Doctor Who: the Doctor's choice (Series Two spoilers only)

[butterfly]

So, I'm over at my dad's and we just watched "The Impossible Planet"/"The Satan Pit" and I know that I've previously raved about how much I love the Doctor saying "she knows" and Rose's "even if he is, how can I leave him?" bit and the Doctor's "I believe in her" speech. Today, what really jumped out at me, though, was how the Doctor chooses Rose over adventure.

There he is, at the brink of the pit, looking over and hearing that voice in the back of his head telling him to go ahead, to fall, but when Ida asks him what he thinks they should do, he says that they should withdraw. Later, he tells Ida that he has to get back up to the surface, because Rose is up there. He only goes forward when their means of going back has been destroyed and the choice is going forward or standing still. He would rather go back to Rose than forward into the unknown.

And that's... that's massive.

Another item of note is that, of course, when Danny calls them 'the mysterious couple' neither of them protest, the way that Rose used to back during Series One.

Some 4x13 - "Journey's End" spoilers in comments.

Comments

[nic]

Something I find myself questioning this week is this: was the kiss on the beach the first time Rose kissed the Doctor? Or did things happen offscreen? (I know, most people would say "If we didn't see it, it didn't happen," but we KNOW he loves her, unstate. Is it much of a stretch to think they were together-like-that, just not showing it?)

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

This is something that I'm willing to be flexible on when I read. The Doctor does seem pretty certain that Rose knows he loves her. But he probably assumes that everyone guesses on sight because his feelings feel to him like they must be the most obvious thing in creation (if a Dalek notices, they have to be clear to everyone, right?)

I think that the "Journey's End" kiss would likely still be as hungry as it was even if there had been previous kissing, because we do know that he hasn't told her that he loves her (words have power and Rose already has so much power over him), so she would still react to hearing that from him.

[leviathan101.livejournal.com]

I love those episodes dearly. They are so shippy - talking about spending the rest of the time with her wouldn't be so bad. I also love the point you made about him needing to get back to Rose instead of exploring the unknown and possibly dangerous. I could really see them together for the rest of eternity.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Yeah. The love that they have for each other is so incredibly great. It's so odd to have watched a show that out-shipped me! Every time that I thought the show had reached the limits of showing how much the Doctor and Rose loved each other, they would go further (and, until "Journey's End", without having the two of them be explicitly romantic, which is possibly the most impressive part).

[pluckyyounggirl.livejournal.com]

I know. I know. I just love those two episode so much. So so so SO MUCH.

And then I always get teary-eyed at the end when I remember that it was Billie's last scene, and the way they both sort of cried and held onto each other even after they were being called away. It's like... their friendship makes the Doctor and Rose even better.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

I know! Once I know that David is about to cry, I can always see it in that last look. Billie and David make such adorable friends. I want them to squee about each other's acting skills and be supportive and cute forever.

[blackcat-1.livejournal.com]

The more I analyse JE, the more I love the fact that so many key moments in the D/R relationship are addressed.

The whole 'stuck with you - that's not so bad' is back again, only they're stuck on a parallel world this time (until he has grown a new TARDIS for them, of course ;o))

The School Reunion 'I don't age, I regenerate... You can spend the rest of your life with me, I can't spend the rest of mine with you.' Of course, now he can, and chooses to (OK, he was dumped back there as much as Rose was, but in his dialogue, he made it pretty clear that he wanted that).

There are numerous other examples too, which I can't think of on the spur of the moment. Maybe I should gather my thoughts and make a post on this later in the week...

[arabian.livejournal.com]

Oh, you totally should. That's a fabulous, fantastic idea. I hope you don't mind, I'm friending you on the off-chance that you do do this!

[blackcat-1.livejournal.com]

Not all! I'll friend you back as I've been reading your S1 reviews with interest, too!

[arabian.livejournal.com]

If you have any comments on them, please feel free to share your thoughts. It's so much fun!!! And I do plan on doing 1x3 sometime this week. I swear.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

The more I analyse JE, the more I love the fact that so many key moments in the D/R relationship are addressed.

*nods*

It gets richer each time I see it. Especially as I rewatch older episodes and see how it echoes (something that became very clear to me in rewatching the "Children in Need" special was how 'hopped-up in the TARDIS' Ten II was very much like Ten on a regeneration high).

There are numerous other examples too, which I can't think of on the spur of the moment. Maybe I should gather my thoughts and make a post on this later in the week...

I fully support this notion!

[brandinsbabe.livejournal.com]

your post and all the comments encapsulate how i feel about their entire relationship. it really weirds me out when people are SO against it. like to me, the whole closeness and love of ten and rose is so blatantly obvious that i cant understand how it is seen in any other way.

is it ok if i link to this post in my journal?

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

I, too, am baffled when people think that Rose and the Doctor are bad for each other or don't care about each other. It seems to require a great deal of ignoring the canon to get there.

is it ok if i link to this post in my journal?

Sure! I consider any public post that I make fair game to be linked to or quoted from!

[killingfrost87.livejournal.com]

God These are two of my fave episodes....and I dont think I ever realized this before...

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

They're such a great pair of episodes. Rose really gets to come into her own in them