S3 finale...kinda ranty, so if you liked it ya might wanna skip...also spoilers

[darkelf105]

 Um. Okay, I thought it was pretty good. Until Martha Jones got showed up by the Doctor, again.

I like Martha, I really, really like Martha and am angry that she never, ever gets to do what she deserves to do; she's always, always being upstaged by the Doctor. This seems to be common with the Companions (is that capitalized?).

So, I adore the Doctor, charming, arrogant, self-assured, cocky, handsome, clever bastard that he is (really what's not to love?) and I understand that if humanity ever managed to save itself he might self destruct, but storywise Martha (or at the very least one of her family members) should have resolved the conflict with the Master, preferably in a bloody, satisfying way. It makes story as well as heart sense that Martha or family would murder/disembowel/pulverize/or at least punched the Master in the face. Now, I understand that much of Who has a non-violent, there's a better way than killing vibe, but some villains, some villains need to be, I dunno, at least punched in the face. Maybe this is just because I'm a Midwestern American, but I found the ending with Master so completely unsatisfying that I wanted to scream. Where was Martha's moment of glory? Where, I say?! Telepathic love-fest bringing back Smeagol-like Doctor in glowing-glory, that was stupid. The Doctor is not Tinkerbell. I'm sorry, the fanservice must stop.


However, that being said, way to go Martha Jones. She walked away. Now, I will miss Martha because Martha was, well all of us. She was the normal, non-spectacular person that we all are. She was the average human (albeit prettier) in love with a person that won't ever love her back because he's still reeling with love for another person who was as spectacular as he. Poor Martha didn't stand a chance. She's the girl that stands in for all of us that just live ordinary lives because extraordinary things don't happen to everyone. And if they do, well, ordinary people don't often act in majestic ways. Many of us just act in ordinary ways, which isn't to say that ordinary is bad, in fact, ordinary people acting in ordinary ways is often so marvelous it's extraordinary. That's Martha. I loved her dearly.

And she's so fundamentally human. She can travel the whole of the universe, but she has to walk away because she has to share it with a man that can never return her love. All the wonders in the universe can't heal a broken, love sick heart if the man that's ripping it apart is standing there with you. Time and distance is needed to fix that heart. She walked away, that was an ordinary, but brilliant and completely true reaction. That was wonderful. And heartbreaking. I liked that part of the episode. So considering how much I liked Martha, you can see why I was mad that she didn't get her moment in the sun.


But, I must say, the best, absolute best part of the episode.....Captain Jack is the Face of Boe! ZOMG THE AWESOME. That takes two of my favorite characters and combines them into one. Awesome.  ...Stupid Russell T. Davies, stand by your assertion.

Comments

[crowyhead.livejournal.com]

I hate to admit it, but I gritted my teeth all the way throught the third season because I HATED Martha Jones. HATED. Compared to Rose and to this season's Companion, she is so whiny and such a throwback to the oldschool "I'm the Companion and I need to be rescued" thing from the original Doctor Who.

Sorry, I just... the third season is the only one that I wouldn't really want to own.

[darkelf105.livejournal.com]

Lol. I wasn't much of a fan of Martha for a very long time, till I realized she was acting the way she was because she was in that hopeless kinda love. I've been there, I remember how whiny and unbearable I was, so maybe that's why I sympathize?

I don't think that Martha is as strong of a character as Rose, but that's kinda why I liked her. She was so normal.

Rose was so unbelievably awesome and tragic I felt bad for whoever was going to replace her. I miss her dearly, especially the teeth licking when she saw a piece of man meat she wanted to eat.

That being said, I haven't seen S4. But I did love Donna in "Runaway Bride" so I'm excited.

I can see why you didn't like S3, it um, wasn't as strong and it had a lot Doctor fanservice that made me grit my teeth.

[darkelf105.livejournal.com]

Also, I think Martha is frustrating because she has the potential to shine, I really think she does, but she never steps up to the plate and just lets the Doctor do the planning/saving/talking/whole episode. But it doesn't help that the writers seem to be so besotted with the Doctor that the other characters feel like they don't matter. So I can understand hating Martha, there were momentes where I wanted to scream, but Rose wouldn't have done that, Rose would have been angry, Rose would have... and then was like, yeah, if I was being compared to some one like Rose all the time, I might not be at my best eithe. Hmmmm, maybe I like Martha so much because I have issues that I need to work out.

[crowyhead.livejournal.com]

I agree that the writers definitely did Martha a disservice in the way they wrote the character. But I also feel like the actress who plays her (whose name I've forgotten for the moment) just didn't have the same chops as Billie Piper (lord, I never thought I'd say that), and she definitely doesn't have the same chops at Catherine Tate, so whenever she turns up during the 4th season I'm just like "ARGH SHUT UP, who were you screwing that you got to be on this show?!"

