Meta anvil o’ the day
I maintain that of all the NuWho companions, Martha is the one who is most like the Doctor, and that that’s probably the reason her dynamic with Ten never really settled—they’re too alike. Clever, competent, analytical, a bit emotionally closed off, far too experienced in cleaning up other people’s messes, compassionate but willing to do some heavy shit to save the day. (See: Martha coming up with a plan to electrocute their attackers in about thirty seconds flat in Evolution of the Daleks, then having a muted freakout when it actually works.) And since she was like him in so many ways and also never really got the appreciation she deserved, she modelled herself off of him in a way none of the other NuWho companions ever did, just in the course of striving so hard to prove herself. Rose (at least s1 Rose) and Donna spent a lot of time being the Doctor’s human counterweight and going “what the fuck do you think you’re doing? we are turning this TARDIS around right now if you don’t knock that off!” Martha spent a lot of time being the Doctor’s human shadow and going “okay, so what needs to be done?” which I think made Ten uncomfortable on some level—he hates himself so much that he doesn’t want a companion who’s too much like him.
My s4 rewatch is still stalled out after Fires of Pompeii (because I think I will need to be really drunk to make it through Planet of the Ood), but the Metalicious Anvil of Clobbering whacked me over the head today, because what was everyone doing in Journey’s End when the Daleks unveiled their reality bomb? Rose and Ten were sticking together like glue, Jack was threatening to blow up everything around him, Donna was off taking her first steps towards having all her agency stolen by RTD, and Martha… Martha was standing there with her hand on the big red button, radioing the entire Dalek fleet to say “I AM WILLING TO BLOW UP MY OWN PLANET AND ESSENTIALLY COMMIT GENOCIDE AGAINST MY OWN SPECIES IF THAT’S WHAT IT TAKES TO SAVE THE UNIVERSE FROM YOU SONS OF BITCHES.”
And of course Ten’s immediate reaction is “Who the fuck thought up that plan?” Oh honey.
These are excellent thinky thoughts and you should feel good about them!
^^^^
