unfeathered (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
unfeathered) wrote2024-03-28 09:24 pm
unfeathered) wrote2024-03-28 09:24 pm
More Doctor Who S1 rewatch: 1.11 Boom Town
I've been thoroughly enjoying my foray through Nine's single season for the first time in what must be several years. I hoped to post more, but found I didn't actually have much to say, except how much I'm enjoying it. For the record, though, if anyone's interested, my original S1 reviews can be found here.
But Boom Town, tonight, made me really want to squee a little on how amazing it is, even after all this time.
I have watched this episode sooooo many times, both in series rewatches and for research because, as someone pointed out many many moons ago, this is the one single episode where we get to see Rose, Nine and Jack as they presumably would have been for a hell of a lot more adventures between the Empty Child and the Game Station if only season 1 had been longer!
But I watched it tonight for the first time in several years (with my son, who is 18 and was still growing inside me when this first aired, that's how long ago it was!!!) and we both found so much in it to enjoy. And not just to enjoy, but to notice. There's such a lot of stuff packed into this episode. Character stuff, the stuff I'm interested in and the stuff Jack (my son, not Captain Jack, although to be fair he was in part named after Captain Jack) is interested in – well, he's going to be an actor, and I'm a writer, so characters and their relationships are what we're there for!
And this episode gives so much, about Nine, Jack, Rose, Mickey, and their interactions with each other. The tensions between Rose and Mickey, with the two of them remembering how they used to be together and trying to work out what they are to each other now. Jack looking after Rose, like the way he grabs her when Blon lets her go. Blon's not-very-subtle attempts to play all of them but especially the Doctor, and the insights we get into the Doctor as a result (oh, how expressive Christopher Eccleston's eyes are)!
But best of all, the Doctor and Jack. I came into Nine/Jack largely through![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
becky_writing / fandom_me's awesome fic with Nine and Jack in an established BDSM relationship, and so that's inevitably where I followed. Rewatching this now with an open mind, I'm not necessarily getting an established sexual or D/s relationship there, or even necessarily the promise of one – I mean, there *could* be, but there equally could not be – but there is so much interaction, little looks and glances – Jack glances at the Doctor a lot, checking in with him for approval or orders, a LOT. There might not be a sexual relationship, there might not be an overt D/s relationship, but there is very definitely a pecking order there, and Jack is very definitely watching the Doctor for direction. It's fascinating. If I had the time, I'd go and watch the episode AGAIN!
But I won't, because we're trying to get in as much rewatching as possible before my son goes off to uni in September. And I need to actually show him Torchwood this time around, because our last rewatch of these early seasons was years ago and he definitely wasn't old enough then!
But Boom Town, tonight, made me really want to squee a little on how amazing it is, even after all this time.
I have watched this episode sooooo many times, both in series rewatches and for research because, as someone pointed out many many moons ago, this is the one single episode where we get to see Rose, Nine and Jack as they presumably would have been for a hell of a lot more adventures between the Empty Child and the Game Station if only season 1 had been longer!
But I watched it tonight for the first time in several years (with my son, who is 18 and was still growing inside me when this first aired, that's how long ago it was!!!) and we both found so much in it to enjoy. And not just to enjoy, but to notice. There's such a lot of stuff packed into this episode. Character stuff, the stuff I'm interested in and the stuff Jack (my son, not Captain Jack, although to be fair he was in part named after Captain Jack) is interested in – well, he's going to be an actor, and I'm a writer, so characters and their relationships are what we're there for!
And this episode gives so much, about Nine, Jack, Rose, Mickey, and their interactions with each other. The tensions between Rose and Mickey, with the two of them remembering how they used to be together and trying to work out what they are to each other now. Jack looking after Rose, like the way he grabs her when Blon lets her go. Blon's not-very-subtle attempts to play all of them but especially the Doctor, and the insights we get into the Doctor as a result (oh, how expressive Christopher Eccleston's eyes are)!
But best of all, the Doctor and Jack. I came into Nine/Jack largely through
becky_writing / fandom_me's awesome fic with Nine and Jack in an established BDSM relationship, and so that's inevitably where I followed. Rewatching this now with an open mind, I'm not necessarily getting an established sexual or D/s relationship there, or even necessarily the promise of one – I mean, there *could* be, but there equally could not be – but there is so much interaction, little looks and glances – Jack glances at the Doctor a lot, checking in with him for approval or orders, a LOT. There might not be a sexual relationship, there might not be an overt D/s relationship, but there is very definitely a pecking order there, and Jack is very definitely watching the Doctor for direction. It's fascinating. If I had the time, I'd go and watch the episode AGAIN!But I won't, because we're trying to get in as much rewatching as possible before my son goes off to uni in September. And I need to actually show him Torchwood this time around, because our last rewatch of these early seasons was years ago and he definitely wasn't old enough then!