Welcome to Episode 3 of my Retrospective Review series. This is one of my favorites of the first season and so it will be a little lighter on the hard-hitting psychological analysis and a little heavier on the "awwwwwwwwws." Also be prepared for my pet theory on a certain type of apocalypse. Just to be fun, we're going to be going a little out of order from the last two editions.
Where We Are
Now that Rose has seen the end of the world and pretty close to the end of time itself, the Doctor takes her to a slightly more familiar stomping ground. 1860, he claims. 1869, as it turns out, but when you've just come from the year 5 Billion, what are nine years? I have a three-episode rule for watching TV shows and, as I probably explained in an article you read before, my first three Doctor Who episodes were not "Rose," "The End of the World" and "The Unquiet Dead." They were "Blink," "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances." Either way, the reason that I mention my three-episode rule is my reason for imposing that rule. When I was a child, my mother made all sorts of wonderful foods. She knew how to make a killer meatloaf, grill salmon, flip some Swedish pancakes for my birthday, etc. On the other hand, she insisted on making side dishes that I loathed. I still can't stand asparagus or broccoli and I hate beets. Her rule was that I could get out of eating the side dish as long as I gave it an honest try. That 'try' consisted of three heaping spoonfuls or forkfuls of whatever I didn't want to eat. If I put up with those three bites and didn't like it, there were no hard feelings. I apply that rule to TV shows. It's why I've never gotten into Battlestar Galactica or Commander in Chief. I decided after watching three episodes that I just really didn't need to see where the rest of the series went. Next up is My Little Pony. Since we are on the third episode of the new series, this would have been the make-it-or-break-it episode. Let's see how it measures up.