They say that a hero can save us (Doctor Who, etc.)
Yikes. My mom is going to be here two hours earlier than I expected. And because I'm a loser, I did laundry yesterday instead of catching up with my flist. I'm sorry, I hope I can pop in a few times in the next week and rectify some of that. In the meantime, I can get television stuff out of the way easily enough!
Last night I watched the Atlantis episode "Sunday." ::cry:: I was all set to post and squee about how great it is to see Carson happy and how awesome his expression was when he was teasing Elizabeth about having a date and then - OOF. It became obvious what was happening. If Joss Whedon taught me anything, it was Whenever a Second Tier Character Gets Happy and Unusually Awesome, He or She Is About to Die. Sigh. I think I'm getting more sad the more time passes.
::crushed:: Why do the good doctors have to die? And WHAT AM I GOING TO DO FOR MY SCOTTISH CHARACTER FIX NOW?
Sad, sad, sad.
Doctor Who 3x06 - The Lazarus Experiment
Gaaaah. There's the Doctor again, making me SAD SAD SAD. He's weary, he feels old, he's tired of losing and outliving everything. ::cries and shakes him:: He is forcing me to listen to "Again Today" by Brandi Carlisle (lyrics) on repeat.
I have a lot to say about Martha's family. Or rather, I feel like I *should* have a lot to say, but I would have nothing to base it on. It's so confusing. What is Martha's relationship with her family? Do they see her as a one-dimentional, socially stunted overachiever? They are surprised that she's out two nights in a row and that she has a date. (Though Leo is quite sweet in his support when he surmises she might be in love with the fellow. I like Leo and the way he teases his sisters.) Does she need to prove something to them? They rely on her to keep the family chaos at bay, we saw in "Smith & Jones," and here it seems her mother expects the same thing from Martha in every situation. That's the only reason I can think that she would be bitching, "she abandoned us to follow that mysterious man!" after Martha GOT THEM ALL OUT OF DANGER AND TREATED LEO'S CONCUSSION. Why can the mothers never accept that their daughters are going to let go of the teat at some point? Martha responds to her mother at the beginning of the episode as if she really missed her, in a way children who have been far from home miss a nurturing mother, but nothing we've seen of Mrs. Jones has appeared nurturing. Is it just the effect of the Doctor? Did Jackie and Mrs. Jones both have a maternal instinct that was screaming 'Danger Will Robinson'
Martha sees the Doctor as: the Object of her Faith, again. Her language to Tish in the bell tower echoed her little speech to her kidnappers in Gridlock. We just have to trust the Doctor! Time Lord and Savior. Also: the boy who's trying to dump her before they ever get together. Or so she fears. Was that the reaction of someone who was just having a really good time and hoped for more, or someone who thought maybe he'd come to See Something in her?
Though what is she supposed to think when he twirls a pair of her panties and then spends several minutes in a cramped space wedged between her legs, using his tool? I still don't completely get the romantic crush, but if that's what it is, I can see how things would be confusing for Martha.
Incidentally, I have a feeling my need to understand Martha's relationship with her family springs from my confusion about the romantic aspects of her relationship with the Doctor, and my desire for her travels with him to have something to do with her family instead, or in addition.
3x07 "42"
It's... odd that they would use a template from a memorable pair of episodes from just last season for this episode's plot and characters, isn't it? Still, I love the characters - crushing on Captain Kath, RIP, and Riley, oh! He needs to be back for more episodes. His scenes with Martha were great. And as much as I try not to be impressed due to the feeling of duplication, I'm on the edge of my seat once the Doctor is infected. David Tennant must have been REALLY tired after filming those scenes. I was afraid his veins were going to pop open. And he's so afraid going into the stasis chamber! And he's reaching out for Martha in his distress! ::pets him::
Martha. I'm glad she had the chance to call her mother so soon after last episode, because it helped illustrate to me how she reaches out to her mother and is brushed off. Mrs. Jones seems like a very strong woman who is probably very capable in everything she does, including raising children, but she lacks warmth, at least under stress. Martha, on the other hand, is full of warmth. I imagine the Jones siblings got most of their snuggling and play with their father, and once she was old enough, Martha did the nurturing for the younger ones. No wonder they all rely on her so.
