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I made a comment in my other post that I don't think I've ever been actually stunned by a DW episode before. Well and truly STUNNED. This episode did it. It was just...WOW. Best "Doctor-lite" episode of all 4 series. By FAR.
- I loved seeing the Doctor and Donna having a good time in some alien bazaar. But you know what it means when people are having a good time on this show, don't you? You don't? Where've you been for the last 4 years?
Alien lattes! Huzzah! - Pardon me a moment.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(What? It's been two frickin years since this last happened!) - So the premise of the story is a "what if" scenario. What if Donna turned right instead of left? What if she never met the Doctor? What if what if what if? It's not an original concept, but it's just GREAT to watch here.
See, here's your first problem. If Donna's not a temp, then she can't be Super TempTM and the whole thing goes to hell. - They actually killed off the Doctor! As in...KILLED. No regeneration. Nada. It goes with the notion of the Master (and just about every Doctor incarnation) having to consciously regenerate. (The TV movie went against this, having the Doctor regenerate spontaneously after being dead a while. Any other regenerations? I can't remember them all off the top of my head.)
Why do I find it a wee bit unnerving that the Doctor could actually be taken out if something happened really fast? ETA: Erm...really bad thought here. He was in a really bad place at that moment. Maybe he simply chose not to regenerate. :( - ROSE! The first thing I noticed about her was how worn she looks. Haunted, almost. Dark circles under the eyes, much thinner... I'm thinking life hasn't been a never-ending picnic with puppydogs and rainbows for her in the alt!verse.
She's obviously been coming to this world to warn the Doctor long before this time mixup, since we saw her in "Partners in Crime." Man, she was probably around during the real "The Runaway Bride" too. - I can't believe they killed off EVERYONE in this episode! Everyone but Donna and Rose was killed! The Doctor, Martha, Sarah Jane, Gwen, Ianto...Jack got sent to the Sontaran home world, where he's undoubtedly started to hone skills in military-style sex.
People dying? PFFFT. Donna's taking the frog mouse pad, dammit! :D - Rose keeps popping in and out of Donna's life, taking on a very unfamiliar role for her character: she knows everything (and I mean everything) but she's keeping Donna and the audience in the dark. When last we saw Rose, the character was used as sort of the audience's eyes (like the companion role in general tends to be), so this was a bit jarring. She warns Donna to leave town for Christmas, knowing London will be destroyed. Of course, she doesn't say London will be destroyed – doesn't try to alter events. She's starting to sound a bit like the Doctor.
Still Rose, but different. - We're shown just how quickly the world can get turned upside down after London is destroyed. Donna and her family are alive, but they're refugees, living in a cramped house on a kitchen floor. Military rule and eventually labor camps for non-citizens.
Very bleak. For a minute there I was really worried about Sylvia with her depression. Bleak, bleak, bleak. - "Man in a suit. Tall, thin man. Great hair. Some...really great hair." HA!! *LOVES*
Rose: [zones out over the hair]
Donna: Sorry, do you need a minute? - "He needed someone to stop him, and that was you. You saved his life." Which brings it all back to "The Runaway Bride." And I'd agree – the Doctor was in a bad place back then having just lost Rose, and Donna yelled at him to snap him out of it.
Seemed like she was barely getting through to him back then, but it was enough to save his life. - Wow, the more Rose talks, the more she sounds just like the Doctor, right down to the "Sorry. I'm so sorry." in telling Donna she's going to die, telling people not to salute her, and refusing to tell anyone her name.
- I've missed Rose's smile. Those were two things that used to go hand-in-hand: Rose and her smile. And we finally get to see it 30 minutes in when Donna's reacting to the TARDIS for the first time.
I'd like to see Rose smiling a lot more, please. - Can I just say that Rose stroking the TARDIS and the TARDIS responding to her – I LOVE it.
[snuffles] - Again with the Doctor likeness. Donna asks about Rose and the Doctor, and Rose sidesteps the question, just like the Doctor.
Boy, between the two of them...
Donna: So are you two actually together?
Doctor: Erm...
Rose: Well...
Doctor: Um...
Rose: Hmm...
Doctor and Rose: [look at each other, grin and skip off out the door holding hands]
Donna: What the HELL was that?? - Okay, good. On second watching I picked up on the fact that Rose actually asked Donna if she wanted to see the bug, and after an initial no, she said yes. It seemed kind of a pointless and cruel thing to force Donna to do otherwise. Glad it wasn't a forcing thing.
Hold still, there Donna! You got snagged on one of the Pertwee-era props! - ACK! FORSHADOWING OF DOOM! Well, that's barely forshadowing. That's like blazing neon lights of "DONNA WILL DIE IN THE FINALE!" You have to wonder though. There's going to be something funny happening, the way Rose was talking about time bending around Donna from the day she was born.
- My jaw literally dropped when Donna stepped in front of the truck. I was STUNNED.
