So this week was it, ladies and gentleman. The finale of series 8 of Doctor Who. It felt woefully short even thought it’s just one episode shorter than previous series. The mystery of Missy was answered and the entire season ended in one epic(ish) final battle. Remember, my TARDIS Talks have spoilers in them so let this picture be your final warning
Episode 11: Dark Water
Well, the beginning was quite the ordeal huh? Clara was torn about being honest with Danny in regards to her continuing her adventures with the Doctor but ended up saying “I love you” instead. It was a very sweet scene and a nice way to start an episode. And then Danny died. I had a problem with how Danny met his end. A solder tortured by his experience in the war gets killed when he doesn’t look both ways before crossing the street? It actually felt like a bad after school special. But other than that it was a fantastic way to start the episode.
Dark Water followed up the opening with the shocking volcano dream scene were Jenna Coleman and Peter Capaldi did their best acting so far. It was heartbreaking watching Clara toss the keys into the volcano and I could see the conflict in her eyes. She doesn’t want to hurt the Doctor but her love for Danny won out and she goes about betraying the Doctor. The Doctor’s pleading right before Clara tosses the last TARDIS key just about did me in. You all know I try and stay away from big buzz words that most reviewers use but I have to say that it was a very powerful scene. The next part back in the TARDIS, which they never left in the first place, had what has turned out to be one of my favorite lines in Doctor Who: “Do you think that I care for you so little that betraying me would make a difference?” The second to last episode of series eight introduced us to another new side of the new Doctor. We see his grace. This is why I’m glad I stuck through this uncertain series. This Doctor is the most complex one yet and it’s taken eleven episodes to learn this new fact about him.
All the scenes with Danny in the Nethersphere were nice as far as a mechanism to introduce what the hell “heaven” has been the whole time as well as explaining Danny’s past and why he won’t talk about it. Even after Death in Heaven aired, which I’ll talk about after I finish with Dark Water, I’m still not that worried about Danny. Remember in Listen when they met Orson? I know that Doctor Who routinely messes with time and implies that besides fixed points in time, that things can be changed, but there was never a hint that Orson was now never going to exist. Unless Moffat got really sloppy, there will be a way around Danny being dead.
Was it just me, or was the meaning behind the name 3W kind of stupid? “Don’t cremate me?” Really? Why couldn’t it have been “I’m not dead” or “I’m still here” any of those could have worked. Or what about this? “I’m the Master?” That would have been brilliant! But I digress. The whole conversation between Danny and Clara while he’s in the Nethersphere could have been written better. If Moffat wanted to tug at our heartstrings then he could have gone about it differently It left me cold.
The best part of the entire episode was the last scene where Missy released the Cybermen and then reveals herself as The Master. The build up was amazing. She teased it out and even though I had figured it out before that, I still was on the edge of my seat waiting for her to say it. From Missy to Mistress to Master. I just about squealed when she said it. I’m happy to see a female Master and maybe one day we’ll have a female Doctor. Michelle Gomez captured the Master perfectly. I could see the influence from John Simm who played the Master for the Tenth Doctor. She was the right mix of insane and brilliant just like the Doctor but with a moral compass that faces the wrong way. So I was wrong, Missy wasn’t a rogue TARDIS and you know what? I don’t care. It was great. But lets stop talking about Dark Water and talk about…
Episode 12: Death In Heaven
The beginning of the episode bothered me so much until Osgood showed up, then I stopped raging. My initial thought was that humanity had seen Cybermen many times before so why were they running up and taking pictures with them? But the fact that it was a stakeout set up by UNIT (the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce or United Intelligence Taskforce) was brilliant. We haven’t seen Osgood or Kate Stewart since The Day of the Doctor so I was excited to see where the episode would go. I was a big confused when they drugged him but after Kate gave an explanation on the plane, I was was a little more understanding. I loved how Osgood rocked the bow tie. If you remember Day of the Doctor she wore the scarf in that, then after her run in with Eleven, she switched to a bow tie.
The whole idea of seeding the world with Cybermen was brilliant. I would have liked it if the cyber pollen looked more… mechanical. The fact that it was liquid was fine, but I’d have liked it if it was silver or we saw a shot of it under a microscope to see it teaming with nanomachines or whatnot. The scene in the morgue was the perfect place for it. Have the medical examiner just put some under a microscope and that’d be all that was needed.
