Thoughts on The Parting of The Ways

[kaliha]

We've reached the end. And what an ending it was. This was possibly the longest 45 minutes I've sat through. RTD really did try to squeeze as much as he could into the episode and I don't think it suffered for it. However, the amount of stuff happening does make for a *lot* of thoughts.

So, we begin…

Doctor: "And for my next trick…"

How very clever, materialising the TARDIS around Rose. (And an unlucky Dalek). Somewhat perturbed by the physics of this though. Shouldn't Rose and the Dalek have got squished under the floor instead? Hmmm dubious. But I'll let it pass because as rescues go it was quite imaginative.

(I thought you couldn't use weaponry inside the TARDIS? I'm sure I've read or seen it someone. Someone please tell me I didn't imagine it. Mind you, Jack's gun was drained of all it's power after just one shot.)

The reunion was very touching and nice and light-hearted too. Like it's just another day on the TARDIS, carefully ignoring the fact that Rose was *that* close to getting exterminated.

Doctor: "Is that it? Useless. Nul point."
Is our Doctor is secret Eurovision fan? Probably not, but it's fun to speculate. Did anyone notice the Daleks wandering around in groups of three? No? Just me then. Loved the fact they were scared by the Doctor when he turned round and said "So if anyone's going to shut up, it's you!", they scuttled back like scared little kids.

The Oncoming Storm. The Doctor is part of a Dalek legend. How very interesting. You wouldn't put them down for being so poetic though. The Doctor's like the Big, Bad Wolf. I'm sure we're meant to draw that conclusion.

The Dalek Emperor also fell through time. This is now not an isolated case. If the Daleks could do it and then remain undetected for centuries whose to say that there aren't a few other Time Lords, other than the Doctor floating around the deep, dark expanses?

Poor Doctor. All that death and destruction and all for nothing.

Emperor of the Daleks: "I reached into the dirt and made new life. I am the God of all Daleks!"

Considering the Daleks are supposed to have wiped out all their emotions, the Emperor here seems very prideful. And you know that pride comes before a fall. I don't understand why he had to use human DNA to make his army. Surely he could have taken cells from himself and grown up clones. It would have been a lot easier than all that sifting. And 200,000 cells is only equivalent to a little patch of skin (if you think of it as one cell per Dalek). At least they would have been pure Daleks and not insane half-human mongrels.

I really liked the design of the Emperor. Instantly recognisable as a Dalek but also so radically different from the soldiers (as an Emperor should be). And it also illustrated the Emperor's pride by having him suspended from the bottom of his machine. It would have been so easy to blast him (which is possibly why Jack's gun stopped working).

Jack: "Rose. You are worth fighting for. I wish I'd never met you, Doctor. I was much better off as a coward. See you in hell."

Jack's last hurrah! (otherwise known as 'the kiss that launched a thousand icons') and probably also the cause of a number of complaints to the BBC Duty Office. Because OMG!MENKISSING!AT7INTHEEVENING!! Yay! for Russell T Davies. That had his 'shippy fingerprints all over it.

It was so nicely done. Identical kisses, very understated. Showing Jack's love for his two friends in more than his usual flirty way. He's grown to love these strange people and feels that yes, they are worth dying for. Rose rather embarrassed by her kiss, the Doctor looking more, hmmm, whimsical. I'm sure there was some irate fanboy head-imploding too. Again I think it's what RTD wanted. Bless him.

Doctor: There's another thing the TARDIS could do. It could take us away. We could leave. Let history take its course. We go to Marbella in 1989.
Rose: Yeah, but you'd never do that.
Doctor: No, but you could ask. Never even occurred to you, did it?
The Doctor's sense of 'rightness' has rubbed off on Rose. She wouldn't dream of abandoning the Earth to it's fate. She's thought about it, I'm sure, but knows the Doctor wouldn't abandon this fight. And if he's staying, she's staying too. Which makes it obvious that he's going to send her home. I didn't expect him to trick her though. That was mean, but probably the only way he'd be able to get her on the TARDIS. And he tricked her with techno-babble too.

His goodbye to her was very sweet. Hidden inside a jokey ego-inflating comment of himself, Rose wouldn't notice it straightway. And the little kiss on her forehead, so much more chaste than Jack's goodbye, but a goodbye nonetheless.

Doctor: "And if you wanna remember me, then you can do one thing. That's all, one thing. Have a good life. Do that for me, Rose. Have a fantastic life."

I wonder if the Doctor has always had an emergency programme for getting the TARDIS away if he's in danger. Surely if she's as sentient as he says she is, she'd do her own vanishing act if she was in danger and the Doctor gone.

