Wait, WHAT?

[rusty_halo]

http://rusty-halo.com/wordpress/?p=2629

Sorry, I’m reading my flist and skimming episode reactions…

1. You think it would be better for Donna to die than have her memory wiped!? At least this way her family still has her! At least this way she still has a chance to grow into a better person again! At least this way she can live a life! Yes, she's not the same, and it's horrible what she's lost, but I'd rather she have a second chance than DIE because nothing can ever be better than who she became with the Doctor.

2. How was Rose shallow?! First of all, it's not like the Doctor gave her a choice; he zoomed her over to her AU and fobbed off this other Doctor on her, because, well, take your pick of any/all of the below:

* He's too much of an emotional coward to open up to her
* He's too afraid to deal with losing her after she grows old and dies
* He hates himself for committing/inspiring genocide, and wants to punish himself by sending her away
* He hates himself for committing/inspiring genocide, and wants to protect her by sending her away
* He genuinely believes that she's the only person in the universe who can reign in the fucked-up genocide!happy blue-suit version of himself
* He genuinely believes that Rose will be happier with a version of himself that will age and die along with her

So here she is, once again (see "Doomsday" and "The Parting of the Ways") having to deal with him making major decisions about her life for her, and she protests, but when it comes down to it, she's got two choices:

* The Doctor who's ready to drop her off in the AU and never see her again, and who's unwilling to open up and admit he loves her when he has to deal with the consequences.

* The Doctor who is willing to stay with her and open his heart to her, to tell her the truth of what he feels for her.

GEE, WHICH ONE WOULD YOU CHOOSE?

And it's not like he really lets her make the choice, because he runs off before she can really talk it out with him. I'd really want to slap him, except I know it's his own self-loathing and unhappiness behind it, so I pity him instead.

And I'm happy that Rose gets a version of the man she loves. She's dealt with him changing before and she'll deal with it again, but this man has all of his memories and most of his personality. They will find a way to travel and they'll save the universe together and they'll change each other for the better.

I don't think they made Rose all about domesticity. She's a badass! She shoots Daleks with her big fucking gun, and hops through parallel universes, and is significantly responsible for alerting the Doctor and saving the universe before it's too late. SHE HELPED BUILD A TARDIS FOR CHRIST'S SAKE. Rose isn't going to give all that up just because she's got blue!suit Doctor; she still works for AU!Torchwood. Within the time they had, they showed us that she's still being amazing, saving the universe, and having adventures.

And they were consistent with her characterization: she loves the Doctor. She loves the adventure and travel and being able to make a difference, but most of all she loves him. To me, that's what the mortgage conversation meant--that she'll miss having time and space, but that as long as they're together, they'll find a way to be happy. And that's more or less what she gets. It wasn't about tiembabies and being normal and boring; it was about him finally being emotionally honest with her.

And since this is really (seriously for real this time) Rose Tyler's ending, I'm infinitely glad that it's a happier one.

(And the kiss. I LOVE THE KISS. I'm sorry, I'm not a shipper in the fandom sense, but that's because canon gives me everything I need. This is my favorite TV couple in the history of ever. I love them both so much.)

3. One image that sticks most in my mind after this was Martha, about to destroy the earth to stop the Daleks. Here's someone the Doctor loves, who he has inspired, and here's what he's inspired her to: committing genocide against her own race in order to stop the Daleks. Sound familiar? It's the worst thing he's ever done, the thing he hates himself the most for, and he's inspired his friends into emulating it. It doesn't matter that it was necessary, that for Martha it's heroic; for the Doctor it's like digging open his deepest wound and stabbing a knife into it. He doesn't even need Davros there telling him what a monster he is; he's got the image of Martha, Jack, and Sarah Jane, ready to kill and destroy in order to save. Oh, and "himself," the clone, committing genocide once again. To me, all the rest of what he did in this episode followed from that moment. He sent everyone off to be safe and happy and as far away from him as possible. Because he hates himself and blames himself and he'd rather suffer than see them emulating his own darkest moments.

It's not a happy ending at all, but I don't understand why it's a bad ending. It's true to his character. He's a fucked-up mess of self-loathing, and he's going to continue to struggle with it. Which is um, good, IMO, because I don't want happy adventuring James Bond Doctor. I like that he's a fucked up mess. It makes him more interesting and it makes me love him more.

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