NuWho Review: Series 8 Episode 11 "Dark Water"

By: Steven Moffat

**Spoilers**
If you have not yet seen this episode, PLEASE go and do so before proceeding. Seriously. Go. You do NOT what to have this spoiled for you.


          WHAT? WHAT? WHAT? WHAT? WHAT THE WHAT? WHAT? WHAT IN THE GOOD GREEN EARTH DID I JUST WATCH?!

       Okay, so first off there has been quite a controversy about this new series of Doctor Who. I don't know how much you all follow the news in the media and all that, but there has been rather a stir all throughout this new series that the show has grown too dark and scary for children. Excuse me while I go and re-watch The Brain of Morbius and Mind Warp, because this has NOTHING on Classic Who!

      I will say this, though. I was scared by the Cybermen for the first time in YEARS while watching this. It wasn't quite pee-your-pants, dive-behind-the-sofa scared...but they actually seemed like a credible threat for once! And Missy...just, wow. I take back what I said about her being bland and forgettable. That was all washed away here (haha...water puns...sorry). After the disappointment of The Name of The Doctor and the ridiculous, unnecessarily-complicated mess that was His Last Vow, I have been less than pleased with Moffat's series finale work of late. So I was exceedingly nervous going into this one. Series 8 reminds me of Series 5 (IMNSHO the greatest series ever of New Who) in that it had a lot of great episodes, a couple of not-so-great episodes, and only really one that can be classified as a total stinker. And Moffat actually seems to be delivering for the season finale. I am late in getting this review out only because I watched the episode and then had to go think about it for a while before watching it again and finally figuring out what I thought about it. (aside from the all-caps babbling at the top of this review...that was my initial reaction).

     So what did I think of it? IT WAS BLOODY AWESOME! Not once did I guess where the story was going and, despite a confusing beginning that tricked me into thinking we were getting more of Moffat-by-the-book, the episode thundered on ahead, hurtling towards its cliffhanger conclusion with scarcely a slow moment even to breath. It left me short on breath! It made me think and jump and squee and sob! It blew my mind! It was exhilarating!


Favorite Moments & Random Thoughts:

- Danny! No! We were just starting to like you!

- The Doctor keeps his TARDIS key inside a copy of The Time-Traveller's Wife.

- I love how the cloister bell tolls every time one of the keys are melted. But, wow, Clara really went off the rails!

- "I'm dead? I'm not dead!" "My most sincere condolences." Now where have I heard THAT before...?

- The dead in the tanks of water slowly moving remind me uncannily of the Silents from The Wedding of River Song.

- Why was Missy bothering to masquerade as a hologram interface? Or IS she a hologram interface? After all, The Master DID turn into a little grey slug thing and infiltrate the mechanisms of a Californian ambulance once...

- "Hello? I hope you are well. How may I assist you with your death?" 

- Clara's face whenever The Doctor is being kissed by Missy almost makes up for the fact that Missy is yet another Moffat female who is apparently attracted to The Doctor.

- We FINALLY got an answer to who Danny killed. That was actually, kind of anti-climatic. Maybe it will be brought back in the next episode?

- "What's with all this swearing?" Aaaand THERE'S your Malcom Tucker showing, Doctor. Good job you keep him internalized.

- The moment that door shut and the Cyberman theme began to play...I threw my slipper at the screen and spent a bit of time chanting "NOOOO!" But, I have to say, the cybermen were actually slightly intimidating again. I'm shocked.

- "Humankind...bring out your dead!" Did...did they just make a Monty Python reference?

- Missy = Mistress = The Master. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

- To be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about having a Time Lady Master. It's been established in canon ever since The Doctor's Wife that Time Lords CAN occasionally change genders whenever they regenerate, so on the one hand it is cool that they decided to exploit that for The Doctor's most personal opponent. Michelle Gomez is also excellent in the part now that she's actually being given something to work with. Yay! But, on the other hand, I feel like this is going to make a lot of people clamor all the louder for a female Doctor next time he regenerates. Personally I feel no great need for a female Doctor (ESPECIALLY not until we get some companions and secondary female characters who are actually interesting and well-developed) because the character is fine as is. Now if they wanted to cast Idris Elba as The Doctor...yeah. I would be all behind that. But I digress. Missy looks to be an interesting character and I'm excited to see what they do with her in the next part of this story.

- The moment when Danny pushes Clara to cut off their connection because he realizes that if he confirms that it is indeed him, she will probably kill herself. Curse you, Moffat!

- So...is Danny a Cyberman now or what?!

         This episode has just utterly turned everything I've been feeling about these characters and story lines on its head. Clara was interesting and tragic. Danny was heroic and tragic. The Doctor was horrified and tragic. Just everything was tragic and scary and disturbing and...and everything that I have wanted to see from this show for a LONG time. I am glad that Capaldi looks to be pushing things darker again. We need some more stories that focus more on telling good tales and building up good characters and moral quandaries rather than just timey-wimey set dressings and a hastily slapped together script. This is good. This has real potential. For the first time in a long time, I have found myself really becoming immersed in this show. That hasn't happened since the Ponds left. Wow. Just...just wow. Let's pray that we aren't let down in Part 2. Dark Water is a 5/5.




What did you think? Do you agree with my rating? If not - what would you say differently?