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ladyofleithian...and it's awesome! :D Seriously. :)
I've always loved the episode "School Reunion" (it's one of my favorites), and watching it again, I remember why I love it so much. I think it helps that it couldn't have come on a more apropos day -- me freaking out about an upcoming test. Fortunately, I've studied for it and all, but yeah...admittedly nervous. I think my mom teased me a bit about this during the watch, saying, basically, "You thought you had it bad? At least your teachers aren't carnivorous aliens." (Basically)
But back on track.
I'll admit the design of the Krillitane is sort of a mixed bag -- on the one hand, they look great, but on the other, they occasionally looked really corny, even reminding me of (or maybe I just watch too much STAR TREK) the Ferengi at some points. That said, in their human forms, they were genuinely intimidating, if only because of really solid actors who carried the roles really well. Especially Anthony Stewart Head -- yes, that is Giles from BUFFY playing a bad guy, and a really awesome one too -- I love how Head played the role sort of understated; even talking with the Doctor about his plans, he's calm, controlled, and even charming. I also love how he sort of tapped into the Doctor's guilt about the Time War and those he loves dying, and I loved the Krillitanes' ultimate plan: to use children to help solve an equation that would allow them to become, basically, gods. I also love how their backstory was put together, how they're sort of scavengers and conquerors, taking the best aspects of those they conquer and weaving them into their own biology. Worldbuilding with a great dose of Does This Remind You Of Anything, really.
I also loved them going deeper into the Doctor's psychology and everything, and how he all but admitted to Rose that he...well, loved her. I say "all but" because he didn't actually say it. (Dammit, Ten, I love you dearly, but you really have issues sometimes, especially in terms of just telling Rose about your feelings for her. There's something really sad in that -- that he loves Rose but is afraid to say anything) And his "You can spend the rest of your life with me, but I can't spend the rest of my life with you." It's really one of many sad things about the Doctor -- that everyone he knows has to die in the end, and he has to go on alone. I think that's another reason he didn't mention Sarah Jane -- perhaps he didn't realize she was out there. That he was so broken from the Time War and the loss of his people -- especially over a madman's pride and greed -- that...well, perhaps in a way he didn't realize how much he needed someone. (Sorry if I'm not making sense here) And it really shines a new light on Rose's reaction in the episode, and Sarah Jane's -- Sarah Jane felt as if she had been replaced, all this waiting and it was for nothing, and Rose has been so used to taking care of the Doctor and being there for him (hell, that's the main reason she chooses to stay in "Doomsday" -- although it doesn't work -- to just be there for him) that she doesn't know how to react when another one of the Doctor's companions comes in the picture. And perhaps a bit of confusion at why the Doctor never mentioned Sarah Jane. It's sort of a dynamic between the sort-of Girl Who Waited (though Sarah Jane is kind of the inverse of Reinette and Amy; they didn't see the Doctor again until they were adults, while Sarah Jane didn't get to see the Doctor again until she was...well, much older), the girl who saved the Doctor in a way, and the Doctor himself -- a tired, broken man who's all but surrounded by dry bones and dead friends (to badly paraphrase the TNG episode "Sarek"). He may be better than when Rose first met him, but it doesn't mean he's completely over it. After all, you don't just walk away from the death of your entire race with a whole Angst What Angst thing. And it really casts a new light on what he says to the Krillitane leader: "I'm so old now. I used to have so much mercy." He may not have become a monster like, say, Rassilon, who sought to destroy creation to save his own skin, but it's clear that the Doctor changed. Before he entered the war, as Eight, he was a cheerful, enthusiastic man with a lot of idealism. Though traces of Eight still shine through, it's clear that the Doctor isn't the same man he once was. He's older, harder in some ways, softer in others. But I think some of the softer experiences have come because of people like Rose, Martha, Donna, the Ponds, etc., who managed to at least save him in time.
It's very telling considering that I myself have sometimes struggled with life in general. Transitioning into adulthood, knowing how much awful there is in the world even with how wonderful it really is, and so on and so forth. So I guess I can identify with the Doctor in a way -- not in terms of what he experienced, but in terms of loneliness and such. Different circumstances, but the feeling is the same -- and I think there's something reassuring in the message: you're not as alone as you believe. Hell, in "Journey's End", Sarah Jane tells the Doctor that even though he acts like such a lonely man, he has the biggest family on Earth. There's something about that quote I've always found moving, really.
