I don't understand very well the cluelessness, but I do understand his despair.
I agree. Perhaps it's that the script condensed too much, or skipped over too much, of his personal reactions adn feelings? Or motives?
maybe this is the first time he didn't have the moral high ground when facing the Master, not with their roles reversed in the Time War, so this experience is a little strange for him?
Yes. In all the time since the Time War, he has lived with his guilt, but has never been answerable to anyone. So when the Master asks him about it... and says what he says about it... I can see that hitting the Doctor on a deep level. Especially since the Master had been resurrected as a sort of secret weapon against the Daleks and then he'd run. Running is the Doctor's job. It just does more to twist their lives and psyches together.
It wasn't only about Rose. Even the specialness about Rose as a companion is about the Time War. He couldn't bear the loss of Rose after the loss of Gallifrey.
She is almost certainly his only personal connection after the Time War. She is a sort of gateway to humanity - knowing her, he is free to feel connection to other people - Jack, Sarah Jane, Reinette, even Mickey, and casual acquaintances too. But somewhere in series 3 that connection gets broken or turned around. (There I am, talking about things 'being broken' again.) By "The Sound of Drums", the Doctor has the choice to save humanity at the cost of one he loves (the Master, in this case) - and he opts to save the Master at the expense of Earth, which gets restored becasue of his long-term plan - though still involving the choice he never really gets to make, because the Master dies. Short term, anyway. Dies as far as the Doctor is concerned.
In fact, it seems the only things that are not fully restored are his relationships with Jack and Martha.
Hmm. The implication could be "end of an era" or it could be "ongoing story".
The Doctor that we saw in 'Smith and Jones' has already moved on.
So he had. He hadn't forgotten Rose or the Time War, but he was carrying on with life just fine. I was therefore slightly at a loss as to how and where the suicidal impulses appeared in "Daleks in Manhattan" and why the idea of the Doctor being suicidal had so little impact on story or theme. It was sort of ... glossed over.
The self-sacrifice/forgiveness (The New Testament) and the cruelty on enemies (The Old Testament) are two sides of the same coin.
Yes. I like both aspects. At least... I like them when I can figure them out.
the Doctor don't really want to be a lonely God. He doesn't trust himself on being one. He wasn't one when other Time Lords were around. Even Nine wasn't. (Maybe it's something about the absorbing of the Time Vortex?)
The Time Vortex istself is really the lonely god? I like that idea!
He isn't happy about it, but he has got the responsibility. And certainly the trauma of John Smith didn't help him.
John Smith would be a bit of an escape. No wonder he was panicking at the idea of becoming the Doctor again.
Ten has his issues all along, the Master was just good at pushing the right buttons.
And because of those issues (guilt, loneliness, nostalgia) Ten was particularly ready to be tweaked. If he thought he was getting a bit of Gallifrey back... well, it was irrational, but the Doctor has skirted irrationality for a long time.
In the end, the Doctor seemed almost happy, ready to give up the lonely God part to be the doctor of only one patient, the Master. Anyone is worth saving in the eyes of a doctor.
In a way it's a pity that TLOTTL was the end of the series because it left us hanging and it left the situation at the end of that episode look much more static and permanent than it actually may be. I'm trying to readjust to seeing it as part of an ongoing continuum.
Not quite succeeding, but getting there.
My thoughts on Martha/Doctor and Jack/Doctor have taken better shape - in terms of understanding the story structure - but I'm still working on sorting it.
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timeasmymeasure
The Doctor: Transformation or Stasis?
Date: 2007-07-23 02:56 pm (UTC)I agree. Perhaps it's that the script condensed too much, or skipped over too much, of his personal reactions adn feelings? Or motives?
maybe this is the first time he didn't have the moral high ground when facing the Master, not with their roles reversed in the Time War, so this experience is a little strange for him?
Yes. In all the time since the Time War, he has lived with his guilt, but has never been answerable to anyone. So when the Master asks him about it... and says what he says about it... I can see that hitting the Doctor on a deep level. Especially since the Master had been resurrected as a sort of secret weapon against the Daleks and then he'd run. Running is the Doctor's job. It just does more to twist their lives and psyches together.
It wasn't only about Rose. Even the specialness about Rose as a companion is about the Time War. He couldn't bear the loss of Rose after the loss of Gallifrey.
She is almost certainly his only personal connection after the Time War. She is a sort of gateway to humanity - knowing her, he is free to feel connection to other people - Jack, Sarah Jane, Reinette, even Mickey, and casual acquaintances too. But somewhere in series 3 that connection gets broken or turned around. (There I am, talking about things 'being broken' again.) By "The Sound of Drums", the Doctor has the choice to save humanity at the cost of one he loves (the Master, in this case) - and he opts to save the Master at the expense of Earth, which gets restored becasue of his long-term plan - though still involving the choice he never really gets to make, because the Master dies. Short term, anyway. Dies as far as the Doctor is concerned.
In fact, it seems the only things that are not fully restored are his relationships with Jack and Martha.
Hmm. The implication could be "end of an era" or it could be "ongoing story".
The Doctor that we saw in 'Smith and Jones' has already moved on.
So he had. He hadn't forgotten Rose or the Time War, but he was carrying on with life just fine. I was therefore slightly at a loss as to how and where the suicidal impulses appeared in "Daleks in Manhattan" and why the idea of the Doctor being suicidal had so little impact on story or theme. It was sort of ... glossed over.
The self-sacrifice/forgiveness (The New Testament) and the cruelty on enemies (The Old Testament) are two sides of the same coin.
Yes. I like both aspects. At least... I like them when I can figure them out.
the Doctor don't really want to be a lonely God. He doesn't trust himself on being one. He wasn't one when other Time Lords were around. Even Nine wasn't. (Maybe it's something about the absorbing of the Time Vortex?)
The Time Vortex istself is really the lonely god? I like that idea!
He isn't happy about it, but he has got the responsibility. And certainly the trauma of John Smith didn't help him.
John Smith would be a bit of an escape. No wonder he was panicking at the idea of becoming the Doctor again.
Ten has his issues all along, the Master was just good at pushing the right buttons.
And because of those issues (guilt, loneliness, nostalgia) Ten was particularly ready to be tweaked. If he thought he was getting a bit of Gallifrey back... well, it was irrational, but the Doctor has skirted irrationality for a long time.
In the end, the Doctor seemed almost happy, ready to give up the lonely God part to be the doctor of only one patient, the Master. Anyone is worth saving in the eyes of a doctor.
In a way it's a pity that TLOTTL was the end of the series because it left us hanging and it left the situation at the end of that episode look much more static and permanent than it actually may be. I'm trying to readjust to seeing it as part of an ongoing continuum.
Not quite succeeding, but getting there.
My thoughts on Martha/Doctor and Jack/Doctor have taken better shape - in terms of understanding the story structure - but I'm still working on sorting it.