Hands up who started getting a bit teary about then? *raises hand* The whole scene with the hologram was very moving. He's not scared of death (he hopes it's a good one) and he doesn't want her to mope around for him. The best way she can remember him is to live her life. *sob* And he can die with the knowledge that Rose is safe and she will live.

And the bit when the hologram turns around to face her…

Doctor: "That's the decision I've got to make for every living thing. Die as a human or live as a Dalek. What would you do?"
Again it comes down to consequences. Destroy the planet and the billions of people living on it, plus Jack and Lynda-with-a-y to stop the threat of the Daleks or let the human race be exterminated and the Daleks live on to do the same to countless other planets.

In the end he chooses to die as a human. Maybe it is time to end the line of the Time Lords. With Rose safe in the past maybe the Doctor feels that there's nothing worth fighting for. Everything he loved is gone and he's so very weary of life.

He even tells the Dalek Emperor that he'd be a coward any day; choosing not to fight if he doesn’t have to, which is a nice counterpoint to Jack's earlier words to him.

Rose: "That fight is happening right now. And he's fighting for us! The whole planet, and I'm just sitting here, eating chips!"
The scenes on Earth were nail-bitingly frustrating because you wanted Rose to get back to the Doctor, Rose wanted to get back to the Doctor and they were sitting there eating chips. It made the viewer as frustrated as Rose. It was a nice little touch.

Mickey: "If you go back, you're gonna die."
Rose: "That's a risk I've gotta take. Because there's nothing left for me here."
Mickey: "Nothing?"
Rose: "No."
Rose makes probably the hardest decision of her life there. She may have made it in a split-second, without giving it a thought, but she's willing to throw her old life away for a 900 year old alien who is probably already dead. She has to go back because she can't life her life not knowing what happened and not knowing if she could have saved him.

Mickey, although obviously heartbroken, agrees to help her. This, I think, is why the Doctor calls him Mickey the Idiot. Later on, the Doctor says that he can see the past, present and future all at the same time, (he even mentions that it's enough to drive you mad – which explains a lot). It's not that big a jump to realise that he's probably seen Mickey help Rose send the TARDIS back to him. Yet, he does nothing to stop it in the future. He could have programmed the TARDIS to shut down once it got Rose home and turn into a big, blue box on a street corner somewhere, but he didn't. I think he knew she was coming back. And didn't do a thing to stop her.

Lynda: "They've found me."

How scary were the space-walking Daleks? I actually jumped when they glided up into the window of the observation room. It was as jump-worthy as the Gentlemen gliding past in the Buffy episode 'Hush'. And the silence as they said "Exterminate!" on the other side of the glass. Chilling.

Rose: "I looked into the TARDIS and the TARDIS looked into me."

And they both wanted the same thing.

Doctor: "Rose, you've got to stop this. You've got to stop this now. You've got the entire vortex running through your head, you're going to burn!"
Rose/TARDIS: "And you'll be safe. My Doctor."
To both Rose and the TARDIS that's all that matters.

Usually, the TARDIS has to take a more subtle route to protect the Doctor (sending him to the wrong time and place etc.). This time she can take a more active role and she grabs it with both (borrowed) hands. I think the TARDIS is too vast to care if Rose lives or dies and Rose just wants the Doctor safe and isn't particularly concerned, at the moment, about the consequences of her actions.

Loved the dissolving of the Daleks, the quiet death. All the while the Doctor is lying on the floor powerless to stop it.

TARDIS!Rose saved Jack but did she also bring everyone else back to life on the station and on Earth? She certainly had the power to do so, to make everything as it was before. She didn't see any problems in playing God and creating life (mirroring the Emperor of the Daleks). And if the Doctor can let "everybody live", why can't she?

Poor Jack. All left behind. He's not going to be best pleased when he catches up with them.

Rose: "My head..."
Doctor: "Come here."
Rose: "...it's killing me..."
Doctor: "I think you need a Doctor."

Even with The Daily Mirror trying desperately to spoil it for us, I knew there was going to be a proper kiss. It's the perfect resolution. And also very cleverly shot, it's not a passionate kiss, but that doesn't mean it's not romantic as well as practical. Rose is dying and it's all his fault. (At least he believes it is, this time he has a point). This could be his last chance to say goodbye to her and he's going to do it properly.

