Dr. Who Reaction Series 9 - Hell bent
Added 2024-03-30 15:00:05 +0000 UTC
Comments
Thank you for not spoiling anything. :) And I totaly agree with your rating :)
Nicologik
2024-04-02 10:09:18 +0000 UTCI agree with your take on the episode, but I really don´t understand why people expect to get the same kind of content in every single finale. By now people should know that Dr. is a show that loves to surprise their viewers and change their show from episode to episode. You never know what you get, but that´s the beauty of the show. At least in my eyes. Thank you so much for your thoughts and insights into everything that happened in the episode. That was an interesting read :) And also thanks for clarifying the Doctors memory stuff to me. I didn´t get it on my first watch but I got the impression that you have explained to me, while editing it. Now I know I´m right, so thank you :) Haha, watching the doctor punch a whole in a wall for 40 minutes sounds like fun :D
Nicologik
2024-04-02 10:08:39 +0000 UTCTrue !
Nicologik
2024-04-02 10:02:00 +0000 UTCI didn´t even notice that the doctor didn´t really speak in the first 10 minutes. And yes, his acting is great. :) Although I don´t really agree with your view on the nitpicks of the episode, when it comes to the doctors behaviour and your take on Ashildir, I loved reading it. Thank you for giving me a new perspective on the episode :) I don´t know much about guitars but I love their sound and Peter playing it is such a joy every time again. :) I wish you a very nice holiday. Enjoy your time abroad and come back happy and healthy :)
Nicologik
2024-04-02 10:01:27 +0000 UTCYes I know. Thanks for mentioning it :)
Nicologik
2024-04-02 09:57:19 +0000 UTCI don´t understand why people wouldn´t like the episode. I really did, although it wasn´t as strong as the last one. I have thought about Clara beeing one of her scattered versions as well. But the dream sequence seemed a little more likely to me. Little did I know :) Oh yes, my eyes were watery a few times as well. You are not alone :) I was a little annoyed as well, that we didn´t hear what Clara said to the doctor. But I thought that we will maybe go back to this conversation in a later episode and get to know what she said a little later. I´m glad I´m not the only one thinking that a Hybrid can´t really be two people. :) Hmmm it´s interesting you are mentioning a Spin off Series, I wouldn´t have thought about that. But I guess I would like that. Although I don´t think they´ll do it, because their story is way too close to the doctor. At least for now. Maybe it´s a thing that can happen in the future. I would watch it :) Thank you for your summary of the most important parts in the episode. And no....I didn´t notice that spoon at all. Thanks for letting me know :)
Nicologik
2024-04-02 09:57:03 +0000 UTCThank you for the info about the Bird, that´s very interesting :)
Nicologik
2024-04-02 09:45:08 +0000 UTCI agree with you about your take on the Doctor and him snapping. And I do know about the two Christmas episodes, but thank you for mentioning it :) The list I´m using is one that Andrew sends me, and he knows exactly in which order I have to watch the episodes. You do not have to worry about that :)
Nicologik
2024-04-02 09:44:24 +0000 UTCIt's a 5/5 story for me although a lot of that comes from the first part. That said I like how this episode plays out for the most part. I don't really have much to say otherwise. It's in my top ten at number 6. (that means there are only two stories left in my top ten that you haven't seen yet, in fact they are in my top five) I'm really looking forward to the next few reactions though and hoping no one posts any spoilers.
