You know, I used to be emotionally effected when an episode of a good TV show ended with a strong song that fit the mood. A good example is “Time” at the end of the S1 Joan of Arcadia episode “Jump.” It enhanced the stellar episode, the strength and emotion of it and it didn’t play under any dialogue, the show instead used the music to cap it all, enhancing the visuals onscreen. Now, this wasn’t a thing they did often and so it had a power that still gets to me today. On the other hand, nowadays, show after show after show uses emo songs to bring emotion and resonance to their final scenes, more often than not playing the songs under dialogue.

This, to me, is a weakness of writing when it’s used time and time again because it then becomes a crutch. A writer shouldn’t need to rely on someone else’s words, voice or music to relay the emotion of their scene. That’s THEIR job! And yet, shows keep on doing it as if that’s the only way they know how to wring emotion from their audience. Grey’s Anatomy and Rescue Me are really big offenders — of the shows I watch, the worst. Also, Nip/Tuck and House have begun to use it more than necessary. Of all the new shows I’ve watched so far (Studio60, Jericho, Men in Trees, Justice, Shark, Six Degrees, Standoff), I believe that Justice is the only ones who hasn’t used this device.

Frankly, because of the proliferation, such episode closers aren’t really effecting me all that much anymore because I’m used to it, it’s so same old, same old. (And it doesn’t help that so many shows seem to regurgitate the same songs). I just am thankful that Veronica Mars rarely goes there. Yes, they use a lot of songs in the episodes, but they are mostly background music used to enhance, not create, the emotion in the scene. Even those episodes that have ended with songs, use it not as a crutch to wring emotion from viewers, ie. playing under what is meant to be deep and meaningful dialogue, but rather to enhance the visuals or a few lines of dialogue. It isn’t used the way the above shows I referenced do. The music on VM is used in the right way to enhance the emotion in the scene, not create or overpower it so that you end the episode remembering the dialogue (if a song plays under dialogue — which happens rarely), the scene and not just the song.

I managed to see an advance copy of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip {snerk, cuz that’s so hard to do now} and reading back and seeing my excitement over it is a bit sad, but I did adore that first episode so much. I mean … Eeee!! Matthew Perry! Aaron Sorkin! Bradley Whitford! And did I mention the Eeeee!! of Matthew Perry!! I

The writing was crackerjack (no surprise), the direction was mostly strong, most of the cast was excellent with two (unfortunately high profile) disappointments. I wanted to like Amanda Peet (Jordan), I wanted her to do a good job, and maybe she’ll grow into it, but as of the Pilot, she stands out and not in a good way. There’s an amateurish quality that I can’t quite put my finger on. The other disappointment really surprised me. I’ve seen Sarah Paulsen (Harriet) in a few other things and always been very impressed so I was expecting to be impressed here. I wasn’t. She got better as the show went on, but there was a definite weakness there … as if she wasn’t comfortable.

The rest of the cast that we got to see was excellent. I’m not sure if we won’t see Judd Hirsch (Wes) again, but even if we don’t that monologue was outstanding. In his brief screentime, he was magnificently on. And I’m not really a Hirsch fan. As a longtime Wings fan, I had higher expectations than most did about Steven Weber (Jack) and he did not disappoint at all. I thought he nailed Jack. Excellent. In the brief bit we saw of D.L. Hughley, he was very good and Timothy Busfield was wonderful also (best in his ‘fight the S&P’ scene, worst in the final scene … where he edged a tad bit into treacly).

Then of course we have our two stars, Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford. I knew Whitford from Billy Madison prior to April of this year when I watched all seven seasons of The West Wing — like most, I fell for him and his fabulous talent and charisma. He was just as fabulous here as he was on TWW, the only negative I can see is that I felt like I was watching Josh without the slight mania, but I suppose that’s understandable and should change over the course of the show.

And saving the best for last, ahhh, Matthew Perry. I just love him. I think he’s wonderful. He can handle drama beautifully, nuance, subtext, all of it he plays deliciously and I adore him as that kind of actor. Then there is the comedy. I smiled quite a bit during this, but I only laughed out loud, literally guffawed, three times while watching it and all three times were after Matt lines/actions. Comic timing to the degree that Perry can pull off is rare and he showed that skill here. He is just too awesome for words. So much love.

