Last week on Doctor Who, a gigantic revelation was had, and the dead were coming back to life. The episode also offered some jaw-dropping stuff, after a season that mostly rode a seesaw of interesting and boring events.
”You see, I'm not Clara Oswald. Clara Oswald has never existed... I'm The Doctor.”
Clara's “The Doctor”... again. Only this time, she's lying to Cybermen to survive. While this was definitely annoying, for the most part Clara actually had a decent, moving storyline. And Danny Pink... poor, poor Danny Pink. Just when I thought the character was becoming one-note and redundant, he goes and becomes a Cyberman, making for some really heroic and sad moments. Fittingly enough, the Doctor Who season finale is a fitting tribute to soldiers at large, with The Doctor gaining respect for Danny, as well as paying a final respect to Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart. If there's anything that resonated most powerfully this week, it's the emotional storytelling.
Unfortunately, if you're more into the actual action/spectacle part of the show, it was severely lacking this week. C'mon Doctor Who, you've got Cybermen coming out of the graves of the world, and the most you can muster is a really cool plane sequence? (Though you probably will muster some more complaints from the parents of the world.) Don't get me wrong, it is a great plane sequence, but the Cybermen are back on Earth and they hardly accomplish anything. It is definitely an episode that read differently when I watched it a second time.
”I'm going to kill you in a minute. I'm not even kidding.”
Fortunately, The Mistress picks up the villainous slack, as she seriously torments The Doctor. This incarnation of The Master is vicious and dark, but with a great sense of humor that mixes quite brilliantly. In fact, the scene where she escapes custody and offs several UNIT personnel is really menacing. I hope this week isn't the last we see of The Mistress, and judging by her exit, it probably isn't. Michelle Gomez's Missy really puts The Doctor into some tight spots this week, and it is the stuff that Doctor Who thrives on.
Upon first viewing, this episode is a disappointment, considering last week in really ramped everything up to be a spectacle of action and combat. But the whole point of the episode is that it didn't have to come to that. Ultimately, the love of a soldier saved the day--and in the best way possible. It's something that even The Doctor himself could respect. While it has its problems, Death In Heaven is overall a wonderful, emotional finale that needs to either be watched directly after last week's Dark Water, or twice in a row, so as to dispel the suspense high that a week of waiting builds up. The eighth season may not have been the best, but the finale definitely clinches the day and makes it a season worth watching.
This Christmas, The Doctor visits the North Pole, and a very special companion joins him in his journey. See The Doctor and Santa Claus fight evil in the as of yet untitled Doctor Who Christmas Special! Until then, won't you join us one last time for “The Doctor's Notes”?
The Doctor's Notes
NICK FROST IS SANTA! The tease at the end of this week's episode was an awesome look at what we're getting for Christmas, and Nick Frost is perfect so far! Think we can get Edgar Wright to work on Doctor Who?
This season really pandered to the internet crowd, the crown jewel being Missy dropping into the cemetery with a very Mary Poppins entrance.
Clara is “The Doctor” again? If this hadn't happened in ”Flatline” a couple weeks ago, I'd have been fine with it. But now Clara's lying to Cybermen, complete with opening sequence putting her name and eyes in the titles? There's taking a joke too far, and then there's beating a dead horse. Not to mention, the gag takes up all of five minutes of episode time and doesn't amount to anything, really. So why waste the time on rearranging the opening titles for a gag?
Two VERY BIG holes that needed to be filled: how in the world did the Cybermen hook up with The Master, and what the hell happened that triggered The Master's regeneration after fighting Rassilon in The End of Time? Something tells me The Doctor should have just left Gallifrey where it was.
Note from last week: it's funny that everyone made a fuss about Missy having an iPad, and the week after the revealed that they had Steve Jobs in the Nethersphere. It's also interesting that the villains have Apple technology and the heroes have Samsung devices. Brand warfare... gotta love it.
What's also amusing is that technology seems to be used as an overt force for good or bad this season, particularly with Missy using a killer cell phone instead of a Sonic or Laser screwdriver. Does this mean that somewhere up in the Cyber Cloud is Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel's sex tape? If so, how did that not conquer the Cybermen once and for all?
I'm uber conflicted about Osgood's death, because while my immediate reaction is “Yes! Mary Sue is taking a dirt nap,” but at the same time I wouldn't have wanted to see her die like that. They could have just not brought her back. That would have been a cleaner victory, instead of this... conflict I feel.
The Doctor's skydiving sequence was one of the best sequences this year, both in action and in musical cue. Also, if there's any way we can keep Chris Addison as Seb, it would be much appreciated. Why not make HIM the next companion, and make things interesting?
What the hell did The Doctor see in place of Gallifrey? Is he lying to Clara and didn't see anything? Or is he seeing something we can't see? Does it still exist in another dimensional plane after “The Day Of The Doctor?” What the hell happened to Rassilon? EX-PLAIN? EX-PLAAAAIN!
What does The Doctor want for Christmas? Also, does this mean Santa doesn't remember that time he was at Frank Sinatra's hunting lodge with Albert Einstein and The Doctor?
