{"id":4960,"date":"2015-09-21T08:00:45","date_gmt":"2015-09-21T15:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=4960"},"modified":"2015-09-11T20:54:14","modified_gmt":"2015-09-12T03:54:14","slug":"mark-watches-doctor-who-s08e11-dark-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2015\/09\/mark-watches-doctor-who-s08e11-dark-water\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Doctor Who’: S08E11 – Dark Water"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the eleventh episode of the eighth series of Doctor Who<\/i>, I can’t. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Doctor Who<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For PTSD\/trauma, death, grief, body horror<\/b>.<\/p>\n

Oh my god, this episode is so fucked up<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Danny Pink<\/b><\/p>\n

I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what Danny\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s endgame is, and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know if this is it for him. The Doctor has rewritten time often; Moffat\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s written characters back to life plenty of times, too. But I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m still going to be raw about his death because it came out of nowhere<\/i>. The unfairness of it all is the point, though, and I think that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what ultimately might make this easier to deal with. Danny is ripped out of this world in an instant, and there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a gaping hole where he used to be. Now, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll touch on the ramifications of Danny\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s death in the next section, since I wanted to stick solely to his plot within \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Dark Water.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Danny has a much different journey than Clara does, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all because of the Master.<\/p>\n

I have a better idea of what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s actually happening within the Nethersphere after this episode, and I think that much of what Seb tells Danny once he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s died makes way more sense now that I know what the Nethersphere is for. If you accept that the ultimate goal of that place is to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153improve\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the human mind by removing emotions, then you can easily see how Seb \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and all the people who have the same job as him \u00e2\u20ac\u201c exists solely to convince people to willingly<\/i> delete their emotions. When Danny arrives, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s thrust into a confusing world, and I bet that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s by design. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bewildered and confused, and then a form is thrust in front of him. Seb provided Danny with few answers, and when he finally started telling the truth? It was done in a very specific manner. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s shown the Nethersphere and his new life; he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s introduced to his ties to his physical body and the horrors of cremation (MUST YOU RUIN EVERYTHING<\/i>); and then Seb asks if he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ever killed someone.<\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s such an abrupt question, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s spoken so casually by Seb. But that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what is so nefarious about what happens here: Seb quietly and methodically manipulates Danny to the point where he seriously considers deleting his emotions. That is not to suggest that Danny should not feel guilt over what he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s done, and I think that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Dark Water\u00e2\u20ac\u009d allows that guilt to exist without coddling Danny through it. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s brutal to watch, of course. Is the young child he killed real? I suppose it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t matter since the affect is still the same. It something that Danny did \u00e2\u20ac\u201c explaining the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153bad day\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he referenced before \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s on his conscience, no one else\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s.<\/p>\n

I think that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s part of the reason that Danny tricks Clara into breaking off contact with him at the end of the episode. He simply doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want her to suffer as he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s done. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a part of me that thinks he might want to suffer alone<\/i> in order to atone for his past. But I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t imagine a more Danny-esque thing for the man to say to Clara than to refuse to identify if he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s real, all so he can save her from the fate of the Nethersphere. Ugh, I really want Danny to be fine because I ADORE THIS CHARACTER SO MUCH.<\/p>\n

Betrayal<\/b><\/p>\n

My gods, the opening scenes of this episode are among the most disturbing and upsetting things I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever seen on Doctor Who<\/i>. Danny\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s death was bad enough, but Clara\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s numb and methodical attempt to trick the Doctor into fixing Danny\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s death was heartbreaking, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. The thing is, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel like that whole sequence at the volcano is out of character for either<\/i> the Doctor or Clara. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve struggled this entire series to trust one another, first of all. I think that certainly contributes heavily to the confrontation we see here. But I also think you can see Clara demanding the Doctor respect her \u00e2\u20ac\u201c all of her anger and rage and sadness included \u00e2\u20ac\u201c without relying on his usual dismissiveness or humor. Notice that she flaunts the TARDIS keys specifically to get his attention, and notice that he immediately gives it to her.<\/p>\n

I think she got what she wanted.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, caught up in the grief of Danny\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s death, she betrays the Doctor. The Doctor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reaction to this act is\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 hmmm. I have struggled how to describe this without denying what we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen before this. But when he tells Clara that her betrayal does not discourage him from being her friend, I broke a little inside. Right there, in that moment, Twelve felt like the Doctor. There was a kindness to him \u00e2\u20ac\u201c even if it was laced with the brutal truth of Danny\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s death \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that reminded me why<\/i> people traveled with the Doctor. Twelve has a much different way of expressing that, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s taken me a while to understand that. But Twelve\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 he feels like the Doctor, and I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t deny it anymore.<\/p>\n

Missy<\/b><\/p>\n

OH MY GOD<\/p>\n

THERE ARE JUST<\/p>\n

SO MANY GREAT THINGS HERE<\/p>\n

THE MASTER IS BACK. THE MASTER IS A WOMAN<\/i>. THE MASTER IS USING THE NETHERSPHERE TO UPGRADE HUMANS FOR A CYBERMAN ARMY<\/p>\n

THE<\/p>\n

MASTER<\/p>\n

I CAN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T<\/p>\n

I CANNOT FUCKING BELIEVE THIS.<\/p>\n

IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S SO INCREDIBLE.<\/p>\n

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE.<\/p>\n

THE MASTER IS A WOMAN.<\/p>\n

(Please don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mess this up, Moffat.)<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Dark Water\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

– I am now on Patreon<\/a><\/b>!!! MANY SURPRISES ARE IN STORE FOR YOU IF YOU SUPPORT ME<\/a>.
\n– The Mark Does Stuff Tour 2015 is now live and includes dates across the U.S. this summer and fall Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page.<\/a>
\n– My Master Schedule<\/a> is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often.\u00c2\u00a0My next Double Features for Mark Watches will be the remainder of\u00c2\u00a0The Legend of Korra<\/i>, series 8 of\u00c2\u00a0Doctor Who<\/i>, and Kings<\/i>. On Mark Reads, Diane Duane’s Young Wizards<\/i> series will replace the Emelan books.
\n<\/b>-\u00c2\u00a0Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook!<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"