Doctor Who: 3x03 -- Gridlock, spoilers for 3x13 -- Last of the Time Lords

[butterfly]

Okay, so Gridlock may have been the episode of two weeks before last, but I'm not actually watching them on Sci-fi anyway. Plus, this way I can do Daleks in Manhattan and Evolution of the Daleks together. So, yes, my old post about Gridlock, with spoilers only through 3x03, is here.

Gridlock is when I gave up on trying to be over Rose Tyler. Oddly enough, it's the first episode where the Doctor doesn't mention her name (Martha does, though), but he was so... tired. Different. Lost. They'd told us more than shown us that, in the first two episodes -- the Plasmavore saying he was 'laughing on purpose, at the dark', Lilith saying that his heart had grown cold.

Here, we get his words.

Doctor: "What if there's no one out there? -- What if the traffic jam never stops?"
Brannigan: "There's a whole city above us. The mighty city-state of New New York. They wouldn't just leave us."
Doctor: "In that case, where are they? Hmm? What if there's no help coming, not ever? What if there's nothing? Just the motorway, with cars going round and round and round, never stopping? Forever?"

The cars of this episode are shaped like rectangular boxes, like the TARDIS but grey and dull, and they go on and on, barely moving. The Doctor's words are gloom and doom and he receives no emotional lift from the hymn that boosts up everyone else (including Martha). This will be repeated at the end of the season -- he will save the world, save all the humans, with power and glory and faith, but nothing that he wants will come out of it -- the Master dies and both Martha and Jack leave. He's on his own, again.

There's no one out there. No help coming, not ever. There's just traveling on his own, never stopping. Just being alone, forever.

He's so alone in this episode -- he lies to Martha at the beginning, plays the part of who he used to be, before the war.

Doctor: "Just one trip. 'S'what I said. One trip, in the TARDIS, and then home. Although – I suppose we could – stretch the definition. Try one trip to the past, one trip to the future. How do you fancy that?"
Martha: "No complaints from me!"
Doctor: "How about a different planet?"
Martha: "Can we go to yours?"
Doctor: "Ahh, there's plenty of other places!"
Martha: "Come on, though! I mean, Planet of the Time Lords, that's got to be worth a look! What's it like?"
Doctor: "Well, it's beautiful, yeah."
Martha: "Is it like, you know, outer space cities, all spires and stuff?"
Doctor: "Suppose it is."
Martha: "Great big temples and cathedrals!"
Doctor: "Yeah."
Martha: "Lots of planets in the sky?"
Doctor: "The sky's a burnt orange, with the Citadel enclosed in a mighty glass dome, shining under the twin suns. Beyond that, the mountains go on forever – slopes of deep red grass, capped with snow."
Martha: "Can we go there?"
Doctor: "Naah! Where's the fun for me? I don't want to go home!" 

As he explains at the end of the episode, if he lies to her about his home, he can pretend that it isn't gone. If he lies to her about Rose, he can pretend that Rose's heart isn't as broken as his. The reveal of the lie about Gallifrey in this episode provided us the set-up for the reveal of the lie about Rose -- Martha doesn't find out the truth about Rose's absence until the eleventh episode, Utopia. Until then, the Doctor gives her every reason to think that Rose just happened to leave him -- that he's heartbroken and she's fine.

It's the fact that the Rose reveal takes place so late in the season that makes me suspect that we aren't done with the story of the Doctor's grief for her -- we find out the truth about Gallifrey in the third episode and then deal with it mostly in the twelfth, when the Master finds out. Finding out the truth about Rose gives Martha closure, but not the Doctor (unless, of course, RTD doesn't plan on giving the Doctor closure on Rose, plans on leaving her an open wound, which is certainly possible, though, given season three, it seems unlikely -- after three seasons where Rose is key to the emotions of the Doctor, it would feel unbalanced not to have her be important in season four as well), since he, well, knew all along. Much like telling Martha about Gallifrey at the end of this episode hardly closes the book on his grief for them (as seen by the Sound of the Drums).

