Princess Sparklefists (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
alexiscartwheel) wrote2008-05-30 08:47 pm
alexiscartwheel) wrote2008-05-30 08:47 pm
Entry tags:
Doctor Who 4X07: “The Unicorn and the Wasp”
My response to “The Unicorn and the Wasp.” It’s spectacularly late, but hey, I’ve been busy—or something—but I’ve now had time to rewatch. :D Also, trailer squee, speculation, and some rambling about board games and books. Spoilers through 4X07 and the mid-series trailer.
I loved this episode. It was pure, unadulterated fun, and just the right amount cracky. One of the things I really enjoy about Doctor Who, both in the classic and new series, is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously all the time. The writers certainly can bring the drama, but they also like to play around. And oh, how I love to watch the Doctor and Donna at play.
Donna: The body in the library? I mean, Professor Peach, in the library, with the lead pipe?
When I was a kid, before I had ever read any Agatha Christie novels, I loved the game Clue. (Why is it called Cluedo in the UK but Clue in the US?) It was intense. Lots of strategy involved. That and cheating. My favorite Square One episode (yes, I had a favorite episode from a PBS show about math!) featured a Mathnet murder mystery weekend. Later, I read Ellen Raskin’s The Westing Game, which led me to Christie’s And Then There Were None. And of course, there’s one of my favorite movies, Gosford Park. It seems I have a bit of a thing for the “lots of guests + murder = everyone’s a suspect” trope. :D
And so, it appears, does Ten. It’s good to see Agatha chide him for enjoying things a little too much… but, honestly, can you blame him? I love fanboy!Ten. I love Fenella Woolgar as Agatha Christie. I love Donna, who is, as always, made of win. (They made good use of Catherine’s comedic skills for this one.) I love the cheesy flashback scenes. (Robin Hood The Doctor! Bow and arrows! Evil computer! Chalemange!) I love the repeated jokes, because yes they are still funny. :-P I love the Christie titles in the dialogue. I love the not so secret gay agenda. I love the crazy, pointy fingered denouement. And I really love the cyanide charades scene. Utterly hilarious.
Also, the entire episode was great old piece of Doctor/Donna crack. RTD says this season isn’t shippy at all… but he’s sooo wrong, and it’s just fun to be ornery. (Note: I don’t think I ship Doctor/Donna for real. I just like it for the crack.) Seriously though, aside from the standard “we’re not married” protests, we got compliments on Donna’s clothes, tons of lovely banter, an anchovy kiss (BWAHAHAHAHA), and of course this exchange:
Donna: Typical. All the decent men are on the other bus.
Doctor: Or Time Lords.
The Doctor’s a little sad here. Rose fancied him. Martha fancied him. Why doesn’t Donna fancy him? He’s totally fanciable! 903 is the prime of youth and fanciableness!
Coming Up: The biggest library in the universe FTW!! I’ve seen lots of worried responses to spoilers, but I don’t care, cause it’s set in a library and looks pretty creepy. Famous novelist followed by huge library: DW, you kill me.
Last weekend I watch the mid-series trailer, Eurovision, and the Eighth Doctor movie, and enjoyed them pretty much in that order. Rose looks like kind of a BAMF, which is very, very cool. I cannot wait to see her and Donna together. I think my TV might explode from their combined awesome. However, I’m also worried about what’ll happen to Rose and Donna… and the Doctor. Presumably he’ll be parted from them at the end of the series, and I don’t want him to be all hurt and emo.
Which leads me to random speculation time! Here’s another exchange from “The Unicorn and the Wasp” that stood out to me:
Donna: But you said this is the night Agatha Christie loses her memory.
Doctor: Time is in flux, Donna! For all we know this is the night Agatha Christie loses her life, and history gets changed.
In this case, the Doctor is convinced that history is malleable. Maybe the murders weren’t meant to happen, and the chain of events is leading up to Agatha’s death. However, this possibility never really happens. Agatha lives, disappears with the Doctor and Donna, and turns up at Harrogate on schedule. They solve the mystery of her disappearance, then they make it happen.
Now look back to the beginning of the season, and contrast that to “The Fires of Pompeii”:
Donna: But that’s what you do. You’re the Doctor. You save people.
Doctor: Not this time. Pompeii is a fixed point in history. What happens, happens. There is no stopping it.
This time, the Doctor is convinced that history cannot be changed. But later they discover that the volcano isn’t in fact about to explode and instead the Pyroviles are poised to destroy all of humanity. Maybe there is an alternate possibility, though not a good one. Again, the Doctor and Donna cause the eruption and restore history to its normal course.
Do the Doctor and his companion ever actually change history? Or do there choices ultimately lead to the expected outcome, no matter what they do? (The closest thing to a time disaster I can think of is “Father’s Day” in which, again, changes result in the same eventual outcome: Pete dies, no matter what.)
So where this is all going: what is Donna’s fate? She’s already declared her intent to travel with the Doctor forever. (The Doctor, foolishly, did not tip her off that “forever” doomed Rose to an alternate universe… forever.)
Donna also has that foreboding “something” on her back. Clearly, bad things are going to happen. I think she’s going to die. Is her death fixed, though? If so, when did that happen? When she was transported to the TARDIS in “Doomsday”? When she decided to look for the Doctor, or when she found him in “Partners in Crime”? When she made choices as the Doctor’s equal in “The Fires of Pompeii”?
If her death isn’t fixed, what choice is she forced to make? The fact that mutability of time has been brought up more than once makes me think that it will be important at the end of the series. Usually its impossible for any person to know what the consequences of a particular action will be, but maybe the circumstances will let her know (or experience) more than one potential future. Donna could be in the position where she must go back to change the course of history and sacrifice herself in the process. Certainly once she makes up her mind to do something, the Doctor wouldn’t be able to stop her.
