End of Time

The New Year's Day Doctor Who special "End of Time, part 2" was the last episode for David Tennant, the tenth Doctor.  The episode had lots of good parts but also some let downs.  ***Spoilers below***

The Doctor falling through the skylight for example.  As a rule, if you want to rush in and stop someone from doing something horrible, don't hurt yourself in the process.  The Doctor crashed down through the skylight, and then he was on the floor with broken glass around him, needing a minute to recover before he did anything.  It was a cool shot, yes, but not a practical thing for the Doctor to do.  He's usually smarter than that.

The second letdown for me was Donna.  The Doctor has repeatedly said that she must never remember him or any of her adventures in the TARDIS or else she'll die.  When Donna does remember, all that happens is an energy wave comes out of her head and knocks out the copies of the Master.  She falls asleep and later wakes up with no memory of what happened.  I didn't want Donna to die, but it would have been fitting if her death in some way helped the Doctor stop the Master or the return of the Timelords.  Being the Doctor's best friend, she deserved more than what she got in the episode.

Those were the major letdowns for me, and also the dragging out of Ten's death.  But onto the things I really liked.

The moments between the Doctor and Wilfred were wonderful, especially the conversation about the gun.  The Doctor knew what was at stake if he didn't stop the Master, and yet he refused to take the gun.  The change in his decision is incredible when he realizes the Timelords are returning.  When the Doctor picks up a gun, you know something terrible is happening.

I like that the Master saved the Doctor.  I thought the Master would have let the Timelords do what they wanted, but then he stands up, completely composed, and asks the Doctor to move out of the way. 

The Doctor sacrificed himself to save Wilfred and that's nice and all, but I think there should have been a more significant way for Ten to die after everything he's been through.  In "The Next Doctor," he mentions that he hopes he doesn't die by tripping over a brick.  Ten's death was almost as unnecessary.  Death by inconvenient radiation chamber.  I liked that the Doctor visited his friends before he regenerated, but that also dragged out his death.  I was ready to see Ten die, so seemingly killing him in the radiation chamber only to have him walk around for another twenty minutes was terrible.  I realized how creepy it is to watch the Doctor not speak.  He didn't speak to Martha, Mickey, Sarah Jayne, or Jack.  Those brief scenes reminded me of the end of "The Family of Blood" when the Doctor is dealing out punishments in silence.

All in all, I thought "End of Time" was a decent send off for David Tennant, but I think it could have been better.  We saw only a few moments of Matt Smith, but I'm excited for the spring.

(And who was that woman?  The Doctor's mother?  His wife?  His daughter?  I wish we found out.)