In the sixth episode of the ninth series of Doctor Who, I am so thrilled by series nine of this show. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Doctor Who.
There are themes within “The Woman Who Lives†that we’ve seen before on Doctor Who, but there is an intensity here – as well as a willingness to go to some dark places – that makes this story incredibly powerful. Of course, I can’t ignore how talented Capaldi and Williams are, and Williams really does steal the show here. How were we allowed to watch this? Do y’all realize what a gift this is?
Me
There’s so much fascinating detail work done with Me, and I think we should start that discussion by acknowledging the brilliance of Me’s name. After living for EIGHT HUNDRED YEARS, Me gives herself a name that can last through the ages. Individual names – like Ashildur – became meaningless to her because the people who knew her by those names died. Everything that we learn about Me contributes to the portrait of loneliness painted by “The Woman Who Lived.†She keeps meticulous journals, organized by year, that allow her to compensate for a mind that wasn’t built to be immortal. HER MIND CAN’T REMEMBER 800 YEARS, WHY DOES THIS ONE DETAIL DESTROY ME.
So how has Me lived in the 800 years since the Doctor gave her immortality? We are shown the adventures, the times she did something beautiful and good for other people, the times she was taken advantage of and nearly killed, and we see the worst moment: Me losing her three children to the Black Death. It gave rise to another way to live. She no longer has children. And the list goes on and on. No attachments. Move from person to person, only using them for whatever they can offer her. Forget about doing what is right or just or fair. Do whatever you can to get from one moment to the next, from one adventure to another, from one locale to the one that follows it, to…
It’s starting to sound familiar, isn’t it?
Thus, Catherine Tregenna’s script holds up an uncomfortable mirror to the Doctor, but it also makes him think about how responsible he’s been for creating Me. He gave that young girl named Ashildur immortality, knowing how painful and lonely and scary the experience of long life is, and he didn’t prepare her for it. He didn’t do anything that might have helped her adapt to it, aside from giving her a second Mire medical chip. But that’s not much consolation, is it? Without any guidance, Me tried to do her best, and she tried to do right by the world, but she became bitter. Lonely. Tired. Selfish. That’s not to suggest that her choices aren’t her own or that the Doctor is responsible for what she’s done. But whether he intended to or not, the Doctor abandoned Me for eight hundred years.
So it made sense to me that Me wanted to travel with the Doctor, and it made sense to me that she made a deal with Leandro to leave. After 800 years on Earth, she felt trapped. If the Doctor wouldn’t take her away, how else would she escape? The scary part is that she was so determined to get what she wanted that she didn’t even consider that Leandro would betray her, despite that it seemed pretty obvious that he would. But that’s what desperation will do to a person, you know?
It’s unfortunate that Me has a change of heart after the artifact nearly kills Swift and EVERYONE IN THE LINE OF FIRE. But as she watches fireballs plunge down to Earth, she realizes she cares. She cares about these people who are like dust and who only live a fraction of the life she will live and she can’t help but want to do everything she can to protect them and IS THIS STARTING TO FEEL FAMILIAR, TOO? Oh my god, I love that Me gets her own story and it also reflects heavily on who the Doctor is, too.
I don’t know if we’ll ever see Me again on this show, but I’m happy that the option is still there. Beyond that, the idea of Me is brilliant, too, because now there’s someone on Earth who will take care of those the Doctor leaves behind. That’s why it’s so eerie that she’s in the background of Clara’s photo. Is she watching over Clara? Why?
The video for “The Woman Who Lived†can be downloaded here for $0.99.
Mark Links Stuff
– I am now on Patreon!!! MANY SURPRISES ARE IN STORE FOR YOU IF YOU SUPPORT ME.
– IÂ will be at numerous conventions in 2016! Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates / Appearances page.
– My Master Schedule is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often. My next Double Features for Mark Watches will be Death Note and Neon Genesis Evangelion. On Mark Reads, Diane Duane’s Young Wizards series will replace the Emelan books.
- Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook! I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!