(Shit, I'm tearing up again. Then again...today's been a pretty emotional day)
Speaking of Sarah Jane herself...only Classic Who stuff I have with her is the audiobook of "Genesis of the Daleks", but even seeing her in the revival series has moved her up to "characters I love to bits". I mean, she's incredibly badass, and Elizabeth Sladen had (I say "had" considering she's sadly no longer with us) the power to really get you close to crying at times. For example, her "everything has its time and everything ends" speech to the Doctor (a really beautiful convincing to get him to reject the Krillitane leader's offer and do the right thing) and "Some things are worth getting your heart broken for". And her reaction when she realizes that yes, John Smith is the Doctor she traveled with so long ago. And even earlier, when she was talking with the Doctor when she still assumed him to be "John Smith", saying that she had a friend who used to be named that.
DOCTOR: It's a very common name.
SARAH JANE: He was a very uncommon name.
Only amplified when Sarah Jane tells him later about how much it hurt when the Doctor left her back on Earth after taking her to see the wonders of the universe. Because the Doctor...he left an impact on her. As Rose tells Donna in "Turn Left", "He does that, to everyone he touches." Which really makes...everything about it kind of beautiful and kind of heartbreaking (Donna, anyone?) at the same time. I think where I really came close to losing it though was the Doctor telling her goodbye. And not just that -- the sheer...affection, for lack of a better word, in his eyes, and him all but lifting her off her feet in a hug...yeah, sorry, something in my eye. And her finding the new K9 model the Doctor built -- and the ending was so sweet and adorable and hopeful and lovely that I say it's one of the best endings to a DOCTOR WHO episode I've ever seen. Even my mom...well, the episode made her cry (I think the only other episode that did that was "Father's Day"), but she liked that ending with the new K9. :)
Speaking of K9 (Mark III), I loved him. I loved the Doctor and Sarah Jane fixing him up, I loved his snarking at Mickey ("We are in a car" -- I think to be fair to Mickey, I don't think Operation Car-Scimitar-With-A-School * was really his first option) and his Heroic Sacrifice to stop the Krillitane. And his final scene with the Doctor -- "You're a good dog." "Affirmative!" Seriously, K9 is just so cool, I swear. <3 And speaking of Mickey, I really loved him in this episode; besides stuff like "World War Three", "Parting of the Ways", "Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel", and "Army of Ghosts/Doomsday", this is one of my favorites for him. I loved the bit, for example, when he freaks out when he finds rats in the room he's in. Then again, I think if one were in Mickey's position, they'd be freaking too. I especially love the Doctor's snarky comment about it. I also loved stuff like Rose and Sarah Jane eventually bonding, and having a bit of a laugh about the Doctor (fun fact? Their laughing was actually David Tennabt scribbling on his own face and not telling Elizabeth Sladen and Billie Piper about it. Ah, David...:), and how Rose, earlier, elevates herself above most characters who are jealous and acknowledges her pettiness regarding the Doctor and apologizes. I also love Sarah Jane calling Rose a genius near the end (d'awww...), Kenny triggering the fire alarm to let the others out (and I really can't blame the Krillitanes' reaction to it. It's like Satan thought it up as a new creative way to rupture one's eardrums. XD), the kids absorbing the equations from the computer (seriously creepy -- just how they sat transfixed to the screen), and the music in the episode -- Murray Gold is already a genius, but he really shone here, from the music during the confrontation in the pool area between the Doctor and Mr. Finch (the Krillitane leader) to the music when the Doctor and co. are outside the school planning their attack. I also loved learning more about Rose, especially her comment about thinking the teachers slept in the school when she was a kid (especially since when I was younger, I thought that too. Just the idea they had sleeping bags that they'd pull out once the kids had gone...). Which leads into some nifty foreshadowing. It shows that it is possible to balance plot and character -- then again, DOCTOR WHO does a fine job of that in general. :)
Honestly, this episode? I can't pick merely one thing about it I loved; it was perfect all around. :)
* Basically, when Picard tells Troi to ram Shinzon's ship in STAR TREK NEMESIS.
