"Well, you were never really just a passenger, were you?"
Some random thoughts on the Doctor/Martha relationship through the first half of S3. SPOILERS up to 'The Lazarus Experiment'.
Looking back over the first half of the season, there are at least three strands to the Doctor and Martha's relationship: the Doctor's relationship to Martha as a companion, the Doctor's /emotional/ relationship with Martha, and Martha's relationship to the Doctor.
The Doctor assesses Martha as a companion almost from the very start, from when the hospital gets taken to the moon. To him, she's level-headed, she's practical, and she /thinks/ about what's going on.
He learns that he can count on her, on her skills and ingenuity, after he gets his blood sucked by the plasmavore. I'm not sure he went into that knowing Martha would save him, or even that she /might/ save him; I'm actually not sure he'd given any thought to finding a way out. But I don't think he went in there with a death-wish.
Watching Martha over their next pair of adventures only confirms the Doctor's assessment; he sees her intelligence and quick thinking during tSC, sees her survive the Fast Lane in Gridlock.
In the Dalek two-parter, he gets her to distract the Daleks, and counts on Martha's skills in a crisis, trusting her to work out where the Daleks' lair is, to find her way inside, and investigate what's going on.
And in tLE... he gives her the sonic screwdriver, tells her the setting she'll need, both of them knowing what she's going to do. In the cathedral scene, they're both looking around at the bell tower, both considering, both thinking. Martha even manages to surprise the Doctor on a couple of occasions here - getting Lazarus's DNA, coming back to help him fight the Lazarus-monster, getting the monster to chase her in the cathedral. Were this an Old!Who partnership, it'd be seen as one of the good ones, likely even one of the /great/ ones.
Except... except for the /emotional/ relationship at work here. The Doctor's impressed by Martha, attracted to her - and from the above, it's not just Martha's appearance he's attracted to, it's her personality, too, her capability. He's flirting with her as he asks her to come along... and then stops short when he's reminded of Rose. That's when he starts spouting the 'only one trip' thing, starts backing off, trying not to get close.
So what's at work in the tSC bedroom scene? I don't get the sense the Doctor's /deliberately/ bringing up Rose here - I don't think he's /that/ much of a bastard. He's feeling Rose's loss, Rose's absence, wants the rapport he felt he had with her, isn't quite sure of Martha... and tells Martha this straight out.
He was lucky to get the cold shoulder, quite frankly.
If I were to guess, I'd say Ten has a bad case of denial here, letting himself think he can tell Martha this, that he can say this to her face. He's over-reacting, going entirely too far. He would, I think, honestly have been shocked if Martha had slapped him.
After tSC, the Doctor doesn't bring up Rose directly again. In Gridlock, he's quite frank about his relationship with Martha: he barely knows her, he's responsible for bringing her here, for getting her into danger, trying to make sure he doesn't lose her. Being honest on this - being clear on what she is to him - sets him on more stable ground.
However, on another level, the Doctor's still in denial. He's open with Martha, trusts her, jumps at opportunities to have further adventures with her... but still convinces himself it'll be 'just one trip'. As long as he does that, he can tell himself it's not permanent, that he can stay at one remove from Martha, not have to go through the pain of losing her.
Ten is /good/ at fooling himself, believing his illusions. Part of the role Martha plays is to call him on that. She /recognises/ this in him, calls him on it in Gridlock, and again in tLE. He recognises that when she does /that/, he can't bullshit her. He has to be honest. When Martha calls him on the 'only one trip' thing, he shifts to seriousness, to honesty; he /wants/ her to travel with him, as his full-time companion... aware it means she'll leave one day, aware he'll miss her.
Ten's attracted to Martha. He cares about her. It's a friendship - well, a friendship with benefits. A relationship.
Is he in love with Martha? No, at least not yet. But the potential is certainly there; the foundations for it are set up in his mind. It's going to cost him some illusions on the way, though.
It's been said that in S3 Martha doesn't get a romantic illusion; she gets the harsh reality. The same goes for the Doctor, I suspect. And it won't be easy for him.
What about Martha? What's she going through in all this? Initially, she's attracted to the Doctor, charmed by him, even if - or possibly /because/ - he's a little bit loopy.
Except... he effectively takes a massive dump on things by bringing up Rose. /That/ sets Martha feeling as if she's up against a memory - and that's not an easy fight to win.
/But/... Martha isn't in a perpetual fight with Rose's memory. It's an angsty element in her relationship with the Doctor, yes, but it's not the central element of the relationship. She deals, as she dealt with her parents' divorce.
There's an element of worry in the relationship, too - Martha's seen the Doctor in at least /three/ near-death situations to date (bloodsucked by the plasmavore, heart stopped by a Carrionite, electrocuted in a thunderstorm). For Martha, particularly, she /has/ to worry about this, from her compassion, from her experience as a medical student.
In Gridlock, Martha realises how little she knows, how out of her depth she is when it comes to the Doctor - and starts calling him on it at the end of the episode, asking for proper answers, which stands her on a more even setting with him.
What we're seeing here is Martha's journey, learning more about the Doctor, /understanding/ the Doctor, making mistakes along the way - and that understanding of him is the basis for her connection to him. The mistakes both of them make act as obstacles along the way.
In tLE, I think part of the reason Martha goes back inside is because she knows what the Doctor's up against, knows he may need help, can't leave him to face the Lazarus-monster. She may not be able to put what the Doctor means to her into words - not yet - but he means something that /matters/, something worth fighting for, something worth staying with.
Is it love? Perhaps. I'm not sure Martha herself understands quite what she feels for Ten - there's deep emotion buried here - but she /does/ understand that he matters to her, that she wants to stick by him, stay with him.
