salienne

Well first off, I'd just like to say that I adored this episode. What they did with the Ood (how they're made into slaves, the song, the triple-brains), the Doctor/Donna relationship--I do squee long-time, yaaaaaa?

And I also find it very very interesting that while the death count and harshness and just overall darkness here are so much greater than that of S3, s3's atmosphere was just so much more empty and desolate. It's like, there's actually hope this season even when things are at their worst, while there, the Doctor was just going through the motions. Which, I suppose, was exactly what was happening.

Very interesting choice on RTD's part, certainly.

Oh, and small moment from the ep: when Donna says she wants to leave, did any of you catch the Doctor's face? He just looks so hurt and scared there. Brilliant job, DT.

And, of course, the end, with the song ending. After reading theories on DWF and other people's ljs, it seems like we've either got: Rose returning, the Time Lords returning, or regeneration.

Loss remains a theme, though now we're back to the bees. I wonder if this is an offhand thing, something for a future episode, or something that (for God knows what reason) has greater significance to this season as a whole.

That all said, the episode was very rushed (like FoP, it bears rewatching, though I liked it more than our dear exploding volcano episode) and the slavery thing was just, well, very very expected.

Still, I really rather liked it. :)