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In Which I Review Doctor Who (8x11) Let's just get this out of the way: The Master is now a woman. The question becomes, how do we feel about that? First, credit where credit is due to Steven Moffat. After 51 years of the universe being saved by a white male, some people have begun getting angsty about the lack of diversity in Doctor Who when it comes to our leading Time Lord. Some have demanded that the Doctor be upgraded (oh hey, appropriate pun) to roll with the times: different race or different biological sex that what he has previously been, to which I give a resounding "whatever." (Race I would be fine with, but there is canon here, people!) It has been hinted at in the more recent past (ie: New Who) that this indeed could happen, though strictly speaking from a canon (meaning old) perspective, not so much. There were Time Lords and Time Ladies and that was that. But after 51 years, Steven Moffat did what no show runner has had the guts to do and gender swapped a Time...Lord...Lady. I'm not quite sure what to make of the fact that the Doctor's chief arch rival is now a woman, but I suppose that's another essay in and of itself. It's bold. It's loud. It's declarative and Moffat will be remembered for it. But, here's the rub. Is it a good story? I'm not one hundred percent sure, truth be told, but isn't this Moffat to a "T?" Bold, loud, audacious and salacious--but more flashy than substantial. In this weeks episode, "Dark Water," we get our answers to our most burning questions: who is Missy and what is this "heaven" we've been hearing so much about. It's not a bad story; it's not Moffat at his finest (sorry, that will always be Blink) but it's certainly better than the start of the season. If anything, it's adequate enough to carry us through to next week. The dead are alive, the Cybermen are back, and The Master finally made out with the Doctor. Rest in peace, Danny Pink. Last week, I complained a fair amount about the heavy handedness of the symbolism woven into "In the Forest of the Night." Apparently, all of that went over the head of the writers at the BBC because this week they decided to become even more transparent in their message. For those unaware, the Doctor has always been the "Savior." Now, you can ascribe that to any cultural mores you so desire; I prefer to couch my language in archetypes and not label it as specifically Christian or Jewish or any other variation thereof. Now, before someone waves a red flag at me and yells "regeneration" yes, that is seemingly Christian in origin, but I've also always read it as the idea of the Eternal Hero being reborn into new generations, because that's what happens. The archetype does not have to speak of one specific cultural attestation because of the universal nature of said archetype. Normally, that's how the Doctor functions. I've made note of this over the past few weeks when the Doctor's mythic significance has come to the forefront, in particular his role as the White Knight who defeats the Monsters. This week, however, they smacked a big ol' "Christian" label on his archetype. Yeah, he's Jesus. I get it. It wasn't subtle. The Doctor (sorta) flew into the afterlife to resurrect the dead. It's like something out of the New Testament. Actually, let's put my Masters to use here. You want textual evidence? Here you go: "the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." (1 Cor 15:52). Shoot, that's actually more spot on--with the 'we shall be changed' bit--once you see this episode and how the dead have been...upgraded. There were Christian motifs all over the episode, but most strongly in the beginning. Clara's betrayal, The Doctor's proclamation of everlasting love in the face of betrayal, the idea of doom and fire, and yes, finally the Doctor going into the afterlife to find one lost soul and bring him back. What, perhaps, is the big break for the Doctor from the heavy handed Christian ideology is the fact that the Doctor won't be able to save everyone. Jesus will, according to doctrine. For the righteous and for the repentant, he'll raise up the dead and we'll all go to heaven and frolic like lambs in a pasture...or something. Don't ask me; I was a scholar not a theologian. Had this episode taken place several weeks ago, I doubt the Doctor would even entertain the idea of going to find Danny. This season has been about the back and forth morality of our Time Lord. It started off, really, with one question: "Am I good man?" The answer was, "I don't know. But I think you try." Over the past few episodes, The Doctor has managed to get some of his own back and become that impossible hero Clara has worshiped (prayed to) from afar. And this week, he literally answers the phone (her prayers) and swoops in to save the day. But, this wouldn't have been the case in the beginning when the Doctor was adamantly rejecting his archetype. But now, there is a damsel in distress and by god--this is what White Knights do! Clara, my Clara. I can't hate her here. I know there were some fans who were livid at the mind trick she attempted to play on the Doctor (you can't fool the divine, honey, but A for effort) but she is in obvious pain. Clara is grieving and I don't blame her. Not only did her boyfriend, the man she loves and the man to whom she is only ever going to say "I love you," die but he died just as she was working up the courage to tell him the whole truth. Last week I called Clara a liar from Lying Town and it's like she heard me. Littered all over her bookshelves are her lies--the dinosaur, the moon, Vastra, the bank heist, and every other adventure (read: episode) she's gone on this season, everything she has been keeping from Danny. Clara was going to be brave, stop fearing, and finally tell Danny the truth: "My name is Clara Oswald and I am a TARDIS addict." It's a bit of a wake up call, or at least it should be, that just in the middle of trying to unburden herself, her boyfriend is run over by a car. I've mildly