I had to skip "The Long Game." It's been over a month since my last Doctor Who episode, precisely because I don't care for that episode. It sets up the season 1 finale quite nicely, but on a rewatch, I simply don't care.
On to "Father's Day"! If "Dalek" was the first time I was impressed by the show, "Father's Day" was the first time I was emotionally touched by the story. Even now, a second time...tears streaming down my face. THIS is was time-travel storying was made for.
Rose grew up with a dead father. As the Doctor points out, she wasn't interested in traveling through space with him until he mentioned the TARDIS also travels through time. You have to wonder how long she's been working up to ask the Doctor to go back in time to her father's death day.
Everything about that scene is perfect. All Rose wants is to hold her father's hand while he dies, to comfort him in his last moments. But she watches the car hit him, and she can't do it. She runs away. That rings very true to me. Then we get a glimpse of the Doctor's affection for her, allowing her a second chance, even though it means risking upsetting the time balance.
Which it of course does, when Rose runs out to push her father out of the car's path, altering history. Long story short, time disruption monsters are now terrorizing everyone because of her choice. A bunch of people hole up in a church (where her parents were attending a friend's wedding), and the day must be saved.
What makes this episode so fantastic is Rose. This is definitely the moment I fell in love with her. Before this, I was all about the Doctor. In "Dalek" Rose intrigued me. In "Father's Day" she stole my heart. Her crying! My word, can Billie Piper cry.
The Tyler family is one of the greatest fictional families of all time. Rose was raised to believe that Pete was a clever man, and that her mother Jackie loved him dearly. Then she goes back in time and watches them fight, flinging accusations of adultery and uselessness.
The thing is, though, despite his awful business sense, Pete is a clever man. He works out that Rose is his daughter from the future extraordinarily quickly. And he also works out that the only way to set the universe straight is to let himself be killed, as he was meant to be.
The scenes between Pete and Rose are the tear-jerkers. Rose tries to paint a picture of the future for her dad, assuring him that he always read her stories before bed and took her on picnics on Saturdays. It is Pete's knowledge that he would not be such a great father that 1) tips him off that he's meant to be dead, and 2) gives him the strength to be killed. Words cannot describe how much I love this! I love broken, failed characters. I love even more when self-awareness of their brokenness is what inspires an act of great compassion and heroism.
In the end, Rose does what she initially set out to do: she holds her father as he dies, comforting him in his last moments. He got to see what a wonder his daughter would grow up to be; she got to hang out with her dad and watch him live up to everything she always imagined he would be.
TEARS. Down my face.
+ OTHER THINGS I LIKED +
+ The focus is not on the Doctor, but there's some good development with him too. His affection for Rose is obviously deepening. He never corrects anyone who calls them a couple. He is furious at her for saving her father and disrupting time, but all it takes is one apology before he grins and envelops her in a big hug. He works out that Pete has to die, but instead of telling anyone, he offers himself up to the monsters to give them time.
That is huge! The Doctor dies! Just because he knows telling the truth would make Rose sad. I think he loves her.
+Jackie Tyler is always good for a laugh. Her immediate reaction to Pete telling her that Rose is his daughter is to assume he was 12 when he had her, and does he have a bunch of daughters, all named Rose!? What kind of a sicko did she marry!?
+The Doctor's eyeroll and runaway after Jackie's paranoid rant.
+The Doctor tries to imprint Baby Rose with some obedience. "Good girl. Yes, you are. You're not gonna bring about the end of the world now are you?"
+The Doctor's fantastic speech to the couple who would have gotten married. They say they know they aren't important, but could he save them anyway? He responds, "Who said you're not important? I've travelled to all sorts of places, done things you can't even imagine. But... you two... street corner, two in the morning. Getting a taxi home. I never had a life like that. Yes, I'll try to save you." More tears.
+Rose is a great compilation of her parents. She's sassy like Jackie, willing to fight tooth and nail for her family. But she's also clever like Pete, quick to believe in fantastical possibilities. Pete jumps into a life-threatening situation in order to save the one he loves, and Rose, in just a couple episodes, will do the same.
+Baby Mickey, running up to hug adult Rose. HAHAHA. "I think he imprinted on me like a baby duck." At least that explains their ridiculous relationship.
+The music.
- OTHER THINGS I DID NOT LIKE -
-Um, nothing? I mean, I hate that the Doctor and Rose get so violently at each other's throats, but also I love it. Ditto with Jackie and Pete. Their relationship problems makes the story all the more poignant.
One of my favorite episodes of the whole dang series.
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