{"id":197,"date":"2011-03-04T01:00:15","date_gmt":"2011-03-04T09:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=197"},"modified":"2011-03-03T23:45:15","modified_gmt":"2011-03-04T07:45:15","slug":"mark-watches-doctor-who-s04e12-the-stolen-earth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2011\/03\/mark-watches-doctor-who-s04e12-the-stolen-earth\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Doctor Who’: S04E12 – The Stolen Earth"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the twelfth episode of the fourth series of Doctor Who<\/em>, WHAT THE HOLY FLYING FUCK JUST HAPPENED????? If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re intrigued, then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Doctor Who<\/em>.<\/p>\n

OH MY GOD. WHAT THE HOLY SHIT WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE HOLY HELL DID I JUST WATCH<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I am speechless. What do I say? WHAT DID I JUST WITNESS?<\/p>\n

It took some context outside of what was given inside the episode for me to begin to both understand and appreciate the monumental amount of work went into making sure \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Stolen Earth\u00e2\u20ac\u009d could even happen. I wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t aware that this was Davies final series as showrunner and it helps to explain so much: why all of the companions returned, why the two other Doctor Who<\/em>-related shows converged in the story, and who so many clues and hints from the past four years were all seemingly answered with grand narrative sweeps. The Shadow Proclamation. Bad Wolf. The Lost Moon of Poosh. Adipose III. The Medusa Cascade. FUCKING DAVROS. DAVROS!!!!<\/strong> Oh my god, my brain is overloaded with information.<\/p>\n

On Rose Tyler\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s warning from the alternate universe, Donna and the Doctor head back to earth and THE EARTH IS TELEPORTED TO A NEW LOCATION. I mean, seriously, yes, this is all ridiculous and over-the-top and incredibly Russell T Davies and, for now, I JUST DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T CARE. Oh god, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen hospitals transported to the moon, but TWENTY-SEVEN PLANETS? Good lord!<\/p>\n

At the beginning of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Stolen Earth,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d all of the characters are scattered over various parts of planet Earth while Donna and the Doctor head to the Shadow Proclamation. THE SHADOW PROCLAMATION. IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S REAL AND WE ARE GOING TO SEE IT.<\/p>\n

I honestly did not expect that the Proclamation was an actual organization. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d always assumed the Doctor was invoking a rule or a set of laws and then I saw the Judoon and HEAD EXPLOSION. I loved the Shadow Architect; her make-up and costuming was another unexpected detail, but I was sort of surprised they had no idea the Doctor was still around. Wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t they have known if there was one singular Time Lord left?<\/p>\n

Regardless, one of the main theme\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s of Donna\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s character is continued here in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Stolen Earth.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Donna\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s self-esteem was a main focus of that episode and we still see how she questions and doubts herself, yet it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s her two suggestions that help the Doctor put together the pieces of what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s happening. I love the idea that this season is building up to a point where the Doctor realizes he needs<\/em> Donna (and all of his companions) far more than they need him.<\/p>\n

The big reveal for this episode is the return of the Daleks. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to admit a couple things here, just right off the bat. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t understand the logistics of Dalek Caan bringing back Davros. So he escaped last series through a temporal shift, entered the locked time war, grabbed Davros, lost his sanity while being able to see the future, and then Davros built the Dalek empire out of his stomach? Is that correct? I think those are all the pieces, but this episode in particular is extensively dense, so it was hard enough trying to keep track of the twenty million separate plots on top of this.<\/p>\n

Additionally, I like the idea<\/em> of Davros, and I recognized his name as the one who initially created the Daleks so long ago. His make-up was some of the best in the entire run of Davies\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reign. But I was reminded of my experience watching \u00e2\u20ac\u0153School Reunion\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in series two, when, incidentally, we first met Sarah Jane Smith in the newer series. Like that episode, I understood the dramatic weight Davies carried in bringing back Davros, but for me\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not that I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t care. I do!!! But I have no history with him, no real experience with his character and what he did in the canon of the show.<\/p>\n

