Yay! Doctor Who is back. I missed this show so much. I always miss it when it's not around, and it always brings a smile to my face. Reviewing an episode of this show is a rather daunting task, even considering that I have basically no readership. So many great minds get together after new episodes to speculate and theorize, and I suppose I'll just add my own two cents to the growing pile of reviews already out there about "The Bells of Saint John."
I'm going to split this review into two halves. For the first half, I will review the plot. For the second, I will review the characters. I'm doing this basically because my opinions on the two are very different. Diametrically opposed, you might even say. So, as Eleven would say, Geronimo!
The Plot:
The story was... underwhelming, I suppose. Not bad or anything, but it felt a bit confusing and lackluster. The bad guys weren't particularly threatening and it all seemed to be resolved too quickly. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it just didn't feel like an hour's worth of story.
For those of you who didn't pick up on this, the mysterious "client" of the episode was in fact the Great Intelligence (as seen in the Christmas special). This is intriguing. Obviously Clara must have some connection in there as well, since this is the second time she has popped up at the same time as this Intelligence thing. In the hands of Moffat, I'm excited to see how this element plays out in later episodes. For the sake of this episode, however, the device felt underused. Perhaps the payoff will clear it up in the later episode, but if I'm looking at this episode by itself, I'm not too impressed.
I was also a bit confused at a few things. First of all, at the end of the episode Kizlet (the woman leading our bad guys) and the other minions all seemed to restore themselves to factory setting, forgetting their involvement in the evil plot. Why? What caused this to happen? Maybe I just need to go back and watch it again, but it seemed sort of strange to me. There's also the matter of the Doctor clone. How did they do that? Were they just planting some sort of subconscious message into Clara and the Doctor's heads to make the robot thing look like the Doctor? It didn't make sense. It did, however, give me uncomfortable flash backs to some series six business that I'd rather forget. When I look at the Doctor I want to be sure that it is the Doctor rather than a ganger ("The Rebel Flesh" and "The Almost People") or a Teselecta ("The Wedding of River Song"). How many times are they going to fake us out like this? I didn't like it.
And speaking of those weird humanoid robot things... what was up with that? I didn't understand the necessity. I love the idea of an invisible enemy in the form of Wi-Fi, so why make it visible it with weird human things whose heads open up? It was an odd choice that for me personally didn't work out so well.
There were some things about the plot that I liked, but these were pretty much all elements that relate to an over-arching plot that will pay off later in the season. In terms of the week by itself, it wasn't all that interesting.
But now, we're moving on to...
The Characters:
As lackluster as the plot might have been, I was more than happy that the episode chose to spend most of its time brushing over the story and focusing on the character development. Obviously, I'm referring to the relationship between the Doctor and Clara. And let me tell you... it was fantastic.
I don't think I've been so instantly enamored by a companion since... well, ever. I'll admit, I didn't really like Oswin Oswold in "Asylum of the Daleks." I was a bit disappointed because it seemed like Jenna-Louise Coleman was going to be playing yet another sassy strong female who kept the Doctor on his toes. Amy and River already more than fulfilled this role for me, so I was a bit worried that we were just getting a recycled character. However, Miss Coleman totally and completely charmed me in "The Snowmen." She was adorable and her chemistry with Matt Smith was excellent. However, I was still worried. How were they going to compellingly introduce her for the third time? As yet another incarnation?
And... they pulled it off beautifully. I love that Clara calls the Doctor and asks about the internet. I love that he shows up, saves her, and then keeps guard outside her window. I love his domestic worrying as he puts her to bed and lays out a plate of food for her. I love how excited he is to find her again, and how "run ,you clever boy, and remember" gets worked into the episode.
And mostly, I love... the dialogue. Snappy, quick, hilarious. The two of them have this instant attraction that already feels much more genuine than the flirtation between River and the Doctor. I'll list some of my favorite examples here, but there are seriously so many of them that I probably won't even get to half:
Clara asks the Doctor why he points to the TARDIS when talking about a mobile telephone, and he says "Because it's a surprisingly accurate description!"
The Doctor makes a speech about himself, listing his qualities such as his 1,000 year old age and two hearts, but ends it with "and I can't fly a plane, can you?"
Lines about the TARDIS:
"It's all very science-y."
"It's a time machine. You never have to wait for breakfast."
"It's a time machine! Any time's okay."
Clara asks if the TARDIS is a snogging booth, and says: "There's such a thing as too keen."
Then there was the Doctor's hilarious statement about time travel: "I can't tell the future, I just work there."
I think I'd have to say my favorite was when Clara is looking out the window and the Doctor is reading her messages to her. Apparently Clara needs to stop worrying so much about Angie: "For God's sake, get off her back." Also, apparently Clara's dad called to talk "mainly about the government." For some reason, these lines really cracked me up.
