Who Review: The Girl Who Died
The first of a two-part story which finds the Doctor and Clara in a Viking village. The Doctor tries to gain the respect of the villagers by pretending to be the god Odin. But things start to go awry when a face appears in the clouds claiming to be the real Odin. This Odin sends down hulking robots that snatch away the village warriors, along with Clara and Ashildr, a young girl. At first the warriors believe they’ve been taken to Valhalla, but soon sense something’s not right. Their fears are confirmed when they are executed for their adrenaline and testosterone, leaving Clara and Ashildr. Clara persuades the leader to let them return to the village in peace. But Ashildr’s anger gets the better of her, and she challenges the aliens to a battle. The alien leader agrees. The Doctor and Clara have twenty-four hours to muster an army out of farmers and fishermen that can fend off the most brutal soldiers in the galaxy. Not even the Doctor is convinced he can succeed…
SPOILER ALERT!! My comments may (and likely will) contain spoilers for those that haven’t seen the episode. If you want to stay spoiler-free, please watch the story before you continue reading!
This story introduces us to new aliens: The Mire–that’s the name of the blocky robot fighting machines that threaten the lives of all in the village, including the Doctor and Clara. I thought it was a good story, even though the basic plot is not a new one (primitive people taking on hi-tech monsters, people using duct tape and string to take down alien machines). Of particular interest were the character arcs. The Doctor comes into the village with confidence, only to be left questioning whether he can win. Clara has to help restore his confidence. Cowering Ashildr stands up to the aliens, then feels guilt at sentencing her village to death. She becomes the key to their success, even at great cost to herself. Clara’s arc continues as more and more she does what the Doctor would do. The Doctor is more than just her hobby; he is her sensei, and she is his disciple–a role she resisted all last season, and which she now appears to have fully embraced.
Did my heart leap when the alien leader broke the Doctor’s sonic sunglasses? Did it just! Will the Twelfth Doctor get a sonic screwdriver of his own, now? Come on, Moff, you’ve had your fun. You’ve flexed your show-runner muscles. Now, let’s have the sonic back. 🙂
A couple of things that I didn’t like about this episode. First, unless my ears deceived me, didn’t the Doctor say that the way the villagers can know the face in the sky isn’t really Odin is because “gods don’t show up”? I hope I’m wrong, because millions of Christians throughout the world are getting ready to celebrate one of the most significant events in human history, when God most certainly showed up in a manger in Bethlehem! You might not believe this, Mr. Moff, but tread carefully, please. This Doctor is beginning to come across as the most outspokenly secular in the show’s 52-year history. That probably reflect Moff’s world, and indeed (sadly) the majority report of the UK. But it’s unnecessary. This story didn’t need that comment.
Also, the whole “the Doctor speaks baby” thing was cute and funny in “Closing Time” (New Series 6), but here I found it way too sentimental. What exactly was the story point of the Doctor being able to understand the baby? Sure, the “fire in the water” gave him the idea with the eels, but did he have to tune in to baby cries to think of that? At best, this was an attempt to tug on the viewers’ heartstrings; at worst, it was story-padding because it was running short. Either way, I didn’t think it was necessary.
Full marks, however, for the explanation why the Twelfth Doctor chose his face, and how that ties into the resolution of the story–bringing Ashildr back to life, despite all he said about not changing history. And then the cliffhanger: Ashildr is not only immortal, she’s now a hybrid, part human, part Mire!
I’m looking forward to next week. How about you? What did you think of this episode?
My eldest Barbarian had a “Dr Who” night at Scouts. They watched two episodes and my son *loved* them. I think he might be a convert =)
Yay!! It’s a good time to be a Whovian, AJ. High-five your son for me. 🙂
I hi5’d – and then he wanted to know which friend you were. I had to explain how you are a writing friend in cyberspace I’ve never met f2f. Totally puzzled him, lol.
lol! Well I applaud his taste in television. If he’s just started getting into Who, he has a lot of catching up to do. I almost envy him. You can never re-live the joy and excitement of seeing Who stories for the first time. And he’s got a LOT of that to come… 🙂
I am somewhat nervously starting to enjoy this season. I didn’t swear at Moffat a single time this episode. Honestly though even if it hadn’t been a decent episode it still would have been worth it for the flashback to Ten and the tie-in with Capaldi’s previous role in Pompeii, which was awesome.
Am hoping the stomping of the glasses means their permanent demise.
One gripe, which in all fairness might be something I just missed – why wasn’t the young fit blacksmith zapped along with the others?
As I indicated, despite my couple of issues, this was a good story. And I agree, this is shaping up to be a really good season. I think the two-part episodes helps a lot with story and character development, and having Clara full-time on the TARDIS makes a lot more sense. And the writing and performances are top-notch.
My take on the blacksmith is that he wasn’t a warrior. Despite being fit and full of testosterone and adrenaline, he wasn’t a fighter, and that’s what the Mire wanted–fighters.
I loved this episode and was fangirling when they tied it in with the Fires of Pompeii. I adore it when they have shoutouts to former series and doctors.
Nope, you heard right with the line about gods. Didn’t bug me though, but I also don’t see it as something out of place. Think about it, if you’re over 2K years old and haven’t stumbled upon a god or goddess yet, you’d be a skeptic too. Not to mention, the series has always had so-called gods show up that just turn out to be aliens that the Doctor has to stop.
Yes–Moff hinted that there would be an explanation to Twelfth’s appearance, and he had discussed it with RTD. I liked it too!
It wasn’t so much that the line about gods was out of place, but it was unnecessary. There have been Who plots in the past that have depended on evolutionary theory which, of course, I would disagree with. But when it’s a key part of the story, and it makes the story work, I will shrug my shoulders and give it a pass. Here, the Doctor gave an “explanation” as to why that Odin can’t be a god that is not really an explanation. It would be like me saying “Any alien you see can’t be real because aliens never show up.” Would SETI pack up their bags and go home on the basis of that reasoning? No. It’s circular. It assumes that because *I* haven’t seen an alien, any alien I see can’t be real. That kind of argument is unworthy of the Doctor. Previous incarnations would have laughed at it. So, either the Doctor is engaging in faulty reasoning, or he is mocking theism. And historically, the Doctor has done his level best to avoid both of these. THIS is what bugs me about it: it’s unnecessary. They could have written any number of better reasons why that Odin was obviously not real. What they chose was a cheap shot at religion.
That’s my beef, anyway. 🙂