Doctor Who: 3x09 "Family of Blood"
Jun. 3rd, 2007 05:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kerravonsenMaybe I shouldn't have read the book, because certain things didn't take me by surprise. I can see why folks brought out the hankies, though.
That's one place where seeing it on the screen instead of on paper is better. That whole scene where John Smith wants to be real, where he doesn't want to die, to be consumed by the "fire in the heart of the sun" that is the Doctor; that was better than in the book.
"I love him to bits and he doesn't even look at me." Yes, I liked that bit. Because Martha isn't whining about it, she's just stating the truth -- she loves him, but that doesn't give her a sense of entitlement. Unlike 2nd-Season Rose.
Also I liked the "You travel with the Doctor, what do you do?"
"...because he's lonely."
"And you want me to go back to that?"
And it's sad, that whole scene at the end with the Doctor inviting Nurse Redfern to come and be a companion -- it just demonstrates that he really doesn't get it. Of course she wouldn't want to come with him, and it was just crass of him to ask, because however much he deludes himself that "John Smith" is part of him, it's only a tiny fraction, and he himself is someone else. And that Someone Else replaced the man she loved, and what's more, that Someone Else is someone who carries death in his wake.
Denial is a river in Egypt. Martha wants to pretend what she said about loving the Doctor was a lie, because she's embarrassed by it -- I guess because unrequited love may be considered to make one look like a fool. And he knows that she wasn't lying when she said it, but he doesn't know how to deal with that either, so he's happy to pretend along with her, because it means he doesn't have to deal with it. He hates dealing with emotional stuff.
One interesting difference between the book and the episode is that in the book, there's a lot about pacifism, and all that's gone in the episode. Timothy becomes a soldier, not an ambulanceman, and Mister Smith was the one who initiated the boys brigade defence. I think part of the change in emphasis was brought about because Ten isn't a pacifist. I'm not saying he's an anti-pacifist (whatever the word is), but that his viewpoint has shifted from the "there must be another way" (which is what Five would have said) to "death if necessary". He set himself up as judge, jury and executioner, and as the fate of the Family shows, he's capable of terrible vengeance. Yes, I think it was terrible vengeance -- just the kind of punishment-fits-the-crime that is meted out in fairy tales. The Doctor is a living fairy tale.
Hiding out because he was being "kind"? I don't think so. But it does fit the "I give you one chance and then there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth" pattern of Ten.
Again we have the theme of "the Doctor can never have an Ordinary Life" (with a side serve of "weep for him, and be glad that you can"). Mind you, he is so very much a denizen of the World Beyond The Hill, and like we can only visit that realm and come back, he also can only visit our realm, and never live there.
Mind you, wouldn't it be interesting, if one could make him settle down somewhere for a century or so -- or even a few decades -- but then, it would still only be a temporary visit, as far as he was concerned.
He and Methos need to have a good talk... 8-)
That's one place where seeing it on the screen instead of on paper is better. That whole scene where John Smith wants to be real, where he doesn't want to die, to be consumed by the "fire in the heart of the sun" that is the Doctor; that was better than in the book.
"I love him to bits and he doesn't even look at me." Yes, I liked that bit. Because Martha isn't whining about it, she's just stating the truth -- she loves him, but that doesn't give her a sense of entitlement. Unlike 2nd-Season Rose.
Also I liked the "You travel with the Doctor, what do you do?"
"...because he's lonely."
"And you want me to go back to that?"
And it's sad, that whole scene at the end with the Doctor inviting Nurse Redfern to come and be a companion -- it just demonstrates that he really doesn't get it. Of course she wouldn't want to come with him, and it was just crass of him to ask, because however much he deludes himself that "John Smith" is part of him, it's only a tiny fraction, and he himself is someone else. And that Someone Else replaced the man she loved, and what's more, that Someone Else is someone who carries death in his wake.
Denial is a river in Egypt. Martha wants to pretend what she said about loving the Doctor was a lie, because she's embarrassed by it -- I guess because unrequited love may be considered to make one look like a fool. And he knows that she wasn't lying when she said it, but he doesn't know how to deal with that either, so he's happy to pretend along with her, because it means he doesn't have to deal with it. He hates dealing with emotional stuff.
One interesting difference between the book and the episode is that in the book, there's a lot about pacifism, and all that's gone in the episode. Timothy becomes a soldier, not an ambulanceman, and Mister Smith was the one who initiated the boys brigade defence. I think part of the change in emphasis was brought about because Ten isn't a pacifist. I'm not saying he's an anti-pacifist (whatever the word is), but that his viewpoint has shifted from the "there must be another way" (which is what Five would have said) to "death if necessary". He set himself up as judge, jury and executioner, and as the fate of the Family shows, he's capable of terrible vengeance. Yes, I think it was terrible vengeance -- just the kind of punishment-fits-the-crime that is meted out in fairy tales. The Doctor is a living fairy tale.
Hiding out because he was being "kind"? I don't think so. But it does fit the "I give you one chance and then there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth" pattern of Ten.
Again we have the theme of "the Doctor can never have an Ordinary Life" (with a side serve of "weep for him, and be glad that you can"). Mind you, he is so very much a denizen of the World Beyond The Hill, and like we can only visit that realm and come back, he also can only visit our realm, and never live there.
Mind you, wouldn't it be interesting, if one could make him settle down somewhere for a century or so -- or even a few decades -- but then, it would still only be a temporary visit, as far as he was concerned.
He and Methos need to have a good talk... 8-)
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no subject
Date: 2007-06-04 12:48 am (UTC)I didn't mind the "I love him to bits" either because it was stated so matter-of-factly; Martha is strong.
I liked them showing Latimer at the end: he got the long and presumably happy life Mr Smith didn't; it showed how much things have changed for women - from not being able to be doctors to being pretty much anything including priests; and he got to see Ten and Martha again and knew that they too had survived. He must have been about 104 though, one of the last of the WW1 veterans.
no subject
Date: 2007-06-04 12:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-05 01:34 am (UTC)That pretty much nails it.
He and Methos need to have a good talk...
Oh my! Now there's a fanfic possibility that I never thought of! Wow...
no subject
Date: 2007-06-05 02:26 am (UTC)I'm working on it...