I can't say enough good things about this finale, to be honest. I think it's objectively the best in New Who, in terms of tying together threads from throughout the series and bringing the characters' arcs to their logical resolution. Billie Piper and Chris Eccleston bring some great performances. The Daleks are scary (or at least as scary as they'll ever be) and their return is actually a bit surprising for the first/only time. Nine's relationship with the Time War really comes to a head and we see how much he's changed. Rose, Mickey and Jackie finally all wind up on the same page, and Rose makes a definitive choice to be involved and be a hero. And there's just some really lovely bits of writing -- Rose's speech in the chip shop and Emergency Program 1 are some of my favourite scenes in the entire show
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Yeah, I feel like the Daleks are kind of a trusty villain who can be relied upon to just kind of be there as a vague imposing threat without needing much/any backdrop. Like -- it's distracting to me if the main villain doesn't have suitable motivation (ahem Madam Kovarian) and you're sitting there like "but WHY are they doing this? WHY?" With the Daleks the answer is always just "because they're robot space Nazis" and that's that, lol.
I mean, I would happily trade them for more interesting/dynamic villains and I think the only time they're truly scary in New Who is in series 1. The Master made a more interesting "Big Bad" for series 3. But if I was choosing between something like the Silence or Weeping Angels (good in Blink, less good elsewhere) or "hey, more Daleks because reasons", I'd pick the Daleks.
Plus the Daleks are sassy bitches and it amuses me.
I like Ten's regeneration more or less but he definitely drew the short straw if you compare it to Nine's, lol. Their arcs sort of ended up being opposite of each other, so I guess it makes sense that their regenerations would be as well.
I'm curious about where Eleven's will fall, but then that's assuming Matt ever actually leaves the role.
Obviously this episode calls back to "The Long Game", and we find out that the propaganda machine the Doctor toppled earlier in the series ended up leaving the Earth vulnerable to the Daleks, of all things. What did you think of the way this episode opens with a riff on three popular (at the time) reality shows? Funny or a bit too camp? What about the ~deadly~ twist on the games, and the subsequent reveal that the disintegrator beams aren't really what they seem to be? I think the reality show stuff is a bit camp, but I think it's an admirable attempt to make a statement about how ridiculous reality TV shows can be and it's also poking fun at the public obsession with them. It's not subtle, but it's fine. I think the plot throughout the two parter is really solid. RTD has a tendency to get a bit OTT in the finales, but I think he managed to reign it in here and back it up with a good story.
This episode also starts the noble New Who tradition of non-stop Daleks. Do you think they're used well in this episode? What about the
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What about her relationship with the Doctor by this point? Where do you think they stand by the time Nine regenerates? I think Rose's feelings for the Doctor have been slowly growing over the series, but it's not until she's stuck back on Earth and he could be out there DYING that she realizes them. I tend to view Nine/Rose as the beginning of a love story where they are getting to know each other and slowly fall in love with each other, but it's not really until Ten that it is able to blossom.
And of course, this is the last episode we have with the Ninth Doctor. What did you think about his story, overall? Did you think he developed well over his thirteen episodes? In what ways? What about his regeneration scene, both in terms of how he regenerates and his ~final words~?FABULOUS STORY. Like idk. He's such a broken man when we first meet him and then by the end of the series he's bros with Lynda and he obviously cares a great deal for Rose. And like idk. In the Time War he pulled the trigger that killed everyone, but he just can't
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I mean, I would happily trade them for more interesting/dynamic villains and I think the only time they're truly scary in New Who is in series 1. The Master made a more interesting "Big Bad" for series 3. But if I was choosing between something like the Silence or Weeping Angels (good in Blink, less good elsewhere) or "hey, more Daleks because reasons", I'd pick the Daleks.
Plus the Daleks are sassy bitches and it amuses me.
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I'm curious about where Eleven's will fall, but then that's assuming Matt ever actually leaves the role.
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I think the reality show stuff is a bit camp, but I think it's an admirable attempt to make a statement about how ridiculous reality TV shows can be and it's also poking fun at the public obsession with them. It's not subtle, but it's fine. I think the plot throughout the two parter is really solid. RTD has a tendency to get a bit OTT in the finales, but I think he managed to reign it in here and back it up with a good story.
This episode also starts the noble New Who tradition of non-stop Daleks. Do you think they're used well in this episode? What about the ( ... )
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I think Rose's feelings for the Doctor have been slowly growing over the series, but it's not until she's stuck back on Earth and he could be out there DYING that she realizes them. I tend to view Nine/Rose as the beginning of a love story where they are getting to know each other and slowly fall in love with each other, but it's not really until Ten that it is able to blossom.
And of course, this is the last episode we have with the Ninth Doctor. What did you think about his story, overall? Did you think he developed well over his thirteen episodes? In what ways? What about his regeneration scene, both in terms of how he regenerates and his ~final words~?FABULOUS STORY. Like idk. He's such a broken man when we first meet him and then by the end of the series he's bros with Lynda and he obviously cares a great deal for Rose. And like idk. In the Time War he pulled the trigger that killed everyone, but he just can't ( ... )
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yeah i had to explain to my mom (who'd seen Torchwood: Children of Earth with me previously) that he wasn't immortal yet
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