So, overall? Loved it. Definitely recommended. (Also, my icon? That was me kind of an emotional wreck after the episode. Wonderful episode, but goddamn was it dramatic)
I've always loved the episode "School Reunion" (it's one of my favorites), and watching it again, I remember why I love it so much. I think it helps that it couldn't have come on a more apropos day -- me freaking out about an upcoming test. Fortunately, I've studied for it and all, but yeah...admittedly nervous. I think my mom teased me a bit about this during the watch, saying, basically, "You thought you had it bad? At least your teachers aren't carnivorous aliens." (Basically)
But back on track.
I'll admit the design of the Krillitane is sort of a mixed bag -- on the one hand, they look great, but on the other, they occasionally looked really corny, even reminding me of (or maybe I just watch too much STAR TREK) the Ferengi at some points. That said, in their human forms, they were genuinely intimidating, if only because of really solid actors who carried the roles really well. Especially Anthony Stewart Head -- yes, that is Giles from BUFFY playing a bad guy, and a really awesome one too -- I love how Head played the role sort of understated; even talking with the Doctor about his plans, he's calm, controlled, and even charming. I also love how he sort of tapped into the Doctor's guilt about the Time War and those he loves dying, and I loved the Krillitanes' ultimate plan: to use children to help solve an equation that would allow them to become, basically, gods. I also love how their backstory was put together, how they're sort of scavengers and conquerors, taking the best aspects of those they conquer and weaving them into their own biology. Worldbuilding with a great dose of Does This Remind You Of Anything, really.
I also loved them going deeper into the Doctor's psychology and everything, and how he all but admitted to Rose that he...well, loved her. I say "all but" because he didn't actually say it. (Dammit, Ten, I love you dearly, but you really have issues sometimes, especially in terms of just telling Rose about your feelings for her. There's something really sad in that -- that he loves Rose but is afraid to say anything) And his "You can spend the rest of your life with me, but I can't spend the rest of my life with you." It's really one of many sad things about the Doctor -- that everyone he knows has to die in the end, and he has to go on alone. I think that's another reason he didn't mention Sarah Jane -- perhaps he didn't realize she was out there. That he was so broken from the Time War and the loss of his people -- especially over a madman's pride and greed -- that...well, perhaps in a way he didn't realize how much he needed someone. (Sorry if I'm not making sense here) And it really shines a new light on Rose's reaction in the episode, and Sarah Jane's -- Sarah Jane felt as if she had been replaced, all this waiting and it was for nothing, and Rose has been so used to taking care of the Doctor and being there for him (hell, that's the main reason she chooses to stay in "Doomsday" -- although it doesn't work -- to just be there for him) that she doesn't know how to react when another one of the Doctor's companions comes in the picture. And perhaps a bit of confusion at why the Doctor never mentioned Sarah Jane. It's sort of a dynamic between the sort-of Girl Who Waited (though Sarah Jane is kind of the inverse of Reinette and Amy; they didn't see the Doctor again until they were adults, while Sarah Jane didn't get to see the Doctor again until she was...well, much older), the girl who saved the Doctor in a way, and the Doctor himself -- a tired, broken man who's all but surrounded by dry bones and dead friends (to badly paraphrase the TNG episode "Sarek"). He may be better than when Rose first met him, but it doesn't mean he's completely over it. After all, you don't just walk away from the death of your entire race with a whole Angst What Angst thing. And it really casts a new light on what he says to the Krillitane leader: "I'm so old now. I used to have so much mercy." He may not have become a monster like, say, Rassilon, who sought to destroy creation to save his own skin, but it's clear that the Doctor changed. Before he entered the war, as Eight, he was a cheerful, enthusiastic man with a lot of idealism. Though traces of Eight still shine through, it's clear that the Doctor isn't the same man he once was. He's older, harder in some ways, softer in others. But I think some of the softer experiences have come because of people like Rose, Martha, Donna, the Ponds, etc., who managed to at least save him in time.
It's very telling considering that I myself have sometimes struggled with life in general. Transitioning into adulthood, knowing how much awful there is in the world even with how wonderful it really is, and so on and so forth. So I guess I can identify with the Doctor in a way -- not in terms of what he experienced, but in terms of loneliness and such. Different circumstances, but the feeling is the same -- and I think there's something reassuring in the message: you're not as alone as you believe. Hell, in "Journey's End", Sarah Jane tells the Doctor that even though he acts like such a lonely man, he has the biggest family on Earth. There's something about that quote I've always found moving, really.
