"Forest of the Dead"
"Every once in a very long while, every day in a million days, when the wind stands fair and the Doctor comes to call... everybody lives."
- River Song
As promised, here is the abbreviated blog for this episode. For this week only I'll vary for my normal posting format.
OK, right off the bat, wow! Another episode that makes up for some of those earlier misses this season. Although it seemed like the majority of the episode was set up to get us to that wonderful red herring of an ending (the Doctor leaving the diary & screwdriver behind with River lamenting via voiceover), oh WHAT AN ENDING (voiced like David Tennant's outbursts)! So many ideas, themes and philosophical concepts have been packed into this episode (with ideas carried over from part one), that I literally have no idea where to begin. Hmmm. OK, we might as well hit the main one that stood out to me then expand from there.
Existentialism
As the young girl watches her television in the beginning, she mentions to her father that The Library is an actual channel on the TV. He chides her because he has told her multiple times that The Library is only in her mind. She flips through the various channels (all Library related with the appropriate frantic music in the background - nice touch) until she comes across Donna being removed from the back of an ambulance. Dr. Moon, the same therapist that is caring for the girl in her 'world,' visits Donna in her room. Donna has no idea who he is until he reminds her. They proceed to go for a walk outside and Donna is taken aback because she doesn't realize how they ended up out there (the audience is made to initially think is a normal editorial cut rather than the way Donna experiences it). These jumps become commonplace as Donna life continues on. After seven years, a marriage with children, Donna begins to question her own reality when, for an instant, an image of the Doctor accidentally breaking through. Later, we see the girl flipping the stations from The Library/Doctor to the Donna channel. Even later, Donna encounters Miss Evangelista, she she knew (briefly) in the 'real' world who tells her that her existence is only virtual.
I could continue but then that would be a boring recap of Donna's time in the Library's hard drive and I think ya'll get the point. If ya'll don't, then let's continue...
I enjoy the very concept of 'reality,' the sometimes absurdity of it as well as one's personal perception of reality. For example, my reality is completely different from every other person I meet. How I perceive others probably differs from how they perceive themselves and vise versa. So my reality is my own, individual from others. I create impressions of others in my mind after interacting (directly or indirectly) with them in any number of ways (I meet them personally, I read about them, etc etc). Until I have those impressions... until they are on my radar, even for the briefest of time, they do not exist to me. They are not 'real.' Basically, it's the ol' 'tree falls in a forest' question. To put it another way, consider yourself... your head... like a vast open field of vision. Better put, think of yerself as not having a head at all. Your perception of the world around you is done via your senses (eyes, smell, touch, etc). You create things within that perception to become a reality (people walking by, a newspaper on the table, etc). Those same things could interact with you causing you to change your perception and so on. As Marvin the Paranoid Android would say, "Here I am, brain the size of a planet..." I am, I exist, the world is me... or something like that.
Whew, now with that out of the way (ha), lemme explain how I feel this concept fits into this episode.
This episode of Doctor Who goes to extreme measures to have the audience think for themselves, to have them question the reality of each of the characters' situations and to decide for themselves, which reality is actually 'real.' To break it down via some of the characters:
Vashta Nerada: the books are their forest and the people there are the intruders. Besides being in their nature, they see nothing wrong with killing other lifeforms that enter The Library.
Donna: after she is 'saved' and after some gentle guiding by Dr. Moon, she experience what she desires the most. She ends up with a husband (who barely talks back) and children that she loves dearly. This world is hers. When Miss Evangelista shares the 'truth' with her, Donna's universe is shattered, literally. Does Donna really want to go back to her old life when her life inside the hard drive seems so much better? It's an almost Matrix-like experience for her.
Dr. Moon: he is literally a world in himself since he IS the moon. He stabilizes the environment within the hard drive to match his programming (or world view).
Miss Evangelista: very interesting, this one. In the 'real' world, she is considered beautiful but ditzy. According to her, there was some corruption when she was transferred to the hard drive and now has a disfigured face, but is highly intelligent. Maybe this was not an error but rather, what she always desired.
CAL: I will say that CAL is the basic existential archetype: her world is her house and she literally experiences others via changing the channel. So Donna's, the Doctor's and everyone else involved reality, is controlled by this young girl. The Doctor/Donna are watchers - they travel through time to experience other time periods -they watch. But (to quote a
ST:TNG episode title), who watches the watchers?
