As with most of Davies' two parters, the conclusion to "Bad Wolf" is where this stability and thickness of this plotline started to run desperately thin.
With the cliffhanger in the previous episode, we are left with Rose being captured by a presumed-to-be-extinct Dalek task force and the Doctor vowing to rescue her via a visual communication link between Satellite 5 and the lead Dalek ship.
Unfortunately, Davies had other agendas with this 45 minute conclusion besides the Doctor, Jack, and Lynda rescuing Rose from the Dalek ship cleverly and then the Doctor devising a clever way of overcoming the Dalek threat. In fact, if you invision what I have just described (the traditional Dalek VS. Doctor) format as a deck of neatly stacked playing cards, then Davies more or less did to that stack of cards what Eccleston did to a stack of cards in "Rose" while visiting Rose's flat. In short, the episode became a mess.
The rescue of Rose was over within the first ten to fifteen minutes of the episode, which in my opinion was a bit lazy - the Doctor simply hopped in the TARDIS, accurately materialized around Rose so that she was engulfed by it and after chatting with a Dalek, returns to Satellite 5. Mind you, no better way to protect her from a barrage of Dalek fire, but it seemed a bit easy. After all, the Doctor has consistently pointed out that "short hops" within a particular time are often difficult to pull off - but in the interests of getting the rescue plotline wrapped up quickly so that the episode can focus on more domestic drama, it conveinently works this time. Thus, Davies' first plothole for this episode opens wide - on Satellite 5 are a number of 21st century looking humans, Jack, Lynda, the floor 500 staff, the Doctor, Rose, and ofcourse the TARDIS. The Daleks have already surmised that the Doctor is likely preparing to build a weapon capable of destroying the approaching Dalek fleet. However, the Daleks (with their thousands of ships filled with thousands of CGI Daleks) avoid blasting Satellite 5 out of existence, and instead send a small ground assault force to occupy the station, while the majority of them make way for Earth below.
Next, we the viewers work out relatively the same time the Doctor does that in order to stop the Dalek invasion, this will pretty much be a one-way ticket. A moment of traditional Doctor Who arrives when the Doctor confidently tricks Rose into taking refuge in his TARDIS again, where he then activates the TARDIS to take Rose home, leaving himself and Jack stranded on Satellite 5 in the year 100, 100.
From here, the episodes shifts more to Rose as it did with the first episode. We are expected to feel sorry for her, because now she's been forced back into a normal lifestyle. The Doctor leaves a touching holographic message for her in the TARDIS, and for the sake of romantics having a moment of "awwwwww," somehow the Doctor's hologram is able to turn and look Rose in the eye. We have to sit through yet another domestic drama scene was Jackie and Mickey attempt to console Rose in a cafe. The screen is filled with scenes of a pouty Rose, with her paying no mind to the constant insults she inadvertently dishes out to Mickey. The scene ends with Rose storming out of the cafe.
Moments later, Mickey catches up to her, and suddenly we realize that she is surrounded by references to "Bad Wolf." Unlike classic Who companions who often made their attempts at flying the TARDIS by flicking randomly selected switches and levers on the console, Rose prefers telepathic communication with the TARDIS itself, and opens communication channels by yanking the console open via a tow truck. Let's not include that bit when we explain to the Doctor how we flew his TARDIS, ok?
Meanwhile in the distant future, the last few standing defensive fall to the blast of a Dalek gun, including Jack. At that moment, the TARDIS materializes conveinently on floor 500, and Rose flings the TARDIS doors open with glowing eyes. The Doctor's traditional "clever, Doctor save-the-day" routine finally gets permanently ditched, and Rose quickly brings the plot to a close by simply using the energy from the time vortex she absorbed to divide the atomic structure of the Dalek fleet, as well as revive Jack, but not the other Satellite 5 crew. Indeed, odd.
The episode then becomes nothing more than a love story for Twilight fans, with Rose complaining about her head about to explode, and desperately asking for the Doctor's help with tears raining down her face. We are meant to be ultimately swept off our feet with dialogue from the Doctor such as, "I think you need a Doctor.." along with a soundtrack that had me thinking it was plucked right out "Gone With the Wind." Rose absorbed the energy through the eye, but ofcourse, for the Doctor to make the exchange, he plants a big juicy kiss on Rose.
The essence that makes an episode Doctor Who is left for dead on the ground twitching, and we get one last flicker of Wholife as Eccleston's Doctor breathes his last few breaths....the orchestral music is gone, and all we hear is the ambience of the TARDIS, and the Doctor once again starts talking in that jokingly, cheeky tone we remember from his previous incarnations....as he describes a planet, "they've got dogs with no noses!" He describes his current incarnation as "this daft old face." The regeneration scenes were great, and felt like Doctor Who.
This episode only scored the 4.5 because of the great Dalek voices (the Supreme Dalek sounded wicked!) and because the Doctor doesn't do anything hasty for the sake of modern-day drama when asked by the Dalek, "Coward or killer?" The Doctor, in traditional tone, replies, "Coward. Anyday. What will happen to me now?" The regeneration sequence was good, but other than that, the majority of the "Doctor Who" plot elements were minimized so that Davies could maximize on the Rose/Doctor relationship and domestic drama sequences.
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