Forest of the Dead

[meddow]

EVERYBODY LIVES! Even Donna’s nonexistent kids.

(Crap, if season one is any indicator this means someone really is going to die in the season finale).

I loved loved loved the ending. So hopeful and yet so very bittersweet. I came to really care for River’s team. Moffat did such a good job of bringing them to life I was sad for every single death. They were all good people, even whathisname the library owner. And they lived!

I did find myself eying the bookcase I was sitting next too while watching the episode a few times. Although I still found this episode not as scary as previous Moffat episodes. I think it was because I’ve gotten over my fear of the dark, whereas I never had a fear of statutes, clock or little boys crying for their mummy. And books being evil – I spent half my life in a library the past few years. Still, I’m not complaining. It’s quite nice I don’t have a new thing to fear and the episode was brilliant.

The library special effects, I didn’t mention last week were beautiful.

River gets 25,000 awesome points for punching the Doctor in the face when he’s on a suicide mission and then cuffing him. I was unsure about her last week, I do very much like her this week. Alex Kingston was fantabulous.

Although I was a bit bothered by the fact she knew his name. Mainly because it messes with a much loved piece of fanon of mine. I decided a few weeks ago that the Doctor gave up his name when he lost his original family, and then later used it to stitch up the Medusa Cascade, and if it is ever uttered, the Cascade will collapse.

I also did not particularly like the very domestic ending for River. But I’m just going to fanwank it and say the lot of them are having cool adventures in the computer and the whole village are raising the kids at CAL’s request (it was just River’s turn to tuck them in).

I really like Doctor Moon. And Colin Salmon has such a brilliant voice. He can tell me my world is a lie all day. The little girl was also very good.

David Tennant was amazing. That scene with the shock of hearing his name (he looked like he was going to faint). Just the bit where he was sitting there after River’s sacrifice, cuffed and defeated.

I would have really loved to see the bit just after, where Donna in morning for the family she lost/will never have quietly finds the devastated Doctor and uncuffs him.

And Donna. Oh, Donna. And Catherine Tate brought it (then, she always does). I was put off a bit initially of the choppiness of Donna’s storyline, then I realised it’s supposed to be that way. Lee was so very sweet. And her dressed to the nines to go fishing – Donna is the least subtle flirter ever.

I take back everything I said last week about sidelining Donna because again this season (well, since TRB it’s been happening) we had the mirroring of the Doctor and Donna. This was her Human Nature/Family of Blood. One of the things I love about those two so much is that both the Doctor and Donna seem to both long for the same thing, each wants someone to love and grow old with, and neither seems capable of attaining it. The Doctor’s got the whole ‘being the Doctor’ thing stopping him. Donna’s just got bad luck.

(I do believe that if the Ten were a single thirty-something human, he would be very much dragging the first decent and remotely interested woman he finds down the aisle).

And then this episode they pretty much had the same thing happen. She lost her husband and he lost his lover/girlfriend/partner/wife (really, I don’t think we can classify River). But she lost Lee because of cruel chance, whereas the Doctor lost River as some sort of grand design.

Oh, and the ‘alright’ talk.

And the final bit, the Doctor, Donna and the TARDIS – all together. OMG I love them so much. But that for me was bittersweet as well because really, this is the last time we’ll see them like that. Next week’s the Donna-lite, followed by the Doctor-lite followed by Companionpalloza 08.

Besides my silly little fanon thing, I adored it completely. Bring on Series Five