I’m not sure that all of that is coherent; there’s lots of crazy stuff going around in my head that I can’t fully articulate. This could all be nothing. The Doctor could just be showing of his superior Time Lord knowledge in these two eps, and the mechanics of time travel have nothing to do with anything. But I really think there’s something fishy going on.
I loved this episode. It was pure, unadulterated fun, and just the right amount cracky. One of the things I really enjoy about Doctor Who, both in the classic and new series, is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously all the time. The writers certainly can bring the drama, but they also like to play around. And oh, how I love to watch the Doctor and Donna at play.
Donna: The body in the library? I mean, Professor Peach, in the library, with the lead pipe?
When I was a kid, before I had ever read any Agatha Christie novels, I loved the game Clue. (Why is it called Cluedo in the UK but Clue in the US?) It was intense. Lots of strategy involved. That and cheating. My favorite Square One episode (yes, I had a favorite episode from a PBS show about math!) featured a Mathnet murder mystery weekend. Later, I read Ellen Raskin’s The Westing Game, which led me to Christie’s And Then There Were None. And of course, there’s one of my favorite movies, Gosford Park. It seems I have a bit of a thing for the “lots of guests + murder = everyone’s a suspect” trope. :D
And so, it appears, does Ten. It’s good to see Agatha chide him for enjoying things a little too much… but, honestly, can you blame him? I love fanboy!Ten. I love Fenella Woolgar as Agatha Christie. I love Donna, who is, as always, made of win. (They made good use of Catherine’s comedic skills for this one.) I love the cheesy flashback scenes. (
Also, the entire episode was great old piece of Doctor/Donna crack. RTD says this season isn’t shippy at all… but he’s sooo wrong, and it’s just fun to be ornery. (Note: I don’t think I ship Doctor/Donna for real. I just like it for the crack.) Seriously though, aside from the standard “we’re not married” protests, we got compliments on Donna’s clothes, tons of lovely banter, an anchovy kiss (BWAHAHAHAHA), and of course this exchange:
Donna: Typical. All the decent men are on the other bus.
Doctor: Or Time Lords.
The Doctor’s a little sad here. Rose fancied him. Martha fancied him. Why doesn’t Donna fancy him? He’s totally fanciable! 903 is the prime of youth and fanciableness!
Coming Up: The biggest library in the universe FTW!! I’ve seen lots of worried responses to spoilers, but I don’t care, cause it’s set in a library and looks pretty creepy. Famous novelist followed by huge library: DW, you kill me.
Last weekend I watch the mid-series trailer, Eurovision, and the Eighth Doctor movie, and enjoyed them pretty much in that order. Rose looks like kind of a BAMF, which is very, very cool. I cannot wait to see her and Donna together. I think my TV might explode from their combined awesome. However, I’m also worried about what’ll happen to Rose and Donna… and the Doctor. Presumably he’ll be parted from them at the end of the series, and I don’t want him to be all hurt and emo.
Which leads me to random speculation time! Here’s another exchange from “The Unicorn and the Wasp” that stood out to me:
Donna: But you said this is the night Agatha Christie loses her memory.
Doctor: Time is in flux, Donna! For all we know this is the night Agatha Christie loses her life, and history gets changed.
In this case, the Doctor is convinced that history is malleable. Maybe the murders weren’t meant to happen, and the chain of events is leading up to Agatha’s death. However, this possibility never really happens. Agatha lives, disappears with the Doctor and Donna, and turns up at Harrogate on schedule. They solve the mystery of her disappearance, then they make it happen.
Now look back to the beginning of the season, and contrast that to “The Fires of Pompeii”:
Donna: But that’s what you do. You’re the Doctor. You save people.
Doctor: Not this time. Pompeii is a fixed point in history. What happens, happens. There is no stopping it.
This time, the Doctor is convinced that history cannot be changed. But later they discover that the volcano isn’t in fact about to explode and instead the Pyroviles are poised to destroy all of humanity. Maybe there is an alternate possibility, though not a good one. Again, the Doctor and Donna cause the eruption and restore history to its normal course.
Do the Doctor and his companion ever actually change history? Or do there choices ultimately lead to the expected outcome, no matter what they do? (The closest thing to a time disaster I can think of is “Father’s Day” in which, again, changes result in the same eventual outcome: Pete dies, no matter what.)
So where this is all going: what is Donna’s fate? She’s already declared her intent to travel with the Doctor forever. (The Doctor, foolishly, did not tip her off that “forever” doomed Rose to an alternate universe… forever.)
Donna also has that foreboding “something” on her back. Clearly, bad things are going to happen. I think she’s going to die. Is her death fixed, though? If so, when did that happen? When she was transported to the TARDIS in “Doomsday”? When she decided to look for the Doctor, or when she found him in “Partners in Crime”? When she made choices as the Doctor’s equal in “The Fires of Pompeii”?
If her death isn’t fixed, what choice is she forced to make? The fact that mutability of time has been brought up more than once makes me think that it will be important at the end of the series. Usually its impossible for any person to know what the consequences of a particular action will be, but maybe the circumstances will let her know (or experience) more than one potential future. Donna could be in the position where she must go back to change the course of history and sacrifice herself in the process. Certainly once she makes up her mind to do something, the Doctor wouldn’t be able to stop her.
I’m not sure that all of that is coherent; there’s lots of crazy stuff going around in my head that I can’t fully articulate. This could all be nothing. The Doctor could just be showing of his superior Time Lord knowledge in these two eps, and the mechanics of time travel have nothing to do with anything. But I really think there’s something fishy going on.