So now we know. Rose is dead, but only in 'our' universe. In the alt-universe she and Jackie have been re-united with Mickey and Pete to form a cosy family unit with a baby on the way (Jackie's). Rose is even working for alt-Torchwood.
And it was an anti-climax of course. But a well-done one, literally sending me to the edge of my seat with my hands hovering around my face. It was certainly uneven in pace and tone though.
Top anti-climax was the "Genesis Ark" that the Daleks brought with them. The forums had been sparking with speculation that it was 'so obviously' Davros, the Face of Boe or Rose herself. Boringly, it was a Time-Lord prison ship which - when activated unwittingly by Mickey - spewed millions of Daleks. Perversely that was when the jeapordy set up last week just melted away for me. When 4 Daleks squared up to millions of Cybermen with a sneering lack of respect ("This is not war - it is pest control") it was interesting, though it had already descended into comical bitch-slaps. When there were millions of both buzzing about Docklands it was all insecty CGI long shots. Not 20 minutes or so into the episode it already looked like RTD had become bored by the Cybermen v Daleks concept and indeed his resolution sidestepped the whole "who would win" question by sucking them all back into the void they'd came from mid-battle. In fact there was around 10 minutes left after both armies (and Rose) had met their destiny. You knew something else was coming.
The something else was 'the goodbye'. Apparently the Doctor just has to say a proper goodbye to Rose and harnesses a supernova to project himself into the alt-universe for a tearful reunion on a "Norwegian" beach called "Bad Wolf Bay". This scene also narrowly avoided the Doctor returning Rose's blurted out "I love you", which probably struck the right balance. Unfortunately, like Jackie's meeting alt-Pete for the first time it completely obliged a sudden change of tempo and will certainly have infuriated a vocal group of fans who hate such 'soapy' elements. Even I felt those scenes, though good in themselves, felt slotted in.
And all last week's questions remained unanwsered, as expected. Some more questions presented themselves too. Jake re-appeared in uber-macho fashion but evaporated as the Tyler extended family coalesced in the alt-universe. What happened to him?
One nice little surprise was Yvonne, now turned into a Cyberman, blasting away some fellow Cybes as she maintained her dutiful personality. I think that's a first.
Of course then there's the cliffhanger ending - not the type we were all expecting. Instead of being linked to the plot in hand it set up the Christmas special with the bizarre appearance of a bolshy bride in the TARDIS, as played by Catherine Tate. To be continued in "The Runaway Bride" on 25 December.
No comments:
Post a Comment