A Few Notes on “The Angels Take Manhattan”

Lots to complain about in “The Angels Take Manhattan” (oh so much – not a fan of that one.)  Today, however, I’m focusing on just one line that really rankles me, and my attempt (read:  fanwank) to reconcile it (spoilers for this episode and series 4’s “The Forest of the Dead.”)

A bit of setup:  there’s this whole big thing where River has her hand caught in a Weeping Angel’s grip and, despite the Doctor’s edict to the contrary, she breaks her wrist getting free.  It’s relevant for handwavy “time can’t be rewritten once you’ve read it” reasons that apply to this episode and absolutely nothing else, but that’s a rant for another day.  The point is, River lies about having broken her wrist, and when the Doctor finds out what really happened, his hopes that they might be able to beat predestination take a significant hit.  Later, when it’s just the two of them, Amy asks River why she lied, and River replies, “Never let him see the damage.  And never, ever let him see you age.  He doesn’t like endings.”

I hate this line for assorted reasons.  First, the “he doesn’t like endings” part, which is introduced and anvil-dropped heavily in this episode to foreshadow Amy and Rory’s departure at the end, feels so immature and non-Doctor-ish to me.  This is a man who’s lived with the weight of his entire planet and race being destroyed (well…) – he knows that things end.  When Four thinks Sarah Jane and Harry have been killed, he mourns, but he keeps working.  Ten is able to get past Rose.  Not well, grant you, but he still does it.  While it’s true that he doesn’t like aftermath – sticking around to clean up, facing to fallout that he hadn’t predicted – that’s not the same thing.  It isn’t until this period of the show that he clings and pines so hard re:  his companions, that he decides to wholly throw in the towel or goes completely off the rails and tries to break laws of time when he loses one of them.  Moffat may have the impression that it provides good drama and/or angst, but for me, it feels so small.  Almost… petty, and not like the Doctor I know.

Then, there’s the “never, ever let him see you age” part.  This is also referenced earlier in the episode, when the Doctor notes that Amy’s reading glasses make her eyes look “line-y” and then realizes the lines are there with or without the glasses.  It’s this weird, sad bonding moment for River and Amy, but there’s never any reference to Rory having to guard against the same thing, which creates an implicit suggestion that it’s only women who shouldn’t visibly age.  Obviously, gross.  I hate it when writers put sexist ideas onto the Doctor.  I know it’s astrange to say this about a fictional character, but it makes me angry on his behalf, like they’re forcing it on him.

So, because I never want to see the Doctor being sexist, here’s my fanwank.  Of course, the Doctor knows from his first meeting with River how she’s going to die.  He knows exactly when and where her life ends, and because he’s grown to care greatly for her, he hates to think of that day approaching in her timeline.  So, when he encounters River at points when he knows she’s not far from the Library – in this episode, she mentions being made a professor, which he knows is a precursor to that final adventure – it upsets him to know she doesn’t have much time left, and because he’s already experienced it, he knows there’s nothing he can do to stop it.  However, River doesn’t know any of this because the Doctor obviously hasn’t told her that he’s already seen her death.  She only knows that, the older she is, the more unsettled the Doctor seems.  In this scenario, he cares deeply for her no matter her age, but her perception is that he’s pulling away and doesn’t like to see her getting “old.”  She has no idea what’s really troubling him.