"On pain of death, no one take a selfie."

[locker_monster]

Well, that was interesting, I guess. I don't know. I suppose it's hard to top what they did in "Heaven Sent".

Might as well as lead with the biggie from this episode. So... mostly dead, time frozen Clara and Ashildr are now kicking around time and space in a TARDIS disguised as a 1950s diner? WTF?!?!? Couldn't Clara stay dead? When it seemed like she was gone for good, that had a huge impact on the Doctor and the storyline. It had weight. Now, this is just silly. It totally cancels out all of the heartbreak the Doctor went through. Yes, he doesn't quite remember it all, but we the audience can remember and it's still cheap. I was worried last week that Moffat would bring back Clara somehow and I was right to be worried. The man cannot leave well enough alone. I think the episode could have been way better if Clara had decided to go back to her timeline at the moment of her death. We could have avoided the whole memory wipe thing and she could have sacrificed everything again to save the Doctor. Before she went back, she could have told him to be a better Doctor and that would have motivated him to move on. Now, it feels like Clara learned nothing at all from "Face the Raven". I honestly don't know what Moffat was thinking. Like, he could cancel out the fan backlash by doing this. Oh, I'm sure the fans who really love Clara are happy in a way, but it still feels like a bad move.

And this episode had such potential. I really had hoped the entire episode would be the Doctor dealing with the Time Lord High Council for what they did to him. We would be back on Gallifrey and we would see how the population has coped since he saved everyone in "The Day of the Doctor". We do see a bit of that, but not enough for my tastes. Actually, at one point, I thought the Doctor wouldn't talk at all in the episode. Like, they were trying for one more unique storytelling twist. Alas, things took a turn for the weird. I did like that he went back to the barn from "The Day of the Doctor"/"Listen" and we did see how some people view the Doctor as a war hero, but it was over so soon. It all spiralled into the Doctor pulling Clara out of her timeline and trying to bring her back.

The whole hybrid thing is what brought down this episode. It had to be resolved. So the Hybrid all along was the Doctor and Clara? That it was their friendship that threatened Gallifrey and all of time and space? Huh? I guess anything is better than making reference to the fact that the Doctor is, potentially, half human on his mother side, but it was still too random. And what was the point of Ashildr besides having a fancy guest star to fill the role? She doesn't matter in the end. The sequence within the Matrix Cloister was also weird and random. So the Matrix can generate prophecies now? And the Doctor heard about the myth of Hybrid when he was just a kid and he got lost within the Cloister? Argh.

Not to brag, but I totally called Clara's fate way back at the beginning of the season. Honest. It's in my review. She left for the good of the Doctor and the Doctor was forced to forget the Companion. To be fair, it was the only scenario that made sense. The Doctor does make a good point. He went too far for Clara and he should never do that, even for a dear friend of his. So he had to forget her to move on. Though, does this mean now he'll be looking for Clara? Of course, he was meant to be looking for Gallifrey after "The Day of the Doctor" and we never saw him do that, so I'm sure it will never come up again until it's time for Peter Capaldi to leave the show.

Though, I am glad that the Doctor didn't go through his plan to mind wipe Clara and leave her somewhere. A) It would have been too much like Donna and B) that plan is a stupid plan and it should never, ever be an option. I'm glad Clara called him out on it. She got to say the words that Donna never got to.

As for the the frame story, with the Doctor in the diner talking to waitress Clara, I thought at one point it was just a delusion of the Doctor's and then I thought he had mind wiped Clara, but then it turned out to be neither. Every time they came back to that scene, it did keep you wondering, so it was a nice little framing device. So I guess there's a bit of time where the Doctor was left wandering around Nevada, trying to find the TARDIS and Clara. And he was playing the guitar to pay for food. :-) That'd be a fun fic to write, filling in that gap of time. I was happy that we got to see the Doctor playing the guitar one last time for the season. And he was playing Clara's theme music! That was a nice touch, if slightly meta. Oh, and before it was revealed that the Doctor was just mind wiped and Clara was just pretending to be a waitress, I momentarily thought that we had landed in an AU where the Doctor is a wandering musician and Clara is the waitress he meets while on the road.