That being said, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think I would have been as excited or joyous to have the Daleks return with Davros. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the real key to tie this all together, especially since it creates such an awful situation for Sarah Jane and the Doctor, who have battled him before. Putting Davros in the center of this gives a much more credible justification for the return of the Daleks. (Which I wondered about anyway, since it seems the Daleks must appear at least once each series.)<\/p>\n

I think my only complaint for this first parter is that THERE IS SO MUCH GOING ON. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t watch The Sarah Jane Adventures<\/em> and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve only seen the pilot of Torchwood<\/em>, so I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel too<\/em> attached to all the time spent on both of those teams. I mean, I think I understand the need to have the Doctor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s companions appear here. Well\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m completely unprepared. But you know what I mean. Still, THERE IS SO MUCH GOING ON. Martha Jones has the ability to transport herself via technology stolen from the Sontarans and has an Osterhagan key that does\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6something? It opens a door? LOOK, I DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T KNOW.<\/p>\n

I like Jack\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s team from the only exposure I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve had to them, but they certainly do a lot of\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6hiding. So does Sarah Jane and her son Luke. Rose is back, but she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s unable to contact anyone aside from Martha Jones, but I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t realize why this happened this way until the end. WHICH I WILL GET TO. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a way that all of this frenetic works; it was incredibly hard for me to turn my eyes away from the screen for even a second, as I knew I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d miss something. I am worried that Davies has bit off more than he can chew, but at the same time\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6look, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s his last couple of episodes. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to bring it all out, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t?<\/p>\n

To further tie things together, I found the episodes greatest casting surprise to be the return of Harriet Jones, ex-Prime Minister, who managed to contact Mr. Copper from \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Voyage of the Damned\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to help with a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153secret\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that she uses to contact all of the Doctor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s companions. (Well, not Rose, BUT I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M GETTING TO THAT.) We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re at a point where there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no need to expect the companions of the Doctor to fight with each other or to feel jealous, and I think that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s part of a larger theme that Davies likes to address in his more grandiose scripts. When Harriet Jones shares her idea for contacting the Doctor with the companions, I feel that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s this theme manifested. The concept of the entire group phoning the Doctor at the same time is, of course, really silly, but who cares at this point? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about cooperation. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about people who have met the Doctor coming together on their own to do what they think is right<\/p>\n

But really, if we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to talk about companions and the Doctor, this episode rests on an emotional climax that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been waiting for, for a long, long time. As the companions succeed in contacting the Doctor, who also figures out that Earth is hidden in a DESYNCHRONIZED POCKET UNIVERSE, which is THE COOLEST THING EVER, the inevitable begins to happen. The Doctor learns of the Dalek invasion at the hands of Davros. He learns that his companions are on Earth, ready to save the world. But all of this pales to the moment when the Doctor and Donna stand on earth, the Doctor wondering what Rose told Donna in the alternate universe, and she tells him: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Why don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t you ask her yourself?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s beautiful. And as they run towards each other, I suddenly felt suspicious about Davros\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s demand to the Daleks and when one appeared, I knew that Rose would die, that this is how Davies would write her out of the series.<\/p>\n

And then the Dalek shoots the Doctor.<\/p>\n

And then the Daleks descend on the Torchwood Headquarters.<\/p>\n

And then the Daleks confront Sarah Jane.<\/p>\n

If that isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t enough of a goddamn cliffhanger, I watched in disbelief as the Doctor is dragged to the TARDIS and he begins to regenerate. AND THEN THE EPISODE IS OVER.<\/p>\n

Is this it??? Is this where Matt Smith steps in? I yelled at the screen SO LOUD. Oh my god THIS EPISODE. THIS EPISODE<\/em>.<\/p>\n

THOUGHTS<\/strong><\/p>\n