Doctor Who and Are You My Mummy?

Mummy on the Orient Express became an instant fan favorite, leading to Jamie Mathieson being asked to come back to pen a script for the following series.  I remember watching this episode and just being amazed by how beautiful it looked.  On second viewing I imagined either the Hinchcliffe era or the McCoy years would have really suited this story.  I usually do an introduction that seems way off topic, but I some who bring it back home.  Not this time.  Let us begin.

The Bedroom Eyes

I know that people love shipping and speaking of the great romance between the 10th Doctor and Rose.  And I totally get that.  But some of the looks and exchanges going on between Capaldi and Coleman...on an adult level, I don't think 10 and Piper hold a candle.  At the beginning, when the Doctor and Clara are talking about their last hurrah, I had to continue to remind myself that they were talking about traveling.  Right?  

Cherishing these last moments, the Doctor pontificated about Obsidian and other distant planets, causing Clara to interrupt him, knowing he is just running away from the real issues between them, leading the Doctor to plead  with Clara to escape reality by discussing the beauty and wonder of other worlds.  I thought that was quite enduring.  Remember, Clara was the first face Capaldi's Doctor's face ever saw.  She helped him and was there for him, so of course, he would be deeply disheartened if she left him for good.  He even entertained coming over for dinner. I honestly believed him.

The Doctor

Capaldi's performance as he was trying to scientifically solve the case of the Mummy on the Orient Express was fantastic.  He looked like he was on the playground with his mates, and they finally allowed him to play the Doctor for once.  I find it interesting that the Doctor doesn't figure things out immediately.  There were several deaths while the Doctor was officially on the case.  Miasie Pitt, the passenger whose grandmother experienced Death by Mummy, carried guilt because she felt like she was kind of callous of her grandmother's death. She wasn't too fond of her when she was alive.  The mummy, or the Foretold, could only be seen by those scheduled for death, so the Doctor, coming up with something on the fly, decided to transfer Maisie's guilt to himself, which seems to fit with the theme of the Doctor going through this self-loathing phase, or process.  Quickly, he understands that the Foretold is a soldier of some sort, continuing this series' motif of duty and carrying out orders till ordered not to.  

The Half-Face man had to finish his duty by making it to the Promise Land.  Journey Blue flirted with the idea of suicide bombing because she thought the mission had failed.  Danny Pink is a former soldier, so of course all he knows how to do is follow orders while ignoring nuance according to the Doctor.  In Listen the Doctor tells Clara that he doesn't follow orders.  She responds by instructing him to do as he's told.  Skovox Blitzer, the robot soldier from the future, became less hostile when the Doctor disguised his voice as a superior officer, giving orders to Blitzer that his mission was over and that it was peace time.  Lundvik, an astronaut sent to nuke the moon, wanted to carry out the mission by any means necessary.  And here we are again, the Mummy, who was actually a soldier, was waiting for ages for the war to be declared over.

After all hoopla, the Doctor figures out the situation, solves it, and whisks everyone to safety on the nearest habitable planet. Capaldi is being his most gentle, explaining to Clara reasons for his behavior.  At the beginning of the season the Doctor informs Clara of his age, confessing that all his years as a Time Lord were not rosy most days.  In this episode, he gives a line that will go in the quintessential Doctor Quote Library: "Sometimes the only decisions you have are bad ones, but you still have to choose."  

Some of the comments the Doctor said in this episode made me gasp a couple of times on my first watch.  One character was facing death, and the Doctor told him that there was no hope for him, but the least he could do was help him help the others solve the mystery.  Back in Into the Dalek, the Doctor gives the one soldier a tablet after the soldier did something to attract the Dalek's antibodies.  We all thought that this would help at first.  Nope, just a tracking device to take us to the next plot point.  When the others accused him of not helping/being insensitive, the Doctor just responded that the soldier was dead already.  Now that may seem cold, and I believe it is, but I guess it is the truth.  Other Doctors would have sugarcoated it, but Capaldi is as blunt as a candid interview with Charlie Rose or David Frost.  

I'm Gonna Kick Tomorrow

Some might say that Clara didn't do much this episode, but I would have to disagree.  Never in the history of Doctor Who has a companion told the Doctor off, exited, then contacts the Doctor for a last hurrah.  Clara didn't want to leave on a bad note.  So the two would have a final adventure, a send off on elegant night in the Orient Express...in space.  Some of you may have remembered at the end of the Big Bang with Matt Smith, when he answers a phone in the TARDIS about an Egyptian Queen loose on the Orient Express.

Clara does the typical companion thing, nurturing a guest star through their tough times while locked in a room.  But I want to talk about the last two scenes of this episode.  When the Doctor and Clara are on the beach, and the Doctor is being so kind, Clara begins to understand why the Doctor does it.  At the end of the day - any end of the day of all time and space, the Doctor really just want to help.  Inside the TARDIS, Clara talks to the Doctor about his lifestyle.  And about how traveling and not setting roots can be something of an addiction.  Back in October when this first aired, I started to feel uncomfortable.  Jenna Coleman had a desperate look in her eye.  A time junkie.  Once again in new Who, spelling out what we have always known, but never wanted explicitly said.  Tegan, who I adore, complained nonstop when she was on the TARDIS, and once she left for a while, was more than happy to join the TARDIS crew once given the chance.  She had to take another hit, man.

Clara lied to Danny about kicking her habit for time traveling.  She also lied to the Doctor about Danny being cool with her still traveling.  This really put me off to Clara, and I have been #Team Clara since series 7 when everyone else criticized her for not being well-developed.  The previous week she flipped out on the Doctor, which came out of nowhere in my opinion, but later realized she was right.  As the show moved forward, I understood that this was not only the pivotal moment for the series, but for the characters as well.  So I accepted the fact that Clara could not be "A Little Miss Perfect".  Giving the character some flaws creates drama and development, so I rolled with it.