313: Last of the Timelords

313: Last of the Time Lords

Toclafane revealed; Paradox Machine defined; Martha Jones coming into her own as one of the great companions...all good points in this episode. The whole Doctor being restored by people's thoughts was a little hokey and the reset button was pretty much expected to be used.

All that aside, this episode had one of the best performances of the season, and the most emotional, with the Doctor since Rose left. The realization that he was back to being alone, that even the most vilest of the Time Lords being around was better than having none of his race left.

And now that they've aired the finale, I can include this without fear of spoilers...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DKtSQe-kMw

This was such a great episode! I know a lot of people here in the US found it disappointing (I'll give you part of the reason in a minute); I personally thought it was fantastic. For one thing, I cried almost the entire time (especially when

Spoiler:

)!!! The only tiny complaint I had was that the music could have been better, compared to the score from "The Sound of Drums."

This episode really let the first 2 parts down.
The music and spasms accompanying the aging of the Doctor was really cheesy.
Smeagol Doctor was cute but why'd his clothes shrink instead of disintegrating?
Tinkerbelling the Doctor back to youth was the stupidest deus ex machina ever. Even if martha convinced everyone in the whole planet to think Doctor at the same time that he was tuned into the psychic network, it's very dubious that they'd all channel the notion as David Tennant.
It's disappointing that they made Lucy Saxon into a zombie.
Why do all the guards help Jack after the Master is shot? The Archangel network is still up.
The Master willing himself to not regenerate is stupid and the Doctor should know he can't do that. he'll arise like a Phoenix from his pyre the next time they run out of ideas.
The Face of Boe reveal was funny. Did the Satellite 5 report that the Face of Boe was pregnant occur before or after jack quit when he was ahead? if they're the same character, why didn't he introduce himself to Doctor and Rose when the Earth died?
The Titanic ending was stupid.
This arc reminded me of the Planet X arc from X-Men, which was equally disappointing.

The Doctor's clothing did not shrink. When the Doctor did, he was completely enveloped in them. Presumably, the Master had a new set made for the little Doctor. The real question is why that set of clothes expanded when he was restored (I agree with your assessment of that).

Lucy Saxon is suffering from a very severe post-traumatic stress... and the Master is the object of Stockholm Syndrome for her. What he did to her is why she became that way. She hates, fears and loves him.

Again... I agree about the guards. I thought of that on my second viewing.

I think the Satellite 5 report was more a National Enquirer type story. Jack/Boe did not reveal himself to the Doctor and Rose for the same reason that he did not go meet Rose when he was in London while she was growing up.

I've read some on what's up with the Christmas story... the Titanic is not what it appears to be. Some people have correctly noted that the life-saver did not say "RMS Titanic," but simply, "Titanic."

So it's Douglas Adams's Starship Titanic?
It seems like a waste to make Lucy Saxon a plot device like that.
In the Torchwood pilot, Jack said he's never gonna get pregnant again. So was the Satellite 5 report a reference to that or does Jack get pregnant again later, possibly as a giant head in a jar?

I just rewatched this episode last night. I sort of cringed the first time but it kind of grew on me on the second viewing. Sort of wished they explained Lucy's Bjork like state...red dress but no swan. The Flying Doc...well fine for the kiddies...but still way too cheesy. JS made a refreshingly different take on the master. Quite good at playing the one screw loose sort of fellow. Call me old school but I would also still like to see the rubbish beard master come back. As for the ring being picked up...still keeps up the fact the master will in some way return...

i want to throw this out there, and see if anyone agrees with me. rewatched the episode, and had a new thought. lucy saxon shot the master because he told her to. anyone else notice that she only did it after the doctor said he was going to "keep" the master. the master would have known what the doctor would do, should he be defeated(and he knew he usually was), so he told lucy to shoot him. then, he intentionally didn't regenerate. look at the red fingernails at the end, i think they are lucy's(rewind to when they are in the valiant, and do a close-up of her hands). i don't think she ever betrayed him(except when she prayed for the doctor). shooting him was part of their plan, and then she went and retrieved the ring he had on, that had strange symbols on it(sort of like the fob watch). do you think if they ever bring the master back, they'll bring lucy back too, and reveal that it was their plan all along to escape like that.

I think Lucy may be the Master... note that in the spoiler photo the Master is blonde. :lol

maybe the the ring turns the wearer into the master. he was always good at prolonging death(tremas, the eric roberts master, if he could do both of those, why couldn't he put his essence into a ring for later use). i mean is she hated him when she shot him, why would she then make sure to get the ring after he was cremated.

I think she may have been him all along. There was something very fake about her. She seemed almost plastic.

Calixar wrote:

I think she may have been him all along. There was something very fake about her. She seemed almost plastic.

you mean slightly 'AUTONomous'? Of course the reveal in the final episode could be he had Lucy under hypnosis and he planned for her to kill him knowing his 'essence' was stored in the ring.

I actually wondered if the Master's plan all along had been to have Lucy kill him so he could be resurrected later. Makes sense as he didn't really have another out at the moment.

That would be a pretty good gambit, actually, and totally of the Master's unique imagination.

I always assumed the Master's "essence" was stored in the ring and Lucy was supposed to shoot him if it looked like he was going to get caught. Then he could clone/grow/posses/regenerate later and plot revenge without worrying about the Doctor tracking him down.

and to people who think that lucy would turn on him in the end. look at rihanna and chris brown, bobby and whitney, tommy lee and pamela anderson. just because a girl is in a bad relationship, doesn't mean she will do everything in her power to protect the man she once loved.

you forgot Hillary and Bill heeheehee

well, hoosier, i hate to stand up for bill(really i do), but i don't see infidelity the same as physical abuse. is it emotional abuse, sure. mental, maybe. but i don't think i ever saw hillary with a shiner like lucy had.

Anyway, I agree with CJ.

Its been a while since I've seen the episode, but I've always wondered why the Master didn't get "reset" along with the rest of the world/time/etc in the end. I just sort of imagined that he'd be laying there dead, time gets reset and he wakes up going "what the..."

Looks like the SDCC panel shed a little light on things...

Note: This is all in the official trailer for the the final two-parter, "The End of Time", but I'll hide it just in case.

Spoiler:

I wasn't sure how to take this one...

With Lucy, I understood. There was a bruise over her eye which indicates he beat her up. She really wasn't free.

The shrunken Doctor? A bit difficult to take. Also the thought energy thing and flying Doctor.

However I'm really good at suspension of disbelief. I was sorry, so sorry for the Doctor as he held his friend & nemesis weeping. + 1 for Tennant's acting.

Haven't watched season 4 yet, but when it comes to season enders, I have to say 2,5,1,3 in that order

Heh

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Doctor Who: The Winds of Time

^ Love it!

Oh! I remembered the one thing I thought was neat, but sadly realized it apparently isn't canon and that is the factoid about the Face of Boe. I thought that was nifty.

Nuggan, i'm sticking with the face of boe reveal. i know they've tried to reverse the policy on it, but i still think they should explain it at some point. i always thought a wierd way to explain it would be for an alien race to try to capture captain jack to study his immortality, but torchwood fights them off, but they do manage to cut off his head/slice his face off. then, like he always does, he grows a new one. so the face of boe could be his head(with memmories and everything), but the captain jack we know still exists(sort of like splitting a worm in two).