I don't usually download the episodes, but I made an exception for the last two of this series because of all the spoilers now flying around freely post-UK-broadcast, so here's what I thought of "Journey's End".
Originally Posted by Ross Hendrie
Also, let it be known that "Journey's End" was the biggest flop in TV history.
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Perhaps creatively, but 9+ million viewers - the Beeb's saying, "Meh, we'll take it."
Although it didn't quite live up to what we got with "The Stolen Earth" (great cliffhanger, but you just knew that hand would come into play at some point after the close-up earlier in that episode), I thought "Journey's End" was fun. Not great, but fun. Lacking in the areas everyone else here has already discussed in greater, more explicit detail, but hey, it's an RTD Season Finale, those almost always lack substance and logic, big time. (See below.)
I suspect that it may have been painful for some to see the Daleks rendered utterly harmless, but this has, in fact, been done before (may I recommend part two of the Jon Pertwee installment "Deth to the Daleks"). That they were defeated virtually single-handed by Ms. Bovvered (who was actually fun to watch through all that - female Doctor, anyone?) may indeed inflict even more despair on Dalek Lovers everywhere, not to mention seeing them getting pushed around by Rose and Sarah-Jane - although something like that has also happened in the past (Pat Troughton's "Evil of the Daleks", the cliffhanger to Part Five - "Trains...trains...trains...").
So, "Journey's End" - far from perfect. Total pantomine in a lot of places. Not the best of the series, obviously. Not even close when a brand new -4/10 rating is specially introduced here for it. But hey, it's RTD's last Season Finale (yay), so it will likely start going uphill from here, now that Little Mr. Moffat's starting to gain control of the remote. "Journey's End" - something of a mess. But boy was it fun.
Past RTD Season Finales:
"Parting of the Ways" was great, but I can't help but think that the whole "Bad Wolf" thing is still largely unresolved. And I'm guessing that Danny could probably indicate at least ten problems with "Last of the Time Lords" and a hundred for "Journey's End". "Doomsday" might be more of a challenge, since it actually got a few things right - 1) Daleks vs. Cybermen - tell me the fans haven't dreamed of that for decades, and 2) a suitable, dramatic send-off for Rose, the emotional impact of which many felt might be badly diluted by her return this season - and it was. Nothing against Billie, she's fantastic, but Danny's always maintained that writing the character out in "Doomsday" would have been better off remaining as canon.
Still, nice to see a happy ending. I'm a hapless sucker for those.
