![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Finally, more than a week after this episode aired, here’s my review. Yeah, it’s all been said already, but I write these for my own use (to remember what happened, what I liked, what I didn’t) as much as anything else, so I’m going to do it anyway.
(Obviously, I’ve now seen The Sound of Drums, but I hadn’t when I started this review, so I’ll continue in that vein!
First of all: John Barrowman! Yay! John has such a zest for life, that comes across even more when he’s playing Captain Jack, and that really does lift this episode, for me. Plus the chemistry between him and David Tennant is just out of this world. Oh yes, definitely a relationship there!
On to the episode.
The pit-stop. The Doctor is obviously trying not to stay in Cardiff a second longer than he has to, which indicates right from the start that he knows Jack is alive, and there. He really doesn’t want to let Jack reach him. His face when he sees Jack on the screen is scary and not at all what one would expect. No happy reunions here. He’s running away. I love the way the Doctor’s reaction to Jack is established this early on.
I’m not entirely convinced by the Doctor’s “the TARDIS flew all the way to the end of the universe to get rid of you”. It could have been that he set the TARDIS to leave Cardiff as fast as possible and the TARDIS interpreted his wish by speeding up and getting as far away (in time) as it could.
The Futurekind. Hmm. Not exactly the most imaginative monsters ever in Doctor Who, but they’re not the actual focus of the episode so it doesn’t matter too much. What I don’t get is Yana’s statement that “It’s feared they are what we will become.” Which doesn’t make any sense as we’re at the end of the universe and humans haven’t got any time left in which to evolve into the Futurekind.
The credits. “John Barrowman” – yay!!! Didn’t expect that.
The guy running from the Futurekind is Mike from Grange Hill. Oddly enough, his character there was training to be a runner too. Obviously it’s something he’s good at. Didn’t like him much then and don’t think much of him now either.
Interestingly, Yana and Chantho look scared when the voice over the intercom asks how they’re doing. At least, that’s how I interpreted it the first time. Now I know it’s the captain, I assume they’re meant to just look worried, but to me they look scared.
I like the way we first see Yana hearing the drums as the TARDIS lands, and that the drums are beating the rhythm of the theme tune – TARDIS music. I like the little square on the scanner, too. It’s so cool that the Doctor’s ship is so instantly recognisable, even on a scanner.
I love the way the Doctor and Martha are all “We should go” and then they both grin madly and rush for the door. Never could stay out of trouble, could you, Doctor? Love Martha rushing for her stethoscope to tend to Jack. Wonder if the Doctor knew he’d be there, or if he really thought he’d shaken him off.
The Doctor’s utter coldness as he looks at Jack and says, so casually, “Oh, I’m sorry,” is very chilling.
A hilarious moment as Martha pronounces Jack dead only to have him gasp into life behind her. Love her little scream and the flirting between the two of them.
More coldness as Jack and the Doctor greet each other. Then hilarity with “Have you had work done?” “You can talk!” And the space hopper/sportscar analogy. I would love it if the Doctor has to use Jack’s ‘space hopper’ to get home next episode.
Information – finally, a date! Jack got back to earth using said spacehopper and landed in 1869.
“Oh, she was blonde!” Love it. And the bitter accusation on Jack’s face. And again as the Doctor talks about ‘time’ having killed the bug conglomeration. A lot of references to ‘time’ there are, this week.
Love “Show me your teeth.” And Creet. And “Captain Jack Harkness, and who are you?” “Stop it.”
The shot of the Futurekind woman (I think it’s a woman?) looking skulky really didn’t need to have her baring her teeth and hissing: it was perfectly obvious what she was.
Love Jack flirting with Chantho. Love Chantho, actually, though she looks a bit skulky too and I kept waiting for her to turn out to be the bad guy.
Martha and the hand – utterly hilarious. Her medical-studenty excitement over the Doctor’s strange biology and his supreme casualness about it. And the wink.
Yana and the Doctor bonding. They could be great friends.
Yana hearing the drums again at the sight of the TARDIS on the computer screen.
Chantho and Martha bonding. The swearing. So sweet.
Jack dying to try to save the red-shirt in the radiation room, and the Doctor’s utter coldness as he says “Well, I think I’ve got just the man.” Jack’s breathless “Was someone kissing me???”
Jack stripping and the Doctor’s almost-panic at same.
Jack in the radiation room brings up one of my big problems with Torchwood/Doctor Who’s treatment of his immortality, though. Because they keep referring to him as ‘immortal’; yet in most situations he does die for a little while and then he comes back to life again. Which isn’t actually being immortal. (I don’t know that there is actually a term for it.) And then they have a scene like this where he doesn’t die. I mean, the other guy evaporated into little tiny pieces, and by rights Jack should have been doing this over and over again during that scene, with little breaks of deadness before coming back to life. I just wish they’d make up their minds. I hate inconsistency. To me, it’s not good story-telling.
