Just rewatched Rouge with my granny and it got me thinking.
It’s really sad that Rouge can never come back. Like, even if there’s an in story way to bring him back (which I’d been holding out hope on since I fist watched it), I doubt Jonathan Groff would ever come back to the role.
But even if he did, the romance aspect of their relationship is really problematic because Rouge is a human and if he were to travel with the doctor he would most likely die anyway, but even if he didn’t, the only way he’d leave the TARDIS is death or a breakup and I doubt anyone would write a breakup. So then the doctor would mourn on top of a Victorian cloud until like, the 22nd century chronologically, leaving the universe in mortal danger for hundreds of years.
But the romance aspect would also bring us down a route that shows us part of the doctor we’ve never seen before, which is character development. And that’s really important for a show that’s been around for just over 60 years.
But then again, with Ncuti Gatwa’s departure at the end of season 2, the chemistry between Rouge and the Doctor may also disappear.
In other words: I love rouge and he should be brought back but he can’t and it makes me sad :(