DW 9.12 Hell Bent

Mar 28, 2016 18:42

Meta café time! Hi! And Happy Easter (again ( Read more... )

whoniversal meta, dw s9 review, clara who

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Comments 61

sea_thoughts March 28 2016, 18:05:58 UTC
You know who I am. And in all of that time, did you ever hear anything about anyone who stopped me?

Me: Yes, her name was Adelaide Brooke, and she killed herself because of what you did.

I love that Ashildr came back. And so different from what she was in Face The Raven, scared of the Doctor and vulnerable. Here she is Persephone, Mistress of the Underworld, no longer scared because she has learned the lesson that the Doctor refuses to learn. In the words of Sarah Jane, "Pain and loss, they define us as much as happiness or love. Whether it's a world, or a relationship... Everything has its time. And everything ends."

When she said "I know. And you're willing to risk all of Time and Space because you miss her. One wonders what the pair of you will get up to next" I almost got a hint of.... contempt? Or that she wasn't particularly impressed with him. It's as if she's saying "Everyone misses someone". In fact, it made me think of Rocket in Guardians of the Galaxy: "I don't care if it's mean. Everybody's got dead people! But that's ( ... )

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elisi March 28 2016, 18:15:58 UTC
Me: Yes, her name was Adelaide Brooke, and she killed herself because of what you did.
It'd be interwsting to see what Ashildr would make of that story when she gets that far...

Here she is Persephone, Mistress of the Underworld, no longer scared because she has learned the lesson that the Doctor refuses to learn.
Exactly. A counterweight, someone to hold him to the mark...

I almost got a hint of.... contempt? Or that she wasn't particularly impressed with him.
*nods* She was taking complete charge and basically telling him off. Which is what he needs sometimes. (Too emotional, poor thing.)

"I don't care if it's mean. Everybody's got dead people! But that's no excuse for letting everyone else around get killed along the way!"
Hear! Hear!

I definitely feel like this storyline was the ultimate reckoning with the Time Lord Victorious as far as Moffat's concerned.
And properly worked through and dealt with, talked out, analysed. A good job.

His immediate reaction on taking over was to fix Donna's story by writing Amy, a girl ( ... )

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sea_thoughts March 28 2016, 18:37:35 UTC
And also to have the person he wants to mind wipe turn on him, challenge his instinctive 'I know best'.

Yes, I loved Clara's passionate defence of her memories and her right to retain them. "Tomorrow belongs to no one but I have a right to my past!" The look she gave him when he came back after saying he'd wiped someone's memories before... she knew of Donna but I suspect she never really understood what happened until the Doctor spoke about that and then Clara, so clever, put the pieces together and was horrified.

Of course he (unlike Donna) accepts his fate, but then (as he says) he brought in on himself, whereas Donna was just a victim.

And forgetting Clara doesn't reset his personality or character, doesn't leave him reduced. As you say, that would be problematic from a show perspective. *lol*

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elisi March 28 2016, 18:57:55 UTC
The look she gave him when he came back after saying he'd wiped someone's memories before... she knew of Donna but I suspect she never really understood what happened until the Doctor spoke about that and then Clara, so clever, put the pieces together and was horrified.
Oh! And that reminds me of River, and her realisation of who Donna is as she is speaking to her. And that look... Yeah, Donna's fate is the worst. :(

And forgetting Clara doesn't reset his personality or character, doesn't leave him reduced.
This.

As you say, that would be problematic from a show perspective. *lol*
Amnesiac Doctor is fun, but...

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elisi March 28 2016, 18:54:37 UTC
One day I will write THE Clara essay and pull all the pieces together (because yes, so much about memories...). And then I shall add that. :)

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ragnarok_08 March 28 2016, 18:49:04 UTC
The fact that she is now literally Schrodinger’s Companion, neither dead or alive, makes me so happy I don’t quite know how express it. She blew into this world on a leaf, and she is still blowing...

Whoa - I hadn't really considered that, and I love it too :)

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elisi March 28 2016, 18:56:08 UTC
It sort of makes it difficult to write about? Like... Yes, everything fits, and it's what I (we) said from the start.

It's a beautiful ending, but because it all folds back on itself makes the meta somewhat redundant. ;)

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a_phoenixdragon March 28 2016, 21:32:42 UTC
Beautiful, honey...

