“The key strategic weakness of the human race? The dead outnumber the living.”
After somewhat of a fun roller coaster series of episodes, Moffat brings us back down to Earth with a thud…literally. During a phone conversation in which Clara is divulging her deception and enduring love for Danny Pink, his life is brought to a shocking end in a car accident. Utterly distraught, she coerces the Doctor into twisting the laws of time to bring back her boyfriend. Linking Clara and her emotional connection to Danny, they allow the TARDIS to seek him out with the intention of saving him and satisfying the Doctor’s own curiosity about whether there truly is an afterlife. They arrive within the Nethersphere, home to the 3W Corporation and the enigmatic Missy, a figure who has been planted throughout the season. What they find in this “afterlife” suggests that death is not the end, but the beginning of a new chapter. But soon the reality of Missy’s plans become apparent and, more shockingly, so does her true identity.
As ever, Moffat has an uncanny way of finding something we all fear and manifesting it within a story; previously we’ve had statues (Blink), shadows (Silence in the Library), and children (The Empty Child). Here, it’s death, or rather the fear of what’s next, the pretty disturbing idea that even when we die a connection remains between the consciousness and the body. The horrific reveal that 3W Corporation was named after a message from the afterlife was deciphered will rank among Moffat’s most disturbing ideas yet. “Don’t cremate me.” Fuck.
It seems Missy has been recruiting all these deceased, many or whom we have glimpsed throughout the season, and processing them through the Nethersphere. Here they undergo counseling and are faced with the reality that there is more to come. It’s a resting place for the deceased to deal with their situation, entombed within the titular “Dark Water,” a liquid that only permits organic material to be seen (more on that later). The first big reveal, though, is that for many of the deceased, actually entombed in Cyberarmor, the emotional trauma of discovering they are deceased is driving them to choose “deletion” of their emotions, something offered to Danny during the episode as he struggles to come to terms with his situation. Missy has been building an army from the dead; the episode ends with the Cybermen exiting St. Paul’s Cathedral, home to the Nethersphere, with the help of a little Time Lord technology. Another iconic throwback to the Classic-Who series.
As has often been the case this season, Clara is front and center. Jenna Davis is superb here in her handling of some pretty upsetting scenes. The emotional content of the episode is handled deftly and with impact, from the initial reveal of Danny’s death to a later conversation between the two where Clara has to adopt a cold, logical stance in the face of an increasingly emotional Danny. We even get a flashback to Danny’s time in the Afghan War, as well as a secret he has been clinging to. It is brutal viewing at times and heavier fare than we’re used to on the show. Death happens in Doctor Who, but more often than not he usually jumps in his TARDIS and leaves. Here the episode seems to be intent on confronting loss head on. Of course the season has built toward developing Clara into something more of the Doctor’s mindset, and it all pays off here. First there’s the manipulation and betrayal which surprisingly causes the Doctor to reveal how much he does care about Clara, even if it is in a rather off the cuff remark. And later, it’s emotions off, logic on, to figure out the situation. Clara’s response to the situation is as you’d expect given her “education” this season — she has been shown choices are possible, options are out there, and how arrogant the Doctor can be when he puts his mind to changing something. Resorting to using him to “fix” Danny’s death is just the next step in her apprenticeship, as is him leaving her alone to deal with the situation while the Doctor tackles Missy.
Of course the biggest shock of the episode is the reveal that Missy is in fact the Master, the crazed renegade Time Lord who has been the only true equal to the Doctor throughout the show’s history. The reveal comes late in the episode, so we only get a few moments of witnessing the Doctor staggering around London with a stunned expression on his face; but judging from their history as well as the interplay so far in this episode, the fallout should be pretty juicy. This iteration of the Master is wonderfully realized by Michelle Gomez. She’s something of a crazy Mary Poppins, clearly insane but brilliant and ruthless, and also (thankfully) lacking the complete OTT behavior that characterized John Simm’s previous efforts. The Master has always led the Doctor on a merry dance, and the change in sex puts a fascinating new dimension on it.
While the emotional beats are spot on, a lot of the plot is somewhat contrived, lacking flow. Plot holes litter the episode, my only hope being part two will rectify that. The “Dark Water” itself is merely a MacGuffin designed to allow for a Cyberman reveal, something of a tradition since the 1967 episode Tomb of the Cybermen. It is also somewhat convenient that the Doctor and Clara stumble across Missy and her plans because of Danny’s death rather than anything else, which sets up a more inherent problem regarding the episode and past ones of Nu-Who dealing with the Master.
Chance brings the Doctor and his long time nemesis together. The Classic-Who series had them going toe to toe, mentally and physically at times. The Master’s previous use by Russell T. Davies as Mr. Saxon showed little involvement by the Doctor; instead his companion Martha Jones was largely responsible for foiling his plan. Here, chance and indirectly Clara is what brought them together. So far we have merely seen the Doctor staggering around the streets of London in shock at the reveal. I really hope they use the Master more effectively here, as equals with the Doctor, and let their relationship work. This is one time a companion should not be at the forefront.
The issue here is that while the big question of the season is answered — who is Missy? — so many remain. First, how did the Master/Mistress escape from the Time-locked Gallifrey, an event that occurred at the end of the Tenth Doctor’s tenure (End of Time)? Second, how was an alliance struck with the Cybermen, if indeed that is the case, and finally, what is his/her interest in Clara? If it was indeed Missy that gave Clara the Doctor’s number (The Bells of Saint John), setting them on their path together, why? What is The Mistress intent on using Clara for? As well as the action spectacle the finale promises to be, there are many niggling issues that Moffat must resolve for this all to pay off.
A gripping episode and a truly chilling idea. The emotional beats are nailed by Moffat and are not just the result of the episode but a season-long buildup. A lot is thrown up into the air, though, and resolution is needed. So we now have the Who, but are miss(y)ing the how and the why. So many questions remain, and here’s hoping that part two brings a satisfying conclusion.