3.Jack and Martha both learn a lesson from the Doctor: you can be the Doctor in your own world, in your own way. And when you become the Doctor, you don't need him anymore.
I think throughout series 1 Torchwood it is clear that Jack was trying to become the Doctor; or trying to be the best Captain Jack that he could be, in the Doctor's image. This still stands. Making himself worthy of the Doctor in every way he can, not out of dependency or to prove himself, but out of... self-respect, perhaps?
I think he was trying to prove himself to the Doctor, back in Doctor Who series 1, and probably in Torchwood series 1 too. I think this shows him growing a little beyond that. He didn't get the approval I think he deserves from the Doctor - maybe never will, maybe never should, but I'd like to see it. (Might write it. Would like to. I would settle for so little: a thank-you kiss would make all the difference!)
So Jack can finally put the Doctor behind, and let the bygone be gone.
The thing is: I hope he doesn't. Even though it appears he has, at least in some ways. Perhaps this is the crux of what I still have to reconcile. There are reasons to hope:
(1) Everything changes.
(2) We know of the great affection that existed, and always will exist, between the Doctor and the Face of Boe.
(3) I still believe that the basic emotional nature of both Jack and the Doctor is consistency and growth, not ephemerality and loss, however they might struggle to leave the past behind. Many things in the "Last of the Time Lords" story arc emphasize this: the Doctor still loves Gallifrey, he still loves the Master who was his childhood friend, however damaged; he still loves Rose. Jack equally remembers past lovers and friends (examples abound; Estelle and the boy he went to war with are among my favourites.)
Maybe Jack'll become a friend whom every incarnation of the Doctor in the new series can count on, and share an adventure(and hopefully a kiss) with every one of them. Mmm, I'd like to see that.
Oh, yes! Very good thought.
for now, RTD didn't give us much to chew on.
No. I expect he wanted to free things up for Torchwood. Series 1 had Jack pining for the Doctor, and though his love of Captain Jack Harkness was a lovely counterpoint, it wasn't a dose of happiness in contrast. Perhaps RTD felt that alleviating or removing Jack's preoccupation with the Doctor would free things up for him to interact more fully (or more sexually) with characters in Torchwood.
Thanks for listening; talking this through helps a lot. I'm sure I'll have more to say when I've considered this a little more.
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timeasmymeasure
Part 2 reply: Jack and the Doctor
Date: 2007-07-18 04:16 pm (UTC)3.Jack and Martha both learn a lesson from the Doctor: you can be the Doctor in your own world, in your own way. And when you become the Doctor, you don't need him anymore.
I think throughout series 1 Torchwood it is clear that Jack was trying to become the Doctor; or trying to be the best Captain Jack that he could be, in the Doctor's image. This still stands. Making himself worthy of the Doctor in every way he can, not out of dependency or to prove himself, but out of... self-respect, perhaps?
I think he was trying to prove himself to the Doctor, back in Doctor Who series 1, and probably in Torchwood series 1 too. I think this shows him growing a little beyond that. He didn't get the approval I think he deserves from the Doctor - maybe never will, maybe never should, but I'd like to see it. (Might write it. Would like to. I would settle for so little: a thank-you kiss would make all the difference!)
So Jack can finally put the Doctor behind, and let the bygone be gone.
The thing is: I hope he doesn't. Even though it appears he has, at least in some ways. Perhaps this is the crux of what I still have to reconcile. There are reasons to hope:
(1) Everything changes.
(2) We know of the great affection that existed, and always will exist, between the Doctor and the Face of Boe.
(3) I still believe that the basic emotional nature of both Jack and the Doctor is consistency and growth, not ephemerality and loss, however they might struggle to leave the past behind. Many things in the "Last of the Time Lords" story arc emphasize this: the Doctor still loves Gallifrey, he still loves the Master who was his childhood friend, however damaged; he still loves Rose. Jack equally remembers past lovers and friends (examples abound; Estelle and the boy he went to war with are among my favourites.)
Maybe Jack'll become a friend whom every incarnation of the Doctor in the new series can count on, and share an adventure(and hopefully a kiss) with every one of them. Mmm, I'd like to see that.
Oh, yes! Very good thought.
for now, RTD didn't give us much to chew on.
No. I expect he wanted to free things up for Torchwood. Series 1 had Jack pining for the Doctor, and though his love of Captain Jack Harkness was a lovely counterpoint, it wasn't a dose of happiness in contrast. Perhaps RTD felt that alleviating or removing Jack's preoccupation with the Doctor would free things up for him to interact more fully (or more sexually) with characters in Torchwood.
Thanks for listening; talking this through helps a lot. I'm sure I'll have more to say when I've considered this a little more.