dr who: waters of mars
this episode was distressing.
the doctor is somewhat of a contradictory figure - he will fight so fucking hard for each creature's right to life and dignity, but if you threaten the human race he will obliterate you. his affection for the various sundry species that appear in this series usually extends far enough that he seeks peaceful coexistence before raining fire and brimstone on attacking persons, but in this episode, no such attempt. maybe a half-hearted side convo about artificial intelligence, but not a glimmer of discussion about the tension involved in cross-species(cultural) relations that respect without adoption or judgment. a little of that showed up in the doctor's god-complex angst, where he plays this paternal power figure to adelaide brooke's childishly petulant representative for earth. that dynamic is interesting for other reasons though, what with the play of self-sacrifice against rejection of an endangered value system. The woman's unswerving belief in an individual's ability to make a significant impact on the course of history through martyrdom is presented as the realistic position; the man's rejection of his extinct species' rules of operation in adaptation to a changing world/universe view is painted as dangerously optimistic. the writer confuses stereotypes of gender identification too: women, even nowadays, tend to appear in tv and movies as spokespeople for blind idealism and men for realism.
i love this episode for giving me these things, but i just didn't buy the ending. i get the doctor's meltdown, since the series has been building up to this moment of rebellion for years. but the doctor is too smart to reveal this kind of feeling so fully to adelaide, knowing she would react exactly the way she does to strongarm tactics. cheap, to then end the episode with that vision of elephantine significance when the viewers, the doctor, pretty much all involved parties already can't get the new doctor out of our minds.