Random thoughts: So, new sonic screwdriver. What was the bleepin' point of the sonic sunglasses then? Once again, it feels like a ploy to get the fans to buy more merchandise because you know the new sonic will be a toy that people can buy. Anyone else think that Clara and Ashildr should run into Mel and Sabalom Glitz? It's kind of the same story there. A former Companion and a former adversary kicking around space in a commandeered spaceship. So, does this mean that Gallifrey is back for good now? The Doctor knows where it's located and the Time Lords have TARDISes to escape that time period. There is the potential to have the Doctor run into other Time Lords. Like, the Council General lady. She seems like she'd be a hoot to see every once and a while. Rassilon regenerated? And why was he still President? You'd think everyone would have booted him from office. It was cool to see Twelve on a One-esque TARDIS set. I wonder if they took the TARDIS set they built for An Adventure in Time and Space and painted it all white. Aw, Rigsy's memorial on the TARDIS burned away. It will be interesting to see Twelve with another Companion. We've only seen him with Clara.

Okay, I have to admit that the Christmas Special looks fun. The Doctor is running around with River, there's a head in a bag, and River has a sonic trowel. LOL. A sonic trowel. Going off the title of the episode "The Husbands of River Song", I'm totally guessing that head in a bag guy is a some dude River married to con. She pulled a Saffron (Firefly fans will know what I'm talking about)! Also, the Doctor wearing reindeer antlers. :-D

Overall, this was an uneven season, story wise. Please go back to single part stories, Moffat.

Comments

[jpgr.livejournal.com]

You are right. I didn't make the Firefly connection. (YoSaffBridge!)

[locker-monster.livejournal.com]

Now I want to see a fic where River and Saffron meet. That would be an insane crossover. :-)

[newnumber6.livejournal.com]

Yeah, this was a mess of an episode on so many levels. ANd it's one of the things that frustrates me most about Moffat, because he occasionally has brilliant ideas... but he gets lost in them, loses the forest for the trees, throws too much into one plot, or tries to force them to work in places they just do not.

I mean, Me, in theory, is a great idea. Human who the Doctor makes accidentally immortal and becomes a sometimes ally/sometimes adversary... wow, that's cool! But no, she's got to SURVIVE TO THE END OF THE UNIVERSE, BILLIONS OF YEARS. All because of one nothing-race's medical kit being used on a human. Captain Jack, at least he got zapped with a burst of TARDIS energy from the heart of time to explain his immortality, and even HE wound up turning into a giant face (well, it was never confirmed, but hinted).

River Song is, in theory, a great idea. Someone the Doctor meets again and again, but out of order. But no, she's got to be the Doctor's wife and part time lord because her parents conceived her in the TARDIS and apparently there's magic radiation and oh so much cleverer than him, and she can drive the TARDIS better.

The Weeping Angels are a great idea, but then you have to make it so even if you don't blink, you still turn into one, so what use are they ever again?

A companion dying, the Doctor being forced to forget a companion, and a companion getting their own TARDIS and flying off to explore the universe, are all, potentially, great ideas for an exit... but no, we've gotta jam them all together into one, ruining the magic from any exit.

Almost every time Moffit introduces an element himself, he falls in love with it and has to make it the Most Special Character/Plot Device Ever. Ashildr survives to the end of the universe. River becomes the Doctor's wife and the only one to know his name. Clara's important enough that he's willing to destroy all of time to get her back. I don't want that Doctor, even if it's just to teach him a lesson. I want the Doctor who already KNOWS it's not a good idea to risk the entire universe to get somebody back who's already dead. (Plus, what does it say about almost everyone else he's lost... he wasn't willing to risk time to get Amy and Rory back, or to be with Rose, you don't see him grabbing poor Adric before he blew up even though that would be a much easier death to save him from, without anybody, even his past self, knowing, just by using a TARDIS).

Not to mention having the Doctor kill, the Doctor thinking mindwiping Clara is a good thing (yes, she makes a good speech refusing it, but it makes the Doctor disgusting to even try... it was bad enough with Donna), the whole bringing up Gallifrey just to make it all about Clara... Clara who we've already been teased with death/permanent departure so many times, we're at a point where I just WANT her to die just so they'll shut up about her. Plus that odd, poorly written sequence where it seemed like they were trying to imply that the Doctor actually remembered living the 4 billion years, when the episode rather depends on him not (I guess they didn't outright say it, but if he didn't remember any more than one cycle of it, the "how long has it been since you last saw me" question has no meaning and dwelling on it was a waste of time, and if he did, it's just bugnuts insane and makes no sense). The only thing I'm glad about with that episode is that I guess Time Lords can start appearing randomly now, though, since they have TARDISes and aren't time locked, but they kind of shoved that major plot development into the background.

