Friday, July 5, 2013

Doctor Who: 2x03 "School Reunion"

DOCTOR WHO REWATCH: SERIES TWO, EPISODE THREE: “SCHOOL REUNION”

Mickey Smith is back, and he’s not the only Smith this time around.

Doctor Who: 1x03: “School Reunion” Written by Toby Whithouse

The Summary:
Rose and the Doctor are back in modern England posing as staff in a school.  A UFO crashed nearby and now the students have unprecedented test scores, so Mickey’s asked them to investigate.  The Headmaster is super creepy, as is most of the staff, and the Doctor, posing as physics teacher John Smith, finds that the kids are kind of creepy as well with an impossible understanding of physics despite his age.  Rose is working as a dinner lady and has become addicted to the school chips, for which special oil is being used.  Sarah Jane Smith comes to write a puff piece about the new Headmaster, but is actually there to investigate as well.  The kids are overwhelmingly overexcited about their classes, with the exception of Kenny whose dietary restrictions prevent him from eating chips.  At night, the Doctor, Rose, and Mickey break into the school, and Sarah Jane had the same idea, but stumbles upon the TARDIS.  She and the Doctor have a lovely reunion, but Rose is not pleased to learn she is not the first.  The group head to the Headmaster’s office to discover giant bats sleeping on the ceiling.  The Doctor and K-9, who Sarah Jane has kept, figure out that the oil is Krilitane oil so the aliens must be Krillitanes have taken over the school for some nefarious purpose that requires super intelligent human children.  Rose and Sarah Jane initially snipe at each other but realize they’re being ridiculous fighting over the Doctor and they swap stories of how ridiculous he is.  Th next morning in school, the Krilitanes accelerate (possibly) their plans due to the presence of the Doctor and apparently they are using the children’s creativity and imagination to crack the Skasis Paradigm, which will allow them to become god-like.  Kenny attempts to escape, but the doors are sealed, so Mickey and K-9 crash the car through the outside doors.  The three join the Doctor, Rose, and Sarah Jane, and get the students out by triggering the alarm, which also hurts the bat-like Krillitanes, and unplugging the computers.  K-9 sacrifices himself to get everyone out of the school before blowing it up.  Mickey finally asks to be included in the time-traveling and the Doctor consents.  Rose and Sarah Jane have a nice moment of companion solidarity, and the Doctor says good-bye (something he didn’t do the last time) and gives Sarah Jane a rebuilt model of K-9.  This is the second instance of foreshadowing Rose’s departure.

The Women:
Rose Tyler, Sara Jane Smith, Melissa, Nina (dead)

The Conversations:
1. Rose and Sarah Jane:  Initially the two are jealous of each other, trying to one up each other’s experiences with the Doctor, but they realize they’re too awesome to fight over a guy.  The rating: 0

2. Rose and Sarah Jane:  Rose asks Sarah Jane for her advice since she’s afraid the Doctor will just abandon her like he did with Sarah.  The rating: 0

The Woman to Woman Quote of the Episode:
“THE LOCH NESS MONSTER!”
“Seriously?”
- Sarah Jane Smith and Rose Tyler

I love this switch from competitive sniping to just marveling in how great their lives are as kick-ass time-traveling ladies who don’t need to fight over their experiences to know they’re special.

The Tally:
Episode 2x03 Total: 0
Series 2 Total: 2.5
10th Doctor Total: 2.5
Rose as Companion Total: 19.0
Russell T Davis Era Total: 19.0


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