This is an episode that it's going to take me a long time to sort out my feelings about.
And I suspect the only way I'll be able to do so is by carving it up into bite-sized chunks.
So, to that end, I'll start with one of the things I loved about this episode, which was seeing several ships that had already become fanon (and even a few that hadn't) become canon.
Ships that have already sailed:- The Doctor/Rose Tyler. For as much as Rose went from a companion whom I liked to one whom I no longer like, this one has to be mentioned, because it's not even subtle enough to be considered subtext any longer. But I'm willing to live with this, because equal weight was given within the story to another ship, which was less overtly romantic, but no less loving ...
- The Doctor/Donna Noble. Anyone who thinks these two haven't been fucking behind closed doors at every available opportunity wasn't watching the previous 12 episodes, and anyone who didn't see the heartbreak of two lovers in their final scenes is willfully fucking blind. David Tennant and Catherine Tate had the best chemistry of any Doctor/companion couple in NuWho history, and losing Donna visibly wounded the Doctor at least as much as losing Rose did.
- Mickey Smith/Jackie Tyler. "I'm gonna miss you," Mickey confides in Jackie, "more than anyone." All those team-ups between them, since the first season of NuWho, with all those lingering glances and affectionate touches ... Rose abandoned them both, so they turned to each other for comfort in their loneliness, and found something much more than friendship.
- Mickey Smith/Captain Jack Harkness. Oh, come on. The nicknames? "Mickey Mouse" and "Captain Cheesecake"? Followed by the hugging? We already know that both Jack and Mickey are bisexual (Y HALO THAR RICKY AND JAKE FROM PETE'S WORLD), so between that and their long-time canon fondness for one another ... well, like the fandom joke goes, it's Jack, so they almost don't need any more reasons than that.
Ships ready to set sail:- Sarah Jane Smith/Captain Jack Harkness. She is the only woman in the Whoniverse capable of reducing him to a nervously worshipful fanboy. No, wait, let me repeat that; in all of the NuWhoniverse, he is The Undisputed Heavyweight Champion Of Dionysian Pansexuality, and yet, even he is as powerless as any mere mortal against her irresistible charms, because she is The Eternal Queen MILF Goddess Of All Things Who, Both Old And New. I predict Mr. Smith's fanfare might be playing extra loudly in upcoming episodes of The Sarah Jane Adventures, so that Sarah Jane's neighbors won't hear her screeching with more shrill volume than an attacking Dalek, as Jack bangs the headboard of her bed against the wall so hard that it nearly shatters the barriers between universes all over again ...
- Martha Jones/Captain Jack Harkness/Mickey Smith. Mickey/Jack is all but canon, and the only thing stopping Martha/Jack from being made canon was her protective "Who bubble," that surrounded her like a child-safety forcefield, during her three episodes guest-starring on Torchwood. Between Martha/Jack/Mickey and Gwen/Jack/Ianto, Jack will actually be juggling TWO OT3s going into the next season of Torchwood, but if anyone is up to that challenge, it's HIM.
Ships stalled in the harbor:- Martha Jones/Rose Tyler. "She's good," Rose grins at the Doctor, as Martha stares down Davros. If only they'd had more time together, these two would have ended the fandom's shipwar over them by building a sturdy ship of their own.
- Donna Noble/Captain Jack Harkness. WTF JACK??? You'll stick it in anyone and anything with a hole and a pulse, regardless of gender or even species, and yet, Donna has to ask you TWICE for a hug? Was that the moment in the story when you temporarily got your brain swapped with the mind of a fratboy who wears "NO FAT CHICKS" T-shirts? As Harriet Jones would have said, CAPTAIN JACK HARKNESS, SHAME ON YOU! NOW STAND TO ATTENTION, SIR, AND GIVE THAT GINGER COUGAR BBW THE RAILING OF HER LIFE (okay, so maybe Harriet wouldn't have said that last part).
- Sarah Jane Smith/Davros. "Impossible ... that face ... after all these years," Davros breathes rapturously, as he gazes adoringly at Sarah Jane. "Oh, this is meant to be ..." OMFG HE ACTUALLY REMEMBERS HER, even after literally thousands of years have passed since they last met, in his own personal timeline. THE DOCTOR IS THE ONLY OTHER ONE HE'S EVER REMEMBERED FROM REPEAT ENCOUNTERS. DAVROS SO TOTALLY WANTS TO GIVE SARAH JANE A LONG, HARD COWGIRL RIDE ON HIS DALEK PLUNGER, if you know what I mean and I think you do. I mean, I obviously don't see her returning his interest, but still ...
The real tragedy of this finale is that, for all of its techno-babble and deus ex machinas and other pathological Russell T. Davies-isms, its first 50 minutes actually hold up, not as a great episode, but as a very good one (definitely better than "Last of the Time Lords"), precisely because of its focus on these relationships, and the delightful dynamic of so many companions interacting and contributing equally (seeing the full NuWho lineup of Team TARDIS piloting it through time and space was a moment unmatched by almost any in the original series, and I'm saying that as an old-school Whovian). Right up until its last 15 minutes, "Journey's End" was, in so many wonderful ways, what something like "The Five Doctors" (which I nonetheless still enjoy) tried and failed to be.
And then, Davies had to ruin Rose and Donna at the end, but that's another essay altogether ...
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