The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit

"Tell Rose... awwhhh.. She knows."
*click, then a silent fall into the unknown*

While I watched the episodes on the transmitted dates, I recently had to catch my roomate up to speed on the last two episodes today, and had the expierence of taking in the entire story at one go. Hence my reflections on the entire thing.

I may have to rate this as my favorite story of the new series, and as well, put in my all time faves for all of DW as whole as well. And Im not saying this lightly. Story construction wise, I thought it worked in a way that, was a bit unexpected and thusly succesful; and very fulfilling. Case in point, the first half built up to this great suspenseful.. and then the second half slowed down a bit and was more reflectful in places. And why does this work in an overall context? Well..

You are dealing with Untimate Concepts here. The worst of the worst, the root of all evil. Its a great primise, but how do you pull it off, and it not seem to be impossible to top for all the remaining episodes? You pull back a bit. The story teetered on the edge of The Ultimate Bad, but never fully gave you that. Even explaination-wise, as it was left to to the characters to determin what it was all about, so it was with the viewers. And that is how it should be. If you deal with Ultimate Concepts, then hand you everything.. you walk away later feeling all has been done. The Doctor has worked it all out. And where is there to go after that?

The quiet, haunting, still moments for me, are the key for me, why this worked. Sure explosions and chases and death are all good fun and games in a Ultimate Exciting Adventure.. but its not the meat.

Fot me, the meat of this story was, quiet, and almost unspoken, and abstract. Toby standing in the vaccume. Scooti's body floating. The passing of the Scarlett System. The 'mundane' talk of the Doc and Rose while the hauntingly beautiful black hole is suspended above them. Rose's Refusal to leave the Doctor, even if he's dead. Ida's "I dont want to die alone" bit. And above all.. what may become the single greatest iconic moment for me in the character of the Doctor overall of all series... The Doctor, hanging by a cable above nothingness.. talking to Ida about beliefs and then telling her to "Tell Rose.. awwhh... she knows..." and then silently letting go and falling in to the black nothingness on nothing but faith. Faith in that he hasnt see it all yet.

As I write this, I get chills just thining back to that image.. the Doctor hanging above the unknown.. the dark. And in turn, facing the unknown, the dark. In life, in death, in existance. Awwh, she knows. And that dank and unknown is "why he keeps traveling".

The other characters have it well served as well. When you habd the audience everything, it may all click the first time, but unless there is something left, the mystery, then unknown, then there is nothing to come back to. We are left with glimpses of each character.. but so much is unsaid. The 'running from her father'. The virgin. The unforgiving wife. The unwilling captian. The boy who lied. They are just bits and fragments.

And an interesting unspoken point to Toby 'the virgin' continualy checking his hands for the writing, much as the myth that masterbation leads to hairy palms.. and the checking for hairy palms is the first sign of maddness.. not finding the hair, but the checking. After his first possession, watch him, impulsively looking again and again, like a tounge instinctualy returning to a broken tooth.. If he is the innocent, symbolicly, then why him? Whats his fear and guilt.. that hes a bad person? And he checks, and he checks. It eats into him, quietly in the background. The question he must be facing now, as he did in his life with his 'virginity'.. "Whats wrong with me???"

Doctor Who. Doctor Who? The show is about mystery, the unknown, and the exploration of all that is out there, and in here, and unsanswered. It is the central question, poised by the unwritten exclaimation point in the very title of the show. The "?" itself. And the "?" drives the show, the main character, and the need to explore. The more we learn about the Doctor, the more the "?" becomes deeper.. more doors opened.

And even when the Doctor in the pit, meets the beast, the beast is silent. He cannot talk. We dont get the anticipated answeres.. we get the Doctor, thinking outloud with his throries. He faces the great unknown, and all he can take back with him, or even face, is what he brought with him in his mind. No great relevelation made. The beast is silent.

This story is as a whole, amazing. And its quite moments, its refelctive moments.. that will remain eternal, long after all the chases have been made dull through repetition.

For at the end, we still have the central "?" that drives the characters, the situation, tha show... And our very lives everyday. That is what is eternal. That is what is impossibley old. The "?"

Thank you, Matt Jones and the production team, for not handing us everything. Thank you for the mystery. Thank you for delivering something that will remain.

For all those that loved this story, watch it as I did, back to back. The whole thing in one go. You will see something very epic in its duration. And its the epicness that comes from the unknown.

Of staring into the dark, and having the dark stare back at you. And you facing that. And not with words, or solutions, or answers. Just you and the dark, alone. Just you and the "?".

Like the Doctor, hanging by the cable against the abyss. Then letting go. Which is now for me, the single most iconic, and simple representation of all that is WHO.

The Doctor and the "?". Then falling.