A few other details …

- I really hope they get rid of the “Jordan,” “Matt and Danny” and “The Big Three” titles before they premiere the show because (a) it looks ugly, (b) it has no consistency and (c) it insults the audience’s intelligence. Just not good.

- The opening scene, the conversation between Wes and the Standards & Practices guy, the monologue, the control room, ending with going to VTR was just AWESOME! The only downside of it was that the rest of the show simply did not (I don’t know if it could have) sustain that brilliance. (Side note: I also loved how Felicity Huffman (the star of Sorkin’s Sports Night, check it out if you haven’t pronto!) played her few scenes, especially the quick reaction shot of her during Wes’s monologue.)

Overall, excellent job. My one big wish would be that somehow Allison Janney is able to be brought on board. What I wouldn’t have given were it her cast as Jordan (just make the character a little older, who cares if Jordan is supposed to “be” Jaime Tarses). Ah well. Either Peet will step it up or Sorkin will write her out ala Mandy in S1 of TWW and maybe, just maybe, if the TV gods are smiling upon me, Janney will show up.

I set up a message board for Logan and Veronica (LoVe, as known in the fandom — albeit not willingly by some) in 2005 called The Love Shack. One of the things that it was known for was our very detailed episode breakdowns which essentially, well, broke down every aspect of each episode. This included my own section called “Chemistry,” wherein I gave a very detailed analysis as how I saw it of every single Logan and Veronica scene. Forthwith is thoughts from the first episode, I’ll be adding all of the episodes (possibly … I never did the last five, but if there’s interest, I can finish those up).

Scene One: And the Role of the Jackass is Played By …

When Veronica is going around the 09er table introducing the gang, you’d expect that the description of who Logan is would have taken place before she got to telling about the history with Duncan. But nope. We have the Duncan intro/flashback — which briefly includes Logan (more on that later) — and then it ends on “and let’s not forget Logan Echolls. His dad makes twenty million a picture. You probably own his action figure. Every school has an obligatory psychotic jackass; he’s ours.”

Why end on Logan and not Duncan? Wouldn’t the former boyfriend be the more likely choice to end the introduction of “main” characters on? You’d think so. But, no Logan gets it. And furthermore, from pretty much the moment the scene comes back from the flashback, Logan’s focus in centered on Veronica and she appears to be returning the favor. On the other hand, Duncan seems practically oblivious to her presence, while Logan is just so intently all about Veronica, staring at her, laughing or not, his attention is on her. Seeing what Veronica sees, it appears as if Logan is talking about her in the first shot of him looking at her, then to Duncan; and then again Logan is looking at her, doing the lapdance on Duncan, putting on his little show … for her. I mean, he’s basically “performing” for Veronica. He WANTS her attention. Very interesting.

Now back to that flashback scene for a moment, when Veronica turns from her locker and sees Duncan walking by and basically ignoring her, Logan is with him. And guess what he’s doing? You got it … staring at Veronica. Logan. Does. This. A LOT.

Scene Two: A Long Time Ago, We Used to Be Friends

Next up is the flashback where Logan confronts Veronica about what her dad is doing. Wouldn’t it make sense to see interaction of some kind with Duncan as opposed to laying it on Logan and Logan only. It’s as if Logan is the barometer of before and after in a way. She seems completely stricken by Logan’s pain and his accusation against her. Why is the concentration on Logan and not Duncan?

And just a note, but Logan is also the first one who we recognize who sees her at the party. A bigger deal is made of Duncan (because he’s being macked upon), but Logan is who we first see staring at her. Of course, staring at her.

Scene Three: “Hey, Ronnie!”

Ah, the drive-by. I’ve commented elsewhere that I think that Ronnie was a nickname Logan called Veronica on occasion when the foursome were all together, and maybe even it was one that he used teasingly, knowing she wasn’t fond of it. If so, it’s yet another one of those little hints at what things used to be like back when they were friends. Which leads us to this scene and, honestly, I’m not quite sure what to make of it.

