the Doctor considered Jack more as his "equal" whereas Martha's pushed to the sidelines again, only to step up to the plate when the Doctor's backed up to the wall, when she has proven time and again that she is more than able to play with the big boys.
I think the Doctor acts appallingly badly to both of them all the way through. The bit about disabling Jack's vortex manipulator after it saved their lives *so many times* struck me as offensive and patronizing in the extreme. Same thing with Martha, when she walked in to say goodbye and he started off on the "right, let's get going" spiel. That's why the line about loving somebody who doesn't know you exist, and Jack's "You too, huh?" hits us so hard...it's when Martha realizes she isn't the only one who is being poorly treated, and I think that's when she is able to start (just a glimmer, but it's a start) moving on. Same for Jack, in a way.
I try to look at S3 as a character exploration of the Doctor himself, rather than S2 which was all about Ten and Rose. Martha happens to get the short end of the stick, but that's what keeps it all about Ten and not Ten/Martha. Ten in S3 is grieving, grieving badly. Not only is Martha his rebound chick, he's the girl he calls on to help him get over a bad time, but once he got into a pattern with her, he never broke that pattern. His loss. I really think he had no idea who/what kind of person was in the TARDIS with him until she actually walked out the door.
I think the Doctor acts appallingly badly to both of them all the way through. The bit about disabling Jack's vortex manipulator after it saved their lives *so many times* struck me as offensive and patronizing in the extreme. Same thing with Martha, when she walked in to say goodbye and he started off on the "right, let's get going" spiel. That's why the line about loving somebody who doesn't know you exist, and Jack's "You too, huh?" hits us so hard...it's when Martha realizes she isn't the only one who is being poorly treated, and I think that's when she is able to start (just a glimmer, but it's a start) moving on. Same for Jack, in a way.
I try to look at S3 as a character exploration of the Doctor himself, rather than S2 which was all about Ten and Rose. Martha happens to get the short end of the stick, but that's what keeps it all about Ten and not Ten/Martha. Ten in S3 is grieving, grieving badly. Not only is Martha his rebound chick, he's the girl he calls on to help him get over a bad time, but once he got into a pattern with her, he never broke that pattern. His loss. I really think he had no idea who/what kind of person was in the TARDIS with him until she actually walked out the door.
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