FWIW, I don't recall the line as quite "You can't hate somebody unless you like them" but more along the lines of "You can't hate someone unless you care about them" (I know the word used was "like" - or possibly "liked" but the inflection was odd). Which did make perfect sense, to me - I agree the next line was "and I don't like you" but I don't think it needed to be said to be heard.
Because what I think the season about is about relationship burnout; Clara no longer actually cares about the Doctor. It's like someone who's in a relationship with someone where there's been a big change - like a major illness or sudden disability or depression - happening to one partner, and the other one is in part afraid to leave (and angry with themselves for wanting to leave) because that's superficial and shallow and says something bad about them but on the other hand the other person isn't what they signed up to and they really can't cope and it's all such hard work.
And the Doctor of course knows what's going on (it's happened often enough before; traditionally Companions do not transfer happily to being with a new Doctor, they hang on for a season and are then written out and a new one comes in) and is on the one hand trying to stop it, on the other hand knowing it's impossible to stop, and alternately trying to remind her of the good times ("in the past") and lashing out at alternative possible futures in which he has no part.
I'm not saying it's always pleasant story-telling or it's always particularly well done (I very much disliked "The Caretaker" for all the reasons you mentioned, and "Kill the Moon" was just inept on multiple levels)but I can see what's going on, I think. And I think it's got the potential to be interesting and has occasional flashes of getting there.
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Date: 2014-10-14 06:55 am (UTC)Because what I think the season about is about relationship burnout; Clara no longer actually cares about the Doctor. It's like someone who's in a relationship with someone where there's been a big change - like a major illness or sudden disability or depression - happening to one partner, and the other one is in part afraid to leave (and angry with themselves for wanting to leave) because that's superficial and shallow and says something bad about them but on the other hand the other person isn't what they signed up to and they really can't cope and it's all such hard work.
And the Doctor of course knows what's going on (it's happened often enough before; traditionally Companions do not transfer happily to being with a new Doctor, they hang on for a season and are then written out and a new one comes in) and is on the one hand trying to stop it, on the other hand knowing it's impossible to stop, and alternately trying to remind her of the good times ("in the past") and lashing out at alternative possible futures in which he has no part.
I'm not saying it's always pleasant story-telling or it's always particularly well done (I very much disliked "The Caretaker" for all the reasons you mentioned, and "Kill the Moon" was just inept on multiple levels)but I can see what's going on, I think. And I think it's got the potential to be interesting and has occasional flashes of getting there.