complained this season, and certainly others have been more vocal than I, that the show was becoming too focused on Clara but now it makes sense, in part. It was leading to this: to Clara standing at the threshold of this world and the next, trying to decide what comes next--and make no mistake, they may be in London still, but Clara's declaration that she'll be with Danny one way or another is her deciding if she's going to live or die. Last week her line about not being able to see the path felt like foreshadowing and I said as much. This week, well, maybe I should let someone older and more Italian speak for me: "Midway upon the journey of our life/ I found myself within a forest dark/For the straightforward pathway had been lost." Her betrayal (and I'm only calling it that because that is what she called it, and the Doctor picks up on it, but I don't believe it to be such) is human. After trying to be the Doctor two weeks ago, Clara remembered that being human is heartbreak. And now she wants nothing more than to be human for good. Welcome to Heaven? It's certainly unique, I'll give them that. The underworld, the nethersphere, the afterlife, heaven, hell. Whatever name you want to give this...place...that is what it is. It certainly has the heaven aspect with free wifi (joke) but there's also the whole eternal pain and torture. This is fairly plot heavy and it took watching the episode twice to make sure I had it, but here goes: when you die, the soul, the mind, your essence, your...whatever, goes to this place. You see yourself and others as you and they were in life, hence why Danny looks like Danny. But your old body is back on earth and you are still connected to it; therefore, you can feel everything that is being done to your old body: if they are storing you someplace cold, you are now cold. If you donate your body to science, then you feel the experiments. And if you are going to be cremated, well...you get the idea. The first climax of the show comes when you realize that you aren't in heaven, not really. It's a Gallifrey matrix (very Trial of A Time Lord) and it's being used to house people's minds. Now, I have a bit of a metaphysical problem with this because how. Downloading someone's conscience is pretty standard in science fiction, so I'm not going to spend any time trying to wrinkle this out, and obviously neither is Doctor Who. But it is one of those things that if you stop and think too long on it, it will bother you. The bodies of the dead are being kept in a fish tank with "dark water" (hence the title of the episode) that works like an X-ray. You don't see anything except the bones. Anything non-organic is invisible. Clever.  It makes the reveal of what is really going on with these bodies gasp worthy, unless you saw the promo's last week and you know what is coming. (Hint: Cybermen). The company housing the dead bodies (and unbeknownst to the Doctor at the time, the minds inside the Time Lord technology matrix) is called 3W and it's run by Missy--shocking. It was founded after Doctor Skarosa (erm...see my note section for something crackpot) learned the truth about the death experience. The Master knows all about the death experience; he, like the Doctor, has had several bodies. The last time we saw the Master he was fighting for "good" against the Time Lords who made him "wrong." And, before that, the 10th Doctor gave him a funeral pyre and I do wonder if that plays into the fear of cremation aspect. Missy teases the Doctor about how she is programed for self-repair (ha) and the Doctor is clearly confused by her. Her reveal is decent, surprising yet so obvious. Mercurial, ruthless, cheeky, of course she was The Master. The obvious nature of it should have been even more apparent by Peter Capadli's own acting references, namely to the 3rd Doctor (Pertwee) who was the first to face the Master. But what is Missy's plan? She's going to resurrect the dead of the earth to have them give birth to Cybermen? But...why? What does this get her except lots of Cybermen? Does she think she can control them? I'm betting they aren't going to like you much, dear. Lord and Master or not, you're still a Time Lord and they tend not like anything not Cyberman. But now we come to the question I began with: is this a good story? It's fine. That's my honest answer. It's fine. I am very relieved that Missy isn't some future or past or alternate version of Clara, but really--the Master? Or...The Mistress? He (now she) has been done before; many times. The Master was the chief villain of season 3 and played a role in the final two episodes of the Tenth Doctor. He's had a nice break since then and frankly, I didn't have a pressing need to see him back. John Simm played him beautifully and Missy is just annoying (she can regenerate now; it's fine by me). Missy could have been the Rani, that would be entertaining. But it is what it is. And now Cybermen are descending on London--as they have before. We still have one more part to go. The Christ-Savior-Doctor versus his antithesis. And apparently it's the souls of mankind in play. How...apocalyptic. Miscellaneous Notes on Dark Water

--"Do you think I care for you so little that betraying me would make a difference?"

--Doctor Skarosa. Like, Skaro? The planet of the Daleks? Gee, why do I think Davros might be coming back into play? He also burned the last time we saw him. Crackpot? Possibly.

--That was way too much kissing from Missy and the Doctor, but thankfully he thought so too. "You're very...realistic." "Tongue?" "Shut up."

--Is Danny going to "delete" himself? Obviously, "delete" here means upload as a Cyberman--it is their catch phrase after all.

--To destroy a TARDIS key you throw it into lava. So, the TARDIS key is the Ring and you must take it to Mount Doom. Another preciousssssss.

--How does this end next week? There is no "saving" Danny; he's dead. But can the Doctor save the dead from being reborn into metal suits? That'll be...interesting.
Posted by Jacquelyn at 6:55 AM