The Doctor sees Martha as: a good companion. Finally. It seems so obvious it shouldn't have to be mentioned, but the Doctor is so distracted all the time, and he really doesn't have a lot of empathy. He's capable of great compassion for whole races of people, but on an individual level, I think (Ten at least, and definitely Four as well) he rarely if ever puts himself in his companion's shoes. So he's toodling along having adventures, and he knows vaguely, in the back of his brain, that it's better with two. But I don't see him sitting around thinking, "Wow, Martha has really helped me out of quite a few jams! All the while I've been stringing her along as a temporary passenger." And here, finally, he's gotten there a little. Hence the key and the rare thank-you at the end. He even feels some affection for her, though I imagine him fighting that (except when she's about to die). He wants to value her as a useful, capable companion in the strictest sense of the word. I'm sure he doesn't know how romantically she may be thinking about him. Well, maybe in the deepest part of his subconscious, but he'd be successfully ignoring that.
After thinking about these two episodes overnight, I had an epiphany. It's very simple and I don't know why I didn't think of it this way before.
Martha sees the Doctor as: a hero. At home, she's the one everybody relies on. She holds things together with the family, peacemaking, nurturing, solving problems. Her father acts like a child, her mother is demanding, her brother and sister look up to her. She has a career in which she literally takes care of people, even saving their lives sometimes. She's the unsung hero of her own world. That's a lot of pressure. So when she meets the Doctor - he's amazing, he's so far beyond anyone she's ever met in energy and ability. He can solve problems she never even knew existed. He's a *real* miracle-working Doctor. And he always comes through, even when it looks like disaster is inevitable. Instead of being the savior, for once she can look to somebody else. He's wonderful. He even asks her to help him. How could you not fall in love? In addition to all that, despite his heroism, he's broken underneath. So Martha gets a hero and a patient in the same man.
Okay. If I look at it like that, I think it all works for me. We'll see if it holds up for the rest of the season. Thanks to jennlynnster for helping me hash things out!
And I almost forgot - Flash Gordon. I was hoping it would be snarkier, but the two episodes I've seen were just earnestly dull. Although episode 2 was slightly better than the premiere, I don't have time right now for things that have a remote chance of getting better. Sigh. Just let me know if there are going to be Hawkmen, and I'll be there!
Last night I watched the Atlantis episode "Sunday." ::cry:: I was all set to post and squee about how great it is to see Carson happy and how awesome his expression was when he was teasing Elizabeth about having a date and then - OOF. It became obvious what was happening. If Joss Whedon taught me anything, it was Whenever a Second Tier Character Gets Happy and Unusually Awesome, He or She Is About to Die. Sigh. I think I'm getting more sad the more time passes.
::crushed:: Why do the good doctors have to die? And WHAT AM I GOING TO DO FOR MY SCOTTISH CHARACTER FIX NOW?
Sad, sad, sad.
Doctor Who 3x06 - The Lazarus Experiment
Gaaaah. There's the Doctor again, making me SAD SAD SAD. He's weary, he feels old, he's tired of losing and outliving everything. ::cries and shakes him:: He is forcing me to listen to "Again Today" by Brandi Carlisle (lyrics) on repeat.
I have a lot to say about Martha's family. Or rather, I feel like I *should* have a lot to say, but I would have nothing to base it on. It's so confusing. What is Martha's relationship with her family? Do they see her as a one-dimentional, socially stunted overachiever? They are surprised that she's out two nights in a row and that she has a date. (Though Leo is quite sweet in his support when he surmises she might be in love with the fellow. I like Leo and the way he teases his sisters.) Does she need to prove something to them? They rely on her to keep the family chaos at bay, we saw in "Smith & Jones," and here it seems her mother expects the same thing from Martha in every situation. That's the only reason I can think that she would be bitching, "she abandoned us to follow that mysterious man!" after Martha GOT THEM ALL OUT OF DANGER AND TREATED LEO'S CONCUSSION. Why can the mothers never accept that their daughters are going to let go of the teat at some point? Martha responds to her mother at the beginning of the episode as if she really missed her, in a way children who have been far from home miss a nurturing mother, but nothing we've seen of Mrs. Jones has appeared nurturing. Is it just the effect of the Doctor? Did Jackie and Mrs. Jones both have a maternal instinct that was screaming 'Danger Will Robinson'
Martha sees the Doctor as: the Object of her Faith, again. Her language to Tish in the bell tower echoed her little speech to her kidnappers in Gridlock. We just have to trust the Doctor! Time Lord and Savior. Also: the boy who's trying to dump her before they ever get together. Or so she fears. Was that the reaction of someone who was just having a really good time and hoped for more, or someone who thought maybe he'd come to See Something in her?