I mean, he almost — no, not almost, he DID seem sincere in asking her if she wanted to join them, but of course, Veronica didn’t want to and in fact, just ignored him. So in return, Logan started being snarky and sarcastic. She continued ignoring him, and you know, I don’t think that Logan likes to be ignored — especially not by Veronica Mars, so he went from an almost playful teasing (the Duncan/no shirt) to barbed, painful teasing (her mom’s drinking). It’s like he was striking to hurt when she doesn’t, one could say, play along with whatever game he was playing. There is just such a push-pull with their interaction. It’s very fascinating.

Scene Four: The Bong Show

Let’s begin with the lovely, little fact that he calls her “cute.” And, of course, he does a lot of staring. What is interesting is that he is looking at her, calling her cute, pointing at her all in what appears to be a show of friendly competition. She just set him up to be arrested, most likely suspended as well, and he is grinning. His attitude is almost a show of ‘Okay, you got me this round, just wait ’til it’s my turn!’ Which flash backs to the last scene before where he kept digging and digging and was just so nasty — nasty in a way we really don’t see him ever at any other time.

And taking in this scene and his reaction of near-glee, one wonders if the object was to show that the only spark that Logan got out of life then was his little back-and-forth game of one-upmanship with Veronica and in the parking lot scene, she hadn’t played along. And here with the bong, the vicious cruelty of the “Hey, Ronnie” scene was missing because she was playing with him again.

Which leads to the final scene between the two …

Scene Five: No Fun, Fun, Fun!

I don’t know if I can even put my finger on what it is about this last scene with Logan and Veronica, but it’s almost like he is taunting her to do something, to retaliate. And it’s like, as in the first scene, as if he’s “performing” for her. The way he looks at her and holds her gaze with that sweet, almost innocent smile, the way he bends down to get close to her, the way that there are moments where it’s as if she is the only one there. It’s all very tense and ooh, I can’t put my finger on the right word. But there is definitely an underlying emotion there.

And then we have Veronica’s reaction to Logan’s being hit — we actually see Veronica reacting to Logan’s pain twice in this episode: The emotional in the flashback when he talks to her about her dad destroying the Kane family, and the physical in this scene. I don’t know and I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for it, but Veronica seems really bothered by Logan being hurt. She doesn’t make the snappy comment or comeback during that, but once he’s gone, she’s back to wearing that facade immediately with Weevil. It’s as if she is very conscious of Logan’s pain.

I dunno, maybe I’m seeing too much, wanting to see more, but I think that some connection of sorts was being laid all the way in this episode with him. HE pushes her buttons the way no one else appears to and SHE pushes his as well. And just for the record, they really *really* do have some damn fine chemistry.

Now, then, I want to start out by saying that I’ve never watched any other Who than the 2005 version originally starring Christopher Eccleston (sniff, sniff) as the Doctor, followed by David Tennant taking over the role in the following three seasons. I can not, and won’t even try to, compare these versions of the Doctor, the companions, the stories, production values, etc. to any other because I haven’t seen them and probably won’t ever. So these comments are based solely on the current Doctor Who. Period.

Oh, and to be safe … spoilers for all four seasons up to 4×07 (but the reference to 4×07 is only in the random comments section). If you’ve watched seasons 1-3 and at least a few episodes of season four, you’re fine (again, with the exception of the random comments at the end).

Alrighty then, I’m going to start with the Doctors. I admit I haven’t re-watched season one in two years (but I’m working on getting it), and if you’ve been reading my journal for any length of time and have read my Who posts, you know it isn’t because I didn’t like S1. In fact, I loved it. I was completely hooked by the third episode and fell head over heels for Christopher Eccleston’s Doctor. He created such a mixture of joy and sorrow, goofiness and seriousness in such a beautifully nuanced package. This is the awesomeness of Eccleston.

And, of course, because I’m a silly, silly shipper at heart, I rather fell head over heels for the relationship between the Doctor and Rose as well. I loved Eccleston’s Doctor and the Rose/Nine relationship so much that when the reveal of David Tennant as Doctor #10 appeared at the end of the season, I was upset, angry, annoyed, frustrated, saddened, you name it. And it was a little over two full years before I actually watched another episode because the Doctor was … Christopher Eccleston. Period.

I’ve now seen all of season two and three, and what’s aired thus far of season four. I don’t LOOOOOOOOOVE Tennant’s Doctor like I did Eccleston’s, but I do like him very much and I love his relationship with Rose as well. It’s different, but the same. Which makes sense considering the Doctor is different, but the same. I do think Tennant tends to get a tad, erm, okay, a LOT, yelly at points, but I think he does the fun of it quite well and I like the introspective, bad-ass moments also.