The Doctor is so tired for much of this season, pretending. He spends a lot of time pretending. He pretends that he's the man he used to be before the Time War, he pretends he's the man he used to be last season. He becomes a human named John Smith and falls in love, and it's all just a lie. All of it. His planet burned, Rose is trapped in another universe, and his humanity was a surface gloss without any real substance underneath.

He's tired of explaining about the TARDIS (mouthing behind Martha the words nearly every new companion says, "It's bigger on the inside," and adding a sarcastic, "Is it? I hadn't noticed."), tired of explaining about psychic paper and time lines. He doesn't bother to get to know Martha, even after his epiphany this episode that he doesn't know her (contrasted against the words written in his journal about Rose (in Human Nature) -- "I know her," it says at the top).

The only time that the Doctor and Martha are emotionally on the same page is when she's leaving, at the end of Last of the Time Lords. They don't have that emotional connection that he and Rose had -- even if Martha were inclined, the Doctor wouldn't likely allow it. "You can spend the rest of your life with me," he tells Rose. "But I can't spend the rest of mine with you. I have to go on. Alone. That's the curse of the Time Lords."

And here, in this episode, Martha shows us much faith in him (again, contrast again The End of the World, where the primary emotion that Rose has at the end is sympathy rather than faith). He saves everyone, in a flood of light.

So... about those Far Future episodes. They're really kinda obvious about being about the Doctor's current mental state -- The End of the World, New Earth, Gridlock. Not exactly titles that are hard to parse. And, set at (near) the very beginning of the season as they are, they're also very revealing about the Doctor/Companion dynamics. Both TEotW and Gridlock are explicitly about Gallifrey -- he's trying to get Rose to understand him in S1 and trying to avoid Martha doing the same in S3. S2... a new Earth. New humans. And the Doctor and Rose.

Again, I must do the compare/contrasts. In each of these episodes, the Companion is shut off from the Doctor in some fashion -- Rose is trapped in a viewing room in S1, then trapped in her own body in S2, and Martha gets kidnapped in S3. The Doctor is the one to spectacularly save the day in all three cases (with outside help, of course -- no man is an island, etc.), which is not always the case.

In comparison to both of the other episodes, New Earth is very sexualized. The Doctor's comment about Rose looking 'all pink and yellow' (coupled with a look down her blouse), Cassandra's 'bouncy castle', 'nice rear bumper', 'slim and a little bit foxy' comments, and, of course, the Cassandra/Doctor kiss that leaves the Doctor gaping, yet The End of the World has the Jabe/Doctor flirting (and Jabe trying to sound out how close the Doctor and Rose are) and Gridlock has the explosion of couples (not literal explosions just... there are tons of them), so romance is not lacking from those episodes, either.

In both cases, Rose is by herself when she gets nabbed, while Martha is right with the Doctor when she gets taken, which might be taken as a marker of Rose's independent nature. I remember thinking, the first time I watched Gridlock, that Rose wouldn't have cried over the hymn -- she'd have been with the Doctor (emotionally-speaking), wanting people to shift for themselves. Rose is not good at being one who sits and waits (while Martha clearly dislikes it, but is much more willing to do it). Rose goes off and finds trouble (also... hmm... Rose is both times taken for being Rose, while Martha is taken for the purpose of being the 'third person' -- Rose pisses off Cassandra... both times, while Martha didn't do anything to create her situation, good or bad). Jeopardy-friendly, the Doctor calls Rose, and it's pretty clear why.

In The End of the World, Rose jokingly asks the Doctor 'what sort of date are you?' and in New Earth, teasingly refers to tEofW as their 'first date', which the Doctor smilingly agrees with ("we had chips"). In Gridlock, Martha calls the Doctor taking her to New Earth a 'rebound' from Rose. Again, framing everything in romantic terms. Framing the Doctor and Rose in romantic terms.

Really, though, the Doctor and Rose have always been framed in romantic terms, from the very beginning. It's a love story, as Christopher Eccleston said. And it's a very good one.

So, yes, the next set of episodes is the Dalek two-parter, which is, sadly, the weakest bit of S3. Lots of good bits (Tallulah!) and lots of potential, but some bad dialogue and pacing really drag it down. Shame. But I'm glad that Helen Raynor is getting another chance next season -- as I understand it, this was her first try and even though it wasn't anywhere near as good as it could have been, there were enough bits of gold in the dross that I have hope she'll improve greatly next season (particularly if Russell isn't sick that time).

