I think that at the end of the day, Moffat only has one Female Character Template in his drawer. It's not even that terrible of a template; the problem is that every female character he writes is essentially the same woman, just on a different part of this one journey he has fixed in his brain.
I mean, honestly--did Oswin have a single line that couldn't have been said by River at a certain point in her character arc, or by Amy at a certain point in her character arc? Can you even imagine Moffat writing a female companion whose intelligence is accompanied by reservation and seriousness, like Nyssa? Or, y'know, anything but Miss Sassy Hot'n'Clever?
(I have been thinking about Nyssa in comparison to modern companions a lot today, like how the episode in which she picks up a gun was ten times more engaging and gut-punching than any new-Who gun brandishing, because Moffat just uses gun brandishing as shorthand for Strong Female Character, whereas the idea of Nyssa using a gun was appalling and spoke to her desperation and how much she cared about the Doctor she was trying to defend. And then the Doctor talked her down like a boss. I'm not even sure what my point is... maybe that the same action--a companion picking up a gun--had so much more depth behind it in Classic Who than it does with the Moff. And, while we're at it, that old school companions could demonstrate their deep love for the Doctor without pinning him to the TARDIS and jamming their tongues down his throat.)
Anyway, I honestly can't imagine him writing a female character who isn't a thinly-veiled reboot of Amy or River.
I also can't fault the actors, who are doing a hell of a job with what they're given. This last episode was VERY well acted. But I'm looking forward to Christmas with no small amount of trepidation.
NYSSA IS AWESOME. We need to get you into the Davison era (and the tail end of the Baker era) so you can love her, too. She did the whole 'my planet/people are destroyed and I'm the only one left' thing before it was cool. She's a scientist, so she has the whole logical, rational thing down, and it nicely balanced out Tegan (who was more brash and outspoken) and Adric (who was young and tended towards whininess at times), and complimented the Doctor, who was also more introverted.
Man. First female cat I get is going to be named Nyssa, for reals.
I mean, honestly--did Oswin have a single line that couldn't have been said by River at a certain point in her character arc, or by Amy at a certain point in her character arc? Can you even imagine Moffat writing a female companion whose intelligence is accompanied by reservation and seriousness, like Nyssa? Or, y'know, anything but Miss Sassy Hot'n'Clever?
(I have been thinking about Nyssa in comparison to modern companions a lot today, like how the episode in which she picks up a gun was ten times more engaging and gut-punching than any new-Who gun brandishing, because Moffat just uses gun brandishing as shorthand for Strong Female Character, whereas the idea of Nyssa using a gun was appalling and spoke to her desperation and how much she cared about the Doctor she was trying to defend. And then the Doctor talked her down like a boss. I'm not even sure what my point is... maybe that the same action--a companion picking up a gun--had so much more depth behind it in Classic Who than it does with the Moff. And, while we're at it, that old school companions could demonstrate their deep love for the Doctor without pinning him to the TARDIS and jamming their tongues down his throat.)
Anyway, I honestly can't imagine him writing a female character who isn't a thinly-veiled reboot of Amy or River.
I also can't fault the actors, who are doing a hell of a job with what they're given. This last episode was VERY well acted. But I'm looking forward to Christmas with no small amount of trepidation.
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Man. First female cat I get is going to be named Nyssa, for reals.
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