Probably the most frequent complaint I hear about Martha is that her story was bad -- that someone might have liked her, if not for her "crush", or that someone did like her, except for the unrequited love story, that they thought she was better than the story she was given, or that the worst thing about her character was the unrequited love story. Even among people who do like Martha, I often see the complaint that her story made her seem like second-best, and that the person liked the character despite hating the story.

I love Martha Jones, and I think now, three seasons later, I can safely say I loved the unrequited love story, too.

The thing is, and the reason I like this arc for her so much, is that it isn't about how Martha Jones is second-best to Rose Tyler. It's not even really about the fact that the Doctor doesn't love Martha back the way she wants him to. If anything, it's the opposite of that -- it's about Martha realizing she isn't second-best, thank-you-very much, and that if the Doctor can't appreciate her, well, it's his loss.

People talk a lot about the text wanting us to dislike Martha, but I don't think that's true. The text wants us to like Martha very much -- that's why she does so many awesome things, that's why she's the lead female, that's why we get all those shots of Martha looking sad or upset. We're meant to sympathize and meant to realize that the way the Doctor treats her is unfair, but just in case we missed it, the text makes it explicit when Martha Jones "gets out".



I love and adore Martha's ending. For one, I love that she is (so far) the only New Who main companion to leave on her own time by her own choice. I love that at first she uses her family as an explanation, but that she goes back to clarify that this is coming from her, too, for her own reasons. It'd be easy to say that it's just because she needs to look after her family, especially for Martha Jones, who spends an entire season looking after other people. It'd be easier for her not to admit it, and it'd be letting the Doctor off the hook, too, rather than forcing him to really examine the way he's treated her. But she goes back and she clarifies and it is awesome.

So many times unrequited love arcs culminate in the character being "rewarded" with the finally-returned affections of whomever they've been pining after. And maybe for some stories that's the right choice, and I know for some people that seemed the clear path Martha's story was taking. But this ending, in my opinion, is so much better. It's not about Martha finally "earning" the Doctor's love and being rewarded with it. The Doctor, quite frankly, doesn't deserve Martha's love, because plenty of times throughout the season he's been unkind to her, whether he realized it or not. It's not about Martha "finally" being worthy of love -- it's about her realizing that she always has been.

To put it plainly, Martha's ending -- Martha's entire arc -- isn't about loving the Doctor and it isn't really about the Doctor at all. It's about Martha realizing her own value, her own strength, her own awesomeness, and realizing that she's wasting it on someone who takes her for granted. It's about her gaining the strength and self-confidence and even selfishness (after a season of being painfully self-less) to get out of her situation to go find someone who will appreciate her from the get-go. It's about Martha -- for all her patience and kindness and selflessness -- learning that it's okay to make a decision for herself and finding the strength to do so.

And that's why I love it.