Comments

[dettiot.livejournal.com]

This is such a fantastic review of Gridlock, showing how it fits into the whole series, not to mention the whole run of Doctor Who. And you're right, this really is the ep where I, too, realized I couldn't move on from Rose, just like the Doctor. This episode is tied up with the Doctor's grief over the losses of Gallifrey and Rose, and I agree that it's very interesting that the Gallifrey grief is seemingly resolved by the end of the series, while the Rose grief is not.

[can.not wait for the next series]

Thanks for these wonderful thinky thoughts!

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

This episode is tied up with the Doctor's grief over the losses of Gallifrey and Rose, and I agree that it's very interesting that the Gallifrey grief is seemingly resolved by the end of the series, while the Rose grief is not.

Very, very interesting. They have two ways to go from here -- they can deal with the Doctor's grief (two reasons to do that -- to bring the Doctor closure or to spectacularly fail to bring him closure) or they can continue on, with us knowing how much pain he'd in but not focusing on it. Which was what I was really expecting out of S3 (especially after the intense grieving of The Runaway Bride) which means... that I have no idea what they're going to do next year.

Except that I trust Russell to tell the Doctor's story properly, because he has not screwed up yet. They made some mistakes with Martha's story, but the Doctor has been spot-on.

[blackcat-1.livejournal.com]

They made some mistakes with Martha's story, but the Doctor has been spot-on.

Yes, I know what you're getting at here and I have to agree. I think the Martha arc did an excellent job of illustrating the depth of the Doctor's loss, but I don't really think it did Martha's character any favours. Hopefully the move to Torchwood will correct that (although if the other Torchwood characters are anything to go by, maybe not...)

[skipthedemon.livejournal.com]

I agree that it's very interesting that the Gallifrey grief is seemingly resolved by the end of the series, while the Rose grief is not.

See, I read it quite the opposite. I think it's important that he's finally gotten to tell Jack what happened to Rose. He may not *over* loosing Rose, but he's made progress.

Whereas, in a way, he just lost Gallifrey all over again. The only other Timelord in existance rejected him outright, and died. His wail of grief, to me, sounded to me like man devastated.(I think it's interesting the Master kept him around during the Year that never was. I think neither wants to be alone, but they both refuse to compromise on the terms of their co-existence, it could only end badly.) I read him as a man covering fresh grief when talking to Martha at the end, and not even covering when she actually departs. Some of that was over Martha herself leaving, but not all, I think.

My difference in opinion may just stem from the fact I'm not really a Doctor/Rose shipper. I like her fine, and he needed her for a while, and I'm sure he misses her. But I don't see him missing her as the defining emotional arc for him. If Rose had been around when the Master reappeared, and died, the Doctor would still be devastated. It's just the fact that he's almost absolutely alone, no companionship at all, that makes me wonder how he's going climb out of his hole of loneliness and guilt.

[jedi_of_urth]

See, I didn't see talking to Jack as helping the Doctor move on at all and certainly not even approaching closure, oh it helped but only in the way that it forced him to look at something he had been repressing for a while, finally admitting out loud that she's trapped. And that he finally had a sympathetic shoulder to lean on, I do think that helped in a different way.

But I do agree that he's not gotten any closure regarding Gallifrey either, that loosing the Master was rather like losing Gallifrey again. The difference is that I think he's closed the book on Gallifrey, not his grieving for Gallifrey and the Master by a long shot, but the problem is that it's over. I don't think he's closed the book on Rose, it's unfinished, stopped in the middle of a line, and that's the problem.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

I don't think he's closed the book on Rose, it's unfinished, stopped in the middle of a line, and that's the problem.

Exactly. At least with the Master, he got to burn the body. He had the chance to grieve. But Rose isn't dead. He won't know when she is. And he's trapped in the middle of a sentence he'll never get to finish.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Ah, for me, it seemed that having the chance to burn the Master's body (having a body to cry over in the first place) was a real, true step towards closure. Allowing himself that chance to grieve and to feel the depth of that loss, to hold the weight of it in his arms.