Where they go from here... we'll have to see.
Looking back over the first half of the season, there are at least three strands to the Doctor and Martha's relationship: the Doctor's relationship to Martha as a companion, the Doctor's /emotional/ relationship with Martha, and Martha's relationship to the Doctor.
The Doctor assesses Martha as a companion almost from the very start, from when the hospital gets taken to the moon. To him, she's level-headed, she's practical, and she /thinks/ about what's going on.
He learns that he can count on her, on her skills and ingenuity, after he gets his blood sucked by the plasmavore. I'm not sure he went into that knowing Martha would save him, or even that she /might/ save him; I'm actually not sure he'd given any thought to finding a way out. But I don't think he went in there with a death-wish.
Watching Martha over their next pair of adventures only confirms the Doctor's assessment; he sees her intelligence and quick thinking during tSC, sees her survive the Fast Lane in Gridlock.
In the Dalek two-parter, he gets her to distract the Daleks, and counts on Martha's skills in a crisis, trusting her to work out where the Daleks' lair is, to find her way inside, and investigate what's going on.
And in tLE... he gives her the sonic screwdriver, tells her the setting she'll need, both of them knowing what she's going to do. In the cathedral scene, they're both looking around at the bell tower, both considering, both thinking. Martha even manages to surprise the Doctor on a couple of occasions here - getting Lazarus's DNA, coming back to help him fight the Lazarus-monster, getting the monster to chase her in the cathedral. Were this an Old!Who partnership, it'd be seen as one of the good ones, likely even one of the /great/ ones.
Except... except for the /emotional/ relationship at work here. The Doctor's impressed by Martha, attracted to her - and from the above, it's not just Martha's appearance he's attracted to, it's her personality, too, her capability. He's flirting with her as he asks her to come along... and then stops short when he's reminded of Rose. That's when he starts spouting the 'only one trip' thing, starts backing off, trying not to get close.
So what's at work in the tSC bedroom scene? I don't get the sense the Doctor's /deliberately/ bringing up Rose here - I don't think he's /that/ much of a bastard. He's feeling Rose's loss, Rose's absence, wants the rapport he felt he had with her, isn't quite sure of Martha... and tells Martha this straight out.
He was lucky to get the cold shoulder, quite frankly.
If I were to guess, I'd say Ten has a bad case of denial here, letting himself think he can tell Martha this, that he can say this to her face. He's over-reacting, going entirely too far. He would, I think, honestly have been shocked if Martha had slapped him.
After tSC, the Doctor doesn't bring up Rose directly again. In Gridlock, he's quite frank about his relationship with Martha: he barely knows her, he's responsible for bringing her here, for getting her into danger, trying to make sure he doesn't lose her. Being honest on this - being clear on what she is to him - sets him on more stable ground.
However, on another level, the Doctor's still in denial. He's open with Martha, trusts her, jumps at opportunities to have further adventures with her... but still convinces himself it'll be 'just one trip'. As long as he does that, he can tell himself it's not permanent, that he can stay at one remove from Martha, not have to go through the pain of losing her.
Ten is /good/ at fooling himself, believing his illusions. Part of the role Martha plays is to call him on that. She /recognises/ this in him, calls him on it in Gridlock, and again in tLE. He recognises that when she does /that/, he can't bullshit her. He has to be honest. When Martha calls him on the 'only one trip' thing, he shifts to seriousness, to honesty; he /wants/ her to travel with him, as his full-time companion... aware it means she'll leave one day, aware he'll miss her.
Ten's attracted to Martha. He cares about her. It's a friendship - well, a friendship with benefits. A relationship.
Is he in love with Martha? No, at least not yet. But the potential is certainly there; the foundations for it are set up in his mind. It's going to cost him some illusions on the way, though.
It's been said that in S3 Martha doesn't get a romantic illusion; she gets the harsh reality. The same goes for the Doctor, I suspect. And it won't be easy for him.
What about Martha? What's she going through in all this? Initially, she's attracted to the Doctor, charmed by him, even if - or possibly /because/ - he's a little bit loopy.
Except... he effectively takes a massive dump on things by bringing up Rose. /That/ sets Martha feeling as if she's up against a memory - and that's not an easy fight to win.
/But/... Martha isn't in a perpetual fight with Rose's memory. It's an angsty element in her relationship with the Doctor, yes, but it's not the central element of the relationship. She deals, as she dealt with her parents' divorce.
There's an element of worry in the relationship, too - Martha's seen the Doctor in at least /three/ near-death situations to date (bloodsucked by the plasmavore, heart stopped by a Carrionite, electrocuted in a thunderstorm). For Martha, particularly, she /has/ to worry about this, from her compassion, from her experience as a medical student.
In Gridlock, Martha realises how little she knows, how out of her depth she is when it comes to the Doctor - and starts calling him on it at the end of the episode, asking for proper answers, which stands her on a more even setting with him.
What we're seeing here is Martha's journey, learning more about the Doctor, /understanding/ the Doctor, making mistakes along the way - and that understanding of him is the basis for her connection to him. The mistakes both of them make act as obstacles along the way.
In tLE, I think part of the reason Martha goes back inside is because she knows what the Doctor's up against, knows he may need help, can't leave him to face the Lazarus-monster. She may not be able to put what the Doctor means to her into words - not yet - but he means something that /matters/, something worth fighting for, something worth staying with.
Is it love? Perhaps. I'm not sure Martha herself understands quite what she feels for Ten - there's deep emotion buried here - but she /does/ understand that he matters to her, that she wants to stick by him, stay with him.
Where they go from here... we'll have to see.