Last week on Doctor Who, Clara's life got a bit more complicated as terror and The Doctor came home to visit her and Danny. Though the monster was slain and The Doctor approved of Danny, it still set up the possibility that Clara might leave the TARDIS on her own free will at some point in the future. This week, some pretty big stuff happened and it looks like the futures of humanity and Clara Oswald have been decided in what just might be the most controversial episode of Doctor Who ever.
”An innocent life versus the future of mankind... we have 45 minutes to decide.”
Kill The Moon starts off as a full-blown horror show that was mildly interesting at best, but that was before the talk of abortion came into play. That's right, this week's story comes off as a parable for abortion, with the ultimate crisis being the decision to let a gigantic organism live or die with the future of mankind in the balance. With all of the male side characters dead and The Doctor departed, our three female leads are left to decide on the fate of the innocent life, which plays out as a brilliant sci fi potboiler, but is also a social tale when you think on it later. (Or in my case, when your girlfriend thinks on it and brings it to your attention.)
While the subject is handled rather well in Kill The Moon, the show doesn't preach about it, nor does it pretend to come down on one side or another. While a decision is made, and the outcome could ultimately be read one way, both decisions make sense in their own way. If anything, the argument made in Kill The Moon could be seen as a “case-by-case basis” stance, and it could make for some good discussion among adults. At least, that's my perspective on things. Again, part of the fun of watching this episode is interpreting and analyzing the events.
”Tell me what you knew Doctor, or I'll slap you so hard you'll regenerate.”
As if controversial subject matter wasn't enough of a catalyst for Doctor Who's latest season, we're given a huge emotional beat as Clara decides to leave the TARDIS and tell The Doctor to go as far away as he can from her. While she'll probably be back for the end of the season, I don't think she'll be back for long. Between the rumors and the general flow of the story, it seems like Clara is (or should be) departing in the near future.
She's had a good run, but it's going to be hard for her or anyone to come back from such a crushing betrayal of trust. Season 8 has been setting up her future outside of the TARDIS, and as the Ponds have shown us before, there's only so long after the die has been cast before you either suffer as a companion, or live long enough to walk out on your own volition. In any case, Doctor Who turned in a story that displayed the hallmarks of great science fiction, as it made us think about real life a little more critically and we didn't even notice it until lated.
Next week, The Doctor strikes it out on his own, and he's toying with another Agatha Christie mystery! Also, there's a mummy. We'll see you next week when we recap the BBC's “Mummy On The Orient Express!” In the meantime, you can head on over to page 2 for this week's Doctor's Notes!
The Doctor's Notes
Peter Capaldi, the Whovian that he is, noticed that the Yo Yo in the episode is reminiscent of a habit that the Fourth Doctor had in his time.
Mummy On The Orient Express looks like another Voyage Of The Damned crossed with another The Unicorn And The Wasp, except there's no companion! No offense to Clara, but Twelve + Agatha Christie – Companion = excitement!
The existence of Heaven... the subject of Abortion... is Doctor Who seriously trying to piss off the religious right?
That crack about Mission Control's haircut has to be a reference to Bobak Ferdowsi, aka “that guy with the mohawk in the landing videos.”
As if Tumblr wasn't already knee deep in the Doctor Who fandom, the love they received this week will probably have them tripping over themselves to reblog. Fingers crossed we don't get an entire episode played out on a Pinterest board.
