awkwardreviews

Goodbye Rose…

Tonight, it ends. The two parters try to do so much, in the extended time they were given, in fact, we got to see SO many resolutions happen. Torchwood, Rose, her family, we even got to see Micky! I felt that this seasons had a gradual build up, as I’ve said in previous reviews, they were throwing hints at us, quiet but not-so-subtle hints.

Torchwood has been mentioned since the season two began, and it’s pretty much been an ongoing theme. Thankfully it’s a little more prominent than “bad wolf” last season, however, I really did enjoy “bad wolf” as an “ohhhhh, THAT’S why!” moment. Of course, this seasons was executed better, but, I will say that I enjoyed the episode “Badwolf” more than “The Army of Ghosts”.

There was nothing inherently wrong with “Army of Ghosts”, it just wasn’t as exciting as the previous season’s climactic episode. But I digress, the true thing that matters is the finale, and this year it was as good, if not better, than season 1’s. I will say that Tennant does an admirable job as the Doctor, and he is a very good actor. I can never say I like him more than Eccleston though, however, Tennant has two more seasons to change my mind!

This was quite literally the attack of both the Cybermen from that one alternate dimension, and the Daleks from the super spherical sphere! (IT’S SPHERICAL!!!)

How come I didn’t guess it was the Dalek? I guess I was too wrapped up in seeing Micky being back, and how terribly acted that one Doctor who got his face squeezed was. I suppose the entire concept wasn’t as much flawed, as it was over-reaching. I hope they don’t run dry on the Dalek material, as the entire premise of these creatures is “take of the world”, and if every time they return it’s the same shtick, then it’ll get old fast. Thankfully, in this episode it was pretty exhilarating!

The return of the alt-dimension characters was welcome as well, Micky is noticeably more confident now, which is definitely a step in the right direction for the character… even if we won’t ever see him again, unfortunately. Same with Jackie and her alternate dimension husband, both of which had a nice reunion (somewhat).

The climax of the episode concluded with Rose not being killed, but being trapped in the other world. I have to say, Billie Piper killed it this episode, she was fantastic. I’m not sure if I would have liked her to die… or if this was a fitting end. The reason I say that is because perhaps the death would have been a better and more hammered in aspect of the episode.

Although I wasn’t a huge fan of the climax arriving, leaving, and then we get a seven minute sequence with the Doctor’s and Roses REAL goodbye… I did enjoy the way it was executed. Man, the more I think about it, the better the acting gets. It was truly great during those final moments.

So Rose is gone, and that’s disappointing, I really did like her as an assistant to the Doctor, and more so as a character during the second season. Although the whole “wow so new” stage was fun to see… I more enjoy to see Rose and the Doctor being on the same ‘level’ in a sense. Where they are both cracking jokes, being wacky, yet saving the world all the same. Unfortunately, there simply wasn’t enough of this.

Overall though, this season was definitely a few points ahead of the previous one, maybe just because its start wasn’t as rocky. This season did have a stinker (Love & Monsters), but it was definitely more solid. It had a select few standouts, and was stronger during its second half. Tennant is growing on me, however, that’s not to say that I didn’t like him. In fact, I really like Tennant, I just think Eccleston was a bit better for the time being.

Then again, this was only Tennant’s first season, onwards to the next!

Grades:

Army of Ghosts: B+

Doomsday: A-

Overall: A-

Season grade: B