eve11 | "I'm the Doctor and I will be your victim this evening!"

"I'm the Doctor and I will be your victim this evening!"

I found myself laughing out loud a lot at this episode, which is surprising because it is also quite dark. Um, it seems below I also am just re-posting lines or in places full conversations that took my fancy without actually commenting on them. Just so you know.

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Ah, that mummy is actually scary! Holy crap I hate its feet.

Yaaay credits.

Clara's outfit is awesome. She looks beautiful.

Sad smile is confusing. "It's like your mouth is malfunctioning" :( Poor Doctor.

Is that shrimp in the champagne?

"I really thought I hated you, you know?"
"Well, thank God you kept that to yourself. There was this planet, Obsidian, planet of perpetual darkness--"
"I did. I did hate you. In fact I hated you for weeks."
"Good, fine, I'm glad that we cleared that up. There was also a planet made completely of shrubs--"
"I went to a concert once. Can't remember who it was. But do you know what the singer said?"
"Well frankly that would be an absolutely astonishing guess if I did know."
"She said, 'hatred is too strong an emotion to waste on someone that you don't like'."
"Were people really confused, because I'm confused; what, did everybody leave?"
"Shut up. Look what I'm trying to say is, I don't hate you. I can never hate you. But I can't do this anymore, not the way you do it."
"Can I talk about the planets now?"
(Oh Doctor, your words and your body language are malfunctioning.)

I feel like I've heard Daisy Beaumont's voice before, but I'm not sure where. Was she in any Big Finish plays?

"What exactly are you a Doctor of?"
"Now there's a question that's not asked often enough. Let's say, 'intestinal parasites.'"
"I'm beginning to think Miss Pitt is right about you."

Ha, I love him talking to himself in bed. And yeah...subjective probabilities; that's the trouble with them. "Really? You've just dropped 24 percent."

OMG Peter Capaldi so totally just channeled a conversation between him and Tom Baker! "A Mummy! That only the victim can see! I was being rhetorical!"

Ah the computer voce was John Sessions! Which led me to look up John Sessions' old Whose Line is it Anyway sketches which sent me to This (With bonus Peter Cook!)

Also I like Perkins a lot! I am glad he did not (so far) turn out to be a bad guy. However I think he might show up later--possibly as one of Mad Missy's crew?

Jelly Babies! More Four :D

"Hoping to meet a real monster." Oh the subtext here, as he's talking with the Oncoming Storm.

"I'm your worst nightmare!" "A mystery shopper, oh great!" "Really, a mystery shopper, that's your worst..." And then he goes with it.

"Yes sir. I'm obviously the mummy! Or perhaps I was already looking into this." Perkins = awesome.

"Were the good times all like this?"
"Yeah, now that you mention it."

I love that Clara has a girlfriend to talk to about how much of a jerk the Doctor was. "Oh he was wrong! And high-handed! And arrogant!" :D

"You can't end on a slammed door."
"Yes you can, anyone can do it."

LOL the sarcophagus full of bubble wrap. Don't get close, because that stuff is dangerous (see "the Ark in Space").

Oh they want to reverse engineer the Mummy's abilities. That does sound very much like Missy.

I hope the Doctor doesn't tell Clara that his phone call cost the lives of the poor kitchen staff. This is a dangerous episode to be in. Lots of collateral damage.

How/why would the soldier/mummy pick up the weaknesses of everyone?

"You sir, are a genius! This explains everything, apart from what it is and how it's doing it. Sorry, I jumped the gun there with the 'You're a genius, that explains everything' remark."

"Hello! I'm so pleased to finally see you. I'm the Doctor and I will be your victim this evening! Are you my mummy?"

Why would the Mummy's markings from his--tattoos? Skin?--be underneath his ribcage?

"You're relieved, soldier." Wow, I kind of can't believe that no-one said "We surrender" to it before, though.

Oh man, that whole scene on the beach was well done. I love his little laugh after "No I just saved you and let everyone else suffocate" line. And, "So you were pretending, to be heartless?" "Would you like to think that about me? Would that make it easier?" Though, how/why did Clara get from inside the TARDIS to out on the beach? And what was the Doctor drawing in the sand, more equations?