Doctor/River: Sorry, I won't even begin to tackle these two. Mainly because this is supposed to be an abbreviated blog and if I did, I would be here for many days writing about them (and this blog would never be posted). Help a fella out and please post your views about these characters in the comments section.
One other point I'd like to make concerning this idea is that it's not just the characters in the episode that are affected. We, as the audience, experience the episodes differently. I'm sure I'll be called to task on my views above (or for not posting about the Doctor/River) and I know that one does not need all that info above to enjoy this episode. That's the beauty of this episode: it works on many different levels and no matter what one believes, no matter how one experiences it, the end result is completely unique to that viewer. Much like CAL settles on various channels that please her, we can effectively change the channel on her.
Within the final minutes of the episode, the Doctor/Donna stand within the TARDIS, the interior of which is bigger on the inside than out. They stand there, staring out the entrance, staring into the camera (at us), the Doctor snaps his fingers and the doors to the ship close. The door, this reality of an episode, will soon be over for us. Cut to: River, in the computer, closing her TARDIS shaped diary, like the doors that the Doctor just closed. She kisses her children as they fall asleep in their beds (possibly after reading to them from her diary of her experiences). She leaves their room, but before she does, she gazes at them, then directly into the camera... at the audience...at us... smiles and says "sweet dreams, everyone" then she turns out the lights. The existence is over...
Thus ends my rantings on this theme. Since I went on a bit too long with a boring perception of mine (heh) and since I am running out of time (If I only had more time! Wait a minute! I got all the time I want! I got a time machine!), I'll post some poorly unedited notes (more unedited than my normal blogs - tee hee) that I took during my viewing of the episode. These were points I did wish to make or cover just didn't have time. Maybe these will be of interest (or not, heh). Enjoy my reality... err I mean my notes!
When River essentially blasts open a hole in the wall to escape, did anyone else think to themselves: "Into the garbage chute, flyboy"?
In regards to River's sonic screwdriver and the Doctor's questioning, River states: "I didn't pluck it from your cold dead hands if that's what you are worried about." Hmmmm...
I complained before and will do so again (it's what I do in my reality matrix): but come on Doctor! You've had to encountered someone from your future in your present before! Wake up! Well, I guess he finally did after River whispers his 'real' name into his ear (reality? Existence?). Humorous how he is able to completely push that to the side immediately afterwards and starts his rant about the sonic screwdriver.
Before River whispers into Doctor's ear she says, "And I am sorry. I'm really very sorry," which is a slightly re-worded version of the revival series Doctor's tag line.
First shot of Donna in the hospital, is of a reflection of her in her PJ's, sitting on a bed. Perception? When Donna and her husband read over the mysterious note, the camera is set looking through the window in their house, with a reflection of the robed figure walking past outside. Reminds me of Stanley Kubrick's
Eyes Wide Shut (besides robed figure, was also about watching/watchers/audience).
Looking up through the opening in the ceiling/roof and Moon (Dr Moon) and sky - perception/existence.
Trees still used for paper production in the 51st century?
Enjoyed the twist at the end... setting the audience up to think that was over by leaving the diary and sonic screwdriver there, but like in the episodes "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances," nobody dies... although, is a digital existence inside a computer's hard drive what the people who were eaten by the creatures the existence that they longed for?
Who is real and who is not? Or rather, what is real or not? Donna's children question their own existence, even though they are computer generated. How terrifying it must had been for her and for them. Reminds me of those ST:TNG episodes with the holodeck characters becoming sentient.
For a slightly different take on this from CAL (young girl's) POV (especially when she freaks at Miss Evangelista sharing the truth with Donna):
Urashima Taro
Miss Evangelista's name? Any reference to
Neon Genesis Evangelion?
Wait... someone had a chicken leg on his person, in his environmental suit's pocket? Wrapped in tin foil? Besides wondering why in 51st century, people are still using tin foil to wrap their food, let alone a chicken leg (they did have them in the previous episode as well), isn't this kind of absurd? Hmmm. See the link above about Existentialism.
Funny quote:
Donna: "This isn't the real me? This isn't my real body? But I've been dieting!"
Crazy notes, huh? Please feel free to expand upon, shoot down and/or offer new insights into this episode via your comments! I'd really like to read your views and opinions on this episode. One thing I forgot to mention above, is that if DW wasn't using a season long story arc, this episode, especially this ending, would be the perfect season finale for this season. OK, until next time, take care!
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