list somewhere of those he feels he's killed. Kind of deepens him, throws his melancholy into relief. I wonder if he did find out her name, offscreen. I like to think he would've, but at the same time- without his companion there, he might've been a bit worried about pushing the humans/seeming unhuman, and thus let it drop, just remembering her as "the hostess.")

[syokhan.livejournal.com]

also, I'm terribly glad of the "what was her name?" bit

Me too. I think he did find out her name, after all, all he had to do was ask at the leisure palace, she worked there so someone was bound to know her. But that moment, when he asks the others, and no one can answer - it's like a kick in the gut when you're already down. I loved it.

[countrygirl-914.livejournal.com]

it's like a kick in the gut when you're already down. I loved it

Oh yeah, me too. And I felt bad, because I didn't even realize I didn't know her name until that moment.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

also, I'm terribly glad of the "what was her name?" bit- it made me think that perhaps the Doctor has a list somewhere of those he feels he's killed. Kind of deepens him, throws his melancholy into relief. I wonder if he did find out her name, offscreen. I like to think he would've, but at the same time- without his companion there, he might've been a bit worried about pushing the humans/seeming unhuman, and thus let it drop, just remembering her as "the hostess."

Boy, that'd be a very long list. But he probably does remember them all. :(

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

Ah, so it just kind of assumed him. And then the hostess was able to recognize the peculiar word.

I can almost get my brain around it, but I'm thinking drugs are in the way. :D