Haven't been in this thread for a while, mostly because I've been behind on my Who watching and didn't want to read any spoilers!
Anyway, I've quite enjoyed the last few episodes - they have been fun and not frustrating for me, which is a good thing.
The Sontaran 2-parter was great and I quite enjoyed last week's episode with the Doctor's Daughter. There have definitely been themes of cloning and creation/destruction in the series so far, so I wonder how that will play into the culmination of the season. In general, the finale always seems to revisit material from earlier in the season: Season 1, "Dalek" midway through the season, then their return in the finale; Season 2, the Cybermen, and then their return in the finale; Season 3, the Doctor becoming human and hiding through a device which then resurfaces with the Master's return in the finale; Season 4 - ??? I guess we'll see - perhaps it's the Doctor's Daughter.
As for the episode itself, the only issue I had with The Doctor's Daughter was the whole 7-day war thing. This premise only works if every solider is killed every day, and almost simultaneously, at that. Otherwise, even if one of the original solders had lived more than a day, he would quickly correct any "new" soldiers that the war hasn't lasted a generation, it's lasted a day.
Same goes for any soldier in fact, you would think word would spread, or that if a group of them was held up in a location for a couple days the myth would be exposed. No matter....
I also liked the end when the Doctor's daughter "regenerates". Was it a true regeneration? Nope, because her physical appearance didn't change. Also, the energy that escaped from her mouth was not the energy of the Time Vortex we have seen from the Doctor and the Master previously, rather the energy from the terraforming sphere. Which means, was this a true regeneration, or a one-time thing, akin to Spock being reborn on the Genesis planet, and Jenny will not be able to regenerate again, or is she in fact more "Time Lord" than that? If she were though, wouldn't the Doctor be able to detect her presence, as he has been able to with other Time Lords including the Master once he resurfaced?
Regardless, definitely sets things up nicely for a return in the future. The only question is, will it be long term (i.e. a year or two down the road) or short term (i.e. later this season)? We still do not know what transpires in the last 2-3 episodes of the season and whether Jenny will have a part to play in that. I believe the title of one of the last episodes hasn't even been publicly released yet, as it would reveal too much about the episode!
A paradox brought the Doctor to that location because of his daughter who hadn't even been "born" yet, which is why he had to go there.
So, along those lines, could another paradox occur whereby Jenny, created from the last Time Lord, is responsible for the rebirth of the Time Lord race from the Time War? Could she go back in time and fix things (albeit she presumably does not have time travel capability in her space craft) or even more extreme, become the mother of all Time Lords, hence a new paradox of the Doctor (the last of the Time Lords) being ultimately responsible for the creation of his own race?
I doubt the above will be the case, but it's always fun to speculate.
Then of course we also have to see how Rose figures into things...
Haven't watched this week's episode yet but will probably do so today.
