butterfly | Doctor Who: Midnight (Reply)

First off, congratulations to Russell T Davies, who was recently one of many to be honored by the Queen.

After this, only his three episodes left in S4, plus he's doing the 2009 specials.

Oh, RTD, I will miss your Who so much! I hope that whatever it is that he's planning on doing next is both a) made of amazing and b) available to those of us in the States who have gotten addicted to his writing.

So, the Doctor took Donna to a resort so that they go both relax. That's so incredibly sweet. She's sunbathing, he's taking in a tour -- it'll all go horribly wrong at some point, but the intent was just to have fun. He just wanted to take her somewhere they could both have a bit of peace and calm. Looking for "the perfect vacation," that's what the ads for S1 of DW said on Sci-Fi. He does want to show his companions the beauty and the wonder of what he can do. It's just... seriously, this is their relationship. He took her to a resort planet. They're mates and they want each other to be happy and safe. Just... aw.

*melts*

"Complimentary peanuts. I must warn you, some products contain nuts."

Hee! That's the brilliance of what RTD can do, because that's just the amusing extension of what our world does. He takes it and gives it that extra push that makes it ridiculously funny.

And all the characters become so identifiable and unique with just a line or two at the beginning.

"Ladies and gentlemen... and variations thereupon." Hee.

And the Doctor wants to get to know people! Oh, this is one of the things that I love about him -- he does love humans and wants to know them more and see them and be sociable. He doesn't want everyone to be in their personal box of entertainment; he wants them to be interacting with each other. He's lonely. It's so much more beautiful and poignant when that's shown rather than simply told.

So, he gets to know each set of people and, through him, we get to know them better and to care about them. We're given something to hang onto and think about with each person.

"It's an abstract pool!"

"Here's to Poosh!"

"No, it's just me."
"Oh, I've done plenty of that."

And then... oh! Recently single. Her. It's so casual, the assumption that relationships aren't limited by the male/female gender binary.

We see the professor and the hostess both engaged in their trade, with very different feelings about their jobs (I've met that flight attendant on more than one trip, with various different faces).

And the questioning youth -- and we know how much the Doctor likes and approves of questions.

Each person differentiated from the others. Individuals with their own drives and dreams and fears and losses.

"Sorry, I'm a doctor. I'm very clever." Yes, thank you, he is. Very, very clever. And he talks fast and thinks that Donna is amazing and misses Rose and wishes he'd done better by Martha and eats jam out of other people's jars. I love him so much.

And Driver Joe and Claude the mechanic (training -- I like him already). Both also very distinct in personality, established quickly.

Wow, that light does amazing things to David's eyes. I'll just... be over here. Thanks. And he sounded in such awe when he said, "No one's ever been here before." Everything he's seen and he can still be surprised and delighted. Over nine hundred years and the universe isn't completely known, not even by him. There are still things (and people) that he doesn't understand.

And Claude sees something and the Doctor instantly believes him and takes him seriously. Have I mentioned that I love the Doctor?

So, Claude notices the danger and Joe tries to convince the Doctor to ignore it. And then Dee Dee gets the same thing that the Doctor does -- micropetrol engines don't need stablizing. She's smart. And, oh, I like that once the professor hears what she's saying and realizes that she does have knowledge in the field that he doesn't, he takes it seriously.

And then I was tense and just staring at the screen for the entire time that the knocking was happening. That was suspenseful and creepy and damn good drama.

Then things calmed down and the Doctor turned away and OMG! IT'S ROSE! RIGHT BEHIND HIM ON THE SCREEN AND HE DOESN'T SEE HER! I literally screamed so loud that I made my dog wake up.

And then something killed Joe and Claude, and our blonde traveler (Sky) is non-responsive and... damn. Very effectively ups the tension.

Then, eeep! The way she's acting... mimicking, the way the knocking got mimicked. Very creepy.

Jethro, the kid, is the first one to notice that Sky stopped copying. Observant. Pushes the big red buttons, too. Now, she's saying it in time, which is, naturally, even creepier.

"BANG! RoseTylerMarthaJonesDonnaNobleTARDIS." Words that she wouldn't know by herself. Then nonsense words. And she gets them all, exactly as he's saying them (this actress? kicks ass).

And us, figuring it all out with the Doctor.

Dee Dee knows poetry, too. Oh, she's likable. Also, that poem? Creepy.

And, oh, yes. The definition of humanity. "For all we know, this could be a brand-new life form and it's come inside and what has it found?" Are humans killers? Do we just destroy and take and eat everything up or do we bring life and cause wonders? What are we?

Then, they notice him. All of them. They notice that he had no ticket. That he has no name.

That he enjoys danger.

That he's alien and different ("What are you, Doctor? Another alien threat?" Harriet Jones, "The Christmas Invasion").

"You said 'humans' like you're not one of us."

"If you're clever, then what are we?"

"You've been looking down on us from the moment we walked in."

All the things that he never, ever wants humans to think about him or what he thinks about them.

Oh, god. That utterly agonized, helpless broken look from the trailers was this moment. When humans turned on him and betrayed him. When loving them and fighting for them wasn't good enough. When his adopted people rejected him. Is this how he looked when Gallifrey burned?

And it's our 'average' mother-father couple from the start of the episodes who are the most willing to kill the Doctor, though everyone but Dee Dee and the hostess are willing to help, in the end.

And the hostess... when the Midnight entity reuses the Doctor's word from the beginning (words that he had to explain to her because no one knows what they mean anymore), she knows the truth. Sacrifices herself to save all of them and the Doctor.

They were willing to kill him because they didn't know his name, but none of them knew hers, either.

Donna gives the Doctor a hug (oh, he needs it) and then talks to him about it (because he needs that, too). I love them so much.

And then... the trailer -- Eee! OMG! That's all.

So, RTD just got honored for 'services to drama' and with this episode, proved that he fucked earned it.