"I've finally run out of corridor. There's a life summed up."

[locker_monster]

Well, it took practically the whole season, but finally, an episode that was very excellent.

And all it took was killing Clara and putting the Doctor on his own.

Beforehand, I kept seeing headlines about how this episode would be different, but I never read articles for fear of spoilers, so I didn't know how the episode would be unconventional. While chatting to newnumber6 last night I guessed that the only speaking character in the episode would be the Doctor, and what do you know, I was right. Actually, it wasn't a hard guess; the trailer kind of gives it away. But it's a great premise. The Doctor is at his best when he has an audience to play to, whether it's a bunch of strangers he has just met or his Companion. When you take that away and he's completely isolated, then that bold and brave facade starts to break down. There's no one to impress, nothing to fight for. For once, the Doctor wants to give up.

It's great when he's vulnerable like that. It can't happen very often so episodes like these are rare. I'm glad Moffat decided to do something different before the big finale. We get an hour of the Doctor and it's very personal. We see inside his head and learn a few secrets and we nearly see him give up. I've never thought about how hard it is for the Doctor to win every situation every time. He has to be on top of his game all the time, he has to notice every little thing. If he takes a break, if he lets his guard down, then horrible things might happen to him or other people. It was also neat to see his "mind palace" (to borrow an idea from another show). It actually jives with a statement Moffat made on one of the DVD sets I think, about how the Doctor is the sort of person who jumps off the roof of a building and figures out how to land safely while on the way down. The Doctor always assumes he will survive and brag about the feat later.

It's interesting how he wouldn't allow himself to imagine Clara fully until he really needed to see her face and hear her voice. He gathers strength from her presence and it allows him to keep going for another two billion years or whatever. You also want to build up to that moment. I was convinced we would only see the back of Clara's head for the entire episode, so it was a pleasant surprise when we actually got to see her. Once again, Peter Capaldi does a wonderful acting job. You feel the Doctor's sorrow without him actually breaking down into tears.

Anyway, let's discuss the plot of the episode. The Doctor is stuck in his own personal version of hell, or heaven for bad people as he calls it. The castle is one big puzzle and he's being stalked by a Dementor scary thing in a cloak. Escape is through a wall of super hard diamond stuff. The fact that it's basically one big loop is given away right at the beginning. Maybe it's meant to be obvious, but maybe it's not, but I had my suspicions that the burnt hand was the Doctor's. As a means of torture, it's pretty devious. The Doctor is forced again and again and again to relive this nightmare but he can't remember any of it. I just don't understand how the clues he leaves for himself stay there, though. The rooms resets themselves. You'd think the arrows in the kitchen and the message on the coffin and the word "bird" in the sand would disappear each time the reset happened. Or maybe this was an oversight by the people who made the castle. It's only if you destroy something or use something up that it gets repaired or replaced. There's a slight cheat in the episode that the first time we see the Doctor, it's his, I dunno, 7000th time going through the puzzle. Each time he comes back, he affects the environment of the castle, so his first go around would have been pure, and thus, harder for him. That would have been cool to see. He would still be emotional raw from Clara's death, but he would have to figure out this world from scratch and I wonder if he had more times when he nearly lost it. It's still a neat idea, though. It's the Doctor's stubbornness and persistence that lets him win in the end.

And now we're back on Gallifrey somehow. So the Doctor's confession dial actually contained his idea of the perfect torture chamber for him? That's how a Time Lord's last will and testament works? But how is he back on Gallifrey? I had a theory from last week that it's actually the Time Lords behind everything and maybe that's true. Maybe they found Ashildr and started scheming with her. Maybe this is an elaborate plot to punish the Doctor for not helping them back in "The Time of the Doctor". Maybe Ashildr got the confession dial back to Gallifrey in whatever dimension its in and that's how the Doctor is on his home planet in the end. Ooh, does this mean that Gallifrey is finally back? That'd be a good finale.

I don't know about this whole Hybrid thing, though. Is it really the reason the Doctor left Gallifrey? He was afraid that he was this Hybrid from myth? If so, then it's kind of a self fulfilling prophecy. If the Time Lords were plotting to put the Doctor out of action because he's the Hybrid, then their method of doing so actually puts him on the warpath to destroy Gallifrey. Because if they hadn't meddled, Clara wouldn't be dead and the Doctor wouldn't be super pissed. Ugh, I really hope the finale doesn't fall flat.

Random: I think this episode is more scary than "Sleep No More". There are more psychological scares and I think that's infinitely more frightening than freaky looking monsters. Doctor Who is best when it's ambitious in its storytelling; it's not a show that needs to be flashy in its camera work. That's why I'm more impressed by this episode. It's basically a monologue and how do you make one person talking interesting and how do you move the plot forward? Too bad Moffat couldn't have tried an episode without any dialogue. Maybe he'll save that for his next unconventional episode. It's kind of amazing they broke in the middle of filming this episode to go to Comic Con. Peter is the only actor in the story. The crew couldn't have filmed anything substantial without him so everything must have been delayed a week. I suppose they could have done inserts of the monster's POV, but that's still an odd thing to do. Actually, the whole thing when the Doctor jumps out the window and figures out how to survive from the various clues reminds me of the sequence from "His Last Vow" on Sherlock. He does something similar to not bleed out from his bullet wound, though Sherlock has more help from his friends. Moffat is stealing from himself. ;-) Clara says arse at one point. Is that the first time someone has says "arse" on the show? Are people going to send in letters to the BBC now?

