A Season Finale Too Far?

[TedShatner10]

While "Journey's End" was a huge ratings success and popular with most 'mainstream' TV critics, I'm not surprised it was widely panned by many keyboard warriors worth their salt and seen by most hardcore sci-fi fans as a messy ending to the otherwise decent Russell T. Davies era, even more of a folly than anything out of the reviled JNT era.

"Journey's End" had bordering on Hollywood production values and brilliant performances, I was entertained, but I also found it a glorious, bloated mess that didn't make much sense in places on closer inspection and it repeated many 'best of' RTD moments that were done better in the proceeding three years. Davros was well casted and very well performed, with amazing make up and costume that was faithful to Wisher's Davros, but he degenerated back into being a 2D ranting psychotic from the 1980s. The Daleks were somewhat clumsily wheeled out to be humiliated once again: why did they build such a silly superweapon? Why did they have their vital controls concentrated in one place, in Davros' prison cell, with no real safeguards? What happened to their shields? Why rant in faulty German?

"Journey's End" was very well presented bubblegum crap, but it was bubblegum crap all the same, and RTD did better in the same season with "Midnight" and "Turn Left". Russell T. Davies could not be any more underrated for doing the impossible in making Doctor Who relevent again, but at the same time I'm glad he is moving on since Steven Moffat is needed to move NuWho back to S1 style basics again and enable new creative tactics. I still give "Journey's End" a solid 6.5 out of 10, since even though it does many things wrong and recycles/sqaunders several story threads, it is also a very fun episode inspite of itself on a huge scale - only next time we need more restraint and original ideas in the next Doctor Who blow out.

 

[Brendan Moody]

Yeah, I look forward to Moffat's highly original season finales with no non-natural deaths, cool chicks who have an unchronological relationship with the Doctor, and technology that malfunctions with gothic horror consequences.

Seriously, I'm looking forward to a new production team, and I'm not the episode's biggest fan myself, but it's so of a piece with the other finales that I'm not surprised not to have loved it. What's nice is that it maxes out the potential for epic finales (you can't possibly top this in terms of narrative scale), allowing Moffat and Co. to go their own way with series enders.

 

[captcalhoun]

well, this keyboard warrior loved it and wishes other keyboard warriors would rediscover their inner eight year old and stop being such a bunch of whiny fan-boy bitches.

 

[davejames]

well, this keyboard warrior loved it and wishes other keyboard warriors would rediscover their inner eight year old and stop being such a bunch of whiny fan-boy bitches.

What he said.

I agree the alien-invasion-of-Earth thing has been done to death on this show, and the Daleks are becoming about as over-used as the Borg were on VOY, but for me the fun of seeing everybody join together to help the Doctor one last time was what REALLY made that two-parter work.

 

[wamdue]

Journey's Ends is a funny for me, for the reasons I like it, are also the reasons why I think it went to fair.

Prime example "lets bring in almost every former companion in all series history, and then after that some characters who have not even appeared in Doctor Who before"

the plus point being, a 3 way crossover, and the way the 3 shows all blend in to one true Whoverse, on the other hand wow did we really need to see Jackie, Ianto & Mr Smith? Its crazy it does not have the feel of a season finale at it, it has more the feel of a series finale, and in a way it is, the finale of the RTD era Doctor Who, expect it isnt, he & Tennant are doing a few more specials.

& brings me on to David Tennant, Two Doctors yeah that was cool but really why? other than as a parting gift for Rose, (who apparntly has to stay locked in the alt universe where Mickey does not) they could have done the same with the rest of the regeneration energy going into Donna rather than create a whole new Doctor, still I guess they needed to do something with the hand.

German Daleks cool, the Osterogen Key less cool really who gave UNIT the authority to blow up earth?

and the Daleks, the return of Davros brilliant in part 1, less brilliant in part 2 when we find out he is not in charge, and the Daleks are in fact taking orders from a crazy Dalek who is plotting their downfall. Meanwhile they wheel out Dalek Supreme I assume for a new toy, since other than having a bit of an ego we dot learn why he is differnt from the other Daleks, and what he can do.