Sometimes having things just be good is better than having them be the Ultimate Adventure, because you start to look silly. Moffatt needs to learn that, or he needs to go. :P

[tangotabby.livejournal.com]

THIS!!! Especially this:
Almost every time Moffit introduces an element himself, he falls in love with it and has to make it the Most Special Character/Plot Device Ever. Ashildr survives to the end of the universe. River becomes the Doctor's wife and the only one to know his name. Clara's important enough that he's willing to destroy all of time to get her back. I don't want that Doctor, even if it's just to teach him a lesson. I want the Doctor who already KNOWS it's not a good idea to risk the entire universe to get somebody back who's already dead. (Plus, what does it say about almost everyone else he's lost... he wasn't willing to risk time to get Amy and Rory back, or to be with Rose, you don't see him grabbing poor Adric before he blew up even though that would be a much easier death to save him from, without anybody, even his past self, knowing, just by using a TARDIS).

and this:
Not to mention having the Doctor kill, the Doctor thinking mindwiping Clara is a good thing (yes, she makes a good speech refusing it, but it makes the Doctor disgusting to even try... it was bad enough with Donna), the whole bringing up Gallifrey just to make it all about Clara... Clara who we've already been teased with death/permanent departure so many times, we're at a point where I just WANT her to die just so they'll shut up about her.

[locker-monster.livejournal.com]

I just re-watched the episode again (which had horrible closed captioning; WTF Space) and yeah, it didn't do anything to make it better. There are bits that are good, but not enough to redeem the episode as a whole.

And you are so right about Moffat. He tries too much. Just keep it simple. You don't need all the twists and turns to make something interesting.

I think the best exit for Clara, out of the many we were presented, would have been the one from "Last Christmas". She continued on her life without the Doctor and she still made something of herself. Companions should grow, become better, through their association with the Doctor. Here, it felt like Clara learned nothing. She's still going to be out there, being reckless, and I feel like Ashildr won't be a good foil to her.

As for the Doctor, I think we'll see him back to his true form next season. Maybe that was the true arc of the season. He stopped being a good Doctor when he ran away from young Davros. The sonic sunglasses, the t-shirts and hoodies and plaid trousers, and him and Clara being irresponsible, was him losing touch with the promise he made himself all those centuries ago. The costume change, with the red coat, and the new sonic, will be him fulfilling Clara's parting message.

And was it implied that Missy wanted this to happen? Like, she only put the Doctor and Clara together so the whole Hybrid prophecy would be fulfilled? Ashildr has a line about how Missy loves chaos and she wanted the Doctor to love chaos, too. But how could Missy know and the Doctor, especially Twelve, would become so devoted to Clara? That was a really long con. Maybe we'll get an answer in the Christmas special.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

"HE wound up turning into a giant face".

I still find that a wierd concept no matter how many times I've seen someone point out that Jack ends up the Face of Boe.

Isn't Greg Davis playing a head in the Christmas special?.

[browncoat2x2]

Can I just chime in to TOTALLY AGREE WITH EVERYTHING YOU SAID!!!

100% this:
Sometimes having things just be good is better than having them be the Ultimate Adventure, because you start to look silly. Moffatt needs to learn that, or he needs to go. :P

And as tangotabby also agreed,
Almost every time Moffat introduces an element himself, he falls in love with it and has to make it the Most Special Character/Plot Device Ever.

Moffat loves to TELL us how awesome/amazing his characters/elements are, but he's not very good at showing us, and letting us decide for ourselves if they are, and that's one of the reasons why it always falls flat.

[tangotabby.livejournal.com]

SO much WTF?!?!?!?! in this episode *sigh*

[locker-monster.livejournal.com]

And it kind of ruins "Heaven Sent" as well, the best episode of the season. I thought it was brilliant because the Doctor refused to give in to the Time Lords. He was stubborn and found his own way out without compromising his beliefs. But when we get to "Hell Bent", it turns out the main reason he held out was because he needed a bargaining chip to bring Clara back. I mean, it's kind of noble, but yeah, your icon sums it up. *facepalm*

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

"She got to say the words that Donna never got to."

