Doctor Who: The Planet of the Ood

[butterfly]

The funny Donna season is not supposed to make me tear up every single episode.

Absolutely loved this. I love that the Ood actually had everything well in hand -- it was a chance for the Doctor to see that the universe doesn't always lean all of its weight on him, that other people and other species can pick up the slack and save themselves.

Once again, there's that damnable hope rising up. What does the Doctor's song ending mean? And they played his song, the one that means his home and his nature (the one that was interwoved into the sounds that represented Rose's determination, and we heard that part of the Doomsday good-bye song again in Partners in Crime -- the two elements are still separated, for now). He's allowed to share in the joy of freeing the Ood and hearing their song.

Donna hearing the full weight and pain of the Ood's captivity -- seeing the horror of the Doctor's world and longing to back away, as she did in The Runaway Bride. This was supposed to be her holiday and she's seen a city burn, a species in captivity, and dozens of people (human and Ood) killed. But she's also seen grace and new beginnings. Which burns stronger for her right now -- the wonder or the horror?

Comments

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

I possibly have hopes that are far too high regarding Rose, but only months ago, anyone who thought Rose might come back someday was deemed 'delusional', so I'm actually feeling rather chipper about my hopes.

They're based in analysis of canon, what RTD says about character motivation, the fact that Billie loves Rose as much as we do and probably wouldn't have signed back on if something truly horrible was planned, and the weight of the Doctor's grief in S3. And the episodes we've had thus far in S4 seem to be weighted much more towards new beginnings and second chances than loss and tragedy. And the Doctor's been having much less weight placed on his shoulders this year as well -- Donna helped him take some off in the first two episodes and then the Ood were pretty much entirely responsible for their own freedom in this one.

And poor Donna. She thought she was going on holiday, and instead she's seen catastrophe and slavery. She's very good for the Doctor, though.

Like Martha, Donna is definitely having her moments of regretting that she came along -- but she's definitely very good for the Doctor and I think that traveling with the Doctor has already helped her. She was looking for purpose and a way to travel that was off the beaten path and now she's got that in spades ('be careful what you wish for', yeah?).