Currently reading: This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Under appreciated Doctor/Rose moments→ The Doctor thinks Rose is dead in “Bad Wolf”
The times we learn the most about the Doctor are the times when he is most vulnerable. Here, the Doctor’s love for Rose is written all over his face and he holds nothing back. We see him become numb as he picks up what he thinks is Rose’s remains and as they fall through his fingers we hear Jack yell “Don’t touch him!” Jack knows how distraught he is because he loved her and he thinks she is gone, gone like everyone else he’s loved. And he needed her.
When Nine realizes Rose is actually alive, we can see relief rush through him and we think “Thank god” along with him because he just cannot lose her—it isn’t a possibility. It hurts too much.
And finally, Rose’s “death” is a striking parallel to Ten’s near-death in “Journey’s End” being shot by a dalek. It strengthens Rose’s comparison to being Pete’s World version of the Doctor and emphasizing not only Rose’s journey from ordinary to extraordinary but the Doctor’s openness to love.
→8 TIMES THE DOCTOR MEANT TO SAY “I LOVE YOU” AND ONE TIME HE DID
“Have a good life. Do that for me, Rose. Have a fantastic life.”
The daleks are back, the Time War is resurfaced, and the Doctor’s going to die. So what does he do? Well, he’s the Doctor, so he goes headfirst into it, but not without saving the most precious thing in his life: Rose. By the end of series 1, the Doctor knows he loves Rose, but he’s afraid of confessing it because he doesn’t know if she loves him back. His, what he thinks is his last, message to her says no more and no less than “I love you” when he tells her to have a good life. Love is nothing, if not desire for your love’s happiness.
→8 TIMES THE DOCTOR MEANT TO SAY “I LOVE YOU” AND THE ONE TIME HE DID
“I thought you were dead.”
Rose is trapped, there’s a mad dalek on the loose, the Doctor’s hopeless, and Rose has to say goodbye. But by a miracle, she doesn’t die. The Doctor is dumbfounded and so, so relieved. His love is written all over his face. He loves this girl, and for the first time, someone recognizes it. Only this time, it’s the dalek, “What use are emotions if you will not save the woman you love?” For a split second, the Doctor has to imagine life without Rose and it close to destroys him. And in the next moment, he’s off to save her.
→8 TIMES THE DOCTOR MEANT TO SAY “I LOVE YOU” AND ONE TIME HE DID
“I could save the world but lose you.”
Everything is packed into this scene. Rose lets the Doctor do whatever he needs to do, which could kill her, and she doesn’t even know what that is precisely. But she doesn’t care. She has too much faith in him to care. Rose understands the Doctor’s life, she gets that it’s not fun or easy, but that it’s difficult and full of hard choices. And it shocks him. He doesn’t understand why this beautiful girl so readily gives herself to him, and he’s too afraid to break it. Because by now, the Doctor’s in love. Not to mention the intense eyefuck that doesn’t end until Harriet Jones interrupts.
→8 TIMES THE DOCTOR MEANT TO SAY “I LOVE YOU” AND ONE TIME HE DID
“I’m so glad I met you.”
“Me too.”
This is it. The beginning of the end, the moment I began to ship Doctor/Rose. Besides the obvious physical attraction (you can’t deny Rose’s eye flicker down to Nine’s lips), this particular moment is beautiful because of how tender and simple it is. They think that they’re going to die, that this is it, but neither would trade places. There are no convoluted words and no goodbyes. They live in the moment and in that moment they are together, so it’s okay. They grab each others hands for strength, a trend that continues all through Rose’s reign as the Doctor’s companion. They seek assurance and security from one another. The Doctor needs Rose, and it is never clearer than in this small exchange.
the eighth doctor regenerated after committing suicide immediately in the aftermath of the time war, seeing the devastation and feeling overwhelmingly guilty, which then explains the darkness of the ninth doctor and his carelessness of whether he lives or dies.