He’s not my Doctor — that will always be Eccleston — but he’s a fine, fine Doctor none-the-less and I enjoy watching him very much indeed. And because the second season was the Doctor and Rose already knowing each other and having been through such an emotional experience (the end of season one), there was a richer, yet lighter feel to their relationship in season two. Needless to say, if you’re familiar with my leanings, it won’t surprise anyone to know that by the end of season two, I was pretty much a die-hard Rose/Doctor (Nine or Ten) shipper … yes, this was even knowing that Billie Piper was gone after season two before I even sat down to watch it. But more on the whole Doctor/Rose relationship later.

First, let’s take a look at the Companions. This show is so oddly set-up in terms of creating actor/character/shipping fandoms because the Doctor CAN easily be replaced at any time should something change with the current actor due to the whole regenerating thing when he “dies.” As well, the companions can just be set along their merry way for any number of reasons and it’s all so logical and makes sense that the almost transient nature of the actors on the show makes it an interesting one for me to glom onto because I’m SO entrenched in loving my favorites and any replacement BE DAMNED!!! Yet, this show makes it work … likely, in my opinion, due to the already-set-in-place structure of the show, as well as the almost routinely excellent casting and writing.

My first companion was, of course, Rose. I didn’t love love her by even the end of the first season, but some time throughout the second season, I did grow to love love her and her departure at the end of that season left me a literal bawling mess. I loved her fiestiness, her ignorance, yet willingness to explore anything and everything. I loved her dedication and loyalty to the Doctor. Hah, I actually just figured it out when I realized I love loved Rose because of typing that last statement: It was in the two-parter ending with “Satan’s Pit.” She was so awesome on her own, fighting and doing everything that had to be done while still remaining steadfastly loyal and devoted to the Doctor. Loved it, and loved her.

Anyhoo, back to my Rose love. I even loved her selfishness because it just made her more real. When viewers (and I’m talking mostly TWoP commentary here as I’ve yet to find another Doctor Who community where I can just dig in and read good, meaty thoughts on the show — but I’m looking) complain about “Saint Rose” or “Mary Sue Rose” rearing her head in season three and thus far in season four, I seriously wonder if they’ve watched season one and two recently. Seriously. Because not only was Rose NOT a saint OR a Mary Sue; she was never written as one (nor was she portrayed as such in season three, or season four thus far). She was ignorant, and selfish, and jealous, and stupid, stupid, stupid sometimes. However, she was also capable of greatness. Great acts of sacrifice, great thoughts, great love, great compassion. Many of the kick-ass awesome qualities we see in Martha and Donna were in Rose: a bit of the humor, the action, the smarts, the compassion, the heart and soul. Rose was fucking awesome. I love her.

I don’t, however, love Martha. I like her. I think Freema Agyeman is lovely, but I just never connected to Martha the way I did Rose. That very well may have been because the Doctor kept her at arm’s length, something he never did with Rose, and so she felt like she was at arm’s length from me as well. There were moments with Martha where I loved her (and I do have Torchwood on my Netflix so I can get caught up on that, I might like her better when she shows up there — I quite liked her and Jack), but overall, I just kinda, you know, liked her.

I’ll be honest, it didn’t help that I kept waiting for the show to screw up (in my opinion) and make Martha into another Rose in terms of how the Doctor felt about her. To me, what was between the Doctor and Rose was special (more on that later, I promise) and it would have just infuriated me to see Martha just take over Rose’s spot. All of the moments of jealousy that Martha had, the continued bringing up of Rose, the continued crush that lasted the whole season really had me believing that the final episode of season three would basically feature the Doctor showing that Martha was just another Rose to him, ie, just another companion, one he valued and felt great fondness, but just another companion … thus Rose wasn’t special at all. That didn’t happen and I may actually be able to go back and rewatch season three with a different eye that is more appreciative for that fact.

