the runaway bride, again; or: this is how much i love donna noble, and i mean that in all seriousnes
Have been wanting to rewatch this since the thingy (wow, there's me being vague!), and since it was on Skiffy tonight, hurrah!
Gosh, I really love Donna. I really, really do. And while watching tRB, I really felt giddy with happiness that she's coming back as the newest companion. I know fandom's been kinda split on the issue since it was revealed, but me, I'm firmly on the side of glee.
It really surprised me, how much more I enjoyed this episode than I did the first time around. Looking back at my journal entry (which, funny enough, was titled the exact same subject line as this one was going to be before I saw it), I said that I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either. This time around, well, I still don't love it, but I liked it a lot more, and Donna really did have a lot to do with that; the first time I'd watched it, I was able to go through the "annoyed with her and then getting to like her a whole lot," so I was able to start this one off with just liking her period. This time around, I was looking at her through the lens of "New Companion!!!" instead of "the filler girl between Rose and Martha," ticking off the traits of hers that, IMO, would make her a good companion for the Doctor, instead of just another guest star needed to propell the plot along.
And that's the thing, I can like one-off characters, but to really, truly interest me past a certain point, I need more than that. I need reoccuring-ness, a bit of permanence. (Or, in the case of DW, as much permanence as you can get with an ever revolving cast.) And it's like, watching tRB this time around, knowing that Donna is going to be on board for the whole of next season, a light went off in my head, going, "gosh, you can totally love her without reservation now!" Instead of being her only episode, The Runaway Bride is to Donna what Rose was to Rose, what Smith and Jones was to Martha: her introductory episode. (And, wow, it's just occured to me that the Doctor's three female companions in New Who all have their introductory episodes titles referencing them. Huh.) And, sure, it's absolute rubbish at some points, but, like I've said before, Donna was, for me, the highlight of the episode.
I think, I hope, I want her to be a good companion, because if they continue on as they did in tRB, yet expand her character in a positive direction, I really do think that Donna could have the potential to be one of my favorite companions, that's how favorably I viewed her in this second rewatching of the episode. She's seen the Doctor's pain, seen his rage, is afraid of him and yet can tell him when it's time to stop and pull him up short when he's getting too interested in himself to be too much. She's obnoxious, oblivious, oftentimes bitchy, but she also has the ability to be understanding when need be. She's willing to go into an unknown situation; sure, she'll go in bitching the whole way, but she's there, by the Doctor's side. She just hits so many of my character-loves buttons, and I heart her so.
"Sometimes, I think you need someone to stop you." Little did you know, Donna, that that someone was going to be you. Hurrah!
And now, I really should go and pack, because I'm leaving early tomorrow for Magic Mountain. Even more hurrah!
Gosh, I really love Donna. I really, really do. And while watching tRB, I really felt giddy with happiness that she's coming back as the newest companion. I know fandom's been kinda split on the issue since it was revealed, but me, I'm firmly on the side of glee.
It really surprised me, how much more I enjoyed this episode than I did the first time around. Looking back at my journal entry (which, funny enough, was titled the exact same subject line as this one was going to be before I saw it), I said that I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either. This time around, well, I still don't love it, but I liked it a lot more, and Donna really did have a lot to do with that; the first time I'd watched it, I was able to go through the "annoyed with her and then getting to like her a whole lot," so I was able to start this one off with just liking her period. This time around, I was looking at her through the lens of "New Companion!!!" instead of "the filler girl between Rose and Martha," ticking off the traits of hers that, IMO, would make her a good companion for the Doctor, instead of just another guest star needed to propell the plot along.
And that's the thing, I can like one-off characters, but to really, truly interest me past a certain point, I need more than that. I need reoccuring-ness, a bit of permanence. (Or, in the case of DW, as much permanence as you can get with an ever revolving cast.) And it's like, watching tRB this time around, knowing that Donna is going to be on board for the whole of next season, a light went off in my head, going, "gosh, you can totally love her without reservation now!" Instead of being her only episode, The Runaway Bride is to Donna what Rose was to Rose, what Smith and Jones was to Martha: her introductory episode. (And, wow, it's just occured to me that the Doctor's three female companions in New Who all have their introductory episodes titles referencing them. Huh.) And, sure, it's absolute rubbish at some points, but, like I've said before, Donna was, for me, the highlight of the episode.
I think, I hope, I want her to be a good companion, because if they continue on as they did in tRB, yet expand her character in a positive direction, I really do think that Donna could have the potential to be one of my favorite companions, that's how favorably I viewed her in this second rewatching of the episode. She's seen the Doctor's pain, seen his rage, is afraid of him and yet can tell him when it's time to stop and pull him up short when he's getting too interested in himself to be too much. She's obnoxious, oblivious, oftentimes bitchy, but she also has the ability to be understanding when need be. She's willing to go into an unknown situation; sure, she'll go in bitching the whole way, but she's there, by the Doctor's side. She just hits so many of my character-loves buttons, and I heart her so.
"Sometimes, I think you need someone to stop you." Little did you know, Donna, that that someone was going to be you. Hurrah!
And now, I really should go and pack, because I'm leaving early tomorrow for Magic Mountain. Even more hurrah!