Yeah, romantic plotlines with the Doctor are so weird to me simply because of the age/experience gap.

Part of my like for River is that she is the only person besides the Doctor who walks into a situation and knows what is going on and what should happen; and it's interesting to see how someone with the same power wields it so differently. I do see what you're saying, though. I would love her a thousand times more if they'd left out the romance.

Rose actually disturbs me. I think a lot of people like her because she's an easy self-insert and the Doctor actually likes her even though she's an absolute idiot. OK, I may be being harsh.

Ah, I really really am looking forward to Hex because Rory is by far my favorite character.