The thing I liked best about Rory--well, he had three great lines in this episode, the first when he told Amy that he didn't care that she'd got old but that they hadn't done it together, the second when he told the Doctor that in that case he didn't want to travel with him anymore, and the third when he told the Doctor that he was trying to make Rory like him. I'm willing to shift all of the 'ew' blame about "which wife do you want?" on to the Doctor, which is I think where it belongs, particularly since he tries so hard to dodge it.
I find the show's overreliance on romantic love as the crowning motivation frustrating too, particularly since it comes and goes--the pirate episode is about filial love, "A Good Man Goes to War" has all the people who owe the Doctor debts showing up out of duty and fidelity at the same time as romantic love, so it's not the only motivation, but I wish the showrunners would make up their minds and be consistent. And I also find Amy's reducing her entire relationship to Rory frustrating, though I could see an argument that she knows that it's the only argument that would get through to her older!self--and of course there's an element of self-preservation there, of not wanting to turn into bitter lonely aged!Amy. Which I think is understandable too.
Eleven's relationship to his guilt is interesting. I think in some senses he's more self-aware than Ten? But not so much in others.
Re: 2/2
The thing I liked best about Rory--well, he had three great lines in this episode, the first when he told Amy that he didn't care that she'd got old but that they hadn't done it together, the second when he told the Doctor that in that case he didn't want to travel with him anymore, and the third when he told the Doctor that he was trying to make Rory like him. I'm willing to shift all of the 'ew' blame about "which wife do you want?" on to the Doctor, which is I think where it belongs, particularly since he tries so hard to dodge it.
I find the show's overreliance on romantic love as the crowning motivation frustrating too, particularly since it comes and goes--the pirate episode is about filial love, "A Good Man Goes to War" has all the people who owe the Doctor debts showing up out of duty and fidelity at the same time as romantic love, so it's not the only motivation, but I wish the showrunners would make up their minds and be consistent. And I also find Amy's reducing her entire relationship to Rory frustrating, though I could see an argument that she knows that it's the only argument that would get through to her older!self--and of course there's an element of self-preservation there, of not wanting to turn into bitter lonely aged!Amy. Which I think is understandable too.
Eleven's relationship to his guilt is interesting. I think in some senses he's more self-aware than Ten? But not so much in others.