Stolen Earth Rant
So, I watched the Doctor Who ep The Stolen Earth tonight and was... um... a bit unhappy.
Thanks a lot, episode 12. I was really looking forward to you. And what did I get? Two small squee moments, which is nice, but rather offset by the fact that you made me hate Rose.
I was looking forward to Rose’s return. A little apprehensive, yeah, but mostly excited. I liked Rose, you see. And I was excited to see her reunion with Jack, who she hasn’t seen since he died for the very first time. Especially considering she’s responsible for his immortality, I was hoping for a happy reunion mixed with some thanks-to-you-I-can’t-die angst. Jack would have the biggest grin ever on his face, because he loved Rose so much that she was one of the first things he asked about after waiting over a century to see the Doctor again. Good times, right?
But when Rose sees Jack on Harriet Jones’s web cam conference? She doesn’t react. In fact, all her reactions focus on Martha. She snidely asks, “Who’s that?” when Martha tunes into the conference, and when Rose finds out that Martha was a companion of the Doctor, remarks sourly, “I was one first.”
How do you know that, Rose? Do you still believe you were the Doctor’s first, even after the events of School Reunion? Maybe Martha traveled with the Doctor long before you did. And does it matter, anyway, who traveled with him first? So instead of any joy at seeing Jack, all we get is to witness Rose’s apparent jealousy of Martha. Nice.
Then there’s the sense that she just came back for the Doctor. I was under the impression from the last episode that she came because the universe was in danger and she had some knowledge of what was going on. But in this episode she seems to have no interest in contacting anyone but the Doctor. I mean, she only gets in touch with Donna’s parents because she knows Donna is traveling with the Doctor and that Donna’s parents likely have a way of contacting their daughter.
Why doesn’t she try to get in touch with this universe’s Torchwood right away? Oh, that’s right, she’s not interested in anything but her fucking One True Love. Instead of, ‘I came to fight!’ or ‘I came to save lives!’, it’s ‘I came back, Doctor! Why aren't you here for me?’
Did Rose ever move on? Wasn’t the implication of the end of Doomsday that Rose was going to find a meaningful life without the Doctor in her new universe? You know, with Torchwood and a new father and a new baby brother? Don’t tell me, don’t tell me... once you meet the Doctor, life outside him is meaningless. You will become fixated on finding him once again.
And when they finally see each other in person? Thirty fucking seconds of them running towards each other. For fucks sake, is this Doctor Who or a Hallmark channel movie? If I can grab a can of soda from the fridge and miss nothing but love!running with soft piano music in the background, something is wrong with my sci-fi.
I wouldn’t mind so much, except Jack waited one hundred fucking years to see the Doctor and all he got was the Doctor running away.
I’ve noticed that I like Doctor Who the least when the plots focus on any kind of romance with the Doctor. The Girl in the Fireplace had a great concept and lots of cool moments, but the mushy bits between Reinette and the Doctor made me wince, not to mention the hints of jealousy from Rose. (At least then it was only hints.) I liked some of the elements from the library two-parter, but River Song making eyes at the Doctor got old quick. And I hated the implication that the Doctor is going to marry her in his future, slight as it was.
I don’t mind the Doctor falling in love, but why can’t it be written like his normal relationships with companions - happy and fun and running together through space and time with huge grins and hand-holding, with maybe a minute or two every other episode for something romantic or sexy? Why does love with the Doctor have to be like some cheap romance novel?
I could practically hear it in the last scene: ‘Jack! Donna! You guys are standing in the light of Rose and the Doctor’s True Love. Move!’
Dude, the Dalek army have successfully invaded Earth. I don’t care if it’s been two years. I don’t care if it’s been twenty. Get over yourselves and prove that Harriet Jones didn’t just die putting her faith in complete air heads.
Thanks a lot, episode 12. I was really looking forward to you. And what did I get? Two small squee moments, which is nice, but rather offset by the fact that you made me hate Rose.
I was looking forward to Rose’s return. A little apprehensive, yeah, but mostly excited. I liked Rose, you see. And I was excited to see her reunion with Jack, who she hasn’t seen since he died for the very first time. Especially considering she’s responsible for his immortality, I was hoping for a happy reunion mixed with some thanks-to-you-I-can’t-die angst. Jack would have the biggest grin ever on his face, because he loved Rose so much that she was one of the first things he asked about after waiting over a century to see the Doctor again. Good times, right?
But when Rose sees Jack on Harriet Jones’s web cam conference? She doesn’t react. In fact, all her reactions focus on Martha. She snidely asks, “Who’s that?” when Martha tunes into the conference, and when Rose finds out that Martha was a companion of the Doctor, remarks sourly, “I was one first.”
How do you know that, Rose? Do you still believe you were the Doctor’s first, even after the events of School Reunion? Maybe Martha traveled with the Doctor long before you did. And does it matter, anyway, who traveled with him first? So instead of any joy at seeing Jack, all we get is to witness Rose’s apparent jealousy of Martha. Nice.
Then there’s the sense that she just came back for the Doctor. I was under the impression from the last episode that she came because the universe was in danger and she had some knowledge of what was going on. But in this episode she seems to have no interest in contacting anyone but the Doctor. I mean, she only gets in touch with Donna’s parents because she knows Donna is traveling with the Doctor and that Donna’s parents likely have a way of contacting their daughter.
Why doesn’t she try to get in touch with this universe’s Torchwood right away? Oh, that’s right, she’s not interested in anything but her fucking One True Love. Instead of, ‘I came to fight!’ or ‘I came to save lives!’, it’s ‘I came back, Doctor! Why aren't you here for me?’
Did Rose ever move on? Wasn’t the implication of the end of Doomsday that Rose was going to find a meaningful life without the Doctor in her new universe? You know, with Torchwood and a new father and a new baby brother? Don’t tell me, don’t tell me... once you meet the Doctor, life outside him is meaningless. You will become fixated on finding him once again.
And when they finally see each other in person? Thirty fucking seconds of them running towards each other. For fucks sake, is this Doctor Who or a Hallmark channel movie? If I can grab a can of soda from the fridge and miss nothing but love!running with soft piano music in the background, something is wrong with my sci-fi.
I wouldn’t mind so much, except Jack waited one hundred fucking years to see the Doctor and all he got was the Doctor running away.
I’ve noticed that I like Doctor Who the least when the plots focus on any kind of romance with the Doctor. The Girl in the Fireplace had a great concept and lots of cool moments, but the mushy bits between Reinette and the Doctor made me wince, not to mention the hints of jealousy from Rose. (At least then it was only hints.) I liked some of the elements from the library two-parter, but River Song making eyes at the Doctor got old quick. And I hated the implication that the Doctor is going to marry her in his future, slight as it was.
I don’t mind the Doctor falling in love, but why can’t it be written like his normal relationships with companions - happy and fun and running together through space and time with huge grins and hand-holding, with maybe a minute or two every other episode for something romantic or sexy? Why does love with the Doctor have to be like some cheap romance novel?
I could practically hear it in the last scene: ‘Jack! Donna! You guys are standing in the light of Rose and the Doctor’s True Love. Move!’
Dude, the Dalek army have successfully invaded Earth. I don’t care if it’s been two years. I don’t care if it’s been twenty. Get over yourselves and prove that Harriet Jones didn’t just die putting her faith in complete air heads.