It’s not something I’ll be doing all that soon though, because, overall, season three was subpar to seasons one and two in my book, and that’s not because Rose wasn’t there. I did like Martha, I really did, she just didn’t connect to me and thus make me connect to the show the same way I had in seasons one and two. In fact, my favorite episode was the incredibly awesome “Blink” which barely featured Martha and the Doctor at all. However, I DID really like her spark with Tom Milligan in the season finale and was really, really happy to see his return (or at least mention of him) as her fiance in Martha’s first appearance back on the show in season four. A Martha not mooning over the Doctor may make me like her all that much more. Still, I’m not sure. I kinda think if she was gonna grab me like Rose did, it woulda happened. I mean, I may not have love loved Rose by the end of season one, but I loved her and it was before the last episodes that I was there already. So, who knows?

Well, I do know that my opinion about Donna came pretty quickly, faster than even with Rose. See, I hadn’t watched the show in two years, but I would see posts on ONTD about it and I would note them simply because it WAS a show I had loved. And lately I’d been seeing this (I’m being honest here) mean, bitchy, scarecrow-looking, kinda unattractive red head in all the promo shots with David Tennant and I thought, ‘What the hell?!?! They went from Billie Piper to Freema Agyeman to, uhm, that?!?!?! Oy. I don’t know.’ Flashforward to season two, I watched “School Reunion” (with Anthony Stewart Head!!!) and there was an older redhead woman, Sarah Jane, and I thought … “Oh, I bet THAT’S the redhead chick. Oh, she looks much better onscreen. Just not photogenic.” Did a teeny bit of research and found out, nope, totally different actress. So I was back to thinking ‘Oy vey! Crap. This is gonna suck. I don’t like the way she looks. I’m not gonna like her.’

Then came the season finale of season two. As mentioned above, I’m a bawling mess and the Doctor is crying himself and then all-of-a-sudden familiar scary, mean-looking redhead woman pops into the Tardis wearing a wedding dress and I was like, “That’s her!!!” I was leery, but “The Runaway Bride” was the next episode to watch. So I watched it. And in about, oh, fifteen minutes … maybe even ten, I fell completely, totally, absolutely, mind-boggled IN LOVE WITH DONNA NOBLE!!!! OH. MY. GOD! Is she like the COOLEST character ever!?!?? Why, yes, I do believe she is. She isn’t just the awesome. She isn’t just made of the awesome. She isn’t just the very definition of the awesome. No, Donna Noble is everything in the universe put together that is good and right and cool, creating a brand-new definition of awesome that has never before been witnessed.

I love Donna. I love Donna so much. Donna? is, well, there is no other word to accurately describe her. Donna … is Donna. So, so Donna. I love her. So much. My God, the charades scene in “Partners in Crime?” Funniest damn thing I can recall seeing ever!!!! Catherine Tate is so beyond awesome. Her comic timing, her delivery, her pure awesomeness — seriously, she must sweat liquid beads of awesome — she’s just WOW!!!!!!!!!! Love her.

Funny thing, though, Donna’s my favorite character on Doctor Who ever — meaning, yes, I like her more than I like Christopher Eccleston’s Doctor … I KNOW!!!!!!!!!!! — but, Rose is still my favorite companion. Which brings us to …

I wrote above that I’m basing this bit on fandom as read at TWoP about the Rose/Doctor relationship — if anyone knows of the thoughts in the overall fandom outside of that evil place and know that they are, in fact, in the minority, do let me know. I mentioned how Rose is referred to as “Saint Rose” and “Mary Sue Rose” (ridiculous, but I already groused about that in above) and this is mostly done because of posters annoyed that Rose is brought up as much as she was in season three and four (so far). For me? I would have been not annoyed, but damn right PISSED! had Rose not been brought up in season three, so I was actually giddy and thrilled with every mention because, in my opinion, she damn well should have been for one reason and one reason alone.

The Doctor loved Rose. Period. I don’t care what happened in previous incarnations. I don’t care if romance has never been part of the show to any degree. I know what I watched happen over the course of two seasons and I damn well know what happened in the last ten minutes of season two. See for yourselves (minus the Rose voiceover regarding directions in between the two videos):

He was screaming her name — and not the normal David Tennant-screaming — but in an anguished cry of devastation; she was sobbing uncontrollably. THEY SENSED EACH OTHER THROUGH AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE; they did the whole touching hands through a wall … THROUGH AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE. Final scene: The Doctor was “burning up a sun just to say goodbye,” Rose told him she loved him; it sure as hell seemed like the Doctor was going to tell her likewise. Once he lost contact with her, he was crying. In other words, they loved each other. It was love. As how love is seen and shown and produced and stylized on television and in film. The Doctor loved Rose. Rose loved the Doctor. Whether one wants to accept that such is not how Doctor Who works is all fine and dandy, but what we saw onscreen? The Doctor loved Rose. Rose loved the Doctor. They loved each other. And it wasn’t of the sibling sort or like father/daughter.