You are right. So, so many parallels...the rise of the Skaro being reborn (and when we first saw it with the First Doctor, it was long dead) and Gallifrey long dead struggling to re-emerge. Missy would not have been happy with the Doctor. As he very much became the mirror of his own 13th possibility. Something that would make even the Master try to stop him.

This is just...I have no words. So, so many parallels and lessons.

Though I still say (because of how hard he holds onto Clara) that he got that face for another reason as well...his Ponds. People he also couldn't let go of until he was made to.

*HUGS*

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elisi March 29 2016, 11:23:52 UTC
Beautiful, honey...
<3

You are right. So, so many parallels...the rise of the Skaro being reborn (and when we first saw it with the First Doctor, it was long dead) and Gallifrey long dead struggling to re-emerge.
I hadn't even thought of One... good catch!

Missy would not have been happy with the Doctor.
You don't think so? I think she was thrilled! After all, she brought him & Clara together - and they turned out to be the Hybrid, one of the most dangerous prophecies of all time. I think she was thrilled!

I can just see her popping up, asking what's happened since last, and who-ever eagerly telling her what's been happening. And she'll examine her nails and go 'Hmmm. I introduced them, you know...'

This is just...I have no words. So, so many parallels and lessons.
I know. It just goes on and on.

Though I still say (because of how hard he holds onto Clara) that he got that face for another reason as well...his Ponds. People he also couldn't let go of until he was made to.
*ponders* The face was for saving people, holding on too ( ... )

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a_phoenixdragon March 29 2016, 12:32:48 UTC
You have a point. She DID bring them together after all. And Missy was always enouraging him to join the Darkside (with herself, obviously, being the cookie) - but he outMastered the Master. He always knows when to stop. Missy is mad, but I'm not sure she was aiming....

Nevermind. Messing with Rassilon and Gallifrey? She'd be down with that. The Doctor would be the only one who could accomplish that and her hate of her home planet is worse than his (considering what they did to her).

So...you got me here, lol!!

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elisi March 29 2016, 18:06:04 UTC
Messing with Rassilon and Gallifrey? She'd be down with that.
I may feel a little ficlet coming on...

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Slowly Claps Because Normal Clapping Is Insufficient anonymous March 29 2016, 01:00:25 UTC
Beautiful work as always :) Season 9 was indeed glorious glory from the heavens, and WILL YOU RELEASE THE DAMN SOUNDTRACK ALREADY ( ... )

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Re: Slowly Claps Because Normal Clapping Is Insufficient anonymous March 29 2016, 02:03:27 UTC
And lo, they are both better off in the end (because too many bad things happened to good people already, the story wouldn’t be right if it ended in FTR). Clara's wishes are respected, she gets a second chance, gets to essentially become the Doctor. She still has to die, but *everyone* has to die, and such a postponement after the tragedy of FTR is a blessing really ( ... )

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Re: Slowly Claps Because Normal Clapping Is Insufficient anonymous March 29 2016, 02:11:34 UTC
PS. On a more humorous note, I have to mention that somebody commented that when the Doctor is in his “no jacket” phase in the beginning, he looks like Old! Han Solo, and it can’t be unseen.

Also, I don’t know if it was intentional, but when he is ordered to “lay down any weapons on [his] person”, 12 drops his spoon :)

That scene was badass in general anyway. Although, *if* I wanted to make fun of it, I’d say: “Look, his gloriously pissed off ‘I’ll Kubrick Stare At You Until You Melt Like the Freaking Nazis in Raiders of the Lost Ark’ demeanor here isn’t really about Clara and the Confession Dial and Rassilon being a dick and all that. This is literally how *I* react every time someone interrupts me while I’m trying to eat! I mean, really, that’s it! This is a rare luxury, piss off! ‘You bastards, give me a minute, I just got here!’”

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Re: Slowly Claps Because Normal Clapping Is Insufficient elisi March 29 2016, 18:49:13 UTC
On a more humorous note, I have to mention that somebody commented that when the Doctor is in his “no jacket” phase in the beginning, he looks like Old! Han Solo, and it can’t be unseen.
Now the only response to that is Abed:


... )

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