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wintercompanion2012-03-10 06:15 pm
trobadora) wrote in wintercompanion2012-03-10 06:15 pm
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Meta Month of March: Ep Discussion: Boom Town
What do you mean, who the hell am I? Who the hell are you?
So it goes: Through Mickey's eyes we are re-introduced to Team TARDIS. And quite a few things have changed since last we saw them! The Doctor, Rose, and Jack are finishing each other's sentences, Jack is working on the TARDIS all on his own, and they're all relaxed with each other, the wariness from the end of last episode gone.
Into time and space!
It's the only time we get the Doctor/Rose/Jack team on a normal adventure - well, what passes for normal for them! We have their first (The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances) and their last (Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways), and we know there must have been quite a few in between, but this is the only one we get to see. Jack is flirting with the Doctor, and in one scene (How come I never get any of that?) Doctor/Jack is paralleled and contrasted to Rose/Mickey. The Doctor trusts Jack to work on the TARDIS all on his own while everyone else leaves, and even when things go wrong, the Doctor doesn't just take over; Jack and he keep working on it together. Quite a change.
Also, once again (as usual when Jack is involved) there is so much joy and glee and fun around. Until ...
At last you have consequences.
For some reason, this episode doesn't get much love, perhaps because of that shift in tone. But it's one of my favourites - there's something about it that's quintessential Who to me. We get a fun romp - Jack telling tall tales, silly chase sequences, geeking out over the tribophysical waveform macrokinetic extrapolator, Rose learning how to say "Raxacoricofallapatorius" ... and then - you think you are so clever! - then, it all comes to a screeching halt: They have the death penalty. And what was a silly romp turns serious as Team TARDIS has to face the consequences of what they do. For once, there's no running away. No moving on to the next adventure. For once, they have to look the consequences in the face. And there's no easy way out.
Of course because this is Doctor Who and not Torchwood, we do get the TARDIS-ex-machina at the end, so they don't actually have to make that choice in the end: She's an egg! - But in the mean time, we get a very serious examination of what the Doctor's adventures mean for those not travelling along. This is an episode of outside perspectives, Mickey and Blon showing us the parts we don't normally see: friends and enemies, those left behind, the consequences. Brilliant.
What do you think? Here are a few questions for your consideration, in no particular order:
So it goes: Through Mickey's eyes we are re-introduced to Team TARDIS. And quite a few things have changed since last we saw them! The Doctor, Rose, and Jack are finishing each other's sentences, Jack is working on the TARDIS all on his own, and they're all relaxed with each other, the wariness from the end of last episode gone.
Into time and space!
It's the only time we get the Doctor/Rose/Jack team on a normal adventure - well, what passes for normal for them! We have their first (The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances) and their last (Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways), and we know there must have been quite a few in between, but this is the only one we get to see. Jack is flirting with the Doctor, and in one scene (How come I never get any of that?) Doctor/Jack is paralleled and contrasted to Rose/Mickey. The Doctor trusts Jack to work on the TARDIS all on his own while everyone else leaves, and even when things go wrong, the Doctor doesn't just take over; Jack and he keep working on it together. Quite a change.
Also, once again (as usual when Jack is involved) there is so much joy and glee and fun around. Until ...
At last you have consequences.
For some reason, this episode doesn't get much love, perhaps because of that shift in tone. But it's one of my favourites - there's something about it that's quintessential Who to me. We get a fun romp - Jack telling tall tales, silly chase sequences, geeking out over the tribophysical waveform macrokinetic extrapolator, Rose learning how to say "Raxacoricofallapatorius" ... and then - you think you are so clever! - then, it all comes to a screeching halt: They have the death penalty. And what was a silly romp turns serious as Team TARDIS has to face the consequences of what they do. For once, there's no running away. No moving on to the next adventure. For once, they have to look the consequences in the face. And there's no easy way out.
Of course because this is Doctor Who and not Torchwood, we do get the TARDIS-ex-machina at the end, so they don't actually have to make that choice in the end: She's an egg! - But in the mean time, we get a very serious examination of what the Doctor's adventures mean for those not travelling along. This is an episode of outside perspectives, Mickey and Blon showing us the parts we don't normally see: friends and enemies, those left behind, the consequences. Brilliant.
What do you think? Here are a few questions for your consideration, in no particular order:
- How much time has passed since The Doctor Dances? The Team TARDIS dynamics have changed a lot - they're very clearly a team now. But at the same time, Jack has apparently never asked about the broken chameleon circuit before.
- How serious is the flirting? At this point the Doctor is very obviously flirting back; does he mean it? Would it have gone anywhere if they'd travelled together longer, if Bad Wolf hadn't already been looming on the horizon?
- The Doctor gives Jack that weird look when Jack rattles off his plan, but how serious do you think the Doctor really is about being in charge?
- Blon's insights into the Doctor (I bet you're always the first to leave, Doctor.) are every bit as devastating as his insights into her (That's how you slaughter millions.). This shades into the next episodes a bit, but how much of that do you think Jack is aware of?
- And here's something else that's not strictly about this episode, but still: What we didn't know back then was that the Torchwood Three Hub is right under the Plass - and that while Team TARDIS are running all over the city, Jack Harkness is there a second time. What do you think older!Jack is doing that day? Watching his own past? Deliberately not looking? How did he stop Torchwood from interfering with Blon's plans before then? They must have noticed, after all.
no subject
but I do think he's in the neighborhood of "half-in-jest, oh-wait-maybe-some-earnest".
Yes, in the end that's where I fall as well.
You know, to me, that reads almost as much like flirting
That's an excellent point! Clearly it's been too long since I thought about this ep. Because given the way Jack rattles off his plan, he has to be deliberately poking the Doctor, and he must know the reaction he'll get. And the Doctor of course, as you say, plays along.
What I'm less sure about is what happens when Jack really, deeply disagrees, and how far he's willing to push it
Oh, excellent question! I'd love to know this too, and I can't tell either. The thing is, I think its actually essential for Jack's journey that this hasn't happened - the whole Satellite Five abandonment would be a different story if they'd had serious disagreements before. As it is, Jack's still in the "unconditional" phase of the relationship, and the Doctor's yet to be toppled off the pedestal.
I wonder if the two of them (Nine, particularly) don't have to struggle with that a little? The Doctor has the habits of a soldier and doesn't want them, and Jack spent his exile pretending not to be a soldier, which could make falling into a chain of command a sort of comfortable alternative.
Oh, interesting take! *ponders*
If he wouldn't want someone exploring his own details, he wouldn't push the Doctor for his?
That's a great point, I absolutely agree. He thinks he knows enough. But obviously he doesn't, considering Satellite Five ... *pets him*
watches on the CCTV while his team snoozes in the conference room
Hee! I like that idea. :D