I’m almost there folks! I’m almost completely caught up for the first time since series 8 started! But I still haven’t written a blog about episodes 6 and 7 yet, so first here’s the Talk about those two episodes and I’ll post the talk about 8 and 9 by Tuesday . Remember that my TARDIS Talks all have spoilers so allow this picture of Tom Barker (get it?) and his tail wagging TARDIS to be your last warning. I’d like to thank The Pet Collective for providing me with plenty of Doctor Who Animal pics for my talks.
Episode 6: The Caretaker
Doctor Who can be a funny show. It’s hard to remember this fact with heartbreaking episodes like The Name of the Doctor where he says goodbye to River Song or one of my favorite episodes, Vincent and the Doctor where the Doctor takes van Gogh to hear Bill Nighy’s van Gogh speech. Episode 6 was a funny character building episode that wasted a perfectly good robot. This was just another case of Moffat’s storytelling ADD where he combines two plots that could have each had their own episode.
The Caretaker started out with a clever and well done montage of Clara’s adventures with the Doctor and the subsequent explanations she had to deliver to Danny. The seaweed in the hair and the tan were hilarious and fun to watch her explain. Even if I hadn’t seen the trailer for the episode I would have known something was up when the Doctor went off on his own. That being said, it wasn’t very surprising when he showed up at Clara’s school as the new caretaker and I loved the fact that he brought the name John Smith back.
Part of what made this episode fun was the fact that whenever the Doctor goes undercover as a human, hilarity always ensues. His idiosyncrasies are always elaborated which makes him stand out even more than he would if he wasn’t undercover. The Caretaker had an air slapstick about it that was pervasive through most of the episode which made it lighthearted. That’s one reason why the Skovox Blitzer, the big weaponized robot, didn’t feel like a real threat. The Doctor described it as a the deadliest robot in the universe, or something like that, and I just didn’t feel it. It’s the same problem Listen had but The Caretaker was just a better episode.
The animosity and conflict between Danny and the Doctor was well done even though anyone who saw Into the Dalek saw it coming back in episode two. Their interaction further proved to me that this Doctor is less caring than his last three predecessors. I’m still holding out for a character changing even to happen to him. Something to make him more aware of what a jerk he’s become. Samuel Anderson is fantastic as Danny and it was quite compelling to watch his confusion concerning John Smith change to frustration, to mistrust, and finally to the animosity I mentioned before. The early meetings were funny when the Doctor couldn’t wrap his mind around the fact that Danny taught math instead of PE since he was a solder and turned more serious when Danny went around messing with the chronodyne generators, thank you google for the spelling. It was at the big reveal before parents evening where both men realized who the other was. It was almost sad that the Doctor thought Clara was dating the other teacher who kind of looked like Matt Smith but it was interesting to note that the Doctor was okay with that. When he realized Danny was the guy, he wasn’t as accepting.
The rest of the episode felt like a behind the scenes look at Clara’s life as we never really got a good look at it in other episodes. Sure we caught glimpses of her as a teacher or maybe even a whole scene at the school, like Danny’s introduction, but it was always part of the side story. In The Caretaker, her life on earth took center stage and I liked it a lot. Everything I know about England’s modern culture is derived from the BBC. I liked seeing what Doctor Who’s interpretation of a modern school was. I know it wasn’t totally accurate, but it was a nice peek. The parent’s day scene was hilarious and the addition of Courtney Woods’s parents made the scene even better. The fact that Danny’s less than glowing review of Courtney’s performance was a step up from last years parent’s day made me laugh out loud.
The Caretaker put Clara and Danny’s relationship in the spotlight and I quite enjoyed the deviation from the standard adventures of the Doctor. The focus on the relationship was so prominent that there were times that I forgot about the Skovox Blitzer’s plot line. I would rather Moffat and Gareth Roberts (the other writer according to IMDB and the TARDIS Data Core wiki) have saved the Blitzer for another episode and put in some nondescript bad guy like the Scarecrows from Family of Blood (series 3 episode 9). I know I’m being picky here, but the writer in me can’t help but wonder what could have been. I have this feeling that the Blitzer is another bad guy we’re never going to see again.