I could go on. The dialogue was amazing. There were some fantastic quotes to be found in this episode, and I'm sure a few of them will become catch-phrases for us Whovians in the future.
What else do I like about Clara? Well, the mystery surrounding her. As we started to discover that something was up with Clara, I was a bit annoyed at first. I was missing the days of Rose and Martha, where the companions were literally just ordinary people that the Doctor finds on his adventures. They often become important (both to the world and to the Doctor himself) but they start off just as normal people in the normal world. They are our point-of-view characters and the way in which the audience experiences this world. Moffat likes his companions to be strange, unique, and a bit plot-device-y. River? Time traveling daughter of Amy and Rory who was brainwashed by the government to kill the Doctor blah blah blah. Amy? The Girl Who Waited, the crack in her bedroom wall, etc. etc... Rory dies like 100 times...
So, I sort of wished at first that Clara could just be a normal girl. Someone average who is made extraordinary due to her experiences with the Doctor. However... I'll admit I'm really intrigued. As long as the pay-off is good, I'm really happy with what they're doing with Clara's character. Some theories/things to notice:
We've met this Miss Oswold person three times now. Each of these incarnations is different, but all have some similarities (kudos, once more, to Jenna-Louise Coleman for carving out three distinct characters for us).
So - here are some similarities: She loves to travel (Mentioned in "Asylum of the Daleks" and again in "The Bells of Saint John.") She's a governess (In "The Snowmen" and in "The Bells of Saint John.") She likes making Souffles ("Asylum" and "Snowmen"). She has an affinity for technology ("Asylum" and "Bells.") -- If I was going to make one nitpick here, it would be that I think it's sort of a cop-out that Clara suddenly gets all sorts of techno-knowledge. It reminded me too much of the Doctor-Donna, for one thing. I'd also love to see a companion work to learn a new skill set such as how technology works. Oh well.
Some other things to notice - who was the person who told Clara that the Doctor's number was a help line? Was it River? Someone we don't know yet? I'm sure everyone has noticed by now that the book Summer Falls in this episode was written by Amelia Williams (Amy Pond!) and that Clara has a hilarious meta-line here: when talking about chapters in the book, she comments that "Eleven is the best, you'll cry your eyes out."
In her diary she skipped 23 years old and went straight to 24... there was also her line at the end when the Doctor asked about the leaf in the book. She says "that wasn't a leaf. That was page one." I, for one, am intrigued.
There are a lot of other things I could say about this episode, but I think I'll stop there. Our episode ended with Clara coyly refusing to join the Doctor right away, which I thought was a nice touch. However, I'm excited to see them off on their first real adventure next week! I'm anxious to see what the future will bring! As long as Clara and the Doctor continue to have this amazing connection, I'm willing to put up with some less-than-brilliant plots.
8/10
For those of you who didn't pick up on this, the mysterious "client" of the episode was in fact the Great Intelligence (as seen in the Christmas special). This is intriguing. Obviously Clara must have some connection in there as well, since this is the second time she has popped up at the same time as this Intelligence thing. In the hands of Moffat, I'm excited to see how this element plays out in later episodes. For the sake of this episode, however, the device felt underused. Perhaps the payoff will clear it up in the later episode, but if I'm looking at this episode by itself, I'm not too impressed.
I was also a bit confused at a few things. First of all, at the end of the episode Kizlet (the woman leading our bad guys) and the other minions all seemed to restore themselves to factory setting, forgetting their involvement in the evil plot. Why? What caused this to happen? Maybe I just need to go back and watch it again, but it seemed sort of strange to me. There's also the matter of the Doctor clone. How did they do that? Were they just planting some sort of subconscious message into Clara and the Doctor's heads to make the robot thing look like the Doctor? It didn't make sense. It did, however, give me uncomfortable flash backs to some series six business that I'd rather forget. When I look at the Doctor I want to be sure that it is the Doctor rather than a ganger ("The Rebel Flesh" and "The Almost People") or a Teselecta ("The Wedding of River Song"). How many times are they going to fake us out like this? I didn't like it.
And speaking of those weird humanoid robot things... what was up with that? I didn't understand the necessity. I love the idea of an invisible enemy in the form of Wi-Fi, so why make it visible it with weird human things whose heads open up? It was an odd choice that for me personally didn't work out so well.
There were some things about the plot that I liked, but these were pretty much all elements that relate to an over-arching plot that will pay off later in the season. In terms of the week by itself, it wasn't all that interesting.
But now, we're moving on to...
The Characters:
As lackluster as the plot might have been, I was more than happy that the episode chose to spend most of its time brushing over the story and focusing on the character development. Obviously, I'm referring to the relationship between the Doctor and Clara. And let me tell you... it was fantastic.