I have said all of this, you might now think I hated it, but I loved every moment of it, my heart breaking at the tragic end for Donna, and Wilf's goodbye to the Doctor.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

What's nice is that it maxes out the potential for epic finales (you can't possibly top this in terms of narrative scale)

Lets just hope that they didn't read that and take it as a challenge.

I agree. What killed "Journey's End" was that it was way too over the top. (Heck, I think the Jesus-Doctor bit at the end of "Last of the Time Lords" was the beginning of taking it too far.)

I also felt that the new ending they gave to Rose didn't really work. It didn't really add anything further that wasn't already said at the end of "Doomsday." In fact, nothing about Rose's appearances in the "Turn Left"/"The Stolen Earth"/"Journey's End" arc added anything or served any purpose other than just bringing Rose back for the sake of bringing her back. All it does is dilute the very potent tragedy they left us with at the end of "Doomsday."

And because of how turgid the Rose stuff became, it got to the point where I just didn't care anymore by the time we got to the resolution of Donna's story. When Donna lost her memory, I didn't feel sad. I just felt like a bunch of TV writers were trying to jerk my emotions around and were doing a pretty piss-poor job of it.

I did like the super-duper-3-way-crossover! I just love crossovers in general, even in franchises that are unrelated. (I still like to think that MacMacdonald's character in Aliens is the same character he played on Red Dwarf. And when I was in high school, I plotted out a big 7 Days/The X-Files/Stargate SG-1 crossover fanfic.) So I was ticked pink to see not only Captain Jack & Sarah Jane make appearances but also K-9, Gwen, & Ianto. And, as a bonus, references to the late Owen & Tosh. I hope to see further crossovers in the future, although I'd like them to be a bit more concentrated. Here, the massive Dalek storyline as well as the presence of so many other series at once meant that none of the groups got as well developed as they could have been. Luke, Gwen, & Ianto just kinda disappeared for most of "Journey's End." Sarah Jane didn't get to do much except pal around with Mickey & Jackie. Captain Jack was only slightly less underutilized here than he was in "Last of the Time Lords."

 

[wamdue]

yes Ianto & Gwen were almost literally frozen in time for most of Journey's End, if we are going to have the characters are least use them, Luke got forgotten about as well, as soon as Sarah Jane left the attic.

as for K9, there really was only one thing left to throw in, other than K9 and that was Kelsey (from Invasion of the Bane) so im glad it was K9 and not her.

 

[The Wormhole]

Journey's End is actually an okay episode up until they get to the bit of Donna gaining Time Lord abilities, which allows her to mess around with computers to make the Daleks spin out of control until the other Doctor messes with a computer and causes all the Daleks, their ships and the Crucible to self-destruct. This deus ex machina is not only lame, but incredibly retarded. And, really, how stupid is Davros? This could have easily have been avoided by putting Donna in a containment field. He put the Doctor in a containment field. He put Rose in one. And when the other Doctor showed, he put him in one. Why the hell didn't Davros bother putting everyone else in containment fields?

Still, the stupidity of the climax aside, I do enjoy the sequence of the TARDIS towing Earth back to the solar system, and the Doctor's good-bye scene with Wilf is a really nice moment. But yeah, Journey's End is probably my least favourite Doctor Who finale.

 

[Cyke101]

well, this keyboard warrior loved it and wishes other keyboard warriors would rediscover their inner eight year old and stop being such a bunch of whiny fan-boy bitches.

My inner fanboy couldn't handle the whole towing of the Earth through time and space issue (for that matter, my 14 yr old cousin was this close to calling the thing a bunch of BS, until I stopped her and reminded her that she was 14).

Aside from that, it was still a fun episode in the end. Makes no logical sense, but it was pretty full of whimsy. My only other complaint besides the Earth getting towed? The episode needed more Wilf, but you can say that about any Wilf episode anyway.

 

[Cutter John]

well, this keyboard warrior loved it and wishes other keyboard warriors would rediscover their inner eight year old and stop being such a bunch of whiny fan-boy bitches.

This.

No different from the original where we were also asked to swallow a lot.

