Thank goodness for Donna
Jun. 14th, 2008 08:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
salienneWell first off, I just want to thank everyone for the hugs and comments on my last post; it really did make me feel better, and you are all absolutely lovely. :) *Hugs to all*
And on a completely different note...
Other than brilliant and disturbing and thrilling (even if a tiny bit repetitious), the only word I can use to describe this episode is "sad." Basically, the Doctor makes friends. The Doctor tries to help. And the Doctor almost gets killed by the very people he just befriended/tried to help after having a piece of his essence stolen away.
Just... imagine that, your voice, stolen away, in a tiny capsule floating above a dead planet while surrounded by strangers who want to chuck you out an airlock.
That's the essence of "alone" and "violation" right there.
I was so happy when Donna gave him that hug in the end. Did exactly what I'd been yearning to do/wishing someone would do.
So, all in all, RTD, you are my writing hero. Thank you for being brilliant. This was the only episode of Doctor Who that has ever legitimately scared the crap out of me, and it wasn't just a bundle of cheap frights with a bunch of running. It was more... subtle, and so well structured and developed, and it was fantastic.
ETA: (Because I forgot to give credit where credit was due) And thank you David Tennant, for deliving a mind-blowing performance without which this episode wouldn't have been half as good. It's not every actor who can make staring off into the camera while repeating other characters' dialogue so damn heartbreaking.
ETA2: ...So, for some people, apparently because the black characters were in "service jobs" and because one of them doesn't get a name and two die means RTD has racial issues.
Not like the mecahnic is the first one to notice the creature. And it's not like the two others are the only ones who know what the hell is really going on at the end. And, excuse me, but since when is being a student (who knows better than her mentor, no less) a "service job"? Pardon, but I'm not serving anyone, thanks! And even if I were in a research assistant position (as she seems to be), if anything, that would mean I was clever enough for a professional to notice me.
Again, how is this demeaning to her? She beat out hundreds of other students for this position. That, and she's smarter than her mentor (who is also, shockingly enough, white, and doesn't seem to have a name that I can recall either).
As for the hostess, yes, she was the first person to suggest killing Sky, but you know what? She figured it out. She saved the day by sacrificing herself. The only "heroic" character in this episode. (besides the Doctor, anyway, but that's to be expected. That, and he didn't do much "heroism" here, as such.)
What about the fact that the professor and parents panicked the most throughout? That the father was most into killing the Doctor? Or that the blond woman turned evil? I sense anti-blond/parent/woman/intellectual/fill-in-the-blank undertones!
...I mean honstly, fandom. Must you overread everything? I sincerely doubt RTD considered skin color even once while writing this episode, and I don't see why there has to be some big evil racist agenda afoot. (Also, the fact that we didn't get these comments last week where the only black individual on the archaeology venture died is something that just shows me even more how biased fandom is. Because Moffat is God, and RTD is Satan, AND I WILL MAKE THE FACTS SUPPORT ME DAMMIT! Whether they do or not.)
(And I haven't seen this on lj so much as DWF, but if I hear one more "Gay Agenda" comment, I'm gonna smack someone.)
And on a completely different note...
Other than brilliant and disturbing and thrilling (even if a tiny bit repetitious), the only word I can use to describe this episode is "sad." Basically, the Doctor makes friends. The Doctor tries to help. And the Doctor almost gets killed by the very people he just befriended/tried to help after having a piece of his essence stolen away.
Just... imagine that, your voice, stolen away, in a tiny capsule floating above a dead planet while surrounded by strangers who want to chuck you out an airlock.
That's the essence of "alone" and "violation" right there.
I was so happy when Donna gave him that hug in the end. Did exactly what I'd been yearning to do/wishing someone would do.
So, all in all, RTD, you are my writing hero. Thank you for being brilliant. This was the only episode of Doctor Who that has ever legitimately scared the crap out of me, and it wasn't just a bundle of cheap frights with a bunch of running. It was more... subtle, and so well structured and developed, and it was fantastic.
ETA: (Because I forgot to give credit where credit was due) And thank you David Tennant, for deliving a mind-blowing performance without which this episode wouldn't have been half as good. It's not every actor who can make staring off into the camera while repeating other characters' dialogue so damn heartbreaking.
ETA2: ...So, for some people, apparently because the black characters were in "service jobs" and because one of them doesn't get a name and two die means RTD has racial issues.
Not like the mecahnic is the first one to notice the creature. And it's not like the two others are the only ones who know what the hell is really going on at the end. And, excuse me, but since when is being a student (who knows better than her mentor, no less) a "service job"? Pardon, but I'm not serving anyone, thanks! And even if I were in a research assistant position (as she seems to be), if anything, that would mean I was clever enough for a professional to notice me.
Again, how is this demeaning to her? She beat out hundreds of other students for this position. That, and she's smarter than her mentor (who is also, shockingly enough, white, and doesn't seem to have a name that I can recall either).
As for the hostess, yes, she was the first person to suggest killing Sky, but you know what? She figured it out. She saved the day by sacrificing herself. The only "heroic" character in this episode. (besides the Doctor, anyway, but that's to be expected. That, and he didn't do much "heroism" here, as such.)
What about the fact that the professor and parents panicked the most throughout? That the father was most into killing the Doctor? Or that the blond woman turned evil? I sense anti-blond/parent/woman/intellectual/fill-in-the-blank undertones!
...I mean honstly, fandom. Must you overread everything? I sincerely doubt RTD considered skin color even once while writing this episode, and I don't see why there has to be some big evil racist agenda afoot. (Also, the fact that we didn't get these comments last week where the only black individual on the archaeology venture died is something that just shows me even more how biased fandom is. Because Moffat is God, and RTD is Satan, AND I WILL MAKE THE FACTS SUPPORT ME DAMMIT! Whether they do or not.)
(And I haven't seen this on lj so much as DWF, but if I hear one more "Gay Agenda" comment, I'm gonna smack someone.)
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Date: 2008-06-17 01:58 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-06-17 02:31 am (UTC)