Hell Bent

Dear Gary—

 We’re entering the Christmas season and I’m feeling generous; I’m going to give Hell Bent a passing grade. 

To begin, the Doctor and Clara have never felt more companionable; to think, it only took a memory wipe and a reboot to make that happen. The Doctor walks into the desert diner, sits down at the counter and begins a heartfelt conversation with the dead or semi-dead or clone Clara; he spills all his deepest thoughts as though she were his confession dial; and she listens and reflects and responds calmly and compassionately, without her usual hysterics or histrionics. As the episode progresses, Clara’s hidden pain and sorrow are expertly portrayed by Jenna Coleman; and the restraint exhibited by Clara is impressive. In another Doctor Who World I could imagine Clara jumping over that counter, slapping the truth into the Doctor, and escaping off once again into the TARDIS with him to chase the universe. The fact that she realizes they are no good together shows remarkable growth in her character.

Viewed with this in mind, I can bear the ridiculous lengths the Doctor goes through to save this one companion (above all others). I can also ruminate on New Who’s relentless emphasis on the Doctor’s angst and the agonizing losses he has borne, piled up one after the other in a never-ending mountain of mourning; and I can begin to understand why he suddenly has thrown all his principles aside to save the life of his latest cohort. The Doctor has simply gone a bit dotty; he has been driven to the brink of insanity. Now, I don’t like a dotty Doctor; and there are so many things about these newest generations of his that I find tedious; however, with this admission by Clara (and presumably by the show) that his most recent persona and relationship has gone off the deep end and needs to be reset, I can accept it for the moment. I can resent the fact that the show has led us to this point (the long way round), but I can rejoice that it is finally (hopefully) putting it to rest. 

The whole line in the sand, ‘get off my planet’ standoff with the Time Lords (or more precisely Rassilon) is overly drawn out and a bit ludicrous; I’m not sure how or why the Sisterhood of Karn is present on this end of the universe, super secret and hidden Gallifrey; you well know, Gary, my contempt for this hybrid nonsense; the Time Lords are unbelievably gullible in falling for the flimsiest of Clara extraction excuses; the various monsters in the Cloisters are pointless; the ‘duty of care’ bit is getting way too tired and worn; and all in all things are rather confusing. However, it is well done and I accept it as is.  

And in the end, Ashildr/Me saves the day. 

“She died, Doctor. Clara died billions of years ago.” Ashildr/Me has a way of cutting through to the truth; of stating simple facts that the Doctor (and Doctor Who) has trouble with. 

“She died for who she was and who she loved. She fell where she stood. It was sad, and it was beautiful. And it is over. We have no right to change who she was.” 

Ashildr/Me could be talking about herself.  Ashildr died beautifully and heroically, for who she was and who she loved. The Doctor could not accecpt that and he changed her. He changed her into Me. 

Doctor: Ashildr. 

Ashildr: Me. 

Ashildr is dead; the Doctor created Me. Now Clara is dead and in the same way the Doctor is desperately trying to change the natural course of her life. 

I am a little disappointed when Ashildr brings up the hybrid (because you know, Gary, my contempt for this hybrid nonsense); however Me makes it real when she likens the hybrid to the Doctor/Clara combo: “a dangerous combination of a passionate and powerful Time Lord and a young woman so very similar to him.” 

It is this combo, this unnatural combo that has been polluting Doctor Who for several seasons now, that is finally called to account. 

Ashildr/Me points out to the Doctor as a matter of fact that he is “willing to risk all of Time and Space” because . . . and this next she tells him in the most dismissive of ways . . . “because you miss her.” Thank you Ashildr/Me; thank you Maisie Williams. With those four words she puts the entire Doctor/Clara dramatics in their proper perspective. 

Back in The Waters of Mars the Doctor had similarly decided to play god; had decided that the universe owed him; had decided that rules no longer applied. Back in the Waters of Mars the Doctor’s attitude was much more understandable and natural. Back in The Waters of Mars the gravitas of the situation was much more palpable. Back in The Waters of Mars it took Adelaide Brooke’s suicide to set the Doctor straight. 

In Hell Bent it takes just four words: “because you miss her.” 

With those four words the inanity of the Doctor’s actions are brought to light. Because he misses this one companion he has murdered a man (despite his justification that “death is Time Lord for man flu”), he has broken the laws of time, he has risked the stability of the universe; in short he has gone against everything he stands for. Because he misses her. 

I won’t even get into the fact that Clara is hardly worthy of this—I’ll leave it to the mountain of loss and the last straw theory. 

Hurrah for Ashildr/Me. 

At last the Doctor realizes he has gone too far. At last he realizes he must stop. 

The memory wipe scene is effectively done, with full credit going to Jenna Coleman.  Clara’s reversing of the polarity is a clever twist with a nod to history, but it is Clara’s line that rings strongest with me: “Tomorrow is promised to no one, Doctor, but I insist upon my past.” The implications of this statement could fill several pages—going back to Donna; going back to Me who no longer remembers her own name or the father or town or people she loved so well and died for only to be resurrected by the Doctor to an empty life; and including the past he is denying Clara in order to give her a future she never asked for.  

It is only fitting that it is the Doctor who loses his memory of Clara. (Although it seems to be only her name and face he can’t recall while the adventures remain with him—and now that he has a name and face to attach to those adventures I guess all is well, but then what was this all about anyway?) 

Me and Clara flying off in a stolen TARDIS, journeying back to Gallifrey the long way round, is some New Who happily-ever-after tripe that I forgive because—who doesn’t love happily ever after? The two women robbed of their heroism and denied their destiny can now live out an eternity together, even if it turns out to be hollow. 

Now if the show can only take this chance to reset in a good way. But I’m not going to go into that, Gary. I’ll leave the future for the future. At least no one can rob me of the wonderful past. 

And I’m going to leave with this final thought, Gary. One of the best lines of the episode: 

“Stories are where memories go when they’re forgotten.”

Here’s hoping, Gary, that our memories are never forgotten; but if they are that we are left with some beautiful stories.