The Afterlife...Humperdinck

[rabid1st]

More about DW S4...episode 13...one day I will stop posting these...but today is not that day...This one is about Pete's World!

Also there are four pictures from the finale...not so dial up friendly and, of course, spoilers...apparently you can't use two cuts in one post...sorry if I spoiled anyone accidentally.

"The valient child who will die in battle...so very, very soon."

Doomsday comes and Rose says, "My name is Rose Tyler and this is the story of how I died."

The Doctor tells her..."You're dead. Officially."

"My wife died." "Her husband died. Good match."

Queen Victoria gives a lovely little speech about how we must wait for word from the other side once our loved one's leave us.

Jackie Tyler says it would be wonderful if the dead could return but the Doctor says "I think it would be horrific."

And everyone who is anyone in Pete's World...is dead. We saw Jackie die. We saw Pete die. We saw Rickey die...not quite Mickey...and Mickey does come back. We know that his old Gran died before we meet her.

And it dawns on me...that Pete's World is the Doctor Who afterlife.

It is where the dead go. And we don't want them to come back...because life in our universe is so very hard...and they have found peace. Or most of them have...Rose hasn't, as yet. This ending we have is like Orpheus...in a way...Rose tries to come back from the land of the dead...and is firmly returned to it.

But there is someone else who we saw die. Ten dies. He dies...at the end of The Stolen Earth. He says it is too late to save him. He starts to regenerate...that is Time Lord death. You don't come back from that. Sure you go on...in the memory of the next Doctor. You can loop around on occasion. And you become part of the next man. But you don't go on AS the Doctor after you die.

Another really good reason for 10, not 11*, to be in the afterlife is that 10 is the one who died. He hijacked the body. The same way the Valeyard was going to hijack Six's body maybe. Ten broke the cardinal rule of Doctor Who. The Doctor regenerates and changes into a new man and we say goodbye to the old Doctor and accept the new one. The new Doctor has all the memories of the old one...he thinks the same way...but he's refreshed and rejuvenated.

Ah...but...the question is presented...by the few people still listening to me...:wink:

Is RTD clever enough to have planned all this? Or is he simply telling a nifty story with big flashy special effects? Did he cobble JE together at the last minute...to have a real good send off...with all his peeps there...and the earth being towed around...but then decide that he could help with the long break and pen a few more episodes?

It seems he was clever enough to plan to have Billie back all along...and to have her lie to the public for two years. Was this ending the reason? Did he think...Rose just won't stay in the other universe alone...so...I should bring her back so I can send her away more permanently? Or one day I will make two Doctors and one of them will be human and go off with Rose, but I won't ever make Rose want a human Doctor? Or I need to make a clone of the Doctor for my story to work...so...let's bring Rose back for an entire season so I can get rid of the spare Doctor?

I am trying to wrap my mind around the thought process.

Let's bring back Donna...to have a season about...duplication and cloning and such...so Rose can be retired with a human clone of the Doctor and everyone is happy. Only let's make sure nobody really looks happy. Let's introduce Donna by having the Doctor afraid to let her onboard...because he nearly ruined Martha's life...but then Donna can be special...save everyone...and then go back to being as she was. Perfect. Hmmm? It is still not working for me. As you can see.

But 10 being dead now, 10 being the one who should go, that works for me. It wasn't a complete death...it was rather like Rose's, Jackie's and Pete's...there's still a spare. And there's an afterlife waiting for Ten over in Pete's World. That is something we've never seen with the Doctor. He never gets to the final resting place. Usually, he folds into himself. But 10 has been crying out for the normal life...for so long...wouldn't it be heaven to him...to rest...to be with Rose? Isn't that why he tries to give it to 11? Because he doesn't believe he deserves a place in Heaven...not when he's so dark and lost?

Rassilon knew what the First Doctor said...what Ten said later, "Immortality is a curse, not a blessing." To go on and on...losing all that you love...is the curse of the Time Lords...it drives them all mad. Or, in the case of Rassilon, into permanent isolation. It is time for the Doctor to "die" and be reborn...from Donna Noble. A little bit human...a man with a planet and a family and some hope for his future. Not someone who is predestined to always end up alone. He should give 11 the body and take the path into eternity...living a life, day-to-day, the one adventure he has never had.

So...about those pictures...they are making my point that RTD has all this planned out.

This is what tired of life looks like...



This is what love looks like...



And this is what comfort looks like...




And this is none of those things...




*Yes, I'm going to call 10.2 that now...11...because that's who he is. He's the proper Doctor...with a little bit of Donna thrown in. And maybe he would kill Davros...or the wasp...to really save people. Maybe he wouldn't let so many innocent people die. Maybe we need a better Doctor for our universe...one who understands Harriet Jones...and Martha Jones, too.

Comments

[nightbeast.livejournal.com]

It's a pity Jake didn't cameo in the finale, because he and Rose suddenly have a lot in common: To live with the doppleganger of the man you love. Only Rose has the advantage that the split into 'parallel' lives is only a few hours.

The beauty and curse of RTD's writing is that the same images and words can be interpreted in many different and valid ways.