Spot on!. Clara and Donna do have one thing in common and that fact is when they both became too much like the Doctor, it compromised their lives. Clara at least got a head start to what the Doctor was possibly going to do with her memories.

Usually the second last episode is just a build up to the climax of the finale. But I felt it was the other way around. Sure their was a bit of repetitiveness in Heaven Scent but it was still intriguing.

Clara was upset Twelve spent four and a half billion years trapped inside his own confessional dial. But at least I could follow what was going on.

So let me get this straight:

(1) Clara is still dead , just "frozen" but able to remember the Doctor.

(2) The Doctor has to forget Clara because that's the only way he can move on?.

(3) The Hybrid was the Doctor (Time Lord) & Clara (Who was a Dalek at one stage). Just not the infusion that was hinted at?.

(4) The point of Ashildr was so Clara had someone to go have adventures with while she "takes the long way around"?.

[locker-monster.livejournal.com]

Clara and Donna do have one thing in common and that fact is when they both became too much like the Doctor, it compromised their lives. Clara at least got a head start to what the Doctor was possibly going to do with her memories.

The one thing that's still bugging me is how the Doctor still wanted to go through with the mind wipe even after Clara protested. He should have realized in that moment how that was a step too far. His best friend just told him no and he ignored her request. That echoes Donna's scenario so much; the memory of it should have changed his mind.

Ultimately, I think the episode could have dropped the framing narrative within the diner and that would have streamlined the episode. Not that I know best or anything, but you could have had the Doctor throwing away the neural block and Clara agreeing to go back to Gallifrey so she could return to her timeline. Ashildr is left with the other TARDIS, with the caveat that the Doctor never wants to see her again, and he and Clara go back to London to retrieve his TARDIS so Clara can take one last trip. She leaves her message on the chalkboard while the Doctor is out of the room changing back into his velvet coat. They say good-bye one more time in the extraction chamber, Clara re-enters her timeline, and the Doctor flies off. Back in the TARDIS, he sees her message and then he gets the new sonic screwdriver. No mind wipes, everything is put right, and all sacrifices made still mean something.

(1) Clara is still dead , just "frozen" but able to remember the Doctor.

She's still between heartbeats, so she won't age, which means she can re-integrate into her timeline at any time she wants as she won't look any different when she gets back. But I wonder if she can still die. What if she gets shot? Or immolated? Is she like Jack? Can she come back from any injury?

(2) The Doctor has to forget Clara because that's the only way he can move on?

Thing is, he still remembers her. He still has the vague notion that this woman meant a lot to him. So is he really moving on? I suppose he can't remember that she died so he won't be sad.

(3) The Hybrid was the Doctor (Time Lord) & Clara (Who was a Dalek at one stage). Just not the infusion that was hinted at?

The prophecy never stated that it was one person, I don't think. And it never stated specifically that this fearsome warrior was supposed to be half Time Lord, half Dalek. So I guess it works, the Hybrid being the Doctor and Clara, within that context.

(4) The point of Ashildr was so Clara had someone to go have adventures with while she "takes the long way around"?

I guess. Ashildr, at this point, is billions of years old so she has all of this wisdom and experience that would help to keep Clara in check in their travels.

Such mixed reviews on this episode. It's quite something.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

When Twelve said he had a duty of care, I thought it was a reference to how he failed Donna as well. At least in this scenario he wasn't the one in charged of the outcome like Ten was.

"Ultimately, I think the episode could have dropped the framing narrative within the diner and that would have streamlined the episode."

Then Moffat couldn't have made an excuse to put Clara in that waitress outfit. Flying in her own TARDIS disguised as a fifties style diner. Although people might actually mistake it for a real one and want a bite to eat. Another reason could be that Moffat wanted to make use of his former props?.

Despite her fate, Clara still has control over it like a pause button. In regards to your questions, they could only be resolved if Clara was to met Jack himself. Someone can write a fic about it I suppose.


Tenth Doctor: "...thing is I don't think she ever quite forgot. a great mind like that. Some of the details kept bleeding through."