The reason that Rose was brought up as much as she was in season three was because — sticking to the storyline that had been crafted through the first two seasons — the Doctor was mourning a woman he loved. The reason the Doctor was such a dick to Martha is because he knew she fancied him, but he was dealing with a broken heart — which, based on comments I’ve read, hadn’t happened before with any other companion — but would never admit it, and just wanted to not deal with it. That? was part of the season’s arc … it was brought up how horribly affected he was by Rose’s loss in “The Runaway Bride” (Go Donna!! “Pockets!!”) and having a bright, young girl who didn’t really know love at that point thinking she loved him allowed him to witness a fresh innocence at work again despite his continued tragedies.

As for chemistry, yes, I thought that Billie Piper had better chemistry with Christopher Eccleston and if it hadn’t been for how well they played off one another, the love angle may not have worked in season two with Tennant. However, Piper and Eccleston did have chemistry, they did play off of one another well and the finale in which Rose took on the life force of the Tardis connected Rose and the Doctor in a way that simply could not be dismissed as a schoolgirl crush. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if part of the why of Martha’s crush was to show that what Rose felt for the Doctor was NOT in fact a crush, but that she truly loved him. And while, again, Piper had better chemistry with Eccleston, that didn’t take away from the fact that she and David Tennant had fine chemistry as well, just different, but yet with the same touch because they were the same characters.

What will happen in the future? Who knows? But that’s one of the great things about Doctor Who, anything truly is literally possible. Will the Doctor get Rose back? Will he move on to someone new? Based on his interactions with Martha — stand-offish, at arm’s length — and Donna — “I just want a mate” — I’d like to think that any romantic entanglements will be kept to the one/two-shot deals we’ve had thus far and thus easily expendable and forgotten. I’m a silly shipper at heart, I know, but I LOVE the fact that Rose is so clearly special to the Doctor. I love that we are still hearing about and seeing (!!!) Rose despite Billie Piper’s work on The Secret Diary Of A Call Girl. As far as I’m concerned, it should stay that way because the show made me believe that the Doctor and Rose loved each other (I mean, HELLO!!, watch those clips!!) — a true love, a real, once in a (human’s) lifetime kind of love — and I’m sticking to that. I hope the show does too.

Finally, a quick (yes, I am capable of “quick,” I swear) look at the finales thus far. One thing that Doctor Who does so well are its finales. Well, normally. I adored the first season finale so much. So much so that I was a crying mess at the end of it. How the show built from this goofy, quirky, silly, time-traveling sci-fi geekfest into this emotionally heartrending, thrilling, dramatic tour de force is amazing. But it did it. I cared so very much about the Doctor and Rose … and when they both risked so much for, well, so much, it was awesome. And when I say “awesome,” I don’t mean in the ‘ooh, cool!’ way, but rather in the literal definition of the word: Inspiring awe. All of the plot points, all of the lines about, all of the build-up of “Bad Wolf” to the season came to a head in this beautiful tapestry of threads sewn together with such love and talent. Ah, it was wonderful.

And then … and then!!! The second season managed the exact same feat. Starting out light and goofy, with some serious undertones, and then building, building, building to that killer of a finale where Rose became a heroine in her own right, and not just the Doctor’s sidekick; and where the Doctor experienced yet another devastating loss — not comparing losing Rose to an alternate universe to the Time Lord war here, but it was still devastating to lose Rose. It was just … no words. It blew me away. If I was a crying mess after season one, season two had me bawling in the fetal position.

The third season? Eh, not so much. It was good, BUT, I didn’t know Martha’s family enough to care beyond normal human compassion (for fictional characters) that they were being held by the Master. The mom I flat-out didn’t like; the dad was a cipher to me, and Tish was kinda lame. As for the Master? Hello! John Simm is awesome, but, but … we shouldn’t have been hit with his appearance with only two episodes to go. We should have seen more of the soon-to-be PM, a lot more. We should have been introduced to the Master prior to that. We should have cared more. I was hopeful, very hopeful in the episode where old man Master was introduced and I realized it. I was wowed, and loving it, anticipating an awesome conclusion as I’d gotten the first two seasons.