The best part of the episode was when Danny gets the whole truth from Clara and has to digest it all. I’m a sucker for character development and this episode did it for be despite the seeming misappropriation of what could have been a great reoccurring bad guy. This season of Doctor Who has found it’s stride as Time Heist, The Caretaker, and the next episode Kill The Moon were good and had little for me to bitch about.
Something else The Caretaker had for us was the reappearance of Missy and the introduction of Seb. I don’t foresee Seb being a major player anytime soon. He’ll probably just be a narrative tool to help explain who Missy is and what it is she actually does.
Episode 7: Kill The Moon
Now this episode was really well done. Time Heist is still my favorite of series 8 but Kill The Moon comes in a close second. It’s not just because of the sci-fi horror story or the intense climactic scene. It’s because it was such a big deal in Clara’s story. The episode also left me a bit worried as for the future of the show. Not just about Clara as a companion, but the Doctor as a character. I’m not saying he’s at risk of leaving the show, that’d be stupid. But I’m afraid that the “maturing” he claims to have done will alter him far too much. What I foresee happening is that he’ll continue this change until he meets someone new, the next companion maybe, and realize how far he’s fallen. I believe his change is leading up to something great, but I’m just iffy about the direction of the show in the meantime.
Let’s start at the beginning though. Sometime between The Caretaker and Kill The Moon, the Doctor took Courtney Woods on another adventure and told her she’s not special which sent her on a downward spiral. I like the fact that if this had been one of the other Doctors, then this episode would never have happened. Courtney would never have been told she wasn’t special so there’d be no need for some adventure to prove otherwise. I liked the fact that the Twelfth Doctor was called out on the fact that he’s a giant dick. I’d been thinking it for a while and this is when Clara finally says something. The entire plot of this episode was a fantastic set up for Clara’s speech and decision in the end.
Kill The Moon felt like The Doctor stumbled into the movie Alien, but not as scary. It had a fantastic horror factor about it that it kept throughout the whole episode, unlike with Listen where it jumped around too much to ever feel scary. The bacteria monster looked a lot like a facehugger but as creepy as Kill The Moon was, it was still more of a Sci-Fi Action story, which I still liked a lot. The Doctor’s first meeting with the astronauts sent to blow up the moon was done in true Doctor fashion and the subsequent loss of lives as the story progressed added to the sense of danger the episode had. I liked how he was able to talk his way out of getting shot by Lundvik as it was something that felt familiar.
Kill The Moon was a mix of the Doctor being the Doctor and the Doctor being this new colder more detached person. When Lundvik asks him about killing the moon, which was just revealed to be an egg, the Doctor doesn’t even put up a fight. I know this is a new Doctor, trust me. I get this. But he so different from all the others that it takes me out of the show at times. I was dumbfounded when Twelve stepped away saying that it wasn’t his right to interfere. All the Doctor has ever done is interfere. Some humans, or other aliens, are in danger or are about to do something stupid and he swoops in and saves the day. His reasons for stepping away made him a hypocrite and I have to say that I actually liked it. As torn as I am about Twelve’s demeanor, I know it’s all leading up to something different and I can’t wait to see what it is.
The ending with Clara in tears telling the Doctor she can’t travel with him anymore was heartbreaking. You could tell that she tried so hard to get used to Twelve all in an effort to follow Eleven’s wishes. Danny showed me why he exists as a character in his small part at the end because he was able to read Clara’s mood and then not only tell her exactly what she needed to hear, but be there for her as well. Their relationship has progressed nicely this season and I’m glad they had to earn where they are now instead of some miraculous instant attraction.
One final note about the episode: I don’t know why we didn’t see Missy or Seb. There were a few deaths but not one hint of mysterious woman or the place she claims is heaven.
These two TARDIS Talks have probably been my shortest yet as I’ve realized I don’t need to go through each episode scene by scene and instead just talk about what happened and what I thought. I hope that at least someone is reading and enjoying these and I promise that this is the week that I’ll get caught up. Remember folks, if you have any questions or comments and you don’t want to comment on the post then please email me at billiamreviews@gmail.com