Blog2ober
Day 6

I would like to walk back some of my “criticism” of Doctor Who from the last episode of TANcast. I haven’t sat back and just listened to the episode yet, but when I was editing the episode last night, I sounded very harsh when I was talking about the show. It sounds like I didn’t like the show. In truth, I think I like the show too much. Specifically, I like the character of Rose. As such, I was more than a little unhappy to see her go. Not to mention that the way it all went down was heart breaking.

But, I have to admit, that’s not bad in terms of dramatic story telling. It’s just not what I WANTED for the character. I think that’s my main “problem” with Doctor Who. The show never does what I want it to do. When I want a character to live, that character often dies. When I want the show to explain the mechanics of time travel, the show gives a joke instead. When I want the Daleks’ armor to be pierced by SOMETHING, it never ever is. (Seriously, isn’t there something that can break through their shells? A light saber? A resonance burst from the main deflector dish of the Enterprise D? Something?)

I said something on the show like “the Doctor isn’t really a character.” That is not true and not even what I meant to say. I was struggling to find the words to express what I’m only coming to realize as I write this. He’s not the character I want him to be or the character I thought he was going to be. He’s not the powerful pillar of virtue like Superman. He’s not the rouge tough guy like Han Solo. He’s not the thinking man’s adventurer like Captain Picard. Yet he’s kind of a mish-mash of all those things but with this zaniness thrown in. At any one moment he’ll flip from one of those archetypes to another and it’s ok ’cause…he’s the Doctor, he does whatever. That isn’t NOT a character, it’s just not the character I’m writing in my head as I’m watching.

But Rose is a character I felt like I got. She’s a young kid being shown incredible things. She has absolute faith in the Doctor. She has been my guide in discovering this world. And now she’s gone and instantly there’s new companions to take her place. It just feels wrong. It’s like when your dog dies and your parents try to buy you a new dog. That doesn’t quell the pain of the dog you lost, it only serves as a reminder that your dog is gone. Wait…did I just compare a woman to a dog? That’s gotta be misogynistic or something right? Just to get this on the record, women are not like dogs. You know that, I know that, and most importantly now you know that I know that.

So I’m going to press on with Doctor Who. I’ll try to keep an open mind. I do like that the Doctor is clearly still missing Rose several episodes into Season 3. I hope that trend continues. It’s good that the show is acknowledging her absence.

Okay…this blog was more rambling than a proper review, but I didn’t want to leave my comments from the last episode hanging without expanding the a bit.