Doctor Who Finale Part 3 Recap: “Journey’s End”

Jack grabs Mickey in a fierce bear hug, although after a moment, Mickey says, “that’s enough hugging.” Which is a dumb move if he has any hopes of getting hired by Torchwood. As Ianto well knows, it doesn’t hurt to put out a bit first.

Jack somehow manages to restrain himself from similarly humping Sarah Jane, instead offering her a courteous greeting. As far as taking action, Sarah Jane, fortunately, has something up her sleeve. She holds up a necklace with a jewel on it and says it was given to her by a Veron Soothsayer to be used “for the end of days.” Jack correctly identifies it as a “Warp Star.” Or, as he clarifies for Mickey, “an explosion waiting to happen.”

Uta Hagen Station One. Martha contacts two other Uta Hagen stations, which is enough to proceed with the dreaded key. But before they do, Martha says she has one more thing she wants to try, something that “the Doctor would do.” I take that to mean she’s going to try to seduce some hottie half her age with promises of “come back to my place and I’ll show you the wonders of the universe.”

Meanwhile, aboard the TARDIS, Doc Two is tinkering around and offers Donna a totally byzantine explanation of what he’s doing. The gist of it, I think, is that he’s developed a device to refocus the next Reality Bomb transmission on Davros’ genes. Since the new Daleks are made from Davros’ cells, they each contain some of his genetic code. So, in effect, the transmission will then destroy all the Daleks. Got it?

Inside the Vault, Martha’s image appears on Dalek-vision. She tells Davros that unless the Daleks leave Earth alone, she’ll use the Uta Hagen key. Which, we finally learn, will activate a bunch of nuclear warheads and destroy the planet. The Doctor is horrified at this, wondering if she’s gone insane. She explains it was developed for use in cases where human suffering would be so great that nuclear destruction is a favorable final solution.

Martha warns the Daleks that using the key would mean they’d have one less stolen planet for whatever energy they need. She wonders if they’re willing to risk that.

Rose, for one, is impressed by this move. When Martha asks her to identify herself and then hears who it is, she says, “My God! He found you!” And no doubt thinks to herself, “Crap. There go my chances.”

Just then, a second transmission shows up on Dalek-vision. It’s Jack, who proudly shows off the Warp Star and announces his plan to blow up the Crucible unless they release the Doctor.

But Davros is distracted by the sight of Sarah Jane on screen, remembering her face from long ago. From the sound of it, he’s been carrying something of a torch for her all this time. I’m wondering if they can work out some sort of Indecent Proposal-like arrangement — total surrender in exchange for one night with Sarah Jane. True, she’s no Demi Moore. But it’s not like Davros is getting much other action, what with being so focused on evil. And so utterly hideous.