Rose's love for the Doctor is killing her and in the end his love for her kills him. (How very Shakespeare). Using a kiss to exchange power has been done before (many times) but it was still a very powerful scene. The Doctor is going to save Rose, and damn the consequences. (I'm sure he knows that doing this is going to kill him and he's probably not sure if she's going to survive it anyway).

Doctor: "Rose Tyler. I was going to take you to so many places."
Yeah, we wanted you to as well. The 'shipper inside wants a happy ending, but RTD is going to take another leaf from the Whedon-Book-of-Crushing-Viewers-Hopes and give you the most angsty, sad ending you could possibly want.

Rose: Doctor, tell me what's going on.
Doctor: I absorbed all the energy of the Time Vortex, and no-one's meant to do that. Every cell in my body's dying.
Rose: Can't you do something?
Doctor: Yeah. I'm doing it now. Time Lords have this little trick, it's, uh, sort of a way of cheating death, except... it means I'm going to change, and I'm not going to see you again, not like this, not with this daft old face.
I liked the way the whole issue of regeneration was handled. It was scripted in such as way that even the little kiddies watching would understand what was going on. You can also see how scared the Doctor is for Rose. He doesn't send her away, to protect her from what she would see (which is probably a good thing, she'd likely be a bit confused by a much young chap wearing her Doctor's clothes standing in the console room complaining about his teeth).

He's trying to reassure Rose, fly the TARDIS and make sure nothing's going to happen while he's changing. He's in so much pain, but instead of lying down and taking it, he looks after Rose first, then stands to face death (of sorts). Our brave Doctor.

(Yes, I may have been crying my eyes out by this point. But I wouldn't admit it to you.)

Doctor: "Rose. Before I go, I just wanna tell you that you were fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. And d'you know what? So was I!"

If you're not teary by now, you have no heart :p The Doctor would never tell Rose that he loved her. It's not his style. This is the closest we're going to get.

This is the moment you knew, with such certainty that this was the end of Eccleston's Doctor. He didn't overplay his ending, just went out on a smile that was so 'Nine'.

Goodbye, our goofy, Northern Doctor. It's been a blast.


The actual regeneration looked really painful and very flamey. The effects were very good.

Doctor: "Hallo. OK... New teeth. That's weird. So where was I? Oh, that's right. Barcelona."

New Doctor, no real accent (yet). Loved the way he had to take a moment to get used to the new body and Rose's look of almost terror. Nine probably could have explained what was going to happen a little bit better.

The amnesia thing is interesting. I wonder how long it's going to be before Rose remembers what happened? It's going to tear her apart when she does.

Other bits and pieces
Rose: "Remember the last time I saw you, with the Slitheen."
Each episode apparently gets referenced. Here's the ones I spotted, but there's a couple I think I missed.
The End of the World: TARDIS!Rose's comment "Everything must come to dust. All things. Everything dies" echoes the Doctor's comment to Cassandra just before she died.
Dalek: The bullets dissolving as they hit the Dalek's shields, plus Rose reminding the Doctor that they had enough trouble stopping one Dalek. And the comment about the Emperor's ship falling through time.
The Long Game: Satellite 5
Fathers Day: Rose: "Remember when Dad died? There was someone with him. A girl, a blonde girl, she held his hand. You saw her from a distance, Mum, you saw her! Think about it, that was me, you saw me!"
The Doctor Dances: Everyone lives!
Boom Town: Rose reminds Mickey of the last time she saw him. And the Extrapolator.
Bad Wolf: Anne Droid.


Bad Wolf Watch:
Rose: I thought it was a warning. Maybe it's the opposite, maybe it's a message! The same words written down now and two hundred thousand years in the future. It's a link, between me and the Doctor. Bad Wolf here, Bad Wolf there."

Well that one was a bit obvious, but there was also this one behind Rose's head in the chip shop:

And other people have been saying that they saw other ones in the scenes set back on present-day(ish) Earth.

Rose/TARDIS: I am the Bad Wolf. I create myself. I take the words. I scatter them in time and space. A message, to lead myself here."
So, TARDIS!Rose, with her abilities to see the past, present and future all at the same time, reached out through time and space to leave a message, not for the Doctor; but a message of hope for Rose herself. You'd think she'd use something a bit less cryptic. Something along the lines of: "You can save him" or "Use the TARDIS". But no, she chose "Bad Wolf" instead.

I still don't feel it's been fully explained. I'm sure they'll be repercussions from this next year, particularly once Rose remembers what happened.

Final Thoughts
I laughed, I cried (a fair bit), I cheered. I even hid behind a cushion at one point. (I know, I know). There wasn't a single moment of clock watching for the whole 45 minutes. Yes there were small faults with the episode, there always is, but not enough to stop me really enjoying myself.

