Story: Kill the Moon
Written By: Peter Harness
Length: 45 Minutes
Year: 2014
At the end of the previous episode, the Doctor took student of Clara & Danny and "disruptive influence" Courtney Woods on a quick trip in the TARDIS. She threw up...and since she has been falling apart. Seeing the universe freaked her out, and having someone like the Doctor apparently say that she wasn't special really screwed her up, so Clara wants the Doctor to apologize. This is a less emotional Doctor, and instead of just saying he didn't mean it...he takes them on a trip to the Moon.
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They end up on an old space shuttle crashing on the moon, which has more gravity than ever before (causing natural disasters on Earth), and find that the astronauts in the shuttle are there to blow it up. On the moon they find giant space spiders who attack and kill two of the astronauts...and then the Doctor makes a surprising discovery...the moon is getting heavier, because it is an EGG! The spiders are just bacteria for a giant organism.
Admittedly, this is a ridiculous idea, but that is exactly why I watch Doctor Who. If I am watching "Star Trek" I find bad science and goofy ideas like this to be frustrating and irritating...but not in Doctor Who, because from it's very beginning it could use goofy nonsense for a dramatic and fun experience.
So this whole thing comes down to whether or not they should kill the baby dragon growing inside the moon egg. It is a not terribly subtle metaphor for abortion...but the story doesn't get as hamfisted and preachy as I feared it would. So they have this choice...kill the baby or don't/ The Doctor proclaims the choise is humanity and leaves it in the hands of three women....the lead astronaut, Clara, and young Courtney. Then he just takes off. Left without the help of the Doctor, Clara cals Earth and has them vote...if they leave their lights on they take their chance with space dragon, if they turn out their lights the vote to kill it. Humanity turns out the lights...but Clara and Courtney decide to ignore it at the last second and abort the bomb...at which point the Doctor shows up, takes them to Earth and they find that no debris hits the earth, the monster flies away without harming Earth or humanity...and it lays a new Moon Egg for the Earth.
The Doctor then pontificates about the future of humanity for a roundabout way of telling Courtney she is special, at least in some small way. But then they get back to their own time, Clara shoves her out of the TARDIS and then rips the Doctor a new one for they way he treated her. Coleman is great in this scene, much as she has been this series. She has had more time to develop as a character...she still isn't the most developed companion of recent years, but she has had room to grow this year. I wouldn't have expected the rift between Clara and the Doctor to come so soon after last week's conversation between her and Danny which made it seem clear something was going to happen. Clara not only yells at the Doctor, but she sends him away and tells him not to come back.
It is a solid episode that has humor and drama and scares and issues. I was initially worried about the abortion issue, but while it was obvious and not subtle, it didn't feel too forced after the initial realization of what they were doing. I've seen people complain that it was a both pro-choice and pro-life message...which means that it's position wasn't clear enough for it to make any truly bold statement. I loved that final scene between Clara and the Doctor in which she took him down a peg and left him questioning his own confidence and abrasive nature as of late. It will be interesting to see this Doctor without his companion next week, and to see if and how this relationship mends itself at the end of the series.
NEXT TIME: Train Mummy
Written By: Peter Harness
Length: 45 Minutes
Year: 2014
At the end of the previous episode, the Doctor took student of Clara & Danny and "disruptive influence" Courtney Woods on a quick trip in the TARDIS. She threw up...and since she has been falling apart. Seeing the universe freaked her out, and having someone like the Doctor apparently say that she wasn't special really screwed her up, so Clara wants the Doctor to apologize. This is a less emotional Doctor, and instead of just saying he didn't mean it...he takes them on a trip to the Moon.
.png)
Admittedly, this is a ridiculous idea, but that is exactly why I watch Doctor Who. If I am watching "Star Trek" I find bad science and goofy ideas like this to be frustrating and irritating...but not in Doctor Who, because from it's very beginning it could use goofy nonsense for a dramatic and fun experience.
So this whole thing comes down to whether or not they should kill the baby dragon growing inside the moon egg. It is a not terribly subtle metaphor for abortion...but the story doesn't get as hamfisted and preachy as I feared it would. So they have this choice...kill the baby or don't/ The Doctor proclaims the choise is humanity and leaves it in the hands of three women....the lead astronaut, Clara, and young Courtney. Then he just takes off. Left without the help of the Doctor, Clara cals Earth and has them vote...if they leave their lights on they take their chance with space dragon, if they turn out their lights the vote to kill it. Humanity turns out the lights...but Clara and Courtney decide to ignore it at the last second and abort the bomb...at which point the Doctor shows up, takes them to Earth and they find that no debris hits the earth, the monster flies away without harming Earth or humanity...and it lays a new Moon Egg for the Earth.
The Doctor then pontificates about the future of humanity for a roundabout way of telling Courtney she is special, at least in some small way. But then they get back to their own time, Clara shoves her out of the TARDIS and then rips the Doctor a new one for they way he treated her. Coleman is great in this scene, much as she has been this series. She has had more time to develop as a character...she still isn't the most developed companion of recent years, but she has had room to grow this year. I wouldn't have expected the rift between Clara and the Doctor to come so soon after last week's conversation between her and Danny which made it seem clear something was going to happen. Clara not only yells at the Doctor, but she sends him away and tells him not to come back.
It is a solid episode that has humor and drama and scares and issues. I was initially worried about the abortion issue, but while it was obvious and not subtle, it didn't feel too forced after the initial realization of what they were doing. I've seen people complain that it was a both pro-choice and pro-life message...which means that it's position wasn't clear enough for it to make any truly bold statement. I loved that final scene between Clara and the Doctor in which she took him down a peg and left him questioning his own confidence and abrasive nature as of late. It will be interesting to see this Doctor without his companion next week, and to see if and how this relationship mends itself at the end of the series.
NEXT TIME: Train Mummy
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