Well, I wasn't grinning with glee. I was mostly huddled on the sofa cuddling a small stuffed dog, and trying not to sob. But plot-wise, yes I did. Emotionally, it was a complete gut punch, and I have no problem with being gut punched on Donna's behalf.
Also, I didn't feel it was left without hope. No, she's not the Donna Noble who travelled with the Doctor, but she still has all that potential, and maybe now, she'll find it on her own terms, with her family's support. I refuse to believe that a Donna who managed all that with the Doctor's help is an incapable Donna without him. For me, the exchange between the Doctor and her mother was the most telling, and was gave me that hope. The Donna who can only shout at the world in "Turn Left" is a direct product of her mother's constant criticism. Without that? Who knows?
Also, she was a bit dim, shallow, oblivious, etc, but is her life really that awful? That it's worse than death? She can't feel the loss, because she doesn't remember it. We feel it on her behalf, but in that last phone call to her friend, she was happy. She was unhappy before 'Partners in Crime' because she knew what she was missing. Now, she doesn't, and maybe she has a shot at real happiness without the Doctor. For me, that's a way better fate than poor Rose and not!Doctor. That's the one that felt cruel to me.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-07 06:34 pm (UTC)Also, I didn't feel it was left without hope. No, she's not the Donna Noble who travelled with the Doctor, but she still has all that potential, and maybe now, she'll find it on her own terms, with her family's support. I refuse to believe that a Donna who managed all that with the Doctor's help is an incapable Donna without him. For me, the exchange between the Doctor and her mother was the most telling, and was gave me that hope. The Donna who can only shout at the world in "Turn Left" is a direct product of her mother's constant criticism. Without that? Who knows?
Also, she was a bit dim, shallow, oblivious, etc, but is her life really that awful? That it's worse than death? She can't feel the loss, because she doesn't remember it. We feel it on her behalf, but in that last phone call to her friend, she was happy. She was unhappy before 'Partners in Crime' because she knew what she was missing. Now, she doesn't, and maybe she has a shot at real happiness without the Doctor. For me, that's a way better fate than poor Rose and not!Doctor. That's the one that felt cruel to me.