Doctor Who: Season 8 - Deep Breath (Episode 1)

Originally Posted 8/30/14 1:20 PM PDT

Hello Dreamers!

Yup! It's that time again! Doctor Who's in the house.

Synopsis:

The episode begins with Vastra and Jenny (when are these two finally gonna leave the show? I don't really like them... See below.) in 19th century London investigating why a T-rex ended up rampaging through the middle of the city. Turns out that the T-rex swallowed the Tardis back in the prehistoric era and it time traveled with the Tardis. (Similar to Clara traveling with the Tardis in The Time of the Doctor.) The dinosaur coughs up the Tardis and Vastra, Jenny and Straux find that the Doctor has just regenerated and Clara is struggling to deal with the disoriented Doctor (which Peter plays brilliantly by the way.) Meanwhile there is this whole dealio going on which the Doctor of course has to look into. I don't want to give anything away... (though I probably will in a sec cuz I just need to rant.)

Acting:

This time I have something to say here because we are seeing the new actor Peter Capaldi take over the role of the Doctor. Peter. is. brilliant. And he's Scottish!!!! We have a Scottish doctor! I think he's a fantastic Doctor with a slightly darker hue (he steals clothes off a homeless man who is played by the late Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith)'s husband.). But. I love him. I'm so excited to see him in more episodes.

Jenna Coleman (Clara Oswin Oswald) was wonderful. As always.

Quality:

The episode was done extremely well. I think that with time the episodes will get better, but I was satisfied with the way that this one was done. They even included a bit where the Twelve shouts "I'm not flirting by the way." at the dinosaur (he was kinda flirting). Hilarious considering Peter's request to keep the Twelfth doctor from flirting. It was very clever. 

Content Advisory:

*sigh* Everybody knows that Britain is okay with some things in their media that we're not... (not that we're that far behind them...) and that America is okay with some things that Britain is not. Considering this, read on.

Well... This episode really pushes Vastra and Jenny. I mean like... really pushes it. There's a lot of talk about how Jenny and Vastra are married (like we didn't already know that? Seriously. They drill it into your head. A little repetitive in my opinion.)... they kinda just keep bringing that up. 

I wish I could say that's all, but the show got really brave and... Jenny and Vastra kiss. On screen. It's not a joke. All of the kisses like this before (Rory/Eleven and Jack/Nine) have been jokes. Funny little blips that you might've seen on a blooper reel. This time they tried to make it serious.

Here's the thing with this sort of stuff. My friend Pearl worded it really well a few weeks ago and I liked the way she explained it. (Next bit is to Pearl's credit not me.)
When someone dies onscreen it's fake. The blood is fake, the pain is fake etc. When someone kisses onscreen it's real. Both of the actors are real, and they are really kissing. The actors who played Jenny and Vastra did actually kiss to make that scene. That's what makes it wrong. (Not to mention the whole idea is just wrong...) Which gets me wondering if it's right for an actor and an actress to kiss. I don't know, but at least it's not like this.

(Warning: This next bit is going to be very long, so to make skipping it easy, I've colored the text of it orange)

Okay, so there's a scene where Vastra puts her veil back on and treats Clara like crap because Vastra thinks that Clara is being judgmental just because the Doctor is now physically old. 

Okay, let me just explain how the scene goes down first before I tear it apart. Clara is upset that the Doctor changed and she wants to fix him. To change him back. As soon as Vastra hears this she calls Clara a stranger and runs to her room and puts her veil back on. She then asks Clara how the regeneration happened and Clara tells her the story. Clara mentions that regenerating couldn't be renewal if the Doctor can go from young to old. (A good point I think.) When Clara finishes she asks Vastra why she put her veil back on, and Vastra explains that she's judging Clara's reaction to the regeneration of the Doctor. Vastra then explains what she means by comparing the situation to Vastra and Jenny's relationship with society. (What do their many issues have anything to do with the Doctor going from young to old and Clara being concerned about it?) Vastra says that Clara isn't accepting the Doctor for who he really is. As people don't accept her for who she and Jenny really are. And that all of the young incarnations of the Doctor was an attempt by him to be accepted by people, Clara included. As Vastra wears her veil so that Jenny and her will be accepted. Clara gets angry and defends herself (a good Clara moment despite the scene) and all of a sudden the veil is gone. Apparently it went away when "Clara stopped seeing it".