Oh dear, Clara hears "I love you" possibly for the first time from Danny and then runs away. That is um, not healthy. Clara, you learned nothing from the last two episodes? This will not end well!

"Are you sure about this?"
"Are you? Have you ever been sure?"
"No."

Somehow I feel like that last little "no" there, was the biggest line in the episode. It's like all of Twelve's kid-like impulsivity and adult vulnerability and ancient history and pain and excitement just rolled into one. And you know--you KNOW--he is not sure about the emotions of smiling and sadness at the same time but in his hearts, he knows that Clara is lying to him. But he tells her the truth--rather a childlike honesty there, and he knows the responsible (adult) thing to do but ignores it and flies off anyway. So that, finally, is Twelve. He is the most powerful, loneliest, richest, smartest eight-year-old in the universe, with impulse control issues and 1992 years of experience.

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Is that shrimp in the champagne?
I thought that was weird too!

The Jelly Babies in the cigarette case were super cute. :D

Was that beach the same one from The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone? It looked a lot like the one Eleven and Amy are standing on at the end of the two-parter.

Wow, you're good: looking on Wikipedia says they were both at the Vale of Glamorgan. Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone was specifically Southerndown beach. This one was apparently Limpert Bay. IDK how close the two are though.

Oh cool! Google Maps says those beaches are about a half hour drive apart. Maybe the Doctor likes the beaches in Wales! :P

Definitely a good one. I'm looking forward to rewatching it with the captions on.

(and when Capaldi started channeling Tom Baker I made a most undignified squee)

I've been watching the last few on my laptop with headphones and it's been helping. There was only one line I had to listen to a few times.

That scene of him in the sleeper car was great. Started out with Eleven's compulsive hand waving, ended with Four's manic grin.

Was he impersonating Eleven too? How did I miss that?

So that, finally, is Twelve. He is the most powerful, lonely, richest, smartest eight-year-old in the universe, with impulse control issues and 1992 years of experience.

I am so looking forward to seeing this (and the rest of the season I've missed). This sounds delightful.

:) I think you will enjoy it.

This episode was great - funny and dark combined, getting the characters back on track. I really liked it.

THE MUMMY LINE, THOUGH.

Yeah, that line, LOL. I really enjoyed this one; I thought it finally was starting to take the characters out of characterization-for-sake-of-plot and made them more believable.

That's a great way of putting it! You put my feelings into words.

YES. ALL OF THIS. I love this post!! Gods...

The man who suddenly hates soldiers with a passion saying the one thing I never expected the Doctor to ever say...gahhh...why was that perfect?!

Funny how he calls Clara out on her mixed signals, when he clearly shows (in this episode) that this is all he does here of late. Because he's confused. Bless him...

*HUGS*

I was wondering if it was going to turn out to be an Osiran, with all of the references to Four. But the soldier take on it was good too.

I hadn't noticed anything weird about the champagne until you mentioned it, and sure enough, it does look like shrimp! But what I think it really is is strawberry slices, which would make much more sense.

Also, I want to draw hearts around your last paragraph, because I think it describes the last scene, and Twelve, completely perfectly.

Strawberry slices makes much more sense! :D

Maybe if I have that idea of Twelve in my head it might help me start writing again. IDK though.

I found the "Would you like to think that about me" line ambiguous. Was the Doctor asking Clara if she'd like to think that he was pretending to be heartless (even though he wasn't) because it makes it easier for her to stay (which he wants), or believe that he actually is heartless because it would make it easier for her to leave him (and he's goading her with the line to get her to stay)? (And kudos to anyone who can actually parse the sentence I just wrote.)

The one thing I'd add to your last sentence is "co-dependent." The Doctor is terrified of being alone. Clara, the control freak, abuses that need by maintaining optionality with the Doctor and Danny through lying to them both. The Doctor's only counter-leverage is to punish her by being verbally and emotionally abusive to Clara, but it's a delicate balancing act avoiding going too far and actually succeeding in driving her away.

I'm also starting to think that his "fear is a companion that can make you do great things" is a BS, neurotic rationalization. I think that old self-help book has the more correct interpretation: "What would you do if you weren't afraid?"

