Oh, Rory, I fear for you!
I just can't shake the feeling that Rory Williams is going to break my heart soon.
Again.
This week's episode The Rebel Flesh was a gorgeous one for Rory. The sympathy he rapidly developed with the "ganger" Jennifer made enormous sense to me. Learning that you are not actually the person that your head is filled with memories of, but instead you are considered a "thing" manufactured to look like and believe you are that person - who would understand that better than Rory who apparently still (sometimes?) remembers spending 2000 years as an Auton? Add to that the fact that he's probably one of the most genuinely kind-hearted people to travel in the TARDIS and he has a protective streak a mile wide - well, I would have been disappointed if he hadn't been the one who developed pro-ganger sympathies.
I don't think his protectiveness and sympathy for Jennifer is being unfaithful to Amy in any way because I really don't think it's sexually motivated on his part (so far, at least, and I'll be disappointed if that changes). And I actually welcome this depiction of his protective nature being just part of who he is and not purely motivated by his love for Amy because I've been worrying for a while now that Rory's unshakeable love for Amy might be his downfall in some way. I've worried that he will fall prey to that old cliché of being willing to sacrifice the lives and welfare of many others just to save to one woman that he loves.
Perhaps I worry for no reason. Rory has already sidestepped some of the "love clichés" that are among my pet peeves. I've never really been into idea that possessive jealousy is somehow an admirable or sympathetic trait. While I do understand that people in love do get that possessively jealous, (to me) truly loving someone means putting their needs and wants above yours. And Rory demonstrated very early on (Vampires of Venice) that he was willing to step aside if that was what Amy truly wanted. He's never felt that he's had the right to demand anything of her just because he loves her and even his agreement with Jennifer that "Amy's a lucky girl" for having him seemed slightly ironic and self-deprecating.
That said, I do like the fact that Amy does seem to feel a twinge of jealousy about the situation but can't really say anything about it because she's always derided any jealousy or insecurity on Rory's part. Cute to see the shoe on the other foot for a bit. I suppose it would be too much to hope that she might actually learn from it and be a little kinder to her husband about such things in the future.
I don't know what the second part of this two-parter will bring. As I said, I hope that Rory doesn't betray Amy but still remains protective of Jennifer. And I hope Jennifer doesn't succumb to the "monster" cliché of turning on her protector. Although I could live with the other "monster" cliché of her sacrificing herself to save the one person who showed her kindness.
But I suppose that I will ALWAYS fear for Rory as a character because while I do try to watch Doctor Who (and all my favourite shows) as an unspoiled and hopefully unprejudiced viewer, I can't help seeing future twists that might make for "good drama". And one that keeps popping into my mind is the possibility of Rory turning Evil. It doesn't naturally follow in terms of the character, but it's an acting challenge that I think Arthur Darvill would be totally capable of taking on. Although, I've never seen him play real Evil (only seen him in two roles other than Rory and one of those was playing sidekick to Sooty), I do know that he once earned quite a bit of critical acclaim for a stage role as a murderer. I've also heard that he's going to spend the English summer playing Mephistopheles in Marlowe's Doctor Faustus at the Globe (Jeez, how I wish I could see that!)
So, being aware of this aspect of the actor's repertoire, it seems to me that they would be fools not to take advantage of it. I can only hope that any Evil!Rory comes about by some alien menace taking over his body for a while and that the eventually get the real Rory back.
But in the meantime, only 2 more weeks before Steven Moffat's much publicised mid-season cliffhanger episode. Excitement and dread in equal measure. ARRGHHH!!!
And now I really need to get those recent travel pics up, don't I?
Again.
This week's episode The Rebel Flesh was a gorgeous one for Rory. The sympathy he rapidly developed with the "ganger" Jennifer made enormous sense to me. Learning that you are not actually the person that your head is filled with memories of, but instead you are considered a "thing" manufactured to look like and believe you are that person - who would understand that better than Rory who apparently still (sometimes?) remembers spending 2000 years as an Auton? Add to that the fact that he's probably one of the most genuinely kind-hearted people to travel in the TARDIS and he has a protective streak a mile wide - well, I would have been disappointed if he hadn't been the one who developed pro-ganger sympathies.
I don't think his protectiveness and sympathy for Jennifer is being unfaithful to Amy in any way because I really don't think it's sexually motivated on his part (so far, at least, and I'll be disappointed if that changes). And I actually welcome this depiction of his protective nature being just part of who he is and not purely motivated by his love for Amy because I've been worrying for a while now that Rory's unshakeable love for Amy might be his downfall in some way. I've worried that he will fall prey to that old cliché of being willing to sacrifice the lives and welfare of many others just to save to one woman that he loves.
Perhaps I worry for no reason. Rory has already sidestepped some of the "love clichés" that are among my pet peeves. I've never really been into idea that possessive jealousy is somehow an admirable or sympathetic trait. While I do understand that people in love do get that possessively jealous, (to me) truly loving someone means putting their needs and wants above yours. And Rory demonstrated very early on (Vampires of Venice) that he was willing to step aside if that was what Amy truly wanted. He's never felt that he's had the right to demand anything of her just because he loves her and even his agreement with Jennifer that "Amy's a lucky girl" for having him seemed slightly ironic and self-deprecating.
That said, I do like the fact that Amy does seem to feel a twinge of jealousy about the situation but can't really say anything about it because she's always derided any jealousy or insecurity on Rory's part. Cute to see the shoe on the other foot for a bit. I suppose it would be too much to hope that she might actually learn from it and be a little kinder to her husband about such things in the future.
I don't know what the second part of this two-parter will bring. As I said, I hope that Rory doesn't betray Amy but still remains protective of Jennifer. And I hope Jennifer doesn't succumb to the "monster" cliché of turning on her protector. Although I could live with the other "monster" cliché of her sacrificing herself to save the one person who showed her kindness.
But I suppose that I will ALWAYS fear for Rory as a character because while I do try to watch Doctor Who (and all my favourite shows) as an unspoiled and hopefully unprejudiced viewer, I can't help seeing future twists that might make for "good drama". And one that keeps popping into my mind is the possibility of Rory turning Evil. It doesn't naturally follow in terms of the character, but it's an acting challenge that I think Arthur Darvill would be totally capable of taking on. Although, I've never seen him play real Evil (only seen him in two roles other than Rory and one of those was playing sidekick to Sooty), I do know that he once earned quite a bit of critical acclaim for a stage role as a murderer. I've also heard that he's going to spend the English summer playing Mephistopheles in Marlowe's Doctor Faustus at the Globe (Jeez, how I wish I could see that!)
So, being aware of this aspect of the actor's repertoire, it seems to me that they would be fools not to take advantage of it. I can only hope that any Evil!Rory comes about by some alien menace taking over his body for a while and that the eventually get the real Rory back.
But in the meantime, only 2 more weeks before Steven Moffat's much publicised mid-season cliffhanger episode. Excitement and dread in equal measure. ARRGHHH!!!
And now I really need to get those recent travel pics up, don't I?