That said, radiation room scene: HOT. More of that brilliant chemistry between the two guys, and a huge sense of intimacy in the way they talk to each other and look at each other. More information from Jack (Ellis Island 1892, other deaths) that we’ve waited two years to find out. The Doctor’s casualness (again) as he tells Jack he’s “wrong” – very painful, but Jack’s had 130 years to get past that and he seems to forgive the Doctor, which is the sort of guy he is, I guess. Martha listening in and hearing the truth about what Rose did and where she is now. Jack admitting to having gone to see Rose growing up. “Do you want to die?” and the Doctor’s devilish grin as Jack admits (after prodding) that he doesn’t. (And this definitely feels to me as if the Doctor could ‘cure’ him if Jack wanted.) The exchange about the only man Jack would ever be happy with being himself.
And the Professor crying as he listens and all the key words prod memories in his subconscious: ‘TARDIS’, ‘regeneration’, ‘time-travel’, ‘Daleks’. And the watch – and our realisation at that point of exactly what Yana is.
I have to admit, though, I don’t get the point about ‘Yana’ and ‘You are not alone’. Was Yana (the Master) supposed to have taken this name because of what the Face of Boe said? And if so, how did he find out? Or was the Face of Boe talking in code, spelling out Yana’s name? Because both seem extremely tenuous to me and I don’t get it. Which annoys me.
Derek Jacobi turning to face Chantho and at the same time turning into the Master. Evil eyes. Very scary. Again, though, I really felt we didn’t need him to spell out “I am the Master”, because honestly what other Timelord was he going to be? But that may be because, despite my aversion to spoilers, I’d seen other people talking about the Master right from the start of the season with the ‘brother’ thing and then the Face of Boe thing. To me, this line just felt corny and unnecessary.
I love the Doctor being locked out of his TARDIS by the simple mechanism of a Yale lock being flipped up.
Also love the old-fashioned villain music over the regeneration. Very fitting.
I like the novel idea of the villain not telling the hero his plans, and Martha’s “I know that voice”, and of course the supremely slashy “Use my name” bit. I would, however, like to know what the Doctor’s saying he’s sorry for. Having to fight against an old friend (or whatever they were *grin*)? Or what?
As for John Simm’s Master, I’m reserving judgement until next episode.
Summary: not the most outstanding episode ever, but I loved it anyway!
8.5/10
(Obviously, I’ve now seen The Sound of Drums, but I hadn’t when I started this review, so I’ll continue in that vein!
First of all: John Barrowman! Yay! John has such a zest for life, that comes across even more when he’s playing Captain Jack, and that really does lift this episode, for me. Plus the chemistry between him and David Tennant is just out of this world. Oh yes, definitely a relationship there!
On to the episode.
The pit-stop. The Doctor is obviously trying not to stay in Cardiff a second longer than he has to, which indicates right from the start that he knows Jack is alive, and there. He really doesn’t want to let Jack reach him. His face when he sees Jack on the screen is scary and not at all what one would expect. No happy reunions here. He’s running away. I love the way the Doctor’s reaction to Jack is established this early on.
I’m not entirely convinced by the Doctor’s “the TARDIS flew all the way to the end of the universe to get rid of you”. It could have been that he set the TARDIS to leave Cardiff as fast as possible and the TARDIS interpreted his wish by speeding up and getting as far away (in time) as it could.
The Futurekind. Hmm. Not exactly the most imaginative monsters ever in Doctor Who, but they’re not the actual focus of the episode so it doesn’t matter too much. What I don’t get is Yana’s statement that “It’s feared they are what we will become.” Which doesn’t make any sense as we’re at the end of the universe and humans haven’t got any time left in which to evolve into the Futurekind.
The credits. “John Barrowman” – yay!!! Didn’t expect that.
The guy running from the Futurekind is Mike from Grange Hill. Oddly enough, his character there was training to be a runner too. Obviously it’s something he’s good at. Didn’t like him much then and don’t think much of him now either.
Interestingly, Yana and Chantho look scared when the voice over the intercom asks how they’re doing. At least, that’s how I interpreted it the first time. Now I know it’s the captain, I assume they’re meant to just look worried, but to me they look scared.
I like the way we first see Yana hearing the drums as the TARDIS lands, and that the drums are beating the rhythm of the theme tune – TARDIS music. I like the little square on the scanner, too. It’s so cool that the Doctor’s ship is so instantly recognisable, even on a scanner.
I love the way the Doctor and Martha are all “We should go” and then they both grin madly and rush for the door. Never could stay out of trouble, could you, Doctor? Love Martha rushing for her stethoscope to tend to Jack. Wonder if the Doctor knew he’d be there, or if he really thought he’d shaken him off.
