"Better a fallen rocket than never a burst of light."
~ Tom Stoppard, The Invention of Love

Sunday, June 21, 2020

Relationship Spotlight: Amy Pond, the Doctor & Rory Williams (Doctor Who)


I’ve been known to rag on some of the writing for the Ponds, from the annoying insistence on Rory’s jealousy of the Doctor to some of the holes in Amy’s characterization to the show’s tendency of dropping in major life-altering details into the characters’ story that then has little relevance to the ongoing plot. It’s all very “sigh,” and I’ll admit that I was ready for Amy and Rory to leave when they exited the show. However, it was because of those writing issues, not the characters themselves or their overall relationship with the Eleventh Doctor. Because I really do enjoy these three together (a few series 5-7 spoilers.)

It’s not unprecedented for companions to come on board the TARDIS already knowing each other (going back to the beginning, with Ian and Barbara as two of Susan’s teachers,) or for one to join the Doctor first and another to come later (Rose and Mickey, although his tenure was pretty short-lived.) However, the mix of relationships present onboard the TARDIS during this particular configuration make for some interesting dynamics. Amy and Rory are already engaged by the time she “runs away” with the Doctor on the eve of her wedding, counting on the time machine to get her back without incident – considering that her second meeting with the Doctor involves him returning after 12 years when he said he’d be gone 5 minutes, that goes to show how confident Amy is feeling about marriage in that moment. By the time Rory comes aboard, Amy’s been traveling with the Doctor for a while, and there’s an easy platonic intimacy between them that he can’t really crack (he keeps thinking of it in terms of romantic rivalry – silly, Rory.) And even though Amy is always the Doctor’s number-one Pond, he’s the one who first invites Rory onto the TARDIS, and as time goes on, it’s clear that he becomes very fond of the nurse from Leadworth. Not to mention, there’s the Doctor’s history as Amy’s childhood “imaginary friend” to add to the mix as well.

All that adds up to an entertaining plethora of interactive possibilities. Whether you’re looking at all three as a group, Amy and Rory, Amy and the Doctor, or the Doctor and Rory, these are relationships that count. Amy and Rory get a lot of the big moments, but I enjoy their little things too, like dressing up as a police officer and a centurion during their honeymoon (hee!) With Amy and the Doctor, there’s all this history and understanding; they click on a level that doesn’t always make sense looking at it from the outside in, and I love how the Doctor spends half the time acting like Amy’s playmate and half the time acting like her uncle. Rory and the Doctor get the least attention, but their interactions are interesting because Rory is always there for Amy first and the Doctor second, so his view of the Doctor can be a little more clear-eyed than some companions’.

This of course isn’t the first time the Doctor and their companions formed a funny little TARDIS family (Two, Jamie, and Zoe forever!), but this trio definitely hits those notes hard, and not just because of the convoluted implications of adding River to the whole thing. I love it when the Doctor beams over the Ponds like a proud papa or when they roll their eyes over his inability to understand that they might not want bunkbeds in their TARDIS bedroom. Whether they’re running from monsters, literally rolling back death, or just chilling in the TARDIS, these three are made for each other.

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