The Woman Who Did The Thing! The Guy Who Went Around and About! The Writer Who Ran Out of Title Conventions! Why yes, it is an episode co-written by the Moffat! Warning: Here be spoilers.
1. OF COURSE THE VIKINGS ARE WEARING THOSE HORNED HELMETS!
So! Time for some real history, kiddos! You know those horned helmets that you always see Vikings wear in movies or cartoons or comics? Did you know that it’s a load of piss? Yeah, studies show that Vikings never did wear those helmets and only became associated with them in the 19th century because the villains in popular operas by Richard Wagner wore them. Because, believe or not, helmets with giant animal horns attached to them would be really impractical in combat! Yeah, Doctor Who has played fast and loose with history, I know! But this always aggravates me.
2. O Hai Arya
Okay, me being facetious. And the character of Maisie Williams’ character, Ashildr, does have some similarities to Arya, tomboyishness in a medieval society and impulsiveness, Ashildr comes off as more clever and a bit more mature than. And she has fantastic chemistry with both Capaldi and Coleman in this episode, running the gauntlet of wise but a bit haughty, wanting to make good impressions, but also a bit timid. It is going to be interesting to see how she changes after this episode, but that’s for discussion below.
3. This Wasn’t the Kind of Marketing I Expected for “Thor: Ragnarok”
Psh! That’s not Anthony Hopkins or Brian Blessed! 0/10. Would not recommend.
But seriously, the Monsters of the Week in this episode were kind of a wash. It’s a shame because co-writer Jamie Mathieson wrote last season’s “Flatline” which gave us the Boneless, a really creepy monster. This stock warrior race felt so flat with one tiny exception that I kind of liked. The Doctor tries to convince the people of the Viking village that it’s not Odin. “Gods don’t show up!” It’s interesting because of the legend that the Doctor himself has wrapped around him over the years. All the names associated with him: The Oncoming Storm, the Devil in Dalek mythology, the Valeyard, all attribute further to the Doctor’s own begrudged “divinity”. And it’s the same here, the God showing up to save people. Which segways into:
4. And Now We Know “Why This Face”
From the moment Peter Capaldi was announced to be the Twelfth Doctor, the jokes started going. Capaldi played a wealthy Roman merchant in the Tenth Doctor episode “The Fires of Pompeii”. Then we got a nod to that in the first episode starring Twelve and alluding to that he had to have picked “this face” for a reason, he just doesn’t know. It was a reminder. And a year later, we get what the reminder was: including a flashback scene to “Fires” with Ten and then-companion (and still greatest NuWho companion) Donna Noble (just clips, no new footage, calm down) about what the Doctor can and can’t do. But in the end, he’s the Doctor. He saves people, for good or ill. What’s funny is that, this scene wasn’t the only allusion to Donna. Which leads into:
5. Do You Want To Live Forever?
No, seriously, do you? I do. I mean, in the last one-hundred years, look at all we as a species have accomplished. All the good (the moon landing, the internet, Flogging Molly) and all the bad (the Second World War, SOPA and comic book forums) and we’ve still got so much left to do! I wouldn’t want that to end for a second.
It is a fascinating subject, one that has been examined and discussed many times over. I have my own opinion on whether or not I want it, but you probably have your own. But this a question that is brought up at the end. After Ashildr dies (somehow. Still trying to figure out how she died. The script felt very vague on that.), the Doctor decides to modify a alien medical implant which, apart from making her a human-alien hybrid (hello Donna-Doctor call back) also makes her functionally immortal. And while the Doctor is kind enough to leave a second medical implant for Ashildr to give to someone “she can’t live without”, we get to see the glimpses of how living for hundreds and hundreds of years may not be the greatest thing in the world and perhaps the inadvertent damage the Doctor does while saving people.
But that’s for next week’s episode. See you then!