And its not like we don't already know the Time Lords can move planets around.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

For a show that trades primarily in nonsense, it at least helps if the nonsense doesn't identify itself as "SUPER INTENSE OF EXTREME IMPORTANCE THREATENING THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE" nonsense.

Joss Whedon once made a very good point. He said that audiences are usually sophisticated enough to know that the regular characters (or, for that matter, the world) are not in any real jeopardy because, if our heroes lost, there wouldn't be a show anymore. The trick, then, is to keep the characters in emotional jeopardy because that's something that our heroes can find themselves on the losing side of while still keeping the show on the air.

Ultimately, what made "Doomsday" so powerful was not the massive world conquering stakes of the Cybermen/Dalek invasion. It was the emotional tragedy of Rose getting stranded away from the Doctor. (Although, I have to admit, seeing Daleks & Cybermen fight each other was really cool!)

BTW, I was bummed that "Journey's End" didn't have a good cliffhanger ending leading into the next Christmas special the way that "Doomsday" & "Last of the Time Lords" did.

 

[captcalhoun]

it was originally going to, but it was changed very near the end...

 

[Emissary of the Prophets]

well, this keyboard warrior loved it and wishes other keyboard warriors would rediscover their inner eight year old and stop being such a bunch of whiny fan-boy bitches.

I agree. The only thing I didn't like was that we may never see Wilf again. Bernard Cribbins was amazing.
The music in the final 2 episodes was fantastic too. I just hope Murray Gold stays on for Season 5.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

BTW, I was bummed that "Journey's End" didn't have a good cliffhanger ending leading into the next Christmas special the way that "Doomsday" & "Last of the Time Lords" did.

They filmed it, and then deleted it.

It's a good call. "Journey's End" closes on a downbeat note; the RTD Doctor's story has come full circle, with the era opening with the Doctor, alone dining on ashes, and ending with the Doctor alone, dining on ashes. The series is back where it began in 2005.

In addition, tonally "Journey's End" doesn't match to "The Next Doctor." (If you've seen the first two minutes, you'll know what I mean.) The emotional leap from "Journey's End" to "The Next Doctor" is too great for "The Next Doctor" to be the next story in the line. There needs to be some time for the Doctor to work things out and find a new balance.

 

[DWF]

I thought Journey's End was a fanastic finale it did have a movie like quality about it's production values and I loved how they got so many of the characters together since events did affect all of the them.

 

[HappyDayRiot]

, on the other hand wow did we really need to see... Ianto?

We always need to see Ianto wamdue. Sort your priorities out

 

[wamdue]

, on the other hand wow did we really need to see... Ianto?

We always need to see Ianto wamdue. Sort your priorities out

for what its worth I thought Ianto was the best he has even been in Doctor Who, but did the plot really need him? As I said before everything that is good about Journey's End is also bad about it.

 

[Stevil2001]

In addition, tonally "Journey's End" doesn't match to "The Next Doctor." (If you've seen the first two minutes, you'll know what I mean.) The emotional leap from "Journey's End" to "The Next Doctor" is too great for "The Next Doctor" to be the next story in the line. There needs to be some time for the Doctor to work things out and find a new balance.

Well, from reading the script for "The Next Doctor"'s teaser in The Writer's Tale, the tone was obviously shifted in filming, given as the teaser was filmed when the cliffhanger was still in place. It would have been much more frantic and worried, I'm sure, but they seem to have cut around all that, and the happy music certainly helps, too.

 

[Starkers]

For me, whilst I have a lot of issues with Journey's End (Mainly revolving around the sheer pointlessness of bringing Rose back--not to mention Martha, and the defeat of the Daleks by twiddling a few knobs) the truth is I enjoyed it immensly more than Last of the Timelords so I forgive it some of it's inadequecies.

To be honest it scores major points if only for wilf and the Doctor's last conversation, and the look on Tennant's face at the end.

I have to laugh at the point that we all need to redisocover our inner 8 year old, that's a pretty lame catch all defence for anyone not liking any element of Dr Who, and really holds about as much water as the Sea of Tranquilliy. Daleks Vs Cybermen, fucking cool, Daleks being waltzed to death, not so good.

 

[sidious618]

I liked it. Certainly more than season three's.