I still don’t like how combative the Doctor is with military personnel. I felt bad for Colonel Ahmed. He had a small role but he was nothing but polite and respectful and was met with nothing but disdain. While I understand where the Doctors anger comes from, if you’ll remember his back and forth with Danny in The Caretaker, I still don’t like it. But lets talk about something awesome like the whole idea of the Doctor being made the president of Earth. This seems like a direct response to Kill The Moon when he stepped away saying that the decision shouldn’t be his because he’s not from Earth. I wonder if he knew then that he’d be made President if he would have helped Clara out more.
Was I the only one who knew the fourth Cyberman was Danny the whole time? The minute he walked up I knew it was him but it didn’t take away from the scene at all. I still enjoyed it quite a bit. We also learned that Clara knows everything about the Doctor. She spouted off facts that I had long forgotten and even teased us by reminding us that she knows the Doctor’s real name. I’m glad it was never said though. There’s been such speculation as to what it is that no matter what Moffat or any of the other writers can come up with it won’t be good enough. I’d rather never know. But let’s get back to Clara and Cyberman Danny. Even if you didn’t know it was him from the very beginning you should have figured it out when she mentioned being a great liar and he hung his head before saying “correct.” All in all it was a great scene.
All the interaction between Missy and the Doctor was great. Capaldi and Gomez had great chemistry and every scene was dripping with tension. The one thing that made me rage at the TV was when Missy killed Osgood. She was one of my favorite characters and I was hoping she’d be the next companion after Clara left! In an interview Moffat said he did it to show just how evil the Master/Missy is. Did he really need to do that? That Master enslaved the Earth and kept the Doctor in a cage as a pet for years! We knew (s)he was evil! There was no need to kill Osgood. Also, the death could have been prevented. When Osgood took the handcuffs out of her pocket, why didn’t the solders react? When Missy put on the lipstick, why didn’t the act? Missy had her arm around Osgood and killed both solders and only then at the very end did they move! That part was done poorly and I’m still fuming about it five days after the episode aired.
This was a very dark episode both literally and figuratively and it left me sad. The whole episode revolved around Missy trying to beat the Doctor by making him realize he’s just like her. To take this army of dead humans turned into Cybermen and go kill all his enemies. Kill all the people who killed those he’s cared for. She had been planning all of it for so long that the implications are astounding. Missy was the whole reason Clara and the Doctor even got together in the first place! The idea that she’s been planning it way back from The Bells of Saint John (series 7 episode 1). It blew my mind right out of my head and I had to pause the episode to take it all in.
And right after Doctor Who blew my mind, it broke my heart. Every scene between Clara and Danny was painful to watch. I was waiting for a solution to pop up. Some piece of information that the Doctor found that would save Danny and make everything okay, but it wasn’t meant to be. Even though Danny wasn’t saved Death in Heaven still had a climatic scene that makes this episode one of my favorite not just of series 8, but of the ever series. All they key players were in the graveyard and the entire series came down to this. Danny and the Doctor had their final scene and I wasn’t sure what to make of it. There was still a lot of animosity coming from Danny even though the Doctor was treating him better than he ever had before. Missy’s speech about why she was doing it showed just how deep The Master is as a character on top of how well she knows the Doctor. When he was in control of a world full of Cybermen I thought, if only for a moment, that he was going to take them and go start saving people and that’s what series 9 would be about. I was so excited when he tossed the control band to Danny and it was revealed that he’d been in control the whole time. His rousing speech got me all choked up and maybe, just maybe, a few tears were shed. It was a fantastic and moving end to what could have been one of Earth’s darkest moments.
Just a few final thoughts to wrap up the last TARDIS Talk for series 8. I knew there was no way Missy was really dead and now an interview with Michelle Gomez herself revealed that Missy will be back. Also, I wasn’t surprised at all when Danny sent the kid through instead of using the bracelet to come back himself. The final scene between Clara and the Doctor was yet another heartbreaking moment in an already dark finale and when it ended there I was outraged. That outrage was short lived though as the hint at the Christmas special (with Nick Frost as Santa) filled me with hope. Could the special revolve around finding Danny AND Gallifrey? After The Day of the Doctor I knew that the hunt for Gallifrey was going to be a plot point somewhere along the line. Looks like the coming special will either have the hunt or lead up to series 9 where the search for the missing planet will take place
Well folks. That’s it for the TARDIS Talks for series 8. Stay tuned though as I plan to write about my favorite episodes, my favorite Doctor, and my favorite companion. TARDIS Talk isn’t over. It’s just on a break. Thank you so very much for reading and I’llb e more on top of things during series 9 as I will no longer be in school. Thank you friends! Allons-y!