Hi everyone yes I am a whovian I just refrain from talking about it because I could write entire BOOKS about it but I cannot resist this time so apologies in advance but
I absolutely get the erotic undertones perceived here, I have perceived them too, but
please let me apologize for my disorganized psychological rant in advance but this scene has stuck with me since I first saw it when I was a wee teenager and seeing it again now I have to get this out
I always saw this scene as so, so superbly acted in a different way. It's one of my favorite scenes in the entire series.
The centuries-old alien that thinks he's seen everything, talking with a living personification of infinity.
He admits to both being somewhat offended by Jack's existence while also being incredibly fascinated by it.
Admits to it, yes, but he truly shows it. Tennant plays that so, so well. Cautious but intrigued. Disapproving yet charmed. Jack is still human, with all the lovely quirks and flaws that come with it, despite being a "fixed point in time." There's a degree or pity coming from Ten in regards to Jack's predicament, but also a degree of envy. Because Ten knows that he'll die one day. Even though he'll regenerate, the person he is now will become a memory, while Jack, to his knowledge at this point, will continue to exist indefinitely.
Ten doesn't like it. At least, he doesn't want to like it. But at the same time, even if he isn't aware of it, he wants that for himself, and he can't help but like it. He can't help but acknowledge and admire Jack's resilience—a human, a creature that should be mortal and understand his own mortality, who has been presented with the conundrum of infinity, something that should make any mortal being go insane—but in that silly way humans always do, Jack managed to find a way to adapt to it, simply living in the moment.
Countless beings have stared into the abyss, into the face of infinity, and gone mad. But Jack Harkness, a simple human, just learned to shrug it off and casually accept it.
Jack Harkness has an intimate understanding and acceptance of the concept of infinity that even the Doctor can't quite fathom, and seeing a being as simple as a human able to accept and embrace it is both annoying and enlightening. He loves it and he hates it and he admires it and he abhors it.
And FUCK if Tennant doesn't manage to show absolutely ALL of that emotion in this ONE single scene in the span of only a few minutes.
I remember this specific scene every time I see the scene where Ten says he's not ready to go right before his regeneration.
He was the first Doctor to say that. When his life as Ten flashed before his eyes, I'm sure he saw Jack several times. I'm sure he thought about the human who didn't have to go. Who didn't have the option to go. And in that moment, his envy outweighed his pity and disapproval and his "prejudice," and it humbled him more than anything in his entire ten lifetimes ever had before.
This one scene between him and Jack, coupled with that moment before his regeneration, just emotionally destroys me. I've seen David Tennant in so many other things at this point, but his portrayal of Ten is fucking ART and I will ALWAYS adore him for it.
