Amph Doctor Who Discussion (Russell T. Davies returns)

Really?

Hmm, always thought that dubious honor belonged to The Twin Dilemma.

 

What a lovely, lovely episode. A nice contrast from last week's "romp", and enjoyed how it leaves us (was it another kid in Rupert's room or not?; How about outside the airlock?; Was that barn on Gallifrey?) with stuff to be answered, determined, etc, later; the overall mysterious/creepy vibe really worked greatly. Tying in the Doctor's inquisitiveness, his own fears presented here with his War Doctor iteration was really nice. Not a breaking sentiment, but I can't get enough of Calpaldi's brooding, grumpy, not-wanting-to-take much BS (ie: when he scolds Clara, demanding she gets back in the TARDIS right before the airlock opens) Doctor. Everything with Clara & Danny was good, but given were their relationship seems to be going*, there's not too much suspense/surprise there. 3 1/2 out of 4.




*Subject to change, of course.

 

If you think about it, The Town Called Mercy really sets up The Day of the Doctor. It being about the Doctor's rage and how he really needs to let it go to continue being a good man. One could posit that the current look into the Doctor's morality via Capaldi started exactly two years ago.

 

Longer than that I feel, since RTD touched on some of those same issues too (as well as the consequences of the Doctor travelling alone after the Time War).

 

No. A Town Called Mercy is the axis on which all of NuWho turns.

 

halibut's name is Susan and he would like you to respect his life choices...

 

From Timehop

 

Yeah... it was great...

 

It was fun and Amy got to call the Doctor out on some of his ****. Fun had by (almost) all.

 

Are we then to believe that town under attack by the Daleks at the beginning where he shoots "NO MORE" into the wall wasn't Galifrey?

Because the Time Lords didn't seem to know he was there either. Let alone with 2 other Time Lords later?

Spoiler

 

The Toclafane sucked. I'm glad this episode didn't reference them.

As to whether the Doctor's barn is on Gallifrey or not, it should be noted that when the three Doctors are there with the Moment in the anniversary special, the War Doctor says, "There's still a billion billion Daleks up there, attacking." (Emphasis mine.) That would seem to imply--or perhaps outright confirm?--that the building was on Gallifrey, albeit in a very remote/rural area of the planet. Sure, "up there" can be interpreted to mean a different planet, but I find it unlikely.

Anyway, great episode! Easily the strongest of series 8 so far. And to be honest, I had been very meh about this season up to this point ("Into the Dalek" hadn't even impressed me all that much). But this episode was amazing! I definitely wasn't expecting such a huge reveal and mythos-centric moment this early in the season.

My only quibble with this one--and this is an ongoing complaint of mine this season--is that it continues to make the Doctor look like he has no idea what he's talking about. This is now the second episode in a row where he's been completely wrong the whole time. (The previous episode, of course, he had been convinced Robin Hood wasn't real and the Robin they were with a robot.) Granted, he may not have been exactly wrong in this episode--there was something under Rupert's blanket (perhaps it was just another kid playing a prank?), and there might have been something outside the hatch at the end of the universe (or maybe, as suggested, it was just atmospheric conditions?). But for a show that's obviously going to significant lengths to put the Doctor in a more professorial role, I hope they don't keep having Clara just disproving him at the end of every episode.

And Clara, holy crap, I thought I loved her in series 7, but she's showing all sorts of depth these past four episodes and is easily my favorite part of series 8. (I do love Twelve too, but he does seem to be getting overshadowed a bit.) I will be very sad indeed if this is her last season. I loved her at first--now I'm downright attached!

 

BTW, one of the speculations floated on the interwebs is the following:

Spoiler

That wasn't The Doctor; that was The Master. As we know they spent time together as children and it's a classic Moffat misdirect; making us think it's The Doctor when... it's not. It also casts the "family heirloom" of the soldier in the Pink family's lineage juuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuust a little bit differently.

PS - I counted. The airlock door knocked only three times, not four.

 

Spoiler

As somebody said a few pages ago, every male ends up being speculated as the Master.

 

And now females are getting in on it too!

 

My theory this season so far has been

Spoiler

Missy is the Master (Missy = Mistress = Master), so if that child were the Master, that could fit easily into the whole Heaven scenario.

 

If that theory about the child were true, it would rather spoil the self-contained and beautifully simply message of Listen.

Missy being another Time Lord, though. I'd love that.

 

Just had a thought about the Doctor's "fear is a superpower" speech. During his time away from Clara, has he been researching Sith teachings?

 

I doubt it.

 

I dunno. Somehow, I can see Palpatine watching this one and saying, "Ha! I told him that years ago! Now, go on to to part about hate making you even stronger."

On the other hand, I can see Yoda watching this and saying, "Get it, the Doctor does not. Leads to doom, fear does."

Then the Doctor turns to both of them and says, "Be quiet. I'm talking here."

 

A)She never saw him essentially murder Gideon, as for as she knows he could have easily told her Gideon killed himself. B)She did struggle with what she did with Kovarian at the end of the episode during the conversation with post - Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone River (just before River reveals the Doctor's alive).C)IMO, what she did in splitting with Rory (because she thought he'd leave her if she couldn't have children), is perfectly in character for somebody who has massive amounts of abandoment issues due to cracks in the universe eating the various people in her life and remembering both pre - and post Big Bang II timelines.

 

Looking at the script now (for "Listen"), and it clearly labels the child as BOY DOCTOR, so I think, unless Moffat is being deliberately obtuse, we can rule out him being the Master or anyone other than the Doctor.

I still hold to my theory that Missy is a female incarnation of the Master, though.

 

Rew, can you please at least put that in spoilers.

 

What spoilers? The boy was clearly the Doctor. The plot of "Listen" wouldn't have worked if it hadn't been him. If it were the Master or another Time Lord, it would be a twist for the sake of a twist and would diminish the episode.