#like he goes through an extremely traumatic event and then has to immediately reexpose himself to it without any chance to process what happ

[jimmyandthegiraffes]

Where’s that post I made about Mike being the companion that broke under the horrors bc I’m still right. When I think abt the THINGS some companions have had to endure and have still seemingly been fine, and then I think of mike losing himself and his values to a festering psychological wound that left him open to radicalisation, it’s like he is the evidence that actually everything isn’t fine.

Which is why it’s so important that he should be next seen in meditation, in the seeking of peace, in quietness and healing because not only is he a character that needs it he’s also a character that knows he needs it and seeks it out for himself, because he doesn’t recognise who he is anymore and he wants, not to redeem himself in the eyes of others (he won’t even go near UNIT, not even when he needs their help, he goes through Sarah Jane instead!), but to become a better person, to stop being a threat, and to heal for his own soul’s sake.

And so he goes from someone who was willing to see the entirety of human history erased, to someone who will risk his life for one person and the fact that that ultimately saves his life always imo comes across as a bit easy if you watch planet of the spiders without this context in mind. But when you do think about where Mike has been, psychologically, from the green death through to planet of the spiders, it doesn’t seem easy at all but actually a significant if understated character moment.

#mike yates #waxing lyrical about my blorbos in the middle of the night #but for real mikes healing arc is SO much to me #I think one of the crucial things about the green death is firstly that the doctor asks him to go back #like I genuinely think Mike would not have been as traumatised by his experiences as he was if he hadn’t IMMEDIATELY been forced back into #the traumatic situation #and the second thing is that Jo leaves at the end #mike is straight up NOT having a good time #like he goes through an extremely traumatic event and then has to immediately reexpose himself to it without any chance to process what happ #ened to him #and then he loses one of his best friends almost immediately afterwards #ESPECIALLY since jo would be the person MOST likely to understand what he is going through #and they both know that #the first day they met Jo was manipulated into attacking her friends by a power beyond her own will #which is exactly what has just happened to Mike #and Mike witnessed All of that so he knows. he KNOWS that jo would understand #but he can’t talk to her about it because she’s getting married and leaving