Well what do you know. Moffat went and pulled it off. Not just in delivering a solid resolution to the first half of the season finale but also an hour of TV that pulls together and in retrospect enriches the eleven episodes that have built up to this.
Picking up from the cliffhanger, the unleashed Cybermen around the planet detonate in orbit releasing a “cyber rain”, permeating the earth and the long dead matter beneath, reanimating it into a form of newly born cybermen soldiers, an army of the dead. The Mistress is taken into custody by UNIT and the Doctor, through a special proclamation, is made President of Earth to deal with the threat. While The Doctor and Mistress go head to head, Clara faces her own battle, with the resurrected Danny Pink whose emotions are overwhelming his new cyber form.
Everything (the whole arc of the season, the “education” of Clara, even the reason she travels with the Doctor) boils down to this: The Mistress’ plan. It’s confirmed she was the one who provided Clara with the Doctor’s number back in The Bells of Saint John, but why? Essentially, Moffat wheels out the classic trope of the hero Vs. the nemesis; how one cannot exist without the other and to an extent are mirrors of each other (the Batman and Joker being a good example). The entire construct of an army of the dead merely leads to The Mistress handing control directly to the Doctor: an army for him to right wrongs across the galaxy. Give the man who knows everything all the power. A novel concept and one that ties into the Master/Mistress’ ultimate plan to show the Doctor is not the healer his name suggests, but rather a meddler imposing his ideals on time and space. As Missy so eloquently puts it, “Armies are for people who think they’re right. And nobody thinks they’re righter than you.” So either the Doctor acquiesces to save Earth and lead the army, following the same path as the Master, or lets everyone die. In essence it was the Doctor’s “Kobayashi Maru”, he never actually faced the true test of whether he could handle the power, he cheated and deferred it to Danny, a trained soldier he knew would do the right thing.
The culmination of The Mistress’ plan is setting Clara (a control freak) on a collision course with the Doctor, who is uncontrollable. Everything was engineered to cause Clara to commit murder for The Mistress’ actions or, finally, to force the Doctor to step up and do it himself: something he has always avoided, using others as his tools rather than dirtying his own hands. Again, the Doctor is saved from making such a choice with the return of the Cyberized Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart. Google it Nu-Whovians, the man is a legend with an astonishingly good mustache. The Doctor’s continued relationship with his companions is one of his strongest assets, relying on them to save the day. Some may label them as tools doing the Doctor’s bidding, but really it is surrounding himself with some of the better people and through their experiences they seem destined to make the right or necessary choices. The Doctor’s hands remain clean.
What is fascinating is how the show is really confronting death and loss in this story; heavy fare for an early evening family TV show. Last week’s episode, Dark Water, actually received hundreds of complaints about the themes of the episode, notably the idea of people remaining (in some way) alive during cremation. Death in Heaven does not really pull any punches either. These horror elements are far more reminiscent of Classic Who. Those perturbed by the acerbic nature of Capaldi as the Doctor will not have been won over by this latest outing, but that is their loss. This is a darker manifestation of the Time Lord (and indeed the show) and creatively the show is reveling in his complexity and unpredictability. This two-parter brings very deep levels of emotion and marries them well to some impressive action.
The whole cast rose to the occasion tackling the heavy themes with aplomb. Jemma Redgrave was terriffic as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, doing her father the late Brigadier proud. Speaking of which, the episode gave several lovely nods to the former compatriot to the Third Doctor, he finally got his salute from the Time Lord as well as helping save the day one last time. Samuel Anderson does very well as Danny Pink, while the character faltered towards the mid point of the season they give him a dignified and emotional sendoff. His turmoil at his revival and final goodbye to Clara was very well handled. He not only got to save the day, he even found a chance for absolution over the death of a young child while he was on duty in Afghanistan, giving the young boy his only chance to return from the afterlife. In the space of two episodes, Ingrid Oliver has produced a big fan favorite in Osgood. Even the Doctor drops a suggestion she may be worthy to join him on a trip in the TARDIS. The stakes in the episode were made clear when she fell victim to The Mistress.
Speaking of which, last week I referred to her as a crazed Mary Poppins, that is fully manifest here with one particular scene involving an umbrella. Michelle Gomez has added an unforgettable villain to the history of the show, no mean feat considering there are 50+ years worth out there. Madness with a dash of lipstick, a perfect personification of nemesis for our Time Lord. She works as a great foil for the outstanding Capaldi and here’s hoping we haven’t seen the last of her.
Over the season we have seen Clara’s distaste for the Doctor’s methods, her growing understanding of his approaches, and eventually her taking on facets of his character. Not just to survive on their adventures in time and space but in her personal life too; deception of Danny being foremost. Here we even get a sequence, and a cheeky opening credit change, where she pretends to be a regeneration of the Doctor to talk her way out of being killed. Overall she has had probably one of the most impressive arcs of any companion in the show’s history. Usually when companions leave their understanding and appreciation for the universe is vastly enriched, but can we say Clara is better off for her time in the TARDIS?
We leave them, walking away from each other, both wrapped up in their own idea of how to protect the other. Clara failing to reveal Danny sacrificed his chance to return to save the child he killed in combat and the Doctor, failing to find Gallifrey at the coordinates given to him by Missy. It is a rather noble gesture on each other’s part, believing each has the thing they wanted most while completely ignorant they need eachother more than ever. What is evident from the during credits sequence is that the Doctor and his Impossible girl are far from done with each other.
So ends Capaldi’s first season and overall it was a resounding success with a few missteps here and there, but an incredibly well plotted, paced and emotional ride. His performances have been incredible matched only by those of Jenna Coleman, truly revitalized as Clara. An enigmatic, alien Doctor is a welcome return to the show. Capaldi nails the vast intelligence and imbues it with the genuine confusion about aspects of humanity, a real return to the core of the character. Anyone put off by the central character being an old man is doing the show and themselves a disservice; clearly not familiar with the history of the show and overly preoccupied with the good looks of Tennant and Smith.
This season was also far more cohesive in terms of the visual and technical side of the show, complemented well by the writing. While some episodes stood out (Flatline, Time Heist and Listen in particular), the overall quality was undeniable. The material has been great and so were the performances, the results are really quite special. This iteration of the show is presenting compelling science fiction and is a truly revitalized and deeper piece of entertainment than it has been for years. The Who-niverse have been treated very well this season.