Just like the Donna and Agatha Christie Parallel. Even with a memory wipe, there is always a chance that something could trigger it to come back or be lingering inside the mind.

Twelve did say Clara would never leave his head, so to speak. This was the best that Moffat could come up with so that Clara had to leave the Doctor without it being too much like what happened to Donna.

The "Hybrid" was basically a duo or partnership agreement. Less like when celebrity couples have their names merged by fans and more like Rose with the 'Bad Wolf' entity.

[browncoat2x2]

The "Hybrid" was basically a duo or partnership agreement. Less like when celebrity couples have their names merged by fans and more like Rose with the 'Bad Wolf' entity.

Makes me think of the Ood and the Doctor/Donna.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

I thought so too!. I discussed it with others on another post & some tend to disagree. I forgot why. They also think Jack would be categorized as a different form of immortal compared to "Me".

The Doctor should have not been freaked by the concept of a hybrid if the Meta Crisis fall's into that category. Unless that was the reason he left that version of himself with Rose.

[newnumber6.livejournal.com]

Honestly, the ONLY thing that would have made this episode redeemable was if Clara convincing/reminding him that it was wrong, was an excuse to go back to Donna, apologize, and offer the choice of remembering (and the possible tragic consequences) or staying as she was. (I also never bought into the "if she ever even gets a hint of having lost memories she'll die", so I'd like them to also admit that was bull and about the Doctor thinking it was better for her not to realize what she lost than mourn, and better for the Doctor if he doesn't have her calling and trying to get more answers and forcing him to face what he did).

But that's a pie-in-the-sky hope. :P

[locker-monster.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the likelihood of this happening is very slim, but it would be a cool idea for a fanfic.

So much fanfic out there right now, set post-"Hell Bent". Moffat definitely hit a nerve.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

There is always an opportunity for a loop hole. Moffat would have to get Catherine Tate to come back and fix up the mess that RTD left Donna fate to though. At least Moffat touch on the subject. He has used the memory lost trope quite a bit ever since he became the show runner.

*The Crack.
*The Silence.
*The Memory Worm.

Compared to RTD. He is more reluctant to kill people off and tries to give the champions some control over their fate. Amy only left Eleven because of Rory. But it was still her choice.

Martha was the only one in RTD era that left on her own terms because the Doctor didn't love her like he did Rose and Donna.

RTD era was that champions who are too close to the Doctor, are forced to leave him and they have no say in the matter.

Moffat era is champion risk their lives being close to the Doctor but its still their decision on how they go. At least most of the time.

You could probably say that about River Song as well.

Can we go back to when champions left in a low-key way like in the old series please?.

[newnumber6.livejournal.com]

I think part of the problem is this trend that started with Amy/Rory, and continued with Jenna, where the companions don't just travel with the Doctor, he pops in on them... he's become a neighbor, a cosmic Kramer who bursts into their life with wacky hijinx at regular intervals... but in such cases, there's no reason to ever LEAVE unless something SUPER-dramatic happens (and Jenna's gone through all of them... death, wanting a separation from the Doctor, being forgotten, and getting their own TARDIS for their own adventures).

I want a return to the mold where companions travel with the Doctor, and they have to abandon their normal life except maybe for occasional stopovers, which is a struggle, but it's worth it for all the wonders you can see. Make it a ride they hold on to as long as they can, but eventually they have to let go, and after that, the Doctor might visit once in a rare while, or if there's extreme danger, but for the most part, he's off living his life and doesn't want to be reminded of those who left him. I want Doctors that don't "do domestic" again. Maybe this experience with losing not just Clara, but her memory, will make him this way with his next companion, or maybe we'll have to wait for a new regeneration, but I really want it to go back to that. (I'd also like to go back to a Doctor who doesn't know every single thing about every place/time he visits and isn't a godlike savior figure but rather just a very clever man in a box, but those are harder issues)

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

RTD introduced the domestic aspect.
Cliche nagging mothers.
Champion will save the day in the series finale.
Champion is devoted to the Doctor.

Moffat went more fairytale.
Champion is a mystery to be solved.
Champion will get angry at the Doctor when the man they love dies.

I guess Clara got to keep her memories and have a TARDIS because she is a "control freak". She was at peace with her death.

Twelve finally has his own sonic screwdriver. This must mean he will be the Doctor as Clara put it.