"The Waters of Mars" is a Doctor Who special precluding the final two-part special to air later this year (Christmas for the first part, the other part's release is unknown). This special actually hasn't aired in the US yet. It will on Dec. 19 on BBC America. I watched it on Youtube, a sight I dearly love :). So here's what I thought.
Wow. Such a creepy and haunting episode. I loved it! The monsters were terribly frightening. The line "water always wins" remains in my mind the way "don't blink" did after watching the episode "Blink." A good monster is one that is not only physically scary but also ideologically scary - the idea that a virus can consume you with just one drop of water is awesomely terrible. But perhaps more frightening was the monster of sorts the Doctor became at the end of the episode. Finally driven mad by all the people he's lost, he decides to save people who should have died and flirts with possibly changing the entire course of the human race. He breaks his rules and interferes with what could be a fixed event in time. He has more power than any person should have - being able to determine who lives and who dies, who is important and who isn't. As he states at the end, he has gone too far. We see a darker side of the Doctor, the side that is always lurking inside him that he refuses to acknowledge or maybe has worked so hard to overcome. Sometimes, in earlier episodes, the Doctor is referred to as 'the darkness' or that he has the darkness inside him. I think we saw a bit of that this time around. I think the Doctor is also afraid of the power he holds. He knows it's too much for one person. It really was an awesome portrayal of an inner battle - the battle of ethics he always faces. Should he get involved, and if he does, does he make it worse by saving them or letting them die? Who can he save? What determines the importance of a human life?
That was one thing that made me really love Adelaide. She understood that the most important thing is a human life, any human life. The Doctor used to know that, but he seemed to forget. Adelaide was a powerful heroine as she brought the Doctor back to his senses near the end, showing that he can't do everything and shouldn't do everything. He is, in fact, not as all powerful as he thinks he is. He should not be allowed to get away with so much power unless he can control it and stick to his rules. Adelaide understands the importance of the rules.
I can't wait to see the next episodes and find out what the next Doctor is like. Will he be darker in spirit than Ten? Will he still be mourning the loss of all those he loves? Or will he be back to his usual, full-of-life self? I think he will always be mourning those he loves, but I hope that he returns to being the happy person he was before. I think that's why I love Rose so much - she seemed to heal him after the Time War. She helped him find mercy when much of what he felt was vengeance. I think his next companion will have to be that healing force in his life, this time healing him after the war within himself.
I only saw half an episode, but I think I could get into it. Dunno...
ReplyDelete