Doctor Who: The Woman Who Lived (9x06)

What a strange episode. But... I think I liked it, honestly. If you read my review last week you'll know that I was mighty annoyed about the introduction of yet another special mystery girl. However, due to  Maisie Williams' performance and an actually nuanced script, I'm eating my words. For once, it seems this idea was executed correctly.

Cons:

The action-y alien aspect of this episode was almost presented as a side-note, and it felt like a last minute tacked on scene. Essentially, Maisie Williams' character, going by the name "Me" for most of the episode, has an ally named Leandro, a lion-esque alien man who wants to open a portal to his world. Me is convinced that she will get to travel the galaxies, and she's all for the plan. Turns out, Leandro was tricking her, and his people start to invade. The whole thing was really only a set up so that we could come to the moment that Me, aka Ashildr, could realize that she still cares about the lives of humans. This could have been done in a simpler way, without the added element of a quick invasion.

Pros:

The absence of Clara. She does appear at the end, and I'll get to that in a minute, but her absence was actually very refreshing. Clara is the human character who grounds us, the audience, in response to the Doctor's alien-ness (or, that's what she's supposed to be. I still say she's way too bland of a character). In any case, her absence meant that the Doctor and Ashildr are set adrift, two immortals without a strong mortal presence to remind them of the joys of life. This allowed for a lot of interesting stuff - particularly in the end, when Ashildr is reminded of the beauty of human life. Clara's absence meant that Ashildr and the Doctor had to work harder for that realization.

The environment of the episode is a lot of fun. Ashildr moonlights as a mysterious bandit called the Nightmare, and participates in witty banter with Sam Swift the Quick, a rouge sort of fellow who entertains the crowd with a stand-up comedy routine just before he's to be hanged. I liked Sam, and I liked the world we were given to explore.

Maisie Williams' acting, and the complexity of her character, were really fantastic. Unlike the Doctor, Ashildr's immortality comes with an ordinary human memory. She has an infinite life, but she is still just an ordinary person for all that. This causes her to grieve like a human as she loses every person she's ever loved. Particularly devastating was the moment when the Doctor reads some of Ashildr's diary entries and learns that she had kids who died. Williams' acting was a real punch to the gut here. She's a clever character - unlike Jack Harkness or River Song or any of the other companions, she's not a time traveler. She's immortal, but she lives life linearly, which means that when she sees the Doctor and hundreds of years have passed, she's been slugging through all that time, while the Doctor has been skipping around through time as always.

The best thing about Maisie Williams' performance is that she doesn't really act much like Ashildr. She makes you feel like enough time has passed that she's pretty much completely forgotten who she was when she was a mortal human. It's a scary thought, and it causes the Doctor to confront some scary truths of his own. Can he really remember who he is at his core, if he continues to live so long and change so much? I'm also happy to report that Ashildr isn't another attractive quippy woman who has sassy lines and engages in verbal sparring matches with the Doctor. She's a lot harder and harsher than that. She's not particularly funny. She's just... jaded. To her core. It adds another interesting element to their relationship, since the Doctor doesn't have any cause to be amused by her, the way he seems to be by most of his female companions (I'm talking Moffatt-era, of course).

The Doctor and Ashildr have such an interesting relationship, and we end the episode with the uncomfortable fact that they can't really be close. It would be dangerous for two such people to travel together, because their perspectives are so different from others. Two of them together would be a nightmare.

Although the Doctor does mention that he's traveled with an immortal person before - Captain Jack Harkness. What the HELL are they doing mentioning Jack?! Don't play mind games with me, guys. If they're setting up a future appearance of Jack Harkness, I am there for that 100% all the way sign me up right the hell now. But if this is a throw-away, I'll be super pissed that I got my hopes up.

Clara did have a scene at the end, and it was adorable. I think some distance from her was a good idea at this point in the season, because when the Doctor told Clara he had missed her, I let out a little internal "awww!" I've been seeing some interesting discussion online of how Clara is losing her humanity by traveling with the Doctor, and I think we can see that in Clara's lust for adventure. It's not quite the same thing as the other companions' desire for a trip with the Doctor. She would probably happy if she never went home again, and we're starting to see that as a dangerous thing.

This is an odd thing to compliment, and it's not really a praise of this episode but of Moffatt-era Doctor Who as a whole. (I know, I was just as shocked as you are). With the ninth and tenth Doctor, we get the sense that only a few years go by with each of these incarnations. With the eleventh and now twelfth, there are lots of little narrative tricks employed to make us understand that vast amounts of time can pass between each of these adventures. One of the more interesting aspects of Moffatt-era companions is that they go home at the end of the day, so to speak. Each time the Doctor drops Clara off, we can assume he went off and had a bunch of adventures without her, before picking her up for another one. It gives the immortality angle a bit more strength.

That's where we'll stop. Maisie Williams is what made this episode great. There were some things I could have done without, but her performance more than made up for any weaknesses.

8.5/10