I don't think I've been so instantly enamored by a companion since... well, ever. I'll admit, I didn't really like Oswin Oswold in "Asylum of the Daleks." I was a bit disappointed because it seemed like Jenna-Louise Coleman was going to be playing yet another sassy strong female who kept the Doctor on his toes. Amy and River already more than fulfilled this role for me, so I was a bit worried that we were just getting a recycled character. However, Miss Coleman totally and completely charmed me in "The Snowmen." She was adorable and her chemistry with Matt Smith was excellent. However, I was still worried. How were they going to compellingly introduce her for the third time? As yet another incarnation?
And... they pulled it off beautifully. I love that Clara calls the Doctor and asks about the internet. I love that he shows up, saves her, and then keeps guard outside her window. I love his domestic worrying as he puts her to bed and lays out a plate of food for her. I love how excited he is to find her again, and how "run ,you clever boy, and remember" gets worked into the episode.
And mostly, I love... the dialogue. Snappy, quick, hilarious. The two of them have this instant attraction that already feels much more genuine than the flirtation between River and the Doctor. I'll list some of my favorite examples here, but there are seriously so many of them that I probably won't even get to half:
Clara asks the Doctor why he points to the TARDIS when talking about a mobile telephone, and he says "Because it's a surprisingly accurate description!"
The Doctor makes a speech about himself, listing his qualities such as his 1,000 year old age and two hearts, but ends it with "and I can't fly a plane, can you?"
Lines about the TARDIS:
"It's all very science-y."
"It's a time machine. You never have to wait for breakfast."
"It's a time machine! Any time's okay."
Clara asks if the TARDIS is a snogging booth, and says: "There's such a thing as too keen."
Then there was the Doctor's hilarious statement about time travel: "I can't tell the future, I just work there."
I think I'd have to say my favorite was when Clara is looking out the window and the Doctor is reading her messages to her. Apparently Clara needs to stop worrying so much about Angie: "For God's sake, get off her back." Also, apparently Clara's dad called to talk "mainly about the government." For some reason, these lines really cracked me up.
I could go on. The dialogue was amazing. There were some fantastic quotes to be found in this episode, and I'm sure a few of them will become catch-phrases for us Whovians in the future.
What else do I like about Clara? Well, the mystery surrounding her. As we started to discover that something was up with Clara, I was a bit annoyed at first. I was missing the days of Rose and Martha, where the companions were literally just ordinary people that the Doctor finds on his adventures. They often become important (both to the world and to the Doctor himself) but they start off just as normal people in the normal world. They are our point-of-view characters and the way in which the audience experiences this world. Moffat likes his companions to be strange, unique, and a bit plot-device-y. River? Time traveling daughter of Amy and Rory who was brainwashed by the government to kill the Doctor blah blah blah. Amy? The Girl Who Waited, the crack in her bedroom wall, etc. etc... Rory dies like 100 times...
So, I sort of wished at first that Clara could just be a normal girl. Someone average who is made extraordinary due to her experiences with the Doctor. However... I'll admit I'm really intrigued. As long as the pay-off is good, I'm really happy with what they're doing with Clara's character. Some theories/things to notice:
We've met this Miss Oswold person three times now. Each of these incarnations is different, but all have some similarities (kudos, once more, to Jenna-Louise Coleman for carving out three distinct characters for us).
So - here are some similarities: She loves to travel (Mentioned in "Asylum of the Daleks" and again in "The Bells of Saint John.") She's a governess (In "The Snowmen" and in "The Bells of Saint John.") She likes making Souffles ("Asylum" and "Snowmen"). She has an affinity for technology ("Asylum" and "Bells.") -- If I was going to make one nitpick here, it would be that I think it's sort of a cop-out that Clara suddenly gets all sorts of techno-knowledge. It reminded me too much of the Doctor-Donna, for one thing. I'd also love to see a companion work to learn a new skill set such as how technology works. Oh well.
Some other things to notice - who was the person who told Clara that the Doctor's number was a help line? Was it River? Someone we don't know yet? I'm sure everyone has noticed by now that the book Summer Falls in this episode was written by Amelia Williams (Amy Pond!) and that Clara has a hilarious meta-line here: when talking about chapters in the book, she comments that "Eleven is the best, you'll cry your eyes out."
In her diary she skipped 23 years old and went straight to 24... there was also her line at the end when the Doctor asked about the leaf in the book. She says "that wasn't a leaf. That was page one." I, for one, am intrigued.
There are a lot of other things I could say about this episode, but I think I'll stop there. Our episode ended with Clara coyly refusing to join the Doctor right away, which I thought was a nice touch. However, I'm excited to see them off on their first real adventure next week! I'm anxious to see what the future will bring! As long as Clara and the Doctor continue to have this amazing connection, I'm willing to put up with some less-than-brilliant plots.
8/10
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