I'm sorry. But if you're loyal to Clara at all, you had to have recognized this attack on her character.

First of all, what the heck is wrong with Vastra? She flips out because Clara is upset by the Doctor regenerating. Clara has been traveling with the Doctor for almost the length of a season and a half now. She's friends with this man and all of a sudden his face changes. I think that warrants a little bit of confusion and shock on her part. We don't need to go into this whole "don't judge and oh hi i'm lesbian speech"  because of it. If you remember, Rose freaked out when the Doctor regenerated too. Because it's a NATURAL reaction.

Second, just because the more recent Doctors were more attractive does not mean that he was choosing those faces to be accepted. The Doctor gets a RANDOM face! He is not choosing one or the other to be "accepted" and hiding the old man part of him. Besides who really believes that Clara was that shallow? Sure she might've liked his appearance, but she didn't jump into his timeline and become the Impossible Girl because she had a childish crush on him. Clara is deeper than that. Come on, Moffat.

Third, Clara never said that she didn't like the new regeneration. She was concerned because when he regenerated he got older not younger. And by human standards, that's usually a bad thing. That's it! She wasn't saying that she didn't accept him. SHE WAS CONCERNED ABOUT HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am not the only person that thinks this way, there are plenty of other reviewers who disagreed with this scene.

Just because of this scene, Vastra is one of the jerkiest characters I've ever seen. I mean she completely shuts down the very second that Clara opens up and reveals some of her doubts.

That's not even getting into the whole Lesbian thing. Because if I wanted to get into that... I'm just not gonna go there. If you don't agree with me, then... we clearly don't agree. I'm not getting into political arguments today.

Now I know that PG by TV standards allows much more than movie PG does. And I'm sure in Britain this didn't even shock anybody. But dang this was a bit much for PG anything.

Rantiness:

(Even though the last bit really seemed like rant...)

This episode did a fantastic job introducing the new doctor and there was a good amount of references to the previous doctors. (Some of Twelve's mannerisms and pronunciations of words at certain points seem like a reference to Ten. i.e. He says sorry a lot at one bit and does that "ooo" thing. It's hard to explain...) 

And that part where Eleven calls Clara????? Priceless. A perfect scene.

And that part where Clara and Twelve walk off to get chips? A total reference to Nine and Rose. And don't even try to tell me it wasn't. Look here's the script comparison:

Rose Tyler: I want chips.

The Doctor: Me too.

Rose Tyler: Right then, before you get me back in that box - chips it is - and you can pay.

The Doctor: No money.

Rose Tyler: What sort of date are you? Come on then, tight wad. Chips are on me.

The Doctor: Do you want to go and get some coffee or...chips or...something...or chips and coffee?

Clara: Coffee. Coffee would be great. You're buying!

The Doctor: I don't have any money.

Clara: You're fetching, then.

The Doctor: I'm not sure I'm the fetching sort.

Clara: Yeah, still not sure you get a vote.

Now for the timey wimey stuff. 

They are going to address the fact that Peter was in the show before. Apparently he's trying to tell himself something by using a face he's seen before. (Can't wait to see what) This of course has something to do with the Pompeii episode which could involve Donna or Ten.

Also, the clockwork villains from The Girl in the Fireplace were in the episode (but the Doctor can't remember them... because... well he forgets things sometimes. Again more Ten possibilities (not to mention Rose))

And that woman at the end. I don't think I'm going to like her... And to answer everyone's question, yes that is the same set that Amy was on during Smith's era. We don't know if it's the same place or if BBC just has no money to make a new set. It's probably the same place...

My Final Verdict:

Moffat, you need to stop attacking your own characters to make a political point. It's not okay. Clara is brilliant character and you accused her of flaws that aren't there. Now, because I love Peter, the episode isn't going to be totally hurt by your annoying Moffatness. But is will be affected greatly.

3 Fandom Points. Now really I should make this a 2 because the definition for 2 Fandom Points is "Something saved it from being a total fail but it came pretty close." But it's Doctor Who so... it automatically gets extra brownie points. And really it was more than one thing that saved it.

I hope Moffat learned his lesson.

~ Aloisa Quintal
"I'm not flirting by the way!"