maaaaaaartha!
I'll admit it, I was darn happy to see her. Donna's great and all, but Martha's *my* companion, so. I could have been *happier*--she could have had a lot more to do, for one thing--but still, it is Martha and I'm more or less pleased.
Actually, I feel like I said all I had to say in comments to others' posts (that's what comes with watching the episodes behind everybody else). In fact, and I hope this is okay, I'm just going to copy here what I said in someone else's comments, with some edits and additions:
I pretty much *just* watched the episode, so I may become more dissatisfied with it over time, but--for me, Martha's story has always happened in the grace notes. That's not right, or fair to the character, but it means that I can allow myself to focus on what *happens* in those grace notes, and I'm more or less satisfied by what I saw. The fact that the Doctor actually *asked* her how her family was doing, and how she was doing (even if she didn't get to answer the latter), after failing to do that at the end of LotTL? Good. The fact that he didn't rush up and try to hug away the awkwardness, cover it all up, but let her initiate the hug? Good. The fact that Martha commanded the Doctor to look at her, *notice* her (after "he never even looks at me, but I don't care"), and he did it? Very good. And I'm actually happy with the fact that Martha is still wary about the Doctor, and for the right reasons: not because she fell for him, but because people around her got hurt. She's not so dazzled by him now that she can't see the danger, and I like that, because I was worried everything that happened in LotTL was going to get glossed over.
What I missed, though, I *really* missed: Martha's bubbliness and geekiness. I wanted her to be in that scene where Ten was geeking out about all the inventions at Rattigan Academy, for example, because she would have appreciated that stuff. (As much as I liked Ross making puns about being driven around the bend, and the Doctor actually having a rapport with one of those dreaded UNIT gun-toters he was so upset about.) The thing I don't like about hyperconfident UNIT Martha is that we lose her sense of humor and fun.
The episode itself? Meh. Also, does no one know how to even try to break a window?
Oh, and I didn't say this in comments, but: Super-temp! Awesome. I love it when people use their life experience as a skill. And the fact that Martha and Donna got on makes me happy. The Doctor's all "Don't fight," and they so aren't even having it. Ha. Plus, the Doctor expects Martha to say that Tom is skinny like him! So full of himself, that one! (How does the Doctor know about Tom? You can't slip in lines like that!) (And no, I am not getting into how screwed up I think the whole Tom Milligan thing is. Forget the convenience factor: she saw him *die* for her, and she can never tell him about it? Hi, what?)
But one thing I haven't already said also struck me:
The Doctor, in "Partners in Crime": "I destroyed half her life" and "With Martha, it got complicated...and it was all my fault."
The Doctor, this episode: When Martha says in response to the Doctor's being snotty about guns and UNIT, "If anyone got me used to fighting, it's you," he replies, "Oh, right, so it's my fault?"
He can say it to Donna, but he can't say it to her. Oh, Doctor. Why do you have to make me sad like that? Because Martha doesn't think it's his fault, she tells Donna (and us) so--but he clearly does, if the earlier episode is anything to go by. And yet--that wall is right back up between him and Martha, and he can't say what needs to be said. They need to talk--not just to Donna, but to each other. Especially given that Martha clearly still thinks she's easy to replace, in the Doctor's eyes...
Also, my favorite thing about Donna just might be that she actually wears running shoes. Hee.
Actually, I feel like I said all I had to say in comments to others' posts (that's what comes with watching the episodes behind everybody else). In fact, and I hope this is okay, I'm just going to copy here what I said in someone else's comments, with some edits and additions:
I pretty much *just* watched the episode, so I may become more dissatisfied with it over time, but--for me, Martha's story has always happened in the grace notes. That's not right, or fair to the character, but it means that I can allow myself to focus on what *happens* in those grace notes, and I'm more or less satisfied by what I saw. The fact that the Doctor actually *asked* her how her family was doing, and how she was doing (even if she didn't get to answer the latter), after failing to do that at the end of LotTL? Good. The fact that he didn't rush up and try to hug away the awkwardness, cover it all up, but let her initiate the hug? Good. The fact that Martha commanded the Doctor to look at her, *notice* her (after "he never even looks at me, but I don't care"), and he did it? Very good. And I'm actually happy with the fact that Martha is still wary about the Doctor, and for the right reasons: not because she fell for him, but because people around her got hurt. She's not so dazzled by him now that she can't see the danger, and I like that, because I was worried everything that happened in LotTL was going to get glossed over.
What I missed, though, I *really* missed: Martha's bubbliness and geekiness. I wanted her to be in that scene where Ten was geeking out about all the inventions at Rattigan Academy, for example, because she would have appreciated that stuff. (As much as I liked Ross making puns about being driven around the bend, and the Doctor actually having a rapport with one of those dreaded UNIT gun-toters he was so upset about.) The thing I don't like about hyperconfident UNIT Martha is that we lose her sense of humor and fun.
The episode itself? Meh. Also, does no one know how to even try to break a window?
Oh, and I didn't say this in comments, but: Super-temp! Awesome. I love it when people use their life experience as a skill. And the fact that Martha and Donna got on makes me happy. The Doctor's all "Don't fight," and they so aren't even having it. Ha. Plus, the Doctor expects Martha to say that Tom is skinny like him! So full of himself, that one! (How does the Doctor know about Tom? You can't slip in lines like that!) (And no, I am not getting into how screwed up I think the whole Tom Milligan thing is. Forget the convenience factor: she saw him *die* for her, and she can never tell him about it? Hi, what?)
But one thing I haven't already said also struck me:
The Doctor, in "Partners in Crime": "I destroyed half her life" and "With Martha, it got complicated...and it was all my fault."
The Doctor, this episode: When Martha says in response to the Doctor's being snotty about guns and UNIT, "If anyone got me used to fighting, it's you," he replies, "Oh, right, so it's my fault?"
He can say it to Donna, but he can't say it to her. Oh, Doctor. Why do you have to make me sad like that? Because Martha doesn't think it's his fault, she tells Donna (and us) so--but he clearly does, if the earlier episode is anything to go by. And yet--that wall is right back up between him and Martha, and he can't say what needs to be said. They need to talk--not just to Donna, but to each other. Especially given that Martha clearly still thinks she's easy to replace, in the Doctor's eyes...
Also, my favorite thing about Donna just might be that she actually wears running shoes. Hee.