Another week and another story from this series of Doctor Who is in the books. The first thing I want to say about this episode is that I loved the title. It was nice little nod and wink to Tom Baker’s role as the Caretaker in “Day of the Doctor.” The second thing is that I was really looking forward to this episode. Some of my favorite episodes of Doctor Who have the Doctor going deep undercover, so I was excited. Did it live up to my excitement? Let’s find out.
I have been wondering about the format of my day late reviews. I don’t think I am going to continue to give a synopsis of the episode. I am going to assume you either A. Watched it, or B. are going to watch it, so no synopsis. I am going to give you the good of the episode, the bad, and the final verdict. All of this, of course, is NOT spoiler free, so be warned. I hope you enjoy the new format. If not let me know, and maybe we will tweak it again.
The Good
Lots of awkward Doctor/human interactions. I love the episodes where regular humans interact wight the Doctor and have to try to figure out why he is so strange. There was plenty of that in this episode, from his interactions with the other teachers, his interrupting Clara’s class to correct her, and finally his interactions with the students. It was fun. Capaldi pulls this off as the Doctor. He is not goofy weird, like Matt Smith, or as smooth as a human like David Tennant or Christopher Eccleston. His weird is a darker, more disturbing kind of weird. My favorite example of this is the sign he puts on the caretaker’s door. It doesn’t say “Keep Out,” it says “Keep Away Humans,’ which is just a really odd thing.
Danny also finally gets more involved in the story. They have been flirting with this for a while on the show, and it finally happened. Danny and Clara, on the other hand, have just been flirting. Danny is smart, brave, good-hearted, and a great compliment to the uncaring Doctor. IT was exciting to see him get involved. Unfortunately, I don’t think it will be long-lived. I think he will leave the show at the same time Clara does, at least, that is how the story is feeling right now. Clara is having to choose between Danny and the Doctor more and more each week, and with her dropping the “L” word this week, it looks like she will be picking Danny permanently, and he doesn’t seem too interested in flying off with the Doctor by himself.
I also wonder if we have met the future companion of the Doctor, one of the girls at the school where Danny and Clara teach. She might make for an interesting companion. She is a teenage girl, so the romance thing would absolutely not be happening, which is a plus.
One last good bit, we get the first mention of River in this episode, and the way he mentions her, made me wonder if she might be reappearing in future episodes. Fingers crossed!
The Bad
The bad guy is the bad in this one. The robot seemed really cool, and dangerous, but ended up not being either of those things. Really, the episode was about the Doctor meeting Danny and Clara being put squarely in the middle of the two gents, and the robot was just a way to make it happen. Too bad, lots of potential, hardly any of it realized.
Of course, since we had a robot, and a random death, we see Missy again, and get a hint at who or what she is. Apparently, at least in some form, she is a deity, and the place where she is looks to be heaven. It has been hinted at subtly throughout the series, but this time, the dead police officer says “My God…” at one point in the “Promised Land,” and the guy there just responds by letting him know that she is really busy today. Interesting to see how this all turns out. She has also referred to the Doctor as her boyfriend, so has the Doctor been seeing God? Just a little weird for my taste. We’ll see where it goes.
The Final Verdict
Overall, a pretty watchable episode. It was funny and entertaining. IT only hinted at some real action, but did not really deliver, and I could have done without the relationship talk from Danny and Clara. That being said, any story that has the Doctor pretending to be a regular Joe, I am on board, and would recommend. If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out. Worth seeing.