That episode, “Utopia,” really was just fabulous, but the fall-out in “The Sound of the Drums” and “Last of the Time Lords” … it was too much, too rushed, I didn’t care enough about any of the players. And sadly, Martha hadn’t endeared herself to me enough so I didn’t care about her plight either. (Although, as I mention above, I did like her and Tom Milligan. Nice spark there.) And when the Master died in the Doctor’s arms, I didn’t feel for the Doctor in being bummed that the Master was letting himself die. I just didn’t care enough about the relationship because it hadn’t been fully realized for me as a viewer. Unlike Rose and Nine; unlike Rose and Ten. That’s where the (good!) devastation came from when watching the finales of seasons one and two. I knew and loved these characters and their relationships. I didn’t know nor love the Master; and I certainly didn’t love the relationship between the Doctor and the Master precisely because I didn’t know the relationship.

I dunno, perhaps if I HAD watched previous incarnations and had more of a feel for the Time Lord war, I would have been more affected, but I just wasn’t. I’m hoping that the season four finale will kick ass like seasons one and two. I have faith that it will.

Sigh, okay, so I’m not capable of “quick.” Is anyone surprised?

Now, just a few comments about random stuff related to the show.

- The Face of Boe reveal being Jack was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!! I loved it so, so, sooooooooo much. It made such perfect sense, was built up perfectly throughout the seasons with the conversations with the Face of Boe. Just awesome. My only wish is that I really would have rather that reveal been done with Rose who had a connection with Jack as well, or with just the Doctor himself. While I did like Martha and Jack’s interactions, she wasn’t enough a part of the whole background of Jack/The Face of Boe to really hit the full emotional moment there. Ah well. Tis a small complaint for such an awesomely, unexpected (on my part) reveal.

- I pretty much loved EVERYTHING about “Army of Ghosts/Doomsday.” Fabulous, fabulous job on those.

- Shipper that I am, I was a bit bugged by the whole “Human Nature/Family of Blood” Doctor falling in love with the Nurse thing. (Partly because I didn’t really cotton to the actress, and wasn’t impressed with her and Tennant’s chemistry, or lack thereof.) Still with that said, I think these were my favorite Martha episodes. She was awesome in them.

- What is it with the Doctor having to kiss every Companion under non-romantic circumstances? There was the Doctor/Rose kiss in “The Parting of the Ways” when the Doctor transferred the Tardis vortex thingie from Rose to him. (Though to be fair, in my opinion, although not technically romantic, I still see it as such, personally. Anyhoo …) Rose as Cassandra in “New Earth” kissing the (new!) Doctor. Then we have Ten kissing Martha to leave a DNA scent in “Smith and Jones.” And finally, the shock of Donna kissing the Doctor in “The Unicorn and the Wasp.” I just wonder.

- Despite no Rose (and likely because of the awesome that is Donna), I liked “The Runaway Bride” waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more than “The Christmas Invasion.”

Sigh, I so very much want the full DVD sets of at least season one and two, but my GOODNESS! they are so frickin’ expensive and no matter how much I try and justify that I can buy them, I just can’t. It sucks, it sucks, it sucks. Waaahh!!! Why must money woes get in the way of feeding my growing addiction!?!?!

Phew! And thus ends my insanely long Doctor Who ramble. Aaaaaahhhhh!!

Finally.

I watch a lot of television and film; I read a lot, listen to a lot of music (all types) and generally am an entertainment-girl all-around. I also become quite frequently obsessed with fandoms, especially when they involve a pairing of which I’m particularly enamored.

Right now, my main fandom is Doctor Who (the new Who), and Jason Dohring (who, alas, is between jobs), but featured on this blog will be past fandom favorites such as Veronica Mars, American Idol (season six and seven specifically as I was writing online prior to those seasons), as well as various tv shows, movies, books, etc. Knowing myself, I expect that new fandoms, new thoughts and new obsessions will be fed and accordingly filtered through my rambling discourse.