At least the wait for the Christmas Special won't be that long. After next week, it's just a three week wait, instead of a couple of months.

ETA: Man, I really should watch the episode twice before I write my thoughts down...

Okay, I was under the impression that the Doctor had been leaving the clues for himself, but it was all part of the design of the castle. The spade, the arrows, the message buried in the dirt; it was all to get the Doctor to a place where he would have to confess his ultimate secret. I guess the Time Lords expected him to break down and confess the first time, but the Doctor being the Doctor, he found a loophole and decided to take the long way round. I kind of wish he had been leaving clues for himself. It would make the whole thing even creepier.

I also didn't realize that the Doctor does remember dying over and over. It happens every time he sees the sci fi diamond wall. And it's in that moment, that he conjures the image of Clara to keep going. The one thing I don't understand is why the Doctor doesn't try to trap the Veil (the name of the creature according to the credits). Why doesn't he try to push it over the side of the castle? Or lock it in a room? He can't be that afraid that he can't confront the thing. Or would everything just reset?

Oh, and I decided to watch the trailer. So, is this how Twelve appears in "The Day of the Doctor"? It's never explained how Twelve is there when all the Doctor's incarnations arrive to save Gallifrey. So has the Doctor travelled back to the Time War? Oh, and one of the Time Lords looks like this guy from The Sarah Jane Adventures episode "The Eternity Trap". Same character? Or they just hired the same actor? Also, does the Doctor change his outfit? His costume seemed off, like he's wearing a different coat or something.

ETA2: I just had a sudden thought...

So my Entertainment Weekly arrived early for once and they listed "Hell Bent" as a must watch for next week. I didn't read the blurb, but I noticed the picture. It's of the Doctor standing outside of a diner. Diner, pictures of Jenna Coleman in a waitress outfit... Wait, does the Doctor manage to bring back Clara? Like, does he use regeneration energy or something to revive her? Did Ashildr put her in that stasis pod? And if he does bring her back, does he try to hide her so the Time Lords can't come after her and use her against him? I had the weird notion that the Doctor is going to try to pass off Clara as one of her splinter selves so that way the Time Lords don't know which Clara is the real Clara. This would also force them to separate because the Doctor can't visit her without tipping off the Time Lords. I dunno, I kind of feel like this is something Moffat would do. It's timey-wimey and complicated, which is his wheelhouse.

Or maybe, for once, Moffat won't try to re-write something he's already established.

Too many thoughts. It's going to be crazy next week.

Comments

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

At first I was wondering why he was punching the diamond wall, then I came to the realization that he was going to do that over and over again for like how many year's?. Oh my gosh!.:o

Of course that was part of the reason he had to make a new "copy" of himself because his hand could not endure THAT much impact. Maybe Time Lords can withstand broken bones better than us human's?. I felt the urge to get Twelve a damp cloth and a ice pack.

"I keep thinking the episode could had been a tad more interesting had the Doctor been able to leave clues behind, but what we got is still pretty awesome.'

Like with the "Silence" where Amy, Rory and River drew tally mark's every time they saw them. I wondered why they didn't just write: "Remember screamer monster!" or something more specific. That or take a photo.

In Torchwood, Gwen left reminder's that would lead her back to the crime she was suppose to forget, when Jack used retcon on her. Or as Clara said "What con?".

Why did the diamond wall stayed broken while everything else got reset?.

Every time we have seen the previous Doctor's look into the camera, it's through a dalek's perspective. Twelve is taking it one step further.

It could have been boring with all the "repetitiveness" and having Twelve speak out loud and all alone for most of the episode. It was all on Peter Capaldi's performance.

The moment when the Doctor take's a moment to sit on the TARDIS stair's because he knows he will never get Clara back.:(

[locker-monster.livejournal.com]

Subtle clues would have been a neat touch. Like, the Doctor thinks the clues are from previous prisoners but then he realizes that the clues are from his previous selves. But there was enough mystery to keep things interesting and I guess Moffat didn't want to complicate things too much.

Why did the diamond wall stayed broken while everything else got reset?

Yeah, that's the one question everyone keeps asking. I guess the Time Lords or whoever didn't expect the Doctor to try to break it down with his bare hands.

The moment when the Doctor take's a moment to sit on the TARDIS stairs because he knows he will never get Clara back.:(

Very powerful moment, especially for the Doctor. Every time, in every loop, he used that moment with Clara to give him strength to keep going. It will be interesting to see how he will cope with the loss of Clara next week and in future episodes.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, that's the one question everyone keeps asking. I guess the Time Lords or whoever didn't expect the Doctor to try to break it down with his bare hands."

At least I know that I wasn't just missing out on something.:)

It's always sad to see the Doctor distraught over losing a champion. Ten went through an emotional shame/rage spiral after he lost Donna. At least with Eleven I like to think River Song was there for him after he lost Amy.

Twelve doesn't have the opportunity to grieve until this whole hybrid mystery plot thing is dealt with.