I was cautiously excited for the eighth season of Doctor Who
to begin, for many reasons. The Eleventh Doctor was my absolute favorite and I
positively sobbed when he regenerated on Christmas day. Twelve was going to
have a lot to live up to, in my opinion, though with Doctor Who they were sure
to deliver.
The season opener wasn’t at all what I expected. To be
honest, I was excited but not too excited. I have been getting a little tired
of the storylines that revolved in the 1800’s London setting with Madame
Vastra, Jenny Flint, and Strax. I’m not sure why I don’t like it all that much,
but it’s been a setting we’ve been seeing a lot since Clara appeared.
The episode was pretty strong, however, and reminded me a
lot of Tennant’s introduction in a way –
a madman, newly regenerated Time Lord in his dressing gown.
(And I might have cried a bit too much when we had the
surprise appearance of Eleven. Oh boy, do I miss you Matt Smith).
The next episode, “Into the Dalek” was interesting, but
still didn’t exactly do it for me. Since the relationship between Clara and
Twelve was so new, I wasn’t sure what to make of it – and neither were they
really. It was also strange that they were doing something similar to the Amy
and Rory story and having the Doctor pick up Clara from home whenever he
wanted. I tried to imagine Rose, Martha or Donna doing the same – and no way.
Those girls weren’t leaving the TARDIS even for a day, because they weren’t so
sure the Doctor would actually come back.
The first episode to really blow me away was “Robot of
Sherwood” – and mostly just because of how much I loved Robin Hood and his
portrayal. The rivalry between him and the Doctor was just delicious and I
think the Clara/Twelve relationship really started to develop more.
“Listen” was the classic “creepy” Who that we expect to see
from Steven Moffat and I adored it. I’m not really sure how it happened now in
wake of the finale and Danny Pink’s end….but you know. The details. Timey
whimey and all that. Seeing the Doctor so young and afraid was something new, I
think, and really did so much to “humanize” Twelve himself (as well as all the
past Doctors) and to see how far he has come from the crying boy in his bed.
The next three episodes – “Time Heist,” “The Caretaker,” and
“Kill the Moon” – were all favorites of mine. They had solid plotlines in my
opinion and amazing new characters. I want to see the characters from “Time
Heist” in every episode, to be honest. Seeing more of Danny was amazing too,
especially his display of talents in saving Clara and the Doctor. “Kill the
Moon” was a weird one for sure – but good weird. It’s interesting to show the
rift between Clara and the Doctor now, since they were obviously preparing for
Clara’s exit (?) from the show. (Though, that is a little unclear – is Santa
going to make the Doctor see that she lied or something?)
The next three episodes I really liked as well. “Mummy on
the Orient Express” was a bit slow for me at the beginning, but really did pick
up. The theme of soldiers came up again here and I don’t know why I was so
stupid and didn’t see that the signs were pointing to the Cybermen finale – the
ultimate soldiers. (Honestly, I sort of forgot that we had spoilers that
Cybermen were returning this season, oops). “Flatline” was good and almost a
bit like “Blink” in that the Doctor wasn’t necessarily the driving action –
just a way to provide information. He was more hands on than in “Blink,”
though, so it wasn’t a true “Doctor-less” episode. It was also strange to think of how different
this episode would have been with the Eleventh Doctor – who absolutely loved
kids (since he was a big kid himself) – while Twelve definitely doesn’t know
what to make of small humans.
“In the Forest of the Night”
was so good – and I’m glad we had some of these episodes that were exclusively
on Earth this season and saw Clara and Danny interact. We were fall in love
with Danny in this episode especially and see his struggles. The little girl
made this episode, definitely, with the actress’ sincerity.
Now on to the finale episodes. I was as shocked as everyone
when Danny died at the beginning of “Dark Water.” The tone the episode took was
immediately dark – seeing Clara’s grief was just awful. She was quiet and
pulled back – totally opposite of what we saw when Amy first lost Rory in “Cold
Blood” (before she forgot it). It was chilling to see and Jenna Coleman
delivered it well. The rest of the episode – wow. I didn’t see the Missy/Master
thing coming at all. I wondered who she was, of course, but I thought maybe she
was a new foe – not one from the past. The dark water itself was so clever, how
it only showed you organic matter – everything fell into place by the end of
the episode with a big “aha!” moment. The scenes with Danny in the “afterlife”
– which we have been seeing all season when a person in an episodes dies –
finally starts to bring the season together. The recording of the people saying
“don’t cremate me” was totally bone chilling and creepy.
Finally, the end: “Death in Heaven” starts off and oh dear –
Osgood is back! I can’t tell you how happy – and then heart broken – I was to
see her. If I ever cosplay, it will be as her. (And I loved the new addition of
the bowtie!) The pace moved quickly in this episode, with a lot of information.
We were brought back to the very beginning of Clara and the Doctor (well, sort
of) and it’s revealed that Missy was the girl in the shop that gave Clara the
phone number of the TARDIS (and I did not appreciate that Eleven flashback.
Miss you).
Then, what absolutely everything has been leading up to this
season: the redemption of the solider. The Doctor has always had a distaste for
armies and soldiers because of their use of weapons (but it’s been said before
that the Doctor himself makes his friends and companions into soldiers), but
this season he seemed on a warpath. He never seemed to miss a moment to
criticize Danny Pink for his past, or the soldiers in “Into a Dalek.” It was
pretty relentless. But it was all leading up to Missy offering him his very own
fleet of soldiers – with him as their leader. It also leads to show that
soldiers aren’t at all what he first thought – soulless killing machines that
just obey orders – and Danny Pink is the one to prove him wrong. He obeys love
rather than orders, to protect Clara.
This post on Tumblr I think sums up just
how great this redemption is – written by a former soldier.
To the conclusion of the season: I don’t know how to feel,
to be honest. Clara has never been my absolute favorite companion, but I like
her. She’s been with us so long, through two Doctors, that of course I miss
her. Her end is so sad – like so many ends with companions are – and worst off,
she chooses this. The is going to tell the Doctor the truth – that Danny is
gone for good – but then when she sees his happiness in finding Gallifrey (also
a lie – bad Doctor!) she backs up. She lies too. Says she’s happy and doesn’t
want to travel with him anymore and it’s goodbye. It ends with them both hiding
their faces with a hug – hiding the truth – and then Clara disappearing into
the crowd in London, because now that’s what she is. One of the crowd. “Normal”
you could say. Like Donna and Amy and Rory. Martha at least found Mickey,
another companion, and a way to protect the Earth
from Earth. Clara is alone in the same way Donna is, but even worst
off, because she remembers every amazing adventure with the Doctor. I think
that’s the saddest part.
It was an amazing episode, it really was. I think it brought
the season together. I had this weird dynamic where I would put off watching
the new episode for a day or so after it aired on Saturday. Sometimes I was
busy, other times I just didn’t seem that interested, but as I step back and
look at it as a whole – it was a pretty good season in the end.
Finally for the most amazing bit: Santa in the Christmas
special! I’m beside myself with happiness. It’s sure to ease the hurt from
losing Clara. Now we just have to look forward to the future and wonder where
the next companion will come from – will Clara come back? Would that be a bit
much? Can they bring Osgood back from the dead, please?