With Rose, he's still in that middle of sentence that he'll never get the chance to finish. No closure, no finality. No body to weep over -- when she dies, he won't know. She could be dead already and he would have no way of knowing.

If Rose had been around when the Master reappeared, and died, the Doctor would still be devastated. It's just the fact that he's almost absolutely alone, no companionship at all, that makes me wonder how he's going climb out of his hole of loneliness and guilt.

He would have been very, horribly devastated. And then Rose would have taken him by the hand, there by the pyre, and he would have looked at her the way he did so often, like the world rose and set by her eyes, and it would have been bearable. Joy shared is joy multiplied, sorrow shared is sorrow divided.

Rose gave him so much emotional support, right from the beginning. She was so unselfishly giving, so compassionate and caring. Just from the differences in the Doctor between seasons two and three, it's clear how much having Rose in his life helped him find happiness.

[jic]

I really love learning from how you put it all together.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

Thank you, sweetie.

[voldything.livejournal.com]

Yes to everything! Your reviews are always so brilliant.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I love this show so much, dude.

[voldything.livejournal.com]

*bonds* It's so... incredible, isn't it?

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

It is. It really, really is!

[goldy-dollar.livejournal.com]

Gah. Once again, you manage to say everything so brilliantly. :D

Gridlock really *does* set the Doctor's character arc for the rest of the season. We saw glimpses of his grief for Rose in S&J and TSC, but Gridlock is more about the ramifications. I think it was DT who described the Doctor in the Gridlock Confidential as having lost everything and then, with Rose, losing everything again. I always thought that was a very apt way to put it. *sniff*

Love all your parallels to NE and tEotW. Never thought about it that way, which is probably why it's a good thing we have you to do all our deep analysis for us. *G*

I'm very curious to read what you'll say about the Dalek two-parter. I liked them well enough the first time around, but I had a lot of trouble trying to watch them again.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Hee, thanks.

Gridlock really *does* set the Doctor's character arc for the rest of the season.

It's amazingly how much more obvious it all is in retrospect. That's proper foreshadowing, that is, when it's all very clear later on.

We saw glimpses of his grief for Rose in S&J and TSC, but Gridlock is more about the ramifications. I think it was DT who described the Doctor in the Gridlock Confidential as having lost everything and then, with Rose, losing everything again. I always thought that was a very apt way to put it. *sniff*

Indeed. He was starting to rebuild, with Rose, to believe that the universe that had taken away so much was maybe willing to give him this one tiny thing... and then, no, not so much.

Love all your parallels to NE and tEotW. Never thought about it that way, which is probably why it's a good thing we have you to do all our deep analysis for us.

I have not yet begun to parallel! When I get to HR/FoB, I'm planning on talking about the World War episodes and why it's significant that S1 takes place during WWII (as far as wars go, possibly the most justifiable one in history), S2 takes place after WWII is over (rebuilding! The most apt quote from the Doctor ever), while S3... takes place just before World War I (stupid, bloody, pointless... an entire generation died). Also, I shall talk about how in both S1 and S2, the episodes were set when a King rules England, while S2 is all about the Queen.

Mind you, the Dalek two-parter takes place post-WWI, but it's set in America, plus it's a Dalek episode, which changes everything and kinda puts it in its own category (hmm... Daleks in America... I wonder if it's significant that Dalek was also set in America...). Though, it's set in the Depression, which, as metaphors go, isn't the most subtle in the universe.

[taselby.livejournal.com]

I have nothing to add, just wanted you to know that I'm reading these and very much enjoying them. You're very good at putting these things together, and I appreciate all the work you're doing here.

Thank you. *g*

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Aw... thank you! Glad you like them.

[jedi_of_urth]

My problem with Gridlock has always been...I'm not sure what the emotional message/parallel is. On one hand the gridlock portion, the going around in circles, never stopping, no hope of end, that does feel like the Doctor and what he's facing and fearing in his life.

But then there's the end, where it is like a miracle and all the people get out and there's hope; and it's not because of what they did, the Doctor came from the outside and set them free. And that...doesn't work as a parallel so much, even in retrospect there isn't an emotional parallel, because as yet the Doctor hasn't been set free of his endless circles life, in fact this season was a real example of just how much he is going around and around never stopping, all alone forever.