The Doctor’s utter coldness as he looks at Jack and says, so casually, “Oh, I’m sorry,” is very chilling.
A hilarious moment as Martha pronounces Jack dead only to have him gasp into life behind her. Love her little scream and the flirting between the two of them.
More coldness as Jack and the Doctor greet each other. Then hilarity with “Have you had work done?” “You can talk!” And the space hopper/sportscar analogy. I would love it if the Doctor has to use Jack’s ‘space hopper’ to get home next episode.
Information – finally, a date! Jack got back to earth using said spacehopper and landed in 1869.
“Oh, she was blonde!” Love it. And the bitter accusation on Jack’s face. And again as the Doctor talks about ‘time’ having killed the bug conglomeration. A lot of references to ‘time’ there are, this week.
Love “Show me your teeth.” And Creet. And “Captain Jack Harkness, and who are you?” “Stop it.”
The shot of the Futurekind woman (I think it’s a woman?) looking skulky really didn’t need to have her baring her teeth and hissing: it was perfectly obvious what she was.
Love Jack flirting with Chantho. Love Chantho, actually, though she looks a bit skulky too and I kept waiting for her to turn out to be the bad guy.
Martha and the hand – utterly hilarious. Her medical-studenty excitement over the Doctor’s strange biology and his supreme casualness about it. And the wink.
Yana and the Doctor bonding. They could be great friends.
Yana hearing the drums again at the sight of the TARDIS on the computer screen.
Chantho and Martha bonding. The swearing. So sweet.
Jack dying to try to save the red-shirt in the radiation room, and the Doctor’s utter coldness as he says “Well, I think I’ve got just the man.” Jack’s breathless “Was someone kissing me???”
Jack stripping and the Doctor’s almost-panic at same.
Jack in the radiation room brings up one of my big problems with Torchwood/Doctor Who’s treatment of his immortality, though. Because they keep referring to him as ‘immortal’; yet in most situations he does die for a little while and then he comes back to life again. Which isn’t actually being immortal. (I don’t know that there is actually a term for it.) And then they have a scene like this where he doesn’t die. I mean, the other guy evaporated into little tiny pieces, and by rights Jack should have been doing this over and over again during that scene, with little breaks of deadness before coming back to life. I just wish they’d make up their minds. I hate inconsistency. To me, it’s not good story-telling.
That said, radiation room scene: HOT. More of that brilliant chemistry between the two guys, and a huge sense of intimacy in the way they talk to each other and look at each other. More information from Jack (Ellis Island 1892, other deaths) that we’ve waited two years to find out. The Doctor’s casualness (again) as he tells Jack he’s “wrong” – very painful, but Jack’s had 130 years to get past that and he seems to forgive the Doctor, which is the sort of guy he is, I guess. Martha listening in and hearing the truth about what Rose did and where she is now. Jack admitting to having gone to see Rose growing up. “Do you want to die?” and the Doctor’s devilish grin as Jack admits (after prodding) that he doesn’t. (And this definitely feels to me as if the Doctor could ‘cure’ him if Jack wanted.) The exchange about the only man Jack would ever be happy with being himself.
And the Professor crying as he listens and all the key words prod memories in his subconscious: ‘TARDIS’, ‘regeneration’, ‘time-travel’, ‘Daleks’. And the watch – and our realisation at that point of exactly what Yana is.
I have to admit, though, I don’t get the point about ‘Yana’ and ‘You are not alone’. Was Yana (the Master) supposed to have taken this name because of what the Face of Boe said? And if so, how did he find out? Or was the Face of Boe talking in code, spelling out Yana’s name? Because both seem extremely tenuous to me and I don’t get it. Which annoys me.
Derek Jacobi turning to face Chantho and at the same time turning into the Master. Evil eyes. Very scary. Again, though, I really felt we didn’t need him to spell out “I am the Master”, because honestly what other Timelord was he going to be? But that may be because, despite my aversion to spoilers, I’d seen other people talking about the Master right from the start of the season with the ‘brother’ thing and then the Face of Boe thing. To me, this line just felt corny and unnecessary.
I love the Doctor being locked out of his TARDIS by the simple mechanism of a Yale lock being flipped up.
Also love the old-fashioned villain music over the regeneration. Very fitting.
I like the novel idea of the villain not telling the hero his plans, and Martha’s “I know that voice”, and of course the supremely slashy “Use my name” bit. I would, however, like to know what the Doctor’s saying he’s sorry for. Having to fight against an old friend (or whatever they were *grin*)? Or what?
As for John Simm’s Master, I’m reserving judgement until next episode.
Summary: not the most outstanding episode ever, but I loved it anyway!
8.5/10