Why I don't Like "The Girl in the Fireplace" Part 1: Problematic Themes
The Girl in the Fireplace. Any Doctor Who fan, even a casual viewer, knows about this episode. It's often considered the best episode of series 2. Written by Steven Moffat, it received critical acclaim, is a favorite of most Doctor Who fans, and even won a Hugo for Best Dramatic Presentation in Short Form. So, what's the problem? Well, a lot, ( Read more... )
First things first: Thanks for writing this. It really sums up why I also feel the episodes is rather lacklustre. I just don't understand the appeal. Yeah, it's pretty but that's it. Style over substance as someone else said.
In addition to what you and others already discussed, it just really doesn't help that this is still during the early episodes of Ten's era. I also have a lot of problems with the characterisation of Rose and Ten in their other earlier episodes and feel that they really need way too long to nail their chemistry after Nine/Rose had their stunningly beautiful arcs in Series 1. It's like the writers had a very strong foundation with Nine/Rose but then didn't know what to do with Ten/Rose. It left a rather bad taste in my mouth and GitF is a paramount example of what is wrong in those early days. It's a pity cause they're really cute together but their characterisation is just all over the place. So when the writers finally made up their minds (The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit is the strongest example imho) it feels a bit like it's too little, too late.
So while I was watching GitF for the first time all I could think was "What the hell?!? Nine would have never pulled this shit!" and after reading your thoughts and the comments I still hold on to my gut reaction here. Of course this story wouldn't fit with Nine in the first place (then again it doesn't fit with Ten either) but I also can't imagine Eccleston putting up with this sort of bullshit. Not saying that Tennant is to blame for Moffat's script but Eccleston is just really the sort of guy who would (and well, he did) fight tooth and nail to get the Doctor's characterisation right. When you read/listen to interviews with him he just has a really clear vision of his doctor and he's saying all these wonderful quotable things about the character and the show in general. It's sort of like they lost that focus when he left and had a hard time figuring out what Tennant's doctor should be like. (I honestly don't know how much thought Tennant put into his doctor. Most interviews I've read/seen are along the lines of "You were a fan since you were a child - tell us how awesome it is to play the part now!" If you know any good interviews of him actually talking about the role itself please point them out to me. I'd love to read them!)
All in all I'd say it's not just Moffat himself but also that no one else was making a stand and telling him "NO!" And this basically sums up everything that's wrong with him as a show runner as well. He needs boundaries and he needs someone who's working with him on the characters.
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I actually enjoyed it the first time I watched it, but once I actually started reading some of the criticisms of it, I realized that it really wasn't as great as everyone thought it was.
The characterization I unfortunately didn't touch upon as much, and I have to agree, I definitely can't see Nine acting that way. Some people say that their headcanon is that the Doctor was trying to run away with his feelings for Rose after School Reunion, which I can actually kind of see, but it still doesn't justify his behavior, or Rose's awful characterization.
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I heard that headcanon theory, too, but it doesn't really make a lot of sense when you think about it. His issue with Rose is that he's in love with her but is angsting about loosing her cause it'd just hurt too much. Him trying to push her away a bit makes sense. No issue here. What doesn't make sense is falling head over heels for the next best blonde and abandoning the TARDIS on a whim. That just really comes out of left field and I have no idea what the hell this was about. If it was about him just wanting a solo adventure and to sort of emotionally distance himself from everyone I had an easier time believing the theory. But the episode itself doesn't really follow that narrative.
The only thing I could come up with would be the presence of Mickey being a bit awkward for them and Ten could be unsure where that'll leave them. Maybe Rose and Mickey will be back together? He gives them a bit of room so they can make up their minds or something. Meanwhile, he goes solo adventuring with Reinette and is flirting with her cause he's just really into blondes, apparently. But no matter how you twist and turn it, that doesn't hold much water either way cause barely anything during or before/after this episode supports this theory.
The really frustrating thing is that it would be easy to tweak the episode a bit to make it fit better with the rest of the series. But Moffat is just too much in love with his own ideas (aka "How can I reinvent the plot of The Time Traveller's Wife today?") that he completely neglects the characters. The icing on the cake is when he claims stuff like "Oh the Doctor has no concept of jealousy!" Of course the Doctor knows the concept of jealousy - he is very often jealous himself! It was even a big point in The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances written by Moffat himself. The whole bickering between Nine and Jack was based on the fact that Rose was flirting with Jack (cause she didn't know the Doctor would be interested in "dancing") and Nine was clearly upset. So yeah, within one year Moffat went from writing an amazing character driven two parter to whatever the hell GitF is.
Oh gosh, I'm rambling again. Sorry for that.
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