The Waters of Mars

[yendi]

Very brief thoughts behind the spoiler tag, of course.



Okay, plot-wise, this was basically the same idea as in "42," with water instead of fire as the possessing element.

But this wasn't about the main plot. This was about The Doctor, and the continuation of the hubris he's been showing ever since the end of last season.

And man, how good that story's becoming; it almost makes his horrible treatment of Donna forgivable.

Plus, I liked the entire supporting cast here.

Oh, and seeing John Simm in the preview (as well as Catherine Tate and Bernard Cribbins) only makes me want the next special to arrive even sooner.

Comments

[freyapax.livejournal.com]

Yes yes yes! More than ever the story was just the device to tell more about the Doctor. And OHHH MAN what a story this is. I literally ended the episode in a sweat.

[thegreatjohnzo.livejournal.com]

ah, a Who fan i can bug about stuff. I want to get into Who, where do you recommend I start?

[yendi]

I'd suggest starting with the Ninth Doctor, and with "Rose" as your first episode. I'm not a fan of old-school Who, but Eccleston breathed life into the character for me.

[catvalente.livejournal.com]

I still thought it wasn't well set up in this episode or in the previous special--he spent forever deciding to help (while three people died who didn't have to and no one brings that up) and then gets WAY explicit with what he's saying about his awesomeness with weird flat acting from Tennant and very little motivation within the standalone ep. The people I watched it with have seen all of Who and were totally shocked by his behavior, not because it was bad, but because it seemed out of the blue. This was an ok ep but really meagre, to me. Everyone involved seemed bored.

Can't wait for the next one, though, it looks great. So I'll probably be disappointed.

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

while three people died who didn't have to and no one brings that up

The captain did, at the end, when the Doctor was saying he'd saved little people in the past, but she was Important; she called him out on basically calling her colleagues insignificant.

[catvalente.livejournal.com]

She said Mia and Yuri--those are the people who did live.

[yendi]

In many ways, I view this as the flip side to "The Doctor Dances." Nine, for most of his season, was a melancholy survivor of a war that destroyed everything he loved (and I can only imagine the death that led Eight to resurrect). But on TDD, he A) has that rare experience where nobody dies, and B) dances with Rose (and "dancing," in the world of Moffat, is Doctor-speak for "having sex," of course). He also starts on a path of regaining hope and confidence thanks to Rose and Jack. That's the point he's at when he dies and resurrects.

Ten, by now, has reached the pinnacle of that confidence, and it's become arrogance that he's above all else. When Donna gains power, his reaction isn't to try to help her control that power; it's to lobotomize her. When a second Doctor is created, Ten strands him in another universe, and strands Rose with him. And now, when faced with hearing three more deaths, he decides that the rules he's followed forever can be broken, because there's no one to tell him "no." The problem isn't that the three people didn't have to die; it's that by saving the remaining three people, he's decided to play god.

Which, of course, makes him not all that different from The Master now.

(And, of course, the fact that the title anagrams into "War of the Masters" isn't a coincidence.)

[catvalente.livejournal.com]

I think that's fair, and I get that it's what was intended--it's just that The Doctor Dances is better in every way, and poor writing in this ep means all those themes are either buried or anvilicious, depending on which end of the hour we were on.

[haikujaguar.livejournal.com]

Having finally gotten a chance to see this, I agree. :)

I do have a habit of watching the credits roll on every Doctor Who episode and saying, "Well, that was depressing."

(And, as has become custom, my husband responds: "They're British.")