Story: Journey's End
Written By: Russell T. Davies
Length: 65 Minutes
Year: 2008
The finale comes and the Doctor avoids regenerating by sending all his regenerating energy into his hand that he has in jar. So in case you missed that the Doctor got his hand cut off Christmas day way back in “Christmas Invasion,” Captain Jack got it, used it to find the Doctor in "Utopia" and now the Doctor just used it to NOT regenerate. WOO.
So with all this cast and Daleks and whatnot going on how does the episode go? Well it hits too many highs and lows all at once. One there was no need for either Mickey or Jackie to return. If you have to pick one, go with Mickey, because Jackie is completely useless in both episodes. Rose probably should have only been in Turn Left, for all the build up to her return this season ultimately lead to her standing around. Also she was so mature and changed in Turn Left, that when she actually comes back and gets to see the Doctor, she immediately regresses to the crying teen she was when they last saw each other. Let down.
Sarah Jane also does very little, as does Jack and the Torchwood gang. So the spin offs aren’t helping us. Martha doesn’t end up getting all too much done herself, except exposing the Doctor to Davros as a man who spawns warriors, which would have worked well if there weren’t 30 other cast members to get through.
If things hadn’t gotten complicated enough, now we have two Doctors, for one grew out the hand…weird. In the end, a part time lord Donna that uses her new knowledge to thwart the villain temp style defeats the Daleks and Davros. I like that she gets her moment in the sun, even if it is too easy.
Daleks defeated and all planets sent home, except of course…Earth. The Doctor uses his suddenly large crew to pilot the TARDIS properly, and this moment I must admit I truly loved. Returning everyone home and saying their respective goodbyes was nice.
Then there is Rose. She got in my opinion, a fitting end in Doomsday. But now we get this somewhat crappy repeat of that end. Back to Bad Wolf Bay, back to goodbyes, only this time she has a Doctor she can keep. Great. Pointless and proof to me that there was no good reason to bring her back.
It is Donna’s end though which is the great and powerful, beautiful and heart breaking end. The time lord consciousness inside her head starts to kill her. In order to save her, the Doctor has to do far worse than just take it back. He has to erase every single memory she had of him…all the way back to “Runaway Bride.” That blows hard. The final moments with Wilfred are the best in the episode, and after the Doctor gets back into his TARDIS, cold and wet from the rain…and once again alone, he looks at his empty ship again and the credit roll. At least it ends right.
There’s too much going on and not enough time to tell it…and I think Davies just got to ambitious and forgot that sometimes less is more. But it is his last big Series Finale, and he wanted to go out with a bang, and in that sense he did…even if it is a flawed bang.
NEXT TIME: Series 4 Recap
Written By: Russell T. Davies
Length: 65 Minutes
Year: 2008
The finale comes and the Doctor avoids regenerating by sending all his regenerating energy into his hand that he has in jar. So in case you missed that the Doctor got his hand cut off Christmas day way back in “Christmas Invasion,” Captain Jack got it, used it to find the Doctor in "Utopia" and now the Doctor just used it to NOT regenerate. WOO.
Sarah Jane also does very little, as does Jack and the Torchwood gang. So the spin offs aren’t helping us. Martha doesn’t end up getting all too much done herself, except exposing the Doctor to Davros as a man who spawns warriors, which would have worked well if there weren’t 30 other cast members to get through.
If things hadn’t gotten complicated enough, now we have two Doctors, for one grew out the hand…weird. In the end, a part time lord Donna that uses her new knowledge to thwart the villain temp style defeats the Daleks and Davros. I like that she gets her moment in the sun, even if it is too easy.
Daleks defeated and all planets sent home, except of course…Earth. The Doctor uses his suddenly large crew to pilot the TARDIS properly, and this moment I must admit I truly loved. Returning everyone home and saying their respective goodbyes was nice.
Then there is Rose. She got in my opinion, a fitting end in Doomsday. But now we get this somewhat crappy repeat of that end. Back to Bad Wolf Bay, back to goodbyes, only this time she has a Doctor she can keep. Great. Pointless and proof to me that there was no good reason to bring her back.
It is Donna’s end though which is the great and powerful, beautiful and heart breaking end. The time lord consciousness inside her head starts to kill her. In order to save her, the Doctor has to do far worse than just take it back. He has to erase every single memory she had of him…all the way back to “Runaway Bride.” That blows hard. The final moments with Wilfred are the best in the episode, and after the Doctor gets back into his TARDIS, cold and wet from the rain…and once again alone, he looks at his empty ship again and the credit roll. At least it ends right.
There’s too much going on and not enough time to tell it…and I think Davies just got to ambitious and forgot that sometimes less is more. But it is his last big Series Finale, and he wanted to go out with a bang, and in that sense he did…even if it is a flawed bang.
NEXT TIME: Series 4 Recap
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