The Laws of Time
Nov. 17th, 2009 05:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gwaevalarinI know how much I react to Doctor Who emotionally and still, in a way, it takes me by surprise every single time.
Which means that I'd love to write a review and get all those emotions out and turn them into words but I simply don't know how. Or where to begin. Or what to say at all.
When you think about it rationally, isn't it odd that it feels so wrong, almost evil, that the Doctor threw old Time Lord rules overboard to save someone's life. He says himself that the fixed points in time are just a theorie anyway. So in a way it should have been the right thing, shouldn't it? Ignoring old rules that might not even have a point because they force you to let people die.
Plus, in the end the Doctor didn't even really change the fixed event. Adelaide did die and her legacy lives on so her granddaughter will reach for the stars quite literally.
No, I believe that his actions were right. What leaves this really bad feeling is the fact that his intentions were not.
He didn't really go back to save them. He went back to show everyone that he's done playing by the rules. And that he actually can not play by the rules. I think what sums it up is "Time Lord Victorious". In a way you can say that his loneliness drove him mad in the end. Just for a moment, but that moment was enough to seal his fate. He is the last of an ancient, almost god-like race. He lost everyone, Time Lords and humans alike. His voice almost cracks when he says "They died. They all died" like he's blaming them for leaving him behind. So he decided to not let anyone get close to him again. A lone god roaming the universe. And that almost inevitably let to this point. Donna told him that he sometimes needs someone to stop him. He would have needed someone there and then but there was no one. At least no one to whom he felt close enough so he'd listen to them. Adelaide didn't get through.
And then there's this "prophecy" hanging over his head. The ending song, the knocking. Death has followed him around for a while, whereever he went. Always staying out of sight but always there, lurking and threatening to jump at him. "Not beaten yet. Not beaten!" And maybe he knows that his death - and I'm not sure he knows that it's "only" going to be a regeneration, if it really will be only that - is another fixed point in time but he doesn't know where and when it will happen. How is that supposed to not drive you insane?
"The laws of time are mine. And they will obey me."
I'm not sure we've really seen all that has happened when he saved them. It seemed like the TARDIS was still materialising when the countdown reaches 00. Now, that could have been no more than a means to make us think that maybe they didn't make it, which honestly I don't think anyone believed for a second. There might be more to it. We'll see.
And then they're back on earth and for a moment it seems like the Doctor is his old self again. There he is enjoying the snow and talking about family reunions and the next moment, after Adelaide states that no one should have this kind of power his face hardens. "Tough". And suddenly he talks about little people and being the winner. And he almost scares me. Because it makes me wonder for how long all this has really already been boiling inside him. I think when you look closely there might have been hints of that side of him for a while. The Family of Blood? Voyage of the Damned? Always still within acceptable borders but sometimes dangerously close to the edge. I'll have to rewatch to be sure.
Only when Adelaide kills herself, when she does the right thing for the right, and completely selfless, reason - even if it might have been unnecessary - he snaps out of it. Because then he sees what he did and why it was wrong.
"I've gone too far."
I don't believe the Doctor went dark side. He's just broken. And scared. And sadly that's the consequential end to his story. I wish there was a way to save him but I hope that there will be a way to at least fix some things before the end.
(New) Doctor Who never was all black and white but now we've completely fallen into shades of grey and I'm starting to wonder if the Master really is going to be the villain in The End of Time. It might just not be that simple.
But one thing is certain: Ten is and always will be "my" Doctor. Now more than ever.
On a side note: Steffi's accent was pretty good. Especially compared to Fritz's in last weeks Supernatural.
Which means that I'd love to write a review and get all those emotions out and turn them into words but I simply don't know how. Or where to begin. Or what to say at all.
When you think about it rationally, isn't it odd that it feels so wrong, almost evil, that the Doctor threw old Time Lord rules overboard to save someone's life. He says himself that the fixed points in time are just a theorie anyway. So in a way it should have been the right thing, shouldn't it? Ignoring old rules that might not even have a point because they force you to let people die.
Plus, in the end the Doctor didn't even really change the fixed event. Adelaide did die and her legacy lives on so her granddaughter will reach for the stars quite literally.
No, I believe that his actions were right. What leaves this really bad feeling is the fact that his intentions were not.
He didn't really go back to save them. He went back to show everyone that he's done playing by the rules. And that he actually can not play by the rules. I think what sums it up is "Time Lord Victorious". In a way you can say that his loneliness drove him mad in the end. Just for a moment, but that moment was enough to seal his fate. He is the last of an ancient, almost god-like race. He lost everyone, Time Lords and humans alike. His voice almost cracks when he says "They died. They all died" like he's blaming them for leaving him behind. So he decided to not let anyone get close to him again. A lone god roaming the universe. And that almost inevitably let to this point. Donna told him that he sometimes needs someone to stop him. He would have needed someone there and then but there was no one. At least no one to whom he felt close enough so he'd listen to them. Adelaide didn't get through.
And then there's this "prophecy" hanging over his head. The ending song, the knocking. Death has followed him around for a while, whereever he went. Always staying out of sight but always there, lurking and threatening to jump at him. "Not beaten yet. Not beaten!" And maybe he knows that his death - and I'm not sure he knows that it's "only" going to be a regeneration, if it really will be only that - is another fixed point in time but he doesn't know where and when it will happen. How is that supposed to not drive you insane?
"The laws of time are mine. And they will obey me."
I'm not sure we've really seen all that has happened when he saved them. It seemed like the TARDIS was still materialising when the countdown reaches 00. Now, that could have been no more than a means to make us think that maybe they didn't make it, which honestly I don't think anyone believed for a second. There might be more to it. We'll see.
And then they're back on earth and for a moment it seems like the Doctor is his old self again. There he is enjoying the snow and talking about family reunions and the next moment, after Adelaide states that no one should have this kind of power his face hardens. "Tough". And suddenly he talks about little people and being the winner. And he almost scares me. Because it makes me wonder for how long all this has really already been boiling inside him. I think when you look closely there might have been hints of that side of him for a while. The Family of Blood? Voyage of the Damned? Always still within acceptable borders but sometimes dangerously close to the edge. I'll have to rewatch to be sure.
Only when Adelaide kills herself, when she does the right thing for the right, and completely selfless, reason - even if it might have been unnecessary - he snaps out of it. Because then he sees what he did and why it was wrong.
"I've gone too far."
I don't believe the Doctor went dark side. He's just broken. And scared. And sadly that's the consequential end to his story. I wish there was a way to save him but I hope that there will be a way to at least fix some things before the end.
(New) Doctor Who never was all black and white but now we've completely fallen into shades of grey and I'm starting to wonder if the Master really is going to be the villain in The End of Time. It might just not be that simple.
But one thing is certain: Ten is and always will be "my" Doctor. Now more than ever.
On a side note: Steffi's accent was pretty good. Especially compared to Fritz's in last weeks Supernatural.