I loved the fact this was a 13-episode story. Plot-arcs are the new black. From the sounds of things it's going to be the same next year too.

Finale Score: 10/10

This is only the second episode of *anything* to get a 10/10 rating from me (the other being Buffy's Becoming, Part 2). Which, I think goes to show how much I loved this.

Comments

[taperoo2k.livejournal.com]

A very good review. As for Jack firing his gun and killing the Dalek inside the Tardis ? Time Lords Tardis's usually have a field of grace inside the Tardis that stops violence from occuring inside the Tardis. However the Doctor's Tardis is slighty worse for wear. I think from reading the manual to the Tardis (it's a fan made thing i think), the doctor stole his Tardis right before it was going to be turned into scrap. http://www.tardis.ed.ac.uk/~abr/drwho/tardis/type40/ Zee Time Lord manual to a Tardis.

As for the Doctor materalising the Tardis around Rose, the Tardis is quite capable of doing that. As it's transdimenionsal in nature. Thats why the inside is bigger than the outside. The way RTD was talking about the Tardis, we may get to see a bit more of it. The Doctor travelling all on his own in that great big ship before he found Rose, or something to that effect, is what RTD said.

I loved this episode, the rengeneration scene was perfectly acted out by Eccleston and Tennant. Who's already getting stick from a certain section of Doctor Who fans, who think everyone would enjoy a bit of fanwank.
One person even said Rose should have looked away and the Doctor should have done a Colin Baker style rengeration. Bloody idiots. This new series has always been about getting new fans, namely children intrested in the show, thus keeping the fan base healthy etc
10/10 as well for the episode. FANBLOODTASTIC.

I can't wait for the christmas invasion and series 2.

[artela.livejournal.com]

The doctor shot a cyberman inside the tardis once... I guess that only the "travellers" are allowed and "interlopers" aren't?

[indigo-blind.livejournal.com]

This series of Dr Who must have been good cos even my mum, who normally hates things like this with a passion, watched it and even admitted to me that she had enjoyed it.

I loved it, had the right mix of everything. Everything Sat night tv should be. I'm going to miss it a lot.

And the whole kissing thing, pleased me little fangirl heart and got a nod of approval from my dad.

Bring on Ten.

[tommx.livejournal.com]

very good review. i can't think of anything to add to it really except to say that i am so glad the doctor is back. i've been saying it for the last 13 weeks and i am going to keep on saying it. i'm going to miss chris as the doctor, but i don't begrudge him leaving because he made the doctor live again.

i now need to watch something with david tennant in it.

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

I can answer the 'groups of three' thing!

Well, after a conversation with my driving instructor today, that is. See, (for those who don't know me) my driving instructor was part of the team that designed, built and controlled the Daleks for this new series of Doctor Who. Very cool. He says they only made three Daleks, so the thousands we saw on-screen were the result of overlapping film (they had to re-film the same shot over and over, but with their Daleks in different places doing different things) and also CGI cloning - thus, they scuttle around in groups of three. Well spotted. He also said that his own Dalek was slightly heavier than the others and had more white paint on it. This means I shall have to watch the episode again (such a hardship) to see if I can pick Lyn's one out of the crowd. *G*

[snellios.livejournal.com]

YEYE

MMM, the TARDIS wouldnt squish them, it just materialises around them. That's all I have to contribute

[gooofy.livejournal.com]

"The Oncoming Storm. The Doctor is part of a Dalek legend. How very interesting. You wouldn't put them down for being so poetic though. The Doctor's like the Big, Bad Wolf. I'm sure we're meant to draw that conclusion."

The Oncoming Storm is what the Daleks called the Doctor in the Virgin New Adventure books. Some of those books also feature Dalek poetry.

[lordindra.livejournal.com]

The Doctor has been a bogeyman to the Daleks since their genesis, when the Fourth Doctor very nearly prevented their creation- he was literally an inch away, just short out two wires, when he realized he did not have that right- he couldn't play God. Interesting parralel to the 9th making the same decision.

As for creating Daleks from human DNA... Davros had tried that himself, hadn't worked it out exactly but the Emperor Dalek surely would have been aware of that research, and potentially been able to complete it centuries later.

[eruvadhril.livejournal.com]

The Oncoming Storm.
I was cheering myself up last night, trying to imagine the other Doctors giving that speech. I just kept getting this vision of Tom Baker trying to look menacing, and saying "They call me the Oncoming Storm" while clutching a bag of jelly babies.

