Doctor Who - Recap: The Eggspendables
Recap video and review of Doctor Who - Season 8 Episode 7 - Kill the Moon:
One of the issues a lot of people are having with Peter Capaldi's Twelfth Doctor is that he's abrasive, almost to a fault. Much like William Hartnell's First Doctor, Capaldi's Doctor holds a thinly-veiled disdain for humanity, and it can be a bit rankling after coming off of Matt Smith, who was one of the warmer, more avuncular Doctors in the show's history. "Kill the Moon" doesn't exactly soften Capaldi's Doctor, but it does turn the mirror back on him, so he can see the ways in which he's hurting the people he cares about, despite the merit of his intentions.
Doctor Who can occasionally be a series focused on the question of moral relativism: is our morality culturally based, or are certain morals universal, regardless of where we come from or even what species we are? The Doctor allows Clara (Jenna Coleman) and two other companions to explore this question by putting them in a situation where they must decide for the whole of humanity. Ultimately, while Clara allows the rest of humanity to contribute to the decision, she still makes a choice on behalf of her species -- one that contradicts the result of their vote. However, just as The Doctor predicts, Clara's choice turns out to be the right one. Yet it's not because morality is something inherent in the human species, but rather because it's inherent in these particular humans. Clara and her companions make the right choice, but not everyone would have. Even Clara admits she came perilously close to making the opposite choice, and it's this realization that drives her to finally lash out at The Doctor for his judgmental nature and his apparent disdain for humanity. This, of course, is a complete surprise to The Doctor, who never realized just how his demeanor was perceived. In being forced to confront the effect his abrasiveness is having, perhaps he can become a bit more self-aware. Whether or not a softer Twelfth Doctor is preferable to the one we have now is entirely up to the viewer, but there is a certain intrigue to this character arc, as The Doctor becomes introspective about the kind of man he's become. It makes "Kill the Moon" successful on a character level, in addition to its success as an isolated sci-fi adventure story.
Credit: BBC
The main thrust of the story is that The Doctor, Clara, and Courtney Woods (the teenager from Clara's school whom The Doctor brought aboard the TARDIS last week) are transported to the Moon in the year 2049, where a pair of astronauts are attempting to ascertain why the Moon is breaking apart and how they can stop it. The gradual destruction of the Moon is causing catastrophic tides down on Earth, resulting in the deaths of millions. The possible loss of the Moon, then, represents a worldwide calamity that could very well wipe out humanity. The Doctor springs into action while Courtney complains, since her earlier sense of wonder is replaced by terror over the presence of horrifying spiders crawling all over the place (and I can't really blame her there). She's also a bit miffed that The Doctor has implied that she's in no way special, leaving the girl feeling down in the dumps, and Clara feeling like she's fundamentally misread The Doctor all this time. And things don't exactly improve, as The Doctor is able to ascertain that the Moon isn't really the Moon at all: it's an egg.
Credit: BBC
In one of the more amusing twists so far this season, The Doctor reveals that there's a creature who has been growing over hundreds of millions of years. The spiders plaguing the entire area are bacteria feeding on a larger life form -- a life form waiting to be set free. In essence, the Moon isn't falling apart, it's hatching. Of course, this means Clara, Courtney (Ellis George), and Lundivik (Hermione Norris), the sole remaining astronaut following the death of her partner, are left to make a decision: do they detonate nuclear explosives at the heart of the moon to prevent the creature from hatching, allowing the Moon to set its cracked pieces back into place? Or do they simply allow nature to take its course and hope for the best? It essentially becomes a question over whether or not every living thing has an inherent right to live, even if it has the potential to threaten millions (if not billions) simply through its continued existence. It's a moral and ethical quandary, and The Doctor feels it's best to leave it to those whom it will affect: humans. So The Doctor disappears and allow Clara, Courtney and Lundivik to make their choice.
Credit: BBC
Clara broadcasts to the rest of Earth, telling them to leave their lights on if they want them to allow the creature to live, or turn their lights off if they want the creature dead. Naturally, humanity takes the self-preservationist approach and votes to kill the creature. But Clara ultimately won't allow Lundivik to go through with it. And, as we see, it's the right choice: the creature hatches but lays another "Moon" in its place before flying away. The Doctor, who admitted earlier in the episode that there are certain future moments he can see, except for the occasional "grey area", reveals that the act of witnessing the hatched creature up in the stars is what compels humanity to travel the galaxy. In essence, Clara's decision compels humanity to expand beyond its own galaxy, allowing the species to endure "until the end of time." This is meant to be a triumphant moment, and it is -- for Lundivik (who realizes how close she came to making the wrong choice) and Courtney (who recognizes she's special after all). However, it's far from triumphant for Clara, who feels disrespected by The Doctor's games.
Credit: BBC
By implying that he always knew Clara would make the right choice, The Doctor infuriates his companion to the point of tears. The Doctor thought he was illustrating his respect for Clara and for humanity by allowing them to make their own decisions, but he fails to recognize that his test reads as cruelty, and his "respect" comes across as condescension. Regardless of whether or not it's the truth, the reality is that The Doctor comes across as someone who only helps humanity on a whim. Worse, he occasionally comes across as someone who helps humanity only when he can lord his superiority over them afterwards. And while this isn't the case, it's how it can often appear. So it's no surprise that this leaves a sour taste in Clara's mouth. "You walk our Earth, Doctor. You breathe our air," Clara seethes, through a curtain of tears. "You make us your friend when that is your mood to, and you can damn well help us when we need it." Clara is so furious that she declares herself through with The Doctor, leaving him to his "lonely box" where he can travel alone, for all she cares. Granted, Danny (Samuel Anderson) doesn't really buy that she's through with him, but Clara seems determined to give up her adventures with The Doctor. It feels like the natural progression of this new partnership, which is much more uneasy than the partnership between Clara and the Eleventh Doctor. Sure, Eleven had his bursts of angst and darkness, but Twelve is made of pricklier stuff. Both Coleman and Capaldi are customarily fantastic here, with Coleman getting one of her best scenes in the series while Capaldi is allowed to show a softer, more wounded side to Twelve that hasn't always been in evidence this season (short of the occasional "Am I good man?" scene). The Doctor is finally coming to realize that he might be wrong in his approach, and that he cares about Clara far too much to keep hurting her like this.
But can The Doctor repair the partnership before it's too late? Well, even if he can win Clara back, I have a feeling their chemistry will have fundamentally changed due to the events here, and that alone is enough to make "Kill the Moon" worth recommending.