I do agree though, that I think it was Gridlock where I finally got it that the writers didn't expect me to be over Rose, which meant I could relax and trust that they weren't going to forget what had happened in the first seasons and how that impacted the Doctor emotionally. I think it was because this time it wasn't just mentions, or quite moments of reflection, or possible it was just because it was TRB and took place at a time when it couldn't help but be about Rose, here the emotional core of the episode was still the Doctor/Rose relationship and it's effects.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

in fact this season was a real example of just how much he is going around and around never stopping, all alone forever.

Exactly. He frees all the people in all those cars... but he can't free himself. They sing along to the hymn and have faith, but he can't and doesn't have that kind of belief.

I do agree though, that I think it was Gridlock where I finally got it that the writers didn't expect me to be over Rose, which meant I could relax and trust that they weren't going to forget what had happened in the first seasons and how that impacted the Doctor emotionally. I think it was because this time it wasn't just mentions, or quite moments of reflection, or possible it was just because it was TRB and took place at a time when it couldn't help but be about Rose, here the emotional core of the episode was still the Doctor/Rose relationship and it's effects.

I think you're right. I think that's when I realized that RTD and the writers were on the same page that I was regarding how much Rose should matter to the Doctor. Gridlock is when I realized that they were going to treat that loss realistically.

[jedi_of_urth]

He frees all the people in all those cars... but he can't free himself. They sing along to the hymn and have faith, but he can't and doesn't have that kind of belief.

And then we're back at "I believe in her" territory (if maybe not intentionally). With her he had faith, if not quite the way the New-Earthers did, it was still very real. She's the one who freed him from going around in circles forever, cracked open the sky and let him fly. But that's telling the story out of order as compared to Gridlock, because he wound up back there, worse off in some ways because now he knows that it's just circles now. Unless she comes back, that day I think he will literally be flying, and everything will change.

The more I think about it, the more I'm not sure it's coincidence that there's a Bad Wolf poster in this episode. The TARDIS, Rose, created by his and Rose's love story; everything he believed in before, the things greater than him, the power that can save him from his own lonely trek through time and space, the way he saved the people of New Earth.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Indeed -- all the things in heaven and earth, everything in the universe, and if he believes in one thing, it's her -- his compassionate goddess who saved him from those endless circles. Who gave him a new life and made it all exciting and fresh. Before he knew Rose, he was content with his life, because he didn't know that something better, that someone to have faith in.

The more I think about it, the more I'm not sure it's coincidence that there's a Bad Wolf poster in this episode. The TARDIS, Rose, created by his and Rose's love story; everything he believed in before, the things greater than him, the power that can save him from his own lonely trek through time and space, the way he saved the people of New Earth.

It makes sense. He doesn't see it, but Bad Wolf is still there, watching over him. That greater power. Compassion, love, faith, and hope -- he doesn't see them (not for himself), but they're still there.

[jedi_of_urth]

Before he knew Rose, he was content with his life, because he didn't know that something better, that someone to have faith in.

I'm not exactly well versed in Old School, but it wouldn't surprise me if this is the first time he's had lines about disliking breaking in a new companion, text even a couple of times with the subtext of several episodes that he doesn't like or want the script he's playing out again. Now he knows it's always the same, cover bigger on the inside, travels in time, it's psychic paper, sonic screwdriver, Time Lord, last of, etc. Never changes, but now he's tired of it, Rose broke him out, but then he had to go back to the same old cycle.

That greater power. Compassion, love, faith, and hope -- he doesn't see them (not for himself), but they're still there.

And the Bad Wolf takes you home, on the strength of faith and love, believing that that's enough to do the impossible. And it's still there, telling him to believe it, and in it (himself, her, it's all the same). And I like to hope he will one day, and then he'll wake up and see that she left him all the pieces to do the impossible again, all he had to do was believe.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_snookums/]

Oooh, you give very insightful reviews. Look forward to more, :D

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[blackcat-1.livejournal.com]

Fantastic and comprehensive analysis. You do a brilliant job of identifying contrasts and comparisons. It would be interesting to know what the writers' takes are on this. Thank you.