Doctor Who: The Snowmen

[lizbee]

(Seriously, one "Winter is coming" is funny. Three or four, I was HOWLING, while also going, NO, IT'S NOT FUNNY ANYMORE! ANY MINUTE NOW I'LL STOP LAUGHING!)

SO! Clara is Oswin, a genius from the future who sought out adventure via the service industry in space! And Clara is a working class barmaid who is clever enough to pass herself off as a middle-class governess! And a contemporary woman who ... well, all we know so far is that she doesn't believe in ghosts.

Oh! And Victorian!Clara wears a ring on her left hand:



And she was kind of not very Victorian at all, which makes me wonder if she's the first Clara, or something else.

Now the mystery of season 7.2 is Who Is Clara? Is she a manifestation of the Great Intelligence? The Last-But-One-of-the-Jagaroth? Romana? (I keep telling myself that regeneration doesn't work like that.)

Also, Clara Oswin is well and truly in the running to beat Rory in the Dying Quite A Lot stakes. That's pretty amazing.

Meanwhile, Richard E Grant follows in the footsteps of many a Classic Who villain, by being perfectly normal up until halfway through episode 3 (or, you know, the beginning of act 3 in modern pacing), and then going RIGHT OFF THE RAILS.

The plot itself was kind of ... you know, I never once looked at the Great Intelligence and thought it needed an origin story, but okay. And I guess the snow has a lot of resonance if you live in a country where it falls. I'm mostly impressed that Moffat took the trouble to foreshadow the "family crying saves us all" business.

Generally, I'm here for the characters. And they were pretty great! Captain Latimer and his ill-concealed infatuation with the governess! Vastra and Jenny, explicitly married (I look forward to finding out how this is problematic) and inspiring the Holmes mythos! Strax being ... well, kinda dense, actually, which I don't think he was previously, but okay. The Doctor should stop making fun of him, though -- two-thirds of the time it felt affectionate, and the rest it was just kinda awkward.

I'm glad, though, that the Doctor's emo wasn't overplayed -- he wasn't going on about how Amy miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight as welllllllllllllllllllllllll be deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeead or anything, he was just a bit depressed and emotionally bruised. And mostly dealing with it by hiding in his TARDIS and reading, not actively destroying people's lives like some regenerations I could mention!

IN SHORT, that was pretty great, and I look forward to MORE CLARA.

Comments

[nonelvis]

This episode actually made me wonder if one of the reasons Moffat deliberately killed off Clara was because people complained about Rory dying all the time, and this was him sticking his thumb in their eye. One theory I saw on Tumblr was that (spoiler-coded) Clara dies in every episode, and if that turns out to be true, I'll *definitely* feel like my theory is correct.

I was also glad about the limited emo. I loved the Tennant years, and I love me some angst, but after a while it got tiresome. This felt like just the right amount.

[lizbee]

I'm not sure how I feel about that suggestion -- it reminds me of Douglas Adams' suggestion that Romana should regenerate and be played by a different actress in every serial of season 17 -- amusing, but a bit cheap.

But as for the reasons behind the Clara death, well, it's not like Moffat has ever trolled fandom before OH WAIT, EVERY DAY AND TWICE ON SATURDAYS.

[such_heights]

CLARA CLARA CLARA EEEE.

[lizbee]

AND THE DOCTOR HAS A SUPPORT NETWORK THAT ISN'T CONTEMPORARY!

[kerravonsen]

Oh, good point!

[nostalgia]

WHAT IF she dies EVERY WEEK and we never have the same Clara twice?

[fahrbotdrusilla]

That's exactly what I said to my mom!

[kerravonsen]

That thought occurred to me also... and I think it would get rather lame after a while.

[adelheid]

Loved loved loved it, *especially* Vastra and Jenny and the ridiculousness of Strax and the crazy-awesomeness of the memory worm (that turned out to have a reason for being.)

[lizbee]

Yes! I kept feeling like I should be getting tired of Strax's comedy ... but I never did!

[lonemagpie]

The "Winter is coming" repetition might have something to do with the fact that Jenna Louise Coleman's boyfriend is the guy who plays Robb Stark...

[weaver]

I WANT EVERYTHING EVER TO BE ALL ABOUT CLARA.

EVERYTHING.

And yes, he felt a bit Tennant-y, wasn't he? All that sulking. I really appreciated Clara's take-no-bullshit line.

I WISH FOUR DIFFERENT PEOPLE ON MY TWITTER FEED HADN'T LIVEBLOGGED THE DAMN EPISODE. CAN WE REMIND FANDOM THAT'S NOT COOL?

[runawayskellum]

I particularly liked "It's smaller on the outside!" and Vastra's one-word test. I wonder how closely the different Claras are linked - if something particularly timey-wimey is going on, then it might not just be coincidence that the single word that Clara picked out to get the Doctor to pay attention to the danger was 'pond'.

[kerravonsen]

I thought of "It's smaller on the outside" first! Unfortunately it's in a fic I haven't finished yet, so people will all think I took it from Moffat... 8-(

[yasaman]

Vastra and Jenny, explicitly married (I look forward to finding out how this is problematic)

Ahahahaha, now I have a terrible curiosity to know how this will be twisted around to be TERRIBLE and SO PROBLEMATIC. Mostly though, I am dying to know how/when/where they got married.

Also, YES. MORE CLARA. Really wondering what Moffat's explanation for her is, hoping it's not some sort of robot/Flesh doppleganger type of situation. Also hoping that whatever's up with her, it isn't solely part of some trap for the Doctor.

[sqbr]

YES, MORE CLARA. More Vastra and Jenny too! (Explicitly together, yay! Happy lesbians woo!)

*googles "The Great Intelligence"* I love how fans of non linear and blatantly cobbled together shows like Dr Who manage to create Wiki entries with a single coherent narrative :)

[lizbee]

I know! And that the new series will quite happily create prequels to stories that don't even exist anymore!

[dbskyler]

Okay, now I totally want Clara to be the Last-But-One-of-the-Jagaroth!

[copracat]

I am simply happy and so keen for the new season. I love that this Doctor is still a big emo sulking baby but this time round is more resilient about it. The Holmes shenanigans were hilarious.