No more running.
Warning: Full spoilers below.
All season long Clara has been running. Running, running, running. No doubt this has been a reaction to the death of her boyfriend Danny Pink last season. But now, as we knew it must, the running has finally come to a stop. For it is time to “Face the Raven.”
Yep, Clara’s dead. We’ve known Jenna Coleman was leaving Doctor Who this season, and with all the underlying themes of death and dying these past 10 episodes, it seemed more than likely that Clara wasn’t going to make it out of the TARDIS alive. Coleman apparently is not in next week’s Doctor-only episode, and while she may or may not pop up for a farewell moment in some capacity in the season finale the following week, “Face the Raven” certainly makes it seem as though she’s getting a far less happy ending than Rose or Amy or Donna or Sarah Jane or…
Not just that, but did Clara’s death feel lacking in some way? I love the character; I really do. But I wasn’t quite as moved by the events of this episode as I was when, say, the Eleventh Doctor regenerated, or when Rose left. It was effective, sure, but maybe my reaction is simply the result of kind of sensing this was coming for the past two and a half months. I mean, she has had something of a death wish, hasn’t she? Just look at her in this episode, dangling out of the TARDIS above London and giggling. Is that normal? Even the Doctor didn’t seem to think so.
And in fact, Clara herself came to this realization in her final moments. But she also, thankfully, referenced Danny as she chose to die in the same way he did — on her own terms, “to die right.” She spent her final minutes not thinking of herself but of the Doctor, making sure that he won’t revert after she’s gone to the truly scary version of himself that she knows firsthand is lurking within his regeneration-energy soaked body.
It’s those last few minutes between Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman, not surprisingly, that make this episode sing. Capaldi has truly worked his way towards a level of greatness this season in terms of Doctor portrayals, and the rapport between the two characters (and actors) is as strong in their goodbye scene as it’s ever been.
Maisie Williams’ Ashildr also returned this week, and with her came a continuation of the concept that she is now cleaning up after the Doctor. Her refugee camp for aliens (many of whom are enemies of the Doctor) is a cool concept, and the visual effect of the extra-terrestrials hiding under human forms was well done. But the big reveal that the episode’s plot was just a trap for Twelve kind of left Ashildr’s arc dangling, as we really don’t know why she did what she did or who she did it for. “Face the Raven” ends on a “to be continued” note, however, so perhaps we’ll get more on this before the season’s end.
Some notes:
- Next week’s episode looks very interesting. Just the Doctor facing off against… who?
- “Bring the new human. No, don’t bring the new human. I’ll just get distracted.”
- The Doctor’s index cards return… and still are of no use.
- The misdirection circuit, eh? That would explain a lot of what’s wrong in my life.
- The Doctor dressed up for tonight’s sad events, didn’t he?
- Ashildr still doesn’t remember her name… or the fact that she didn’t remember her name last time she and the Doctor met.
- “Can I not be the good cop?”
- “Everything you’re about to say, I already know.”
Clara’s swan song was an effective hour of Doctor Who, if not quite as emotional as previous character departures from the show. This is perhaps the result of the entire season building towards this moment, as well as the fact that this particular story isn’t over yet. Still, the performances from and interaction between Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman were very effective. And Joivan Wade’s Rigsy, returning from last season’s “Flatline” to do very little throughout most of “Face the Raven,” completely justified his appearance with a final moment of tear-inducing TARDIS graffiti.
