I effing hate the end of it all. I rewatched these two eps recently and may at some point get around to actually posting about seeing them in light of what we've since learned, but the basic point is: they are so painful to watch now, even more than before.
And here, at her end, we have River, trapped in a box. Unchanging. Static. This, exactly. It goes back to what I was saying about River as story - here she is in the story, but there is arguably no more story to be written, only what is there already. And the story that is there isn't her story - it's constructed by someone else, for someone else. She gets to tell the pre-existing story to others, but she doesn't get any more story of her own, and, argh.
I do tend to handwave and go "We never saw her body! Other people came out of the computer! I do believe in fairies, I do I do!" even though I know it's probably never going to happen. And as you mentioned, ironically it becomes both easier and harder to accept this end the more we see: easier because we are getting more story even though her own story has narratively ended, and harder because the more we learn about her the less perfect as a moment that ep becomes and the more we see that she deserved better.
What I really hate about her end, though, is that she dies for the man she loves when he doesn't even love her. I mean, he can't even really say thank you properly, because he doesn't understand, and she dies without that understanding being possible. I am explaining this poorly, but it bugs me. It's also the only think that has really ticked me off about Eleven: River dies for him, and then the next time he meets her he tries to run away? I don't care how freaked out he is by her timey-wimey-ness, that is just plain rude. (I think Ten did similar to Jack, BUT STILL.)
ANYWAYS, I am babbling when mostly I just want to say that I think you are very right, and I really wish we had gotten a recurring character ending rather than a guest star ending, but I do trust Moff to keep bringing the awesome with her.
(Moff's kind of the anti-RDM. Moore kept starting off with these great female characters and then just kind of letting them wilt. River: the anti-Laura Roslin?)
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Date: 2010-07-16 06:12 am (UTC)I effing hate the end of it all. I rewatched these two eps recently and may at some point get around to actually posting about seeing them in light of what we've since learned, but the basic point is: they are so painful to watch now, even more than before.
And here, at her end, we have River, trapped in a box. Unchanging. Static.
This, exactly. It goes back to what I was saying about River as story - here she is in the story, but there is arguably no more story to be written, only what is there already. And the story that is there isn't her story - it's constructed by someone else, for someone else. She gets to tell the pre-existing story to others, but she doesn't get any more story of her own, and, argh.
I do tend to handwave and go "We never saw her body! Other people came out of the computer! I do believe in fairies, I do I do!" even though I know it's probably never going to happen. And as you mentioned, ironically it becomes both easier and harder to accept this end the more we see: easier because we are getting more story even though her own story has narratively ended, and harder because the more we learn about her the less perfect as a moment that ep becomes and the more we see that she deserved better.
What I really hate about her end, though, is that she dies for the man she loves when he doesn't even love her. I mean, he can't even really say thank you properly, because he doesn't understand, and she dies without that understanding being possible. I am explaining this poorly, but it bugs me. It's also the only think that has really ticked me off about Eleven: River dies for him, and then the next time he meets her he tries to run away? I don't care how freaked out he is by her timey-wimey-ness, that is just plain rude. (I think Ten did similar to Jack, BUT STILL.)
ANYWAYS, I am babbling when mostly I just want to say that I think you are very right, and I really wish we had gotten a recurring character ending rather than a guest star ending, but I do trust Moff to keep bringing the awesome with her.
(Moff's kind of the anti-RDM. Moore kept starting off with these great female characters and then just kind of letting them wilt. River: the anti-Laura Roslin?)