[ed-zeppelin.livejournal.com]

The actual regeneration looked really painful and very flamey. The effects were very good.
It was very well thought out, using the same effect as the time vortex to suggest the power is being blasted out of him. If you look closely you can see the flames strip Eccleston's features away, leaving a totally blank face (like a dummy's), from which Tennant's features grow.

Something along the lines of: "You can save him" or "Use the TARDIS". But no, she chose "Bad Wolf" instead.
I think Bad Wolf was nicely enigmatic, more dramatically effective than something more obvious. Apparently Rose chose the words from the Bad Wolf corporation, who chose them themselves quite innocently.

[elissah.livejournal.com]

"Loved the fact they were scared by the Doctor when he turned round and said "So if anyone's going to shut up, it's you!", they scuttled back like scared little kids."

I remember that was pretty much the last time, I laughed during the episode.

[audioboy.livejournal.com]

Great review. Awesome use of pics. Agree with all your points. Loved your assessment of many of the scenes. Couldn't keep from snivelling just a little bit. Have to go and watch it again, now.

*sob*

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

There was a reference to the first episode when Rose says she she's everything, all life and death and everything that was or could be. And the Doctor says that's what he sees, all the time. In the first episode he explains to Rose how he feels and sees the planet moving and life on the planet and time and stuff.

[--kali--.livejournal.com]

I think Bad Wolf was nicely enigmatic, more dramatically effective than something more obvious. Apparently Rose chose the words from the Bad Wolf corporation, who chose them themselves quite innocently.

True, but it would have saved a lot of time and heartache if she'd picked something she'd have understood. But hey, it wouldn't have made for good TV.

[x-paper-stars-x.livejournal.com]

"Rose/TARDIS: "And you'll be safe. My Doctor."

I could have sworn she said "I want you safe." At least, I think so. There are builders in the house next door so I had the subtitles on.

[david-macgowan.livejournal.com]

What a great review!!!

I wonder what the other Doctors' emergency holograms might have been like if they'd had one. I can imagine Tom preparing one for Sarah. "I hate goodbyes but the fact is i'm in terrible danger and we'll probably never see each other again. My jelly babies are in my spare coat. Well, must dash. Take care." :)

[--kali--.livejournal.com]

It's possible she did, unfortunately the sound on my copy isn't that good

[jerel.livejournal.com]

Hi, me again--just recently stole your 9th Doctor mood icons? ;)

This is a great review. And I didn't cry as much as I wanted, because my husband would have teased me something horrible.

Not firing weapons inside the TARDIS: you're not the only one who remembers this. But I can't remember if it was in a novel or in the show. But yes, there was, at some point, no way to fire a weapon in the TARDIS. I think those of us who are long term fans are supposed to assume the Doctor turned it off at some point.

...Or maybe the TARDIS turned it off herself, so the Doctor could do what he needed to do?

Do you mind if I add you to my reading list?

[redscharlach.livejournal.com]

I thought it would have been highly amusing if she'd scattered the words "DOC+ROSE=TRUELUV4EVAH!!!" throughout time and space. It would have meant that the next time she asked "Why does everyone think we're a couple??", whoever it was could have just pointed at the nearest bit of graffiti and rolled their eyes. Tee hee.

[imsupergirl.livejournal.com]

Great review! I haven't anyone here at home to discuss the new series with, so it was good to read someone else's take on the ending of it.

Hey, did you notice at the end Chris said he'd used up 7 bodies already? I don't think the series is counting the television movie with Paul McGann as Doctor #8. Very odd. Maybe they're hoping to get away with just one more actor as the doctor in the future.

[a-minor-melody.livejournal.com]

Just for the record, I sobbed over this episode. SOBBED. Still, 5 hours later (I just wathed it today) I am still depressed over it. I'm a fan of the dr/rose kiss...it made me all gushy...and then I cried some more because I knew it was gonna force a regeneration...I'm gonna miss #9. Tennant better be good...

[--kali--.livejournal.com]

Wow, I can't believe people are still reading my little review! I still can't watch the end of this episode, I get all teary. :)

[romanticizing.livejournal.com]

I know this post is from a while ago, but I've been looking through some episode reviews and stumbled onto this. I'm new to the show--I just saw this episode not quite a week ago, and I've seen four episodes of the second season so far. Anyway, your post is great--it reminded me of how wonderful the episode is, and how sad, too. From the point of the Doctor's emergency message to her when she's in the Tardis being sent home on, I was crying nearly the whole way through. Ah, so sad. Anyway, thank you for this post, I enjoyed reading it.