The Doctor's Daughter

[tardis_stowaway]

I liked this episode.  It could have been even better, which was frustrating, but I still enjoyed it.  Here's an extremely scattershot reaction:

-Oh!  I'd been expecting an episode with this title would involve either a survivor of the Time War or maybe a half-human child left behind by some sexin'  some point in the Doctor's past.  I like this idea much better.

-I liked the Hath (that was the fish-faced aliens' name, right?).  It was an interesting change for the Whoniverse to have an alien that couldn't talk to you, and I thought the scenes of Martha in their base explored the idea nicely.

-I'm glad Martha isn't so bitter that she can't enjoy the thrill of stepping out onto an unknown world.

-Why would your very first reaction to newcomers be to use their DNA for new soldiers?  Wouldn't you want to screen them to make sure they were free of genetic diseases, genetic tendencies towards paciffism, etc.?  If the machine was supposed to do that, it didn't work.  And why not do Donna and Martha too?

-The Doctor and Donna sure are vehement about denying they're a couple.  Rose used to deny this also.  ("Why does everybody think we're a couple?!" in Father's Day, for instance).  Doth the Time Lord and the Supertemp protest too much?  ;-)  (That way lies crack.  The Doctor and Donna have none of the sparks Rose and the Doctor had.  Nevertheless, it is an interesting parallel.)

-They actually got thrown into a jail cell!  Given how common this idea is in fic, it happens surprisingly little on the show.  They get captured by baddies all the time, but only rarely is a cell featured.  At least there was no Shag or Die scenario.

-Donna is badass.  She not only solves the riddle of the numbers but forces the Doctor to deal with Jenny's presence instead of just shutting down.

- Jenny's not a proper daughter.  She has no DNA from a mother to add diversity.  She's not a clone (she might, for instance, have two copies of a recessive allele where the Doctor has one dominant and one recessive), but there is nothing in her genetics that is not of the Doctor.  Therefore when he rejects her so vehemently early on, he's actually rejecting himself.  He sees her as embodying the violent aspects of himself that he's striven to leave behind. 

-Why is there random quicksand (or whatever that sucking puddle was) for Martha to fall into?  And how does she emerge with remarkably little dirt on her?

-You remember how Rose got the bronze in gymnastics?  Jenny could have gotten the gold.  The whole corridor full of lasers was rather Galaxy Quest.

-I wished I hadn't read about David Tennant and Georgia Moffet dating before I saw this episode.  The knowledge made all of the familial bits seem kinda squicky.

-It's a mite Lord of the Flies with all these people fighting who have all been alive less than seven days.

-So the TARDIS sensed Jenny and brought them to the planet a tad early, resulting in the creation of Jenny.  Doctor, are you positive that you got all of the Master's paradox machine modifications out of the TARDIS?  If not, you might want to get on that.

-The Doctor is often angsty.  Jenny is very perky, which is forgivable since she's less than a day old. They are both the sort to be absolutely convinced that they're right.   Plus, as I said earlier, Jenny is even more like him than a normal daughter would be, and we know the Doctor doesn't tend to get along with his other incarnations.  It's probably just as well she's not in the TARDIS, as they would have undoubtedly killed each other within a few days.

-When Donna said she'd stay with the Doctor forever, I said "Fuck!" rather loudly to my TV screen.  Now she's got the black spot on her hand, an albatross around her neck, a bullseye on her forehead, and a mysterious something on her back.  She should be old enough to know better than to make impossible promises like that, even if she said it to Martha rather than the Doctor.