Doctor Who: "Gridlock" thoughts...

[fajrdrako]

I liked the title.

It was a Sunday evening treat for myself: watching Doctor Who all my myself, on the sofa - well, with Logan, but he only emitted the occasional editorial chirp.


It wasn't quite what I expected - in some ways. I guess the 'trapped in the slipstream of traffic' was not unexpected, but the exaggeration of the situation at first almost lost me - and then seemed quite wonderful. I loved the various people the Doctor met, and I loved his dropping from car to car.

I was sorry to see the Doctor and Martha were apart for so much of the episode, because I do so like them together. I missed their interchanges. Still, when they were together, what we got was wonderful - less banter, more honesty.

Things I particularly loved:
- the Doctor telling Martha about Gallifrey in the beginning, but not telling her the truth
- the Doctor being only too aware (and regretful) that he had not told her the truth
- the Doctor's reflection that he had been "too busy showing off"
- the Doctor's description of Martha as a stranger - and hers of him as a man she hardly knows, but has faith in
- the cats (even though I'm really not a cat person, no, not at all, honest! well... sometimes.)
- the Doctor's moods. For some reason I find hard to analyze, I most love the Doctor when he is angry. Here we had him angry, regretful, joking, reflective, sympathetic, and so on, but his best moment was when he told the mood-dealers to close up shop because he'd come after them when he'd found Martha.
- come to think of it, I really loved the mood-drug vendors
- the cat-nun and her dedication to the Face of Boe. I was delighted to see the Face of Boe again - he's one of my favourites.
- the guy in the bowler hat
- the guy in white
- the garish girls
- the lines about the Doctor's coat - and its origin story
- was Rose mentioned? I am one of those fans who has loved and cherished each time when the Doctor has said her name, but I'm still glad if this time he didn't, just to prove we're not in a rut. I didn't notice Mr. Saxon, either.
- I liked it that the visual appearance of the place was so unlike that of New New etc. New York in "New Earth"

I could have done without the creatures at the bottom of the fast lane, but ... I guess they served their purpose: entertaining the eight year olds, and being metaphorical bottom-feeders.

Of course I liked the ending, not so much because of what the Doctor was saying, but because he was saying it to Martha. Seems to me she's reached some sort of turning point. Will the Doctor need an excuse to take her on the next adventure?

Am I right to think that the title refers to the Doctor, locked in his pattern of grief with regard to Rose and denial with regard to Martha? Or am I just being fanciful there?

Comments

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

There's more about the RTD-ness in the Confidential - you start to see the patterns!

I'll keep it in mind as I watch. I do like his stories - but hadn't entirely analyzed why, or what makes them different.

the idea of singing "The Old Rugged Cross" was interesting

Ah, right! There was also the implication, I thought, that the cat-nun was an acolyte and the Face of Boe her deity. Not so much religious imagery (like Captain Jack as the Saviour) but religous themes interwoven.

Earning her redemption through service...

And the whole notion that you can earn, or barter for, redemption. That it's something outside yourself, not just self-forgiveness.

There's a very ambivalent attitude to religion in the writing of both series, which makes things much more interesting.

Yes. I love it. The notion for example, that Jack is a saviour (or 'the Saviour' in some absolute sense) while he is an atheist and pragmatist.

There's a willingness to use the motifs and the imagery to give emotional resonance, without actually subscribing to the religious viewpoint.

While, in fact, explicitly denying it. I am reminded of the movie "Elizabeth" where Queen Elizabeth I deliberately usurped the imagery of the Virgin Mary to give herself iconic popularity for the nation with its new attitude to religion.

I found an essay about existentialism in DW/TW somewhere,

I'd love to see it! Can you remember where it was?

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

And the whole notion that you can earn, or barter for, redemption
I hadn't thought of it like that. That's such a strong theme though, throughout both series. hmmm...maybe merits more thought...especially with the Doctor's attitude to second chances. There's definitely an undercurrent there.