Edited 2014-10-14 16:37 (UTC)

To me it was not about Clara leaving or staying, but more about putting the complex situation in simple black and white terms. I think he clears up the ambiguity a bit in the next few lines. The truth is he didn't know if he could save Maisie when he called. He couldn't save the others, he couldn't make any promises, and he essentially couldn't afford to make it a decision of the heart. It was a bad choice and he made it. The way it was delivered seemed more like he was trying to work out how Clara viewed him, and what that said about their relationship.

I don't quite see co-dependent; I can see how it would come across that way but I don't think it is intentional. Wouldn't the leverage of verbal and emotional abuse be more like passive-aggressive barbs (and generally also accompanied by threatening violence)? Plus the Doctor also is looking for others to stay with him as well (Courtney, Perkins, etc). He needs someone, yes, but it's not clear that he particularly needs Clara to the point of co-dependency.

I like the idea of "what would you do if you weren't afraid", that seems like a good way of looking at it. Perhaps if one can get over the initial flight or fright response, the adrenaline might help you do better the things you would do without fear?

I don't think co-dependency and p/a behavior are necessarily inconsistent. The neurotic tension between the dependency and the loathing of the dependency, I think, could easily erupt in abusive words or actions (not that I think the Doctor would physically attack Clara, though we have seen Clara slap the Doctor). The reference at the end of this last episode to addiction is what caught my ear -- co-dependency being a form of interpersonal addiction. (Disclaimer: I am not a therapist, nor to I play one on television.)

Right, I agree that co-dependent and p/a are consistent; I just didn't really see the Doctor's remarks as passive-aggressive. I don't think the remarks arise because he's angry or resentful; at least canonically we are supposed to believe he's just clueless. Eleven had a bit of that (thinking specifically of "Are you pregnant?" in Amy's choice), but I think it's supposed to be playing up the Doctor's "alien" factor. I don't think they are doing that very well, mind you.

Yes, love your synopsis and conclusions!

I think Capaldi is definitely inspired a lot by Four. The jelly babies in the cigarette case made me laugh out loud.

ha yeah, like a suave, sophisticated Four. Or you know, a magician ;D

Clara's outfit is awesome. She looks beautiful.
Ikr? And her hair! She looked so cute I want to keep her. In a non-creepy way. Mostly I want to make lots of icons with her.

Sad smile is confusing. "It's like your mouth is malfunctioning" + all the dialogue you quoted
OMFG, yes. He's so awkward and Clara is trying to talk about emotions and it's so moving and sweet.

I hadn't caught the "intestinal parasites" line OMFG ♥

Perkins was really excellent! And Four references, yay for that! Clara and Macy having girl time was also very good, I missed the companion just connecting with secondary characters like that. It was nice with Psi and Saibra but not the same.

Yes, so much collateral damage! I might be a bitch but I really enjoyed that: it's much more lucid than "everybody lives". The core of "everybody lives" is "not always", that is why it makes Nine so elated. ♥ That is the thing that the Doctor knows more than anyone—and yet never accepts, because he's always fighting for it. (River's speech :D Well, hers is "everybody dies" but that's the opposite side of the coin.) And this is what happens here—there are casualties, and it's harsh, but the Doctor keeps on fighting because he has to, and in the end he saves all the people he can. (And jokes about leaving them to die and only grabbing Clara, hahaha.)

How/why would the soldier/mummy pick up the weaknesses of everyone?
Good point, I wondered that too.

Wow, I kind of can't believe that no-one said "We surrender" to it before, though.
Well… it went for its victims individually, and they treated it like a frightful monster, and never a foe. They probably begged, but from their viewpoint it wasn't a fight…

Yes to what you said about the beach scene. I hadn't connected Clara deciding to go on traveling with Twelve with Danny's "I love you" (mostly because she said it first, and she was already torn before), that's an interesting point. But the end is a bit confusing in that regard because of how fast it goes, and it seems that Clara is not being very honest with both Danny and Twelve AGAIN. So seconding what you said about learning from past mistakes. Claraaaaa! Wake up!

I love your conclusion about that simple "No". ♥ Spot-on.

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"I'm the Doctor and I will be your victim this evening!"

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