The BBC and Company even provided us with a prequel - in case you missed it - here it is (it was kind of predictable).
Overall it was a good, not great, episode. It was a good start to this season’s two issues. As season 6 started with the Ponds and the origins of River Song as well as their having to deal with The Silents, season 7 gives us the mystery of Clara and the establishment of “The Great Intelligence” as, as we call it here in America, this season’s “Big Bad”.
I think in this series of reviews, I’ll add a new section dealing with the mystery of Clara and my speculations as to what her deal is. Enough babbling and on to . . . . . .
WHAT I LOVED
We’re
back! Once again my friend to the show
that might not end – Doctor Who! After
far too long a break from the Christmas episode (OK, OK – it could have been
longer if Easter was later this year), we have The Doctor and The Mystery of
the Multiple Claras to try to solve.
WHAT I LIKED
Clara
actually – as far as we know – survived the episode – so as of right now – she is
not the “Thrice Dead Woman”.
I'm not sure what they did to Matt Smith for his time as the monk in this episode - but he seemed a bit softer in the face and hair - and I actually liked it a lot better - not to say I hate his normal look - just liked the Monk look better - must have been the hair and that it had a less sleek look.The Doctor: "It's 1207."
Clara: "It's only half past three. Am I calling a different Time Zone?
The Doctor: “You
really sort of are.”
Amy
was busy writing in her time! Nice
touch.
The
never ending phone cord
The
Doctor’s Dresser Drawer
Nice reference to one of the few actual Police Boxes left - the one at Earl's Court:
Mahler: "Are we sure this time? Earl's Court was an embarrassment."
Mahler: "Are we sure this time? Earl's Court was an embarrassment."
The essential British motorcycle - the Triumph!
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE
Just a nit picky thing like . . . .
It seems that everyone in London has forgotten what a Police Box is. Anyone who referred to the TARDIS (aside from Clara) referred to it simply as "The Blue Box" - just seemed kind of weird.
That whole silly "Doctor Who" thing when The Doctor first arrived to see Clara at the door, seemed too silly.
I'm still not sold on the latest TARDIS interior - I think it's the spinning "rotors" at the top. I get the Gallifeyan script on the and near the doors, but the old familiar up and down of the "Time Rotor" (which in hindsight really made no sense) that I am missing - now that we have a Time Rotor that actually rotates - on 3 levels no less.
BEST LINES
Clara: "When you say ‘mobile phone’, why did you point at that blue box"?
The
Doctor: "It’s a surprisingly accurate description."
The
Doctor: "Human souls trapped like flies
in the world wide web, stuck forever, crying out for help."
Clara: "Isn’t that basically Twitter?"
Clara: "Clara Oswald for the win! Oswin!"
The Doctor: "I can't tell the future I just grew up there." I think this is what he said.
Hmmmmm - we look like Time Lords - or Time Lords look like us???? I'm referring to what The Doctor told Amy in their 1st off world adventure "The Beast Below" when he told her that humans look like Time Lords. This is why I look at this bit of a throw away line:
A confession - with the 50th anniversary coming up - I sketched out a story where I proposed that the original Gallifreyans were human colonizers - who through a series of massive events - became the Time Lords - even called it "The Golden Moment" in honor of the Golden Anniversary - it all made basic sense on paper - just never really fleshed it out. Could Moffat have been laying clues all along???
The Doctor: "I can't tell the future I just grew up there." I think this is what he said.
Hmmmmm - we look like Time Lords - or Time Lords look like us???? I'm referring to what The Doctor told Amy in their 1st off world adventure "The Beast Below" when he told her that humans look like Time Lords. This is why I look at this bit of a throw away line:
A confession - with the 50th anniversary coming up - I sketched out a story where I proposed that the original Gallifreyans were human colonizers - who through a series of massive events - became the Time Lords - even called it "The Golden Moment" in honor of the Golden Anniversary - it all made basic sense on paper - just never really fleshed it out. Could Moffat have been laying clues all along???
QUESTIONS
Just who was that shop girl
who gave Clara the number for the “best Help Line in the Universe”? Perhaps a certain Doctor Song???? Not sure River would pop back to be a "shop girl" - she seems a bit old for that - but who knows - maybe "shop girls" over in England grow to be old LOL But then again - River can flit through time and space - could have been her
The only actual shop girl that we know is Rose Tyler. Not sure what department Rose worked in at the department store she worked at - perhaps Electronics? But that would mean she would have have to have had to have come back from the parallel Earth where the 10th Doctor left her with his sort-of self.
The only actual shop girl that we know is Rose Tyler. Not sure what department Rose worked in at the department store she worked at - perhaps Electronics? But that would mean she would have have to have had to have come back from the parallel Earth where the 10th Doctor left her with his sort-of self.
“That wasn’t a leaf, that was page 1” - What the heck does that mean?????
THE MYSTERY OF CLARA
I've talked to a few local friends about just who Clara is - some think she is a creation of the Daleks (in a reversal of our souffle loving entertainment officer on the ALASKA). I think that's laughable - not really - I just don't think that's it.
What do we know about the three iterations of Clara?
2 mentioned souffles
2 have been governesses/nannies
3 have said the magic words "Run you clever boy and remember"
1 had a double life - governess and bar maid
My theory - of this moment - is that she is a creation of The Great Intelligence - she has no idea of this of course - and different versions of 1 master version of Clara Oswin Oswald - exists somewhere - a place that will not be arrived at until the 8th episode in this run - the untitled (as yet) episode that will - according to Moffat - both reveal something we never knew about the Doctor and will lead straight to the 50th Anniversary special in November.
It could be that there is a 3rd player in this game - someone aside from The Doctor and The Great Intelligence who is controlling Clara - we'll see as we go along.Let me know what you think :-)
Jayne
Clara may indeed be a creation of the Great Intelligence, modeled on the bar maid/governess from 1892. It would explain the predilection for making souffles, the governess positions, and the repeating phrase. I'm guessing the Claras are all clones of the one from 1892, replicated throughout time, placed where and when the Doctor would find them.
ReplyDeleteMoffat isn't nearly as clever as he thinks he is and his bag of tricks is quite small.