{"id":172,"date":"2011-02-24T13:06:27","date_gmt":"2011-02-24T21:06:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=172"},"modified":"2011-03-02T15:27:51","modified_gmt":"2011-03-02T23:27:51","slug":"mark-watches-doctor-who-s04e06-the-doctors-daughter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2011\/02\/mark-watches-doctor-who-s04e06-the-doctors-daughter\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Doctor Who’: S04E06 – The Doctor’s Daughter"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the sixth episode of the fourth series of Doctor Who<\/em>, the TARDIS drops the Doctor, Martha, and Donna on the planet Messaline, where the Doctor meets his own daughter. Technically. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Doctor Who<\/em>.<\/p>\n

This episode is all about perspective.<\/p>\n

You know, it might just be applicable that all of series four is about seeing the universe through someone else\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s eyes. What starts off as a humorous plot device (splitting up Martha from the Doctor and Donna) becomes a much larger rumination on this greater idea: maybe, all along, the Doctor has really needed to see what he does through other people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s eyes.<\/p>\n

So, of course, I was shocked at the concept of the Doctor having a daughter and I figured this would fill in some gaps of his past. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only technically<\/em> his daughter, though, since she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a clone, and I was initially disappointed at the concept. Oh, Stephen Greenhorn, I was so unprepared for where you were taking this story. Not only did I get some more information about the Doctor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s past, but the writers crafted the character of Jenny to be a much deeper reflection on the Doctor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s personality and history. And on top of that, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still<\/em> one fantastically complex and exciting plot to tie it all together. Hell, this might just be one of my favorite Doctor Who<\/em> episodes yet.<\/p>\n

Our time-traveling heroes essentially get plopped down into a gigantic war between humans and a bunch of fish-like aliens called the Hath, who are battling for something known as the Source. For both sides (which we get to see through the split-up characters), it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a coveted object because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s believed to hold the power to their creation. I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really take this bit of the story as a commentary on Creationism since the analogy wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really work. The Doctor has actually seen the beginning of the Universe and knows this isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t how things have happened; it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also nice that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not terribly condescending about this either. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s actually intrigued by this origin story the humans have concocted. Why are these two sides really<\/em> fighting? And how\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d they develop the cloning technology they used to create his daughter?<\/p>\n

There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a fantastic X-Files<\/em> episode by the name of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Monster\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in the seventh season that finally gives the viewer the perspective of being the monster-of-the-week in an X-Files<\/em> story. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Doctor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Daughter\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is not the same format, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the same sentiment: what if we saw both sides of the battle and sympathized with them as well? (Except General Cobb. Fuck him.) (Also, JESUS I USE A LOT OF EXAMPLES FROM THE X-FILES<\/em>. I swear I have seen other shows, I SWEAR.)<\/p>\n

I feared that Martha Jones would be seriously hurt, possibly killed, because she wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the main companion in this series. That fear disappeared once it became clear that this episode would follow her as she helped the Hath, unknowingly leading them to war. Simultaneous to this, the Doctor and Donna help the humans, bring them to the exact same conclusion. While Martha is off trying to find the Source with the Hath she saved after the tunnel was caved in my the Doctor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s daughter, the Doctor is locked in a cell with Donna and his daughter. Much like Martha\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time with the Hath, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a chance to learn more about this war and those involved with it.<\/p>\n

For the Doctor though, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wildly dismissive of Jenny. If it weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t for the constant voice of reason (also known as DONNA NOBLE), I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not sure the Doctor would have ever come around to embrace his daughter at all. Jenny was quick to pick up on a lot of similarities the Doctor has to her, both her nature as a soldier and then, later, her physiology, which resembles that of a Time Lord. I think that the Doctor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reluctance here might have been a combination of a few things: his ego, his insistence on spelling out the science of it all, and dismissing the chance that she really could<\/em> be his daughter. Again, as I said before, both Donna and Jenny provide the Doctor with a new perspective on himself. This time, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s absolutely necessary.<\/p>\n

So Jenny has two hearts. Physically, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about as close as one could be to a Time Lord. Given the final moments of the episode, is it at all possible that she could grow to become one? She doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see the time vortex like the Doctor does, but what else will we see from her?<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m getting ahead of myself. SORRY, I JUST HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS OK<\/em>. Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s move back to Donna, who seriously saves EVERYTHING in this episode, and maybe this is a chance for the Doctor to see how necessary she is to him, both as a companion and a new view of the world for him. Hell, I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t figure out the numbered plaques if you had sat me in front of them for a whole day. (Figures that I forgot about the Dewey decimal system. THANKS PUBLIC SCHOOLING.) But when she does figure out that it’s a dating method, it’s proof that this episode also has a mind-melting plot. It’s not just character heavy, which a lot of the episodes do.<\/p>\n

Seriously, the great war that lasted generations TOOK PLACE OVER ONE FUCKING WEEK. That is one of the coolest and most fucked up plot twists\/revelations I have ever seen on television. GOD BLESS DOCTOR WHO.<\/em><\/p>\n

The finale of this episode is FULL OF SMILES and then WHAT THE FUCK, well ok, that was sort of expected<\/em>. But the idea that the two sides have been fighting over LITERAL CREATION is so goddamn fantastic. I wasn’t sure that the Hath and the humans would actually set their weapons down, but it seemed that Jenny couldn’t really last beyond this episode. (This is why the actual final scene is so exciting. Red shirts never come back to life!) After a two-parter that ended with a whole lot of destruction, I’m glad we didn’t have to sit through yet another episode of battle and death. Though…yes, there was a lot of gunfire here. And running. Lots and lots of running.<\/p>\n

The Doctor orders these two warring factions to build their new world under the premise of the “man who never would.” I know people complained that “The Doctor’s Daughter” felt too similar to the Sontaran story before this, but I felt that this was merely a continuation on the theme of violence instead. We know the Doctor has an aversion to guns as an “easy” solution to problems. Here, though, I actually believed for a second that the Doctor would act out his revenge on Cobb. (Fuck Cobb, by the way.) But it was an interesting message he gave them: don’t act out of revenge. Don’t be the person to would resort to what had happened over the last week. (A week! A FUCKING WEEK oh my god i love this show). It is rather arrogant of the Doctor, but it’s his style. He saves planets and civilizations! I guess it comes with the territory.<\/p>\n

ALSO: Ohmygod WHEN IS JENNY GOING TO COME BACK???<\/p>\n

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