(Shit, I'm tearing up again. Then again...today's been a pretty emotional day)
Speaking of Sarah Jane herself...only Classic Who stuff I have with her is the audiobook of "Genesis of the Daleks", but even seeing her in the revival series has moved her up to "characters I love to bits". I mean, she's incredibly badass, and Elizabeth Sladen had (I say "had" considering she's sadly no longer with us) the power to really get you close to crying at times. For example, her "everything has its time and everything ends" speech to the Doctor (a really beautiful convincing to get him to reject the Krillitane leader's offer and do the right thing) and "Some things are worth getting your heart broken for". And her reaction when she realizes that yes, John Smith is the Doctor she traveled with so long ago. And even earlier, when she was talking with the Doctor when she still assumed him to be "John Smith", saying that she had a friend who used to be named that.
DOCTOR: It's a very common name.
SARAH JANE: He was a very uncommon name.
Only amplified when Sarah Jane tells him later about how much it hurt when the Doctor left her back on Earth after taking her to see the wonders of the universe. Because the Doctor...he left an impact on her. As Rose tells Donna in "Turn Left", "He does that, to everyone he touches." Which really makes...everything about it kind of beautiful and kind of heartbreaking (Donna, anyone?) at the same time. I think where I really came close to losing it though was the Doctor telling her goodbye. And not just that -- the sheer...affection, for lack of a better word, in his eyes, and him all but lifting her off her feet in a hug...yeah, sorry, something in my eye. And her finding the new K9 model the Doctor built -- and the ending was so sweet and adorable and hopeful and lovely that I say it's one of the best endings to a DOCTOR WHO episode I've ever seen. Even my mom...well, the episode made her cry (I think the only other episode that did that was "Father's Day"), but she liked that ending with the new K9. :)
Speaking of K9 (Mark III), I loved him. I loved the Doctor and Sarah Jane fixing him up, I loved his snarking at Mickey ("We are in a car" -- I think to be fair to Mickey, I don't think Operation Car-Scimitar-With-A-School * was really his first option) and his Heroic Sacrifice to stop the Krillitane. And his final scene with the Doctor -- "You're a good dog." "Affirmative!" Seriously, K9 is just so cool, I swear. <3 And speaking of Mickey, I really loved him in this episode; besides stuff like "World War Three", "Parting of the Ways", "Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel", and "Army of Ghosts/Doomsday", this is one of my favorites for him. I loved the bit, for example, when he freaks out when he finds rats in the room he's in. Then again, I think if one were in Mickey's position, they'd be freaking too. I especially love the Doctor's snarky comment about it. I also loved stuff like Rose and Sarah Jane eventually bonding, and having a bit of a laugh about the Doctor (fun fact? Their laughing was actually David Tennabt scribbling on his own face and not telling Elizabeth Sladen and Billie Piper about it. Ah, David...:), and how Rose, earlier, elevates herself above most characters who are jealous and acknowledges her pettiness regarding the Doctor and apologizes. I also love Sarah Jane calling Rose a genius near the end (d'awww...), Kenny triggering the fire alarm to let the others out (and I really can't blame the Krillitanes' reaction to it. It's like Satan thought it up as a new creative way to rupture one's eardrums. XD), the kids absorbing the equations from the computer (seriously creepy -- just how they sat transfixed to the screen), and the music in the episode -- Murray Gold is already a genius, but he really shone here, from the music during the confrontation in the pool area between the Doctor and Mr. Finch (the Krillitane leader) to the music when the Doctor and co. are outside the school planning their attack. I also loved learning more about Rose, especially her comment about thinking the teachers slept in the school when she was a kid (especially since when I was younger, I thought that too. Just the idea they had sleeping bags that they'd pull out once the kids had gone...). Which leads into some nifty foreshadowing. It shows that it is possible to balance plot and character -- then again, DOCTOR WHO does a fine job of that in general. :)
Honestly, this episode? I can't pick merely one thing about it I loved; it was perfect all around. :)
* Basically, when Picard tells Troi to ram Shinzon's ship in STAR TREK NEMESIS.
So, overall? Loved it. Definitely recommended. (Also, my icon? That was me kind of an emotional wreck after the episode. Wonderful episode, but goddamn was it dramatic)