Though what is she supposed to think when he twirls a pair of her panties and then spends several minutes in a cramped space wedged between her legs, using his tool? I still don't completely get the romantic crush, but if that's what it is, I can see how things would be confusing for Martha.
Incidentally, I have a feeling my need to understand Martha's relationship with her family springs from my confusion about the romantic aspects of her relationship with the Doctor, and my desire for her travels with him to have something to do with her family instead, or in addition.
3x07 "42"
It's... odd that they would use a template from a memorable pair of episodes from just last season for this episode's plot and characters, isn't it? Still, I love the characters - crushing on Captain Kath, RIP, and Riley, oh! He needs to be back for more episodes. His scenes with Martha were great. And as much as I try not to be impressed due to the feeling of duplication, I'm on the edge of my seat once the Doctor is infected. David Tennant must have been REALLY tired after filming those scenes. I was afraid his veins were going to pop open. And he's so afraid going into the stasis chamber! And he's reaching out for Martha in his distress! ::pets him::
Martha. I'm glad she had the chance to call her mother so soon after last episode, because it helped illustrate to me how she reaches out to her mother and is brushed off. Mrs. Jones seems like a very strong woman who is probably very capable in everything she does, including raising children, but she lacks warmth, at least under stress. Martha, on the other hand, is full of warmth. I imagine the Jones siblings got most of their snuggling and play with their father, and once she was old enough, Martha did the nurturing for the younger ones. No wonder they all rely on her so.
The Doctor sees Martha as: a good companion. Finally. It seems so obvious it shouldn't have to be mentioned, but the Doctor is so distracted all the time, and he really doesn't have a lot of empathy. He's capable of great compassion for whole races of people, but on an individual level, I think (Ten at least, and definitely Four as well) he rarely if ever puts himself in his companion's shoes. So he's toodling along having adventures, and he knows vaguely, in the back of his brain, that it's better with two. But I don't see him sitting around thinking, "Wow, Martha has really helped me out of quite a few jams! All the while I've been stringing her along as a temporary passenger." And here, finally, he's gotten there a little. Hence the key and the rare thank-you at the end. He even feels some affection for her, though I imagine him fighting that (except when she's about to die). He wants to value her as a useful, capable companion in the strictest sense of the word. I'm sure he doesn't know how romantically she may be thinking about him. Well, maybe in the deepest part of his subconscious, but he'd be successfully ignoring that.
After thinking about these two episodes overnight, I had an epiphany. It's very simple and I don't know why I didn't think of it this way before.
Martha sees the Doctor as: a hero. At home, she's the one everybody relies on. She holds things together with the family, peacemaking, nurturing, solving problems. Her father acts like a child, her mother is demanding, her brother and sister look up to her. She has a career in which she literally takes care of people, even saving their lives sometimes. She's the unsung hero of her own world. That's a lot of pressure. So when she meets the Doctor - he's amazing, he's so far beyond anyone she's ever met in energy and ability. He can solve problems she never even knew existed. He's a *real* miracle-working Doctor. And he always comes through, even when it looks like disaster is inevitable. Instead of being the savior, for once she can look to somebody else. He's wonderful. He even asks her to help him. How could you not fall in love? In addition to all that, despite his heroism, he's broken underneath. So Martha gets a hero and a patient in the same man.
Okay. If I look at it like that, I think it all works for me. We'll see if it holds up for the rest of the season. Thanks to jennlynnster for helping me hash things out!
And I almost forgot - Flash Gordon. I was hoping it would be snarkier, but the two episodes I've seen were just earnestly dull. Although episode 2 was slightly better than the premiere, I don't have time right now for things that have a remote chance of getting better. Sigh. Just let me know if there are going to be Hawkmen, and I'll be there!