I'll have a hunt for the essay - it's probably buried in the depths of torch_wood somewhere.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I'll see if I can find the essay, to. I'm intrigued. I like existentialist themes and I can see the thread, but I'd be interested in hearing a systematic analysis (or even an unsystematic commentary).

Certainly guilt and forgiveness are major themes - just look at the 'forgiveness' scene in "End of Days". And that wonderful powerful moment in "Father's Day" where the Doctor gets a sincere apology from Rose, and forgives her for destroying her own timeline. Or his forgiveness of Jack for almost destroying humanity, less expilicit but certainly implicit in both senses of the word, in "The Doctor Dances".

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

I think this (http://community.livejournal.com/torch_wood/747517.html) was the discussion I was thinking of, and I seem to have misremembered it a little. It's more about concepts of the afterlife, with existentialism really only mentioned in passing. However, I've been inspired to dig out my (rather dusty) copy of "A very short introduction to Existentialism" - there's definitely some interesting points to be made.

One thing strikes me looking at the forgiveness examples - the Tenth Doctor is less given to those kinds of second chances (right from The Christmas Invasion). For all that he seems friendlier than Nine, I actually find him a 'harder' character at his core - less stand-offish, but finding the detachment easier when he needs it. I wonder if he'd have been able to activate the Delta Wave in Parting of the Ways, and wonder even more what he's going to make of Jack. But maybe it's just that he's even more mercurial than most of the Doctors have been and his extremes of emotion are far more pronounced.

I'll report back with more thoughts once I've ploughed through the idiot's guide to Satre. ;)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

the Tenth Doctor is less given to those kinds of second chances (right from The Christmas Invasion).

Is it in "School Reunion" that he says, "I used to have so much mercy"?

I think Ten is more liely to push himself to extremes. I wonder if he regrets his choice in "The Parting of the Ways". I think not, but it seems to have steeled him to harder and darker choices. He has a harsher temper.

I loved Florence Finnegan's line: "You're quite the funny man. And yet, I think, laughing on purpose at the darkness." Ten is very into denial and misdirection. Which I love. It makes him both dark and complex, and yet his warmth and kindness are worn on the surface, easy to see.

wonder even more what he's going to make of Jack.

Eee yes. I can't even guess, which is part of the fun. Well, actually, I can guess, I can make any number of guesses, but I'm not putting money on any of them. I am still uncertain as to why the Doctor didn't just go back and pick Jack up on the Game Station; his 'explanation' just made it more perplexing to me. So. We shall see.

maybe it's just that he's even more mercurial than most of the Doctors have been and his extremes of emotion are far more pronounced.


I'd leave the 'just' out of that sentence. Because he is mercurial, he seems just that much less in control, more dangerous and more judgemental. I like that in a Time Lord.

Sartre. Go for it.

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

Sartre. Go for it.

I did! The results are at the top of my journal if you're still interested...

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Excellent! I'll read when I have a moment.

I went so far as to reading up on Existentialism on (blush) Wikipedia. It's been many years since I read most of the classic works cited. Makes me feel old and forgetful.

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

*grin* I used Wiki as well. It's quite handy as long as you take it with a pinch of salt. And use all the external references to check its facts. I've never actually studied philosophy properly (muddling my way through Plato as a first year undergrad does not count in this context) so it was fun to use a different part of my brain.

Look forward to seeing what you think :)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I think Wiki is wonderful. Like all informational material, it should be ingested with care.

My experience with philosophy is more or less the equivalent of muddling through Plato as an undergrad, except we didn't do Plato, we did neo-Platonism (in Renaissance Intellectual History, and I most remember Toynbee and Hegel as philosophers who wrote at length about history.

My foray into existentialism - besides reading Camus and other in French lit - was stumbling across "The Outsider" by Colin Wilson, a sort of layman's introduction to existentialism, and I found it fascinating.

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

I think I forgot to sign in, but the above ramble was mine.... sorry!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I've done that more times than I can count.