He was being kind.
green_maia has a very interesting post here about enjoyment of abuse of power versus abuse of power rooted in despair. This is just me turning thoughts over in my head, so lots of rambling. ETA: Or you can just read my reply to her post, since that's like the whole of this post in two lines...
No disagreement on the Buffy front. But I think the Human Nature/Family of Blood is more complicated.
Like Buffy in "The Real Me" - it's not an act of brokenness and despair, it's vindictive cruelty.
I have to disagree with this. I believe the Doctor's actions come from a place of immense pain. I'm not saying that this *justifies* what he does, not at all, but it's logical for the character, esp in S3 when he is constantly hovering on the edge of suicide and flirting with death.
However, I wanted to talk about his mindset. Because we should never forget that he just spent three months as a human, with ordinary human wishes and dream. And he fell in love...
From Father's Day:
The Doctor: I've travelled to all sorts of places. Done things you couldn't even imagine, but... you two... street corner. Two in the morning. Getting a taxi home. I've never had a life like that. Yes. (smiles) I'll try and save you.
John Smith could have a life like that. John Smith wanted a life like that. But John Smith chose death, so others could live, and now the woman that he loved looks at him - because the Doctor is still John Smith, somewhere inside - with anger and accusation and a broken heart. A heart that he broke. He committed suicide, and yet he has to face the consequences of his all his choices, because it's all his fault.
Don't forget that he is in love with Joan. And he loses her as surely as he lost Rose, because he can never be what she wants or needs. Ten is the most human of all the Doctors, and never is that more clear than here: Hell hath no fury like a Timelord scorned. Not quite accurate, but his anger comes from his pain. He allowed himself to love - because he was human - and lost, again. And I don't think the comparison with 'Real Me' is fair, to be honest. The Family were tracking the Doctor. They would never stop. He didn't want to kill them, so he tried to hide. It's a terrible catch-22. (There's no catch-22 in 'Real Me'.)
Should he have killed them outright? I don't think he could. Not without then having to choose another name, because he'd no longer be the Doctor. He choose what he thought would be the kindest option - and it backfired spectacularly, leaving him with a broken heart, and the blood of innocents on his hands. To be honest, if the Master hadn't shown up, I hate to think where he might have ended up. (Somewhere like this, I think. *Incredible* vid!)
Going back to Maia's post again:
When I think about a character going evil, I think of a character who wants something very, very much - and they think that all they have to do to get that thing that they want very, very much is to do something that they know is very, very wrong - and they do that thing that is very, very wrong in order to get what they want so very, very much.
This is not the Doctor in those episodes. He doesn't want to punish the family. He wants John Smith's life. He wants Joan. He wants people not to be dead because of him. But he can't have that. And he's not in a place where he's ready to break the laws of time in order to save what's been lost.
What he has to do is what he always must do - continue, carrying the burden of loss. Only this time he lets the Family share that most painful and horrific of fates. And no, it's not just in any way. But to go back to a point in a different post: It is both an act of brokenness and despair - and it is vindictive cruelty and power abuse.
The best comparison would be his behaviour in 'The Runaway Bride':
The Doctor: I warned you. You did this.
Rachnoss Empress: No! No! Don't! No! My children!
~~~
Donna: That place was flooding and burning and they were dying and you were stood there like... I don't know... a stranger.
The only difference being that the Rachnoss in many ways bore the brunt of his initial pain of losing Rose, whereas the Family were more directly responsible for him losing Joan.
No disagreement on the Buffy front. But I think the Human Nature/Family of Blood is more complicated.
Like Buffy in "The Real Me" - it's not an act of brokenness and despair, it's vindictive cruelty.
I have to disagree with this. I believe the Doctor's actions come from a place of immense pain. I'm not saying that this *justifies* what he does, not at all, but it's logical for the character, esp in S3 when he is constantly hovering on the edge of suicide and flirting with death.
However, I wanted to talk about his mindset. Because we should never forget that he just spent three months as a human, with ordinary human wishes and dream. And he fell in love...
From Father's Day:
The Doctor: I've travelled to all sorts of places. Done things you couldn't even imagine, but... you two... street corner. Two in the morning. Getting a taxi home. I've never had a life like that. Yes. (smiles) I'll try and save you.
John Smith could have a life like that. John Smith wanted a life like that. But John Smith chose death, so others could live, and now the woman that he loved looks at him - because the Doctor is still John Smith, somewhere inside - with anger and accusation and a broken heart. A heart that he broke. He committed suicide, and yet he has to face the consequences of his all his choices, because it's all his fault.
Don't forget that he is in love with Joan. And he loses her as surely as he lost Rose, because he can never be what she wants or needs. Ten is the most human of all the Doctors, and never is that more clear than here: Hell hath no fury like a Timelord scorned. Not quite accurate, but his anger comes from his pain. He allowed himself to love - because he was human - and lost, again. And I don't think the comparison with 'Real Me' is fair, to be honest. The Family were tracking the Doctor. They would never stop. He didn't want to kill them, so he tried to hide. It's a terrible catch-22. (There's no catch-22 in 'Real Me'.)
Should he have killed them outright? I don't think he could. Not without then having to choose another name, because he'd no longer be the Doctor. He choose what he thought would be the kindest option - and it backfired spectacularly, leaving him with a broken heart, and the blood of innocents on his hands. To be honest, if the Master hadn't shown up, I hate to think where he might have ended up. (Somewhere like this, I think. *Incredible* vid!)
Going back to Maia's post again:
When I think about a character going evil, I think of a character who wants something very, very much - and they think that all they have to do to get that thing that they want very, very much is to do something that they know is very, very wrong - and they do that thing that is very, very wrong in order to get what they want so very, very much.
This is not the Doctor in those episodes. He doesn't want to punish the family. He wants John Smith's life. He wants Joan. He wants people not to be dead because of him. But he can't have that. And he's not in a place where he's ready to break the laws of time in order to save what's been lost.
What he has to do is what he always must do - continue, carrying the burden of loss. Only this time he lets the Family share that most painful and horrific of fates. And no, it's not just in any way. But to go back to a point in a different post: It is both an act of brokenness and despair - and it is vindictive cruelty and power abuse.
The best comparison would be his behaviour in 'The Runaway Bride':
The Doctor: I warned you. You did this.
Rachnoss Empress: No! No! Don't! No! My children!
~~~
Donna: That place was flooding and burning and they were dying and you were stood there like... I don't know... a stranger.
The only difference being that the Rachnoss in many ways bore the brunt of his initial pain of losing Rose, whereas the Family were more directly responsible for him losing Joan.