Doctor Who "Journey's End" (2008)

After watching this episode I was very conflicted about how I felt about it. After part one I was so anxious for part two which ended on a spectacular cliffhanger and had brought all the major players from the past four seasons together for a monumental mission. The resolution of the cliffhanger regarding the Doctor's regeneration was a microcosm for the entire episode, a quickie solution that on retrospection makes little sense. Funneling the energy into the hand after healing himself is a bit of a letdown. Obviously there were extraordinary circumstances that allowed him to do that, his own severed hand being present, but it doesn't ring true taking into account the history of the series. Davies has always played the deus ex machina card to get the Doctor out of sticky situations that are truly breath-taking but then the plot is painted into a corner and a resolution needs to found no matter how extraordinary. Usually it's the sonic screwdriver, which Davies has resurrected as a magic wand in the new series, however ironically it never makes an appearance in these two episodes. The whole episode was certainly gripping but in the end when you think back on it, it doesn't hold together as well and was a bit of a letdown.

The amount of scientific technobabble used to resolve the Dalek plan to destroy reality itself is astounding. Even the Dalek plan itself makes no sense: they will be the only things left in the universe. So, they're just going to fly around for eternity? All the planets and suns have been destroyed which just leaves them on the Crucible. Davros devolves into a cackling madman which is a complete change from the cold, calculating nemesis of part one. Obviously the stakes needed to be high to end this era of Doctor Who, but that's the only reason the stakes are high, just so that the Doctor can save all of reality. It hurts the entire story that this plan is taken straight from early science fiction serials, complete with the moustache-twirling villain.

It's ironic that after I wrote the review about how the companions are played up to be so changed for the better by meeting the Doctor, that Davros would provide a different and completely opposite interpretation. Echoing Donna's words in "The Sontaran Stratagem" that the Doctor turned Martha into a soldier, Davros here shows the Doctor that he turns ordinary humans into killing machines, ready to destroy the entire Earth in his name without a second thought. We even flash back to many of those who died while helping the Doctor all the way back to Jabe in "The End of the World" up to the hostess in "Midnight". What Davros gets wrong, and either it was left out intentionally for the audience to figure out on their own or because Davies has refashioned the Doctor into a tragic and lonely god, is that they didn't die for or because of the Doctor, they died doing what the Doctor has always done, saving others and giving their life in the process. Everyone that was flashed to sacrificed themselves so that others could be spared. In truth the Doctor doesn't bring death to whoever he meets, he does actually inspire them to have the courage to stand for something and unfortunately some of them are shot down in the process.

Despite the grievances regarding plot contrivances, these episodes were a monumental undertaking. It has been said that Davies had planned these episodes from the beginning, and if that is true than he has done a remarkable job. It certainly has a degree of believability to it as seeds for this finale have been planted all the way back to "Rose" over three years ago. There were even elements from Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures thrown into the mix. That is such a massive undertaking Davies deserves praise just for being able to keep everything in order. As I have always said, he is a master at being the ideas man, but when it comes to sketching in the fine details of episodes he loses focus. He goes for grand scale to show there is a big picture and things get lost in the scheme. I'm sure he loved the idea of having three Doctors on the screen and it probably sounds great in the writers' room but it just felt so wrong and really only served to 1) provide resolution to the Rose/Doctor love story and 2) write Donna off the series.

The Doctor clone was a bit of a leap and Davies took a bold gamble revisiting the Doctor as being half-human, originally stated in the Doctor Who TV movie that had fans up in arms. It's scary that the human part of him would allow him to commit genocide, an idea abhorrent to the real Doctor. He does so even without deep consideration. Again done through a bit of technical magic and also this is the fourth time in the new series we believe the Daleks as a race, aside from the Cult of Skaro, to be extinct. That's another nitpick: Why keep showing a final end to the Daleks if you will most likely bring them back in the future? I'm sure there are plans already since Doctor Who would never be the same without his most famous foes. It just makes it increasingly more implausible that more survived in a later episode. The half-human Doctor gets left at Bad Wolf Bay in the parallel world with Rose, who finally has the Doctor she can spend her life with. Again, another event I would have preferred not happen. It's hard enough to see the Doctor getting romantically involved with his companions but Rose is now settling for a half and half version of the man she loves because she can't be with the real deal?

Then there's Donna, or the DoctorDonna as she becomes in this episode. I've loved Catherine Tate this season and admired her growth with each passing episode. It's a horrible end to have that all taken away from her and being reduced to her boisterous, obnoxious self from when before she met the Doctor. You can tell the Doctor cared for her deeply as it pains him greatly to take all that away from her and leave her to spend the rest of her life not knowing the wonders she saw out there. Tate continued to impress with her ability to recite all that technobabble without a beat while I could barely even make out what she was saying let alone try and understand it. Donna was brought to the top of her game, only to be taken down to the depths she aspired to leave behind. I hope we get a chance to see her in the future, but if we don't I'd just like to say that Donna has become a personal favorite companion of mine and I will miss her terribly.

The Doctor truly has the greatest family on Earth and as all reunions come to an end, he had to bid good-bye to all of them once more. Hopefully they will continue to pop up every now and again, at least we'll see Captain Jack and Sarah Jane in their spin-offs. Mickey even has the potential to return as he chose not to go back to the parallel world but rather return home. Jack is even seen trying to court Martha away from UNIT and hopefully Freema Agyeman will turn up for another arc on Torchwood. She's going to be quite busy taking a lead role in Law & Order: London and I hope America imports that series as well. It truly is the end of an era with Rose and Donna out of the picture with little chance for return and Tennant possibly leaving the role after next year's series of specials. Rumors abound of Robert Carlyle as the Eleventh Doctor and I'm sure with Steven Moffat at the helm that the franchise is in good hands whoever may take over control of the TARDIS.

Favorite moment: An all too brief glimpse of K-9 as he turns up to provide some much needed assistance to return the Earth to its rightful place in the universe. I wish the rights holders to this character would re-consider his own series which only keeps getting delayed and allow him to be featured as a regular on The Sarah Jane Adventures. Doctor Who is his home and he is sorely missed. The only benefit is it makes a cameo like this a true surprise and a much welcome one at that.