God, she really will probably wind up sacrificing herself to save the universe in the finale, won't she? I still can't believe that they'd actually kill a companion off permanently. [ignores Adric] - How clueless am I? "Bad Wolf" never even crossed my mind when Rose was whispering those two words. I simply thought "Rose Tyler." But "Rose Tyler" would have translated to "Get your butt down here already, it's time for some hair ruffling." But "Bad Wolf" accompanied with "a warning" translates to "OMFG WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE."
Fantastic expression! Fear, panic and also an undercurrent of emotions because he knows exactly who Donna talked to. - Bad Wolf everywhere! Which means that BadWolf!Rose saw all this and did something about it way back in TPotW. TRIPPY. I thought I couldn't be any more stunned after Donna stepped in front of the truck, but this pushed me over the edge. I was actually shaking! I seriously cannot remember a single time where a TV show or movie has done that to me! OMG.
Okay, so maybe we should have been paying a liiiitle more attention when Bad Wolf showed up in places like Gridlock and in Torchwood. :D
They even changed the plating above the door! (It's Bad Wolf backwards to reflect out.) And of course the Cloister Bell, which as we all know is Very Very Bad with an extra Side of Bad. Yeah, they're gearing up for one hell of a finale.
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I love it whenever this show reminds up that half the time TARDIS travel is just chilling at spas, or crashing garden parties, or buying strange looking fruit. We just get to see the danger because most viewers probably wouldn't watch an hour of The Doctor, Rose and Donna trying on silly hats (I know we would, but still!).
But you know what it means when people are having a good time on this show, don't you?
....do they get kittens? *hopeful*
She's obviously been coming to this world to warn the Doctor long before this time mixup, since we saw her in "Partners in Crime." Man, she was probably around during the real "The Runaway Bride" too.
I have theories! They aren't happy. D: (On the plus side, they will probably also remain theories.)
Seemed like she was barely getting through to him back then, but it was enough to save his life.
He really shouldn't be alone when he's grieving. I like how easily it's taken for granted (before this episode) how Donna affected the Doctor, even if she didn't travel with him. I like that we're reminded how much she's changed by showing the type of person she was, and a rapid growth into the person she is.
I'd like to see Rose smiling a lot more, please.
ME TOO.
Can I just say that Rose stroking the TARDIS and the TARDIS responding to her – I LOVE it.
ME TOO.
Okay, good. On second watching I picked up on the fact that Rose actually asked Donna if she wanted to see the bug, and after an initial no, she said yes.
Yeah. She was also quick to have them shut it off when Donna asked, and reassured her she wouldn't have to see it again. Rose is a lot harder, and more Doctor-like, and that worries me, but there's enough there to...not worry me too much.
ACK! FORSHADOWING OF DOOM! Well, that's barely forshadowing. That's like blazing neon lights of "DONNA WILL DIE IN THE FINALE!"
See, I'm not sure. I think she just meant that Donna. Because that Donna was going on about how her "death" would be a metaphor; that she wouldn't exist when she righted the timelines. But her death was a fact. And I'm not so sure Donna would have come up with the solution if she didn't think she was going to die.
Okay, so maybe we should have been paying a liiiitle more attention when Bad Wolf showed up in places like Gridlock and in Torchwood. :D
Something about it being all over the TARDIS too just cracks me up. It's like she's saying "YEAH! ABOUT DAMN TIME! And use the instant replay on the monitor more often. I've also been trying to tell you to take the trash out for weeks."
They even changed the plating above the door!
Aw! I didn't notice that! Someone in the continuity department deserves a cookie.
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The Silly Hat Episode would be AWESOME! (I love it too.)
He really shouldn't be alone when he's grieving.
Very much no. I mean, we all saw what he was like in S3, and thankfully Martha was around.
I like how easily it's taken for granted (before this episode) how Donna affected the Doctor, even if she didn't travel with him. I like that we're reminded how much she's changed by showing the type of person she was, and a rapid growth into the person she is.
*nods*
See, I'm not sure. I think she just meant that Donna. Because that Donna was going on about how her "death" would be a metaphor; that she wouldn't exist when she righted the timelines. But her death was a fact. And I'm not so sure Donna would have come up with the solution if she didn't think she was going to die.
I thought that might be it, but someone in chat pointed out the fortuneteller's reaction to Donna. :-\
Something about it being all over the TARDIS too just cracks me up. It's like she's saying "YEAH! ABOUT DAMN TIME! And use the instant replay on the monitor more often. I've also been trying to tell you to take the trash out for weeks."
*SNORTS*
Aw! I didn't notice that! Someone in the continuity department deserves a cookie.
They totally do!
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It'll be the sort of thing that gets me through to Christmas, I'm sure.
I thought that might be it, but someone in chat pointed out the fortuneteller's reaction to Donna. :-\
I don't remember what she said. I'll have to watch it again (but I'm always skeptical about evil people's predictions to begin with, so there's a chance that no matter what she says I'll just be all "Pffffbtbttt!")