For instance, this looks a lot like the love cap in your original post, and a happy smile by an onlooking Blue suit. I call both the smiles on the men joyful, happy at seeing the pieces fall into place in the save the day plan:



For the hugging, I find it very weird that Brown Ten isn't seen hugging Rose. It was a blink and miss it when they begin to kind of face each other. But this cap is interesting:



<<< No Brown suit leaving Rose's arms. We never see Rose hug either of the suits when she is aware of two of them. Which is fine in a sense because we don't see everyone hug everyone else. Brown goes on to muscle in on Martha/Rose, but we don't see Martha hug anyone after that; it's Rose that's freed to hug her Mum. I wonder if they declined to show the Brown/Rose hug because of how different it would have been from their reunion hug at the start of the episode, that it would have jarred either with that hug or jarred with Brown's distancing at the end. But what we see is, Brown gives no special attention or touch to anyone on the TARDIS on the way home.

In fact, Blue is only seen hugging SJS, and the rest of his physical interaction is with Rose. On the beach Brown never takes his hands out of his pockets. That's not exactly comforting. And I can accept the level of intimacy, or lack thereof, between Blue and Rose on the beach. I've seen a woman married to a twin who was less affectionate to her husband when his brother was around. I accept the kiss that was chosen, because I'd be a bit tamer with my Mom watching! I agree with Rose kissing Blue, too. Otherwise it might seem like he was pushing himself on her the way Brown was forcing them to be in the parallel universe. Blue only knows Rose in this world, so he'd be unwise to push any issues for fear of being alone. Maybe we can see if Rose really meant "Stuck with you... that's not so bad." Maybe Brown is teaching her about responsibility, that she asked him to cast off his regeneration so that's what she gets to live with.

I suppose we should compare the intimacy to when Ten regenerated in TCI: At the end of the episode he held out her hand and she said it freaked her out. They mumbled nervously about whether they wanted to be together because he'd changed. But after a while, she held his hand, and she asked where they were going next. And yet, imagine how much it would hurt the audience if we saw that everyone was happy except Brown at the end because of his arrangements. It reminds me of the He-Man film: We don't say good-bye, we say good-journey. One journey ends, another begins, and sometimes paths cross once more. Even if it's just to kick Brown up the bum, because it's clear to the audience that things aren't right when he plays God.

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

In your first cap...is that grin at Rose? I think it is either the one he gave Sarah Jane...or the one he shot at Rose and Ten together. You will note we see nothing like that smile from 10 about 11 and Rose together. The most we get from 10 is a slight, indulgent smile when Rose touches 11's chest. But mostly 10 has his hands in his pockets and his jaw is set.

Again if we compare the intimacy level in TCI...when he holds out her hand she says she is freaked out by it...but she quickly is drawn closer to him...they are again...shoulder to shoulder and leaning into one another. This is the simple truth of it...10 and Rose touch all over. And probably his hands are in his pockets to control the touching impulse.

As for everyone happy but Brown at the end...my feeling is that if he had done the right thing...he would be alone but content. He is unhappy because he didn't do the right thing.

Take the end of S3...even though he's been caught up in something wrong...and is alone...he's not all steeped in morose sadness. If it is true that Rose is better off with 11 and the Doctor is "better" now...and can go on without her memories...then he should be okay with it. If it is true that he's saved Donna's life...and she's going to live a full and happy normal life...then why is everyone who knows Donna feeling bad about it?

To me...this is all wrong...and that's why the Doctor is sad instead of resigned. He doesn't want to leave Rose or Donna this way.

Rae

I think it's wrong, too

[nightbeast.livejournal.com]

My first cap is the happy face Blue makes when Brown and SJS are looking at the monitor, hence splicing the shots together. :) It compares well to the happy face he gives when it's Brown and Rose looking at the monitor. Brown and Blue smile at everyone on the TARDIS.

It doesn't surprise me Brown never smiles greatly at Blue and Rose together. It must hurt terribly to give up the woman you love to someone who is so similar to you. But again, Brown and Blue have very similar body language on the beach; closed off. If Blue has Brown's feelings and thoughts, then maybe Brown isn't suited to the 'one adventure he can never have.'

I don't have the health to go watch TCI and see how long it took for Rose to snuggle up to the new boy, and then compare it to the beach scene here. I do feel that given a few more seconds, they would have touched more. But imagine if TCI had gone differently, that Eccleston and Tennant were on screen together. Who would have Rose run after? I think she would have gone for the shape and colour clothes she was used to, and stared warily at this skinny boy in a suit. Yet, there was only Ten, and now in a sealed off parallel there's only Blue, and she will learn the new him all over again. The writers tell us that whoever the companion favours is still the Doctor, which is why Rose accepted Ten in TCI so quickly; time constraints. Maybe her running after Brown is telling us he's the Doctor the audience moves on with.

The main difference between this season finale and S3 is who's making the decisions. The Master chose to leave the Doctor, as did Martha. That's the life he's used to, people leaving him. But here, he's the one making people stay away from him. His decision and his morose to live with it. It should be a temporary thing, a knee jerk reaction to being told he turns people into weapons. I'm sure by Christmas without a companion he's heading for the proverbial airlock and will realise companions save him. Judging by the spoilers, there is some comment about how the Doctor treats his companions and he'll get a reality check that he doesn't want to be that sort of man.

I do agree that this ending feels wrong, because I don't like what Brown is turning into. And I like reading your Humperdinck. :)