Why I don't Like "The Girl in the Fireplace" Part 1: Problematic Themes

[scifiunicorn]

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,

Comments

[pretty_angel]

I admit, the first time I watched it I enjoyed the superficial aspects of the episode. But the characterisation always rubbed me the wrong way. I'm just a sucker for character driven stories, so there's that. I also watched Series 1 and 2 within a few days so the transition from Nine to Ten was just really jarring at that point. I suppose that might've been a factor as well. In the end it also took me a while to articulate what I found so completely wrong about it. So reading posts like yours really makes me go "YEAH THAT'S IT!" :D

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.