Doctor Who 4x13: Journey's End

[butterfly]

Well, here it is -- the last episode of Series Four; the last episode of Donna's series as the companion. Will a companion really die an 'everlasting death'? How quickly will they uncliffhanger the cliffhanger? Are the Doctor and Rose going to get a chance to hug at any point? Is there going to be set-up for the 2009 specials? Is RTD going to rip my heart out and, if so, will it be in a good way? I guess now I'm going to find out.

Journey's End

Oh, it never fails to crack me up how quickly they resolve the cliffhangers. That may be a record.

So! I already have my Doctor/Rose hug (and he's still him. hee). Yay! Mickey and Jackie saved Sarah Jane ("We Smiths have to stick together."). Yay! Oh and...

TOSH SAVED GWEN AND IANTO! OH, YES! FROM BEYOND THE FUCKING GRAVE!

Oh, Jackie's love for her daughter is so lovely (as is her assumption -- "if they've got the Doctor, they've got Rose." Yes.) And Sarah Jane is such a badass. The Dalek terrify her and she's surrendering herself to them so that she can go help the Doctor.

And Martha, doing the brave thing all alone, the way she does (see: "Last of the Time Lords", "Human Nature"/"Family of Blood", "The Doctor's Daughter").

Oh, Rose's adorable halting confession ("Basically, we've been building this... this travel machine... this, uh, dimension cannon so that I could... well, so I could... ("what?") so I could come back... shut up.") and the Doctor's flirty, teasing reaction to her. It's just like being back in S2, the way he thinks that every thing she does ever is the cleverest, cutest, most wonderful thing. Seriously, Rose confesses to building something that has universe-destroying potential and he's over there preening because it means that she really, really likes him.

I... may have watched that conversation a few times before continuing forward.

Oh! Oh!

Doctor-Donna. Doctor-Donna.

We have a Doctor-Donna. The Doctor and Donna's 'son' (in the same way that Jenny was his 'daughter'). Ha! Loved that scene.

"I've got a job to do." That's Martha's catchphrase. She's the professional one, who gets the job done no matter what. Hmm.

"Incinerate."

Poor, poor immortal Jack. Ouch.

...

Davros is kinda a loon, isn't he?

Oh, wait, that's completely in character. Carry on, then.

(am so glad that Jackie was not dissolved into nothing)

Martha's going to give the Daleks a chance to surrender, isn't she? Seriously, every single one of these people kicks so much ass.

Aw! Rose giving Martha the love. *hearts*

"She's good."

Ooo! Rose-Martha conversation.

"My name's Rose. Rose Tyler."
"Oh, my God. He found you."

Her reaction was so utterly beautiful. Both of their reactions. Aw.

Davros recognized Sarah Jane. Dude, for the win. How made out of win is this episode so far?

"How many have died in your name?"

And then flashback of heartbreaking awesome. Oh, my (and he counts Ursula as one of the fallen, I note).

And more Doctor-Donna. Both Doctor-Donna. Half-human, half-time lord. Both of them.

More of RTD's destiny, which is always created in choice. Donna reached out for the hand and it resonated backward. No one ever forced her to make the choice.

"So, there's three of you. Three Doctors?"
"I can't tell you what I'm thinking right now."

I love Jack so much.

And the Doctor got what he wanted -- what started to happen in "Dalek" and in "Evolution of the Daleks". A Dalek changed his mind about being a monster and made it stick. Not just for himself, but for all of them. Ha!

Aw, the Doctor and Rose noticed that Gwen looks like Gywneth. Cute. (wow, they have no personal space -- could they be more all up in each other?)

And they take the Earth back and hugs all around! Love the hugging!

Too dangerous to have a TARDIS. Born in battle.

"That's me, when we first met. And you made me better."

And then the Doctor and Donna. He had to be there for her when... because everything that's inside his head doesn't fit. She's a human with Time Lord knowledge (the Doctor on the beach is a Time Lord with a human heart -- literally and metaphorically). It's too much, so he takes it away. It'll kill her if she keeps it.

One of the things that I've been saying every time that I talk about not being sure if a plot twist will work was, "But if anyone can do, RTD can."

The Doctor ended series four the same way he began it. He's alone in the TARDIS. He's had to do to one of his friends the same thing that the Time Lords did to Zoe and Jamie. He's never going to see Rose again. Jack, Sarah Jane, Martha, Mickey all have places to go. And he's alone.

And Donna's story is heartbreaking. Plain and simple. But in a dramatically satisfying way.

Rose is more complicated because... part of her is always going to hate that the Doctor is missing her, but she can't ignore the man in front of her either. He's the Doctor, too. Still the Doctor. All his memories and feelings. He gave a version of himself that chance to live that life that he can never have. Rose has a chance to be happy and safe. And he would always choose her safety over his own happiness. Always. Part of his heart is always going to be missing, but that was true anyway. That's always true. If he knows that she has a chance to be happy, then his own pain won't seem so bad. As for Rose... she loves the Doctor. Completely. Both of them are the Doctor and one of them needs to be sealed away. And he needs her. Rose's compassion combined with her love is very powerful. She'd never leave him hurting and... one of them has more options than the other. And she believes that this universe's Doctor will have Donna to hold his hand.

Pete's World's Doctor is a killer again. Rose is the person who turned Nine into Ten. She taught him how to stop being a general and stop being a killer.

So, yes. That story really worked for me. Full-circle to start anew is something that I really enjoy and that's exactly what this is. Rose saved the Doctor once -- and then Donna and Martha and Sarah Jane and Jack saved him some more. She's the one who healed him. He knows that better than anyone. He knows better than anyone else exactly what the man who killed the Daleks needs. Rose is what he wants more than anything in the universe and part of him can live a life with her. And he won't go mad because... she really did make him better. I hurt for the Doctor that continues on living in this universe, so badly, but... he will live on. He was already, this season before Rose came back. He won't be S2 Doctor ever again (I did enjoy that glimpse of him, when he and Rose were talking), but S4 Doctor managed to be pretty damn happy traveling with Donna. He'll survive. Be all right. In the end.

And the Doctor that's in Pete's World... Rose will heal him. She's already healing him. And he won't be trapped, the way Jack is, into living endlessly on after she's gone. He'll get to hold her in his arms when they both look eighty and know that he doesn't have to run anymore. Part of the Doctor can finally rest. The real Doctor, the proper Doctor, because both of them are.

Yeah. That works. Parts of it hurt and parts of it make my heart sing, but overall... it works. Russell told his story about the Doctor finding a home. But it's not his story alone, so only part of the Doctor is allowed that happy ending.

Comments

[doctor-addict.livejournal.com]

I completely and utterly agree with everything you have said. It was heart breaking to watch, but in a very good way. A prime example of why Rusty is a complete legend.

Mind if I friend you?

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Hello! I never mind being friended! It's nice to meet you.

It was heart breaking to watch, but in a very good way. A prime example of why Rusty is a complete legend.

He really is such a fantastic writer! I'm apt to agree with David Tennant when he says that Russell is the greatest writer in television.