[darkelf105.livejournal.com]

Lol. I loved Catherine Tate in "Runaway Bride" and I think that in comparison that actress will look really dull and I gotta agree with "ARGH SHUT UP, who were you screwing that you got to be on this show?!". Do you know why they keep switching around the companions, or is that just something from the old show that I've never seen so I don't appreciate the aesthetics.

[crowyhead.livejournal.com]

It's pretty much a holdover from the old show. I mean, Sarah Jane was a Companion for YEARS, but there've been over thirty characters who could be classed as Companions over the run of the show.

[athousandwinds.livejournal.com]

Compared to Rose and to this season's Companion, she is so whiny and such a throwback to the oldschool "I'm the Companion and I need to be rescued" thing from the original Doctor Who.

...when, exactly?

In "Smith and Jones" (gives him her last breath), "The Shakespeare Code" (restarts his hearts), "Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution" (same), "The Lazarus Experiment" (goes back into the building), "42" (freezes him), "Family of Blood" (defuses the cliffhanger), "The Last of the Time Lords" (travels the world for a year), she saves the Doctor. In "Gridlock", the Doctor makes his way up to the city to save her, yes, but also everyone else, and Martha's the one who saves Milo, Cheen and herself from the Macra. In "42", he has to recall her escape pod, but she's just as active in that episode as he is. "The Lazarus Experiment" is probably the best example of Martha needing to be rescued and again, she does just as much rescuing herself.

And whiny compared to Rose? She has a lot more to put up with, for starters. And she's not the one who put "He left me, Mum!" at the top of her agenda when the world was being attacked by aliens (The Christmas Invasion). She's not the one who thought suicide by black hole was better than being parted from the Doctor, the exact opposite of what the Doctor needed and expected her to do (The Satan Pit).

I loved S1 Rose. But even there she needed to be rescued a lot more than Martha ever did (End of the World, Unquiet Dead, Dalek, Father's Day, The Empty Child, Boomtown, Bad Wolf).

[crowyhead.livejournal.com]

Maybe you're right. I guess Martha just gives the impression (to me) of being a much weaker character than either Rose or Donna. In the recent season 4 finale (no spoilers, don't worry), the direct comparison of Martha to Rose, Donna, and Sarah Jane was just kind of painful. Mainly my issue is probably that I have difficulty separating my antipathy toward the actress who plays Martha (I find her voice in particular to be incredibly irritating) from the character.

[athousandwinds.livejournal.com]

Again no spoilers for the S4 finale, except in very general terms -

Personally, I thought Martha was the most active character in the episode. She takes a certain action, the morality of which we can debate 'til the cows come home, but she does it on her own initiative and against Jack's advice, and is shown to be deeply affected by it. Sarah Jane takes a similar action. Rose does - what, again? And her ending again puts her in a passive position. (I can love passive characters, but Rose is supposed to be active.) Donna doesn't exactly get her chance to shine, much as she deserved it and although I love her to pieces, I have to admit that.

My thoughts on Martha tend to be that people mistake "quiet" and "unassuming" for "passive" and "under-developed". Rose and Donna have powerful, extroverted personalities. Martha's just the opposite, but that doesn't mean she's not as strong a character.

[i-renovated.livejournal.com]

You are so going to love Donna in S4--and I believe the episodes are available online. NOW.

AND, Martha Jones isn't done cooking--she's the awesome in Torchwood and has shown some cool growth when she pops back up in S4. I think she'll be back again, and she keeps getting better. Still, yeah, not my favorite companion because she was still developing. Donna, on the other hand, I almost think I like her better than Rose sometimes (gasp!).

Doctor and tinkerbell, yeah, I hated that part too. WTF? It was smack down time!

[darkelf105.livejournal.com]

Oooo, Martha's in Torchwood? That is teh_awesome. I would love to download the new episodes on line but ::sniffles::, I am an internet peasant and still have dial-up. I can wait, I think, maybe, for it to come out on dvd box....although the fiance has cable internet so maybe I can take my laptop over his house and download them on the wireless connection....that has possibilities...

[athousandwinds.livejournal.com]

The thing about the Master that you have to take into account is exactly how desperate the Doctor is to hang onto him. It's not even just that they used to be best friends and have been mortal enemies for hundreds of years and mean a great deal to each other personally - the Master is the only other Time Lord living, without whom the Doctor is completely alone again. His plan of keeping the Master with him in the TARDIS is completely impractical and the only way he can possibly deal with having another Time Lord around, keeping them safe and never letting anyone hurt them. He makes the offer in TSoD, too, when they're on the phone.

Ohgod, I love Martha to itty bitty pieces. And she's the most independent companion of them all, despite being the one most explicitly in love with the Doctor. Weird how that works.

[darkelf105.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, totally agree with you about the Doctor's reaction...which was sorta why he wasn't in the position to make decisions? But, I really, really wanted that episode to be about Martha, I guess.