Jade Ellis
2024-03-31 16:16:28 +0000 UTCThis episode was not well received when it was first broadcast, due to not being the archetypical 'slam bang' season Finale fans had come to expect. For me, though, it's one of Moffatt's most ingenious and creative pieces of writing - and an episode I far prefer to Heaven Sent (which puts me thoroughly into a minority, it seems!) Although I agree with Jenny Smyth about Ashildr, her character (for better or worse) is the foundation upon which much of this season has been based, so it's appropriate that she should (almost literally) get the last word. What I enjoy most is that the plot constantly subverts the viewers expectations. We expect a huge confrontation scene to begin with - which doesn't happen. We don't expect Clara to still be alive. We don't expect a Gallifreyan regeneration. We don't expect to see a Classic Tardis. Nor Ashildr. Nor the eventual fate of the Doctor. This last element is extremely clever. It means that Clara, effectively, IS dead - at least as far as the Doctor is concerned; because, in his mind, she now never existed. He will remember all the adventures he has had since Amy and Rory left him - but he won't have any knowledge of Clara being a part of them. The final scene of him back in the Tardis, receiving his new-look Sonic and smiling at whatever lies ahead for him, is so significant. It means that he can proceed with no need for Clara in his life any longer. Clara, meanwhile, although very much destined to her fate, at least has the opportunity of some 'wriggle room' before the inevitable. The hybrid resolution is a weak point, though. We're teased with different potential explanations; but, considering the hype at the end of the previous story, it can't help but feel a little unresolved. Nonetheless, Moffatt cheekily addresses a fan question: cast your mind back to the TV Movie with the 8th Doctor, and the infamous 'half-human' lines of dialogue. Although inserted purely to keep the movies financiers happy, the lines nevertheless outraged part of Dr Who fandom....and Moffatt has fun with that concept, by momentarily suggesting that the Hybrid (half Gallifreyan, half human) might be the Doctor. He doesn't allow it to go anywhere, though; so we can take it that it's meant as little more than a dig at the Movie's infamous fan-baiting dialogue. Other neat homages include the desert building on Gallifrey; the surprise regeneration; the visit to The Gallifreyan Matrix (another Classic Who fan favourite); the Sisterhood of Karn (also from Classic);and, especially, the original Console Room. It's a delightful concept that this is what all Tardis' look like ,as soon as they've rolled off the production line. Their default setting, as it were. So, not a perfect episode by any means; but a very clever and effective one, which tries to do something different to what viewers expected. It rather paid the price, as far as viewer responses were concerned; but I fully agree with your 9/10. For me, it has far more re-watch value than the previous story....unless I'm in the mood for watching the Doctor punch a hole in a wall for 40 minutes, that is :)
Ian Smith
2024-03-31 11:51:49 +0000 UTCRule number 1: The Doctor lies!
James Gorman
2024-03-30 22:49:09 +0000 UTCAs you mentioned, it would be hard to beat last week’s episode. I think for once IMDB has got it right. This ep has some great moments, but also a few plot holes. Amazing that the doctor barely says a word in the first 10 minutes, but Peter acts so well with his face and body. The scenes with Clara are quite emotional, but I feel the doctors behaviour is a little extreme. I get that he is grief stricken, but would he actually kill someone to bring her back ? I also got a little tired of Ashildir, she has very little to do here so what was the point of her ? Don’t get me wrong I like her in other episodes but I feel she is a bit wasted this time. Having said all that I like the episode overall, and my nitpicks are just that. Great to see the guitar back again although this time a different one. He previously had a Yamaha black sparkle, this time it was an epiphone G 400 cherry red. Very similar to my Gibson SG cherry. Sorry I’m a guitar geek. Don’t know if I will be commenting on the next two weeks as I am away, but I will watch the reactions when I get back home. x
Jenny Smyth
2024-03-30 22:49:03 +0000 UTCI think there is a bit of a gap between Series 9 and 10. You’ve got two Christmas Specials.
James Gorman
2024-03-30 22:28:55 +0000 UTCGood reaction! I think that when it is hard to talk during an episode then that is a very good sign. I think that most people like thid episode but there is a minority who really, really don't and tend to refer to it as a "mess". I don't really get that. It's not as focussed and self contained and intense as the previous one bu then nothing is. I love it myself. A lot of people speculate in that first scene in the diner that Clara is one of the many versions that were scattered throughout time and space when she entered the Doctor's timeline. They do also wonder, as you did, if it is a dream or an alternative reality though. Two moments that get my eyes watering: When Clara asks the Doctor why he would go through four and a half billion years of being tormented to save her and he just looks bewildered and eventually says "I had a duty of care". To be honest I am never sure whether ti laugh or cry at that, But I generally opt for the latter. And the second is when the Doctor says "Clara? Clara Who?" Please don't leave those out of the YouTube edit if that is at all possible- although I appreciate that it's not for me to tell you how to edit your own reactions! I know a lot of people are annoyed when there is a cut away after Clara says "we should say things to each other, and I'm going to say them now". But I reckon that no scriptwriter could write anything better that what we can imagine at that point. It does now seem ambiguous about whether the Doctor meant me (ie Himself) or Me (ie Asdhildr) when he said who the Hybrid was at the end of the previous episode. We certainly aren't told which (if any) of the three theories about its identity are correct in this one. I am fine with that but I know that sone people hate the lack of resolution fir this plot strand. Striven Moffat has said that you can choose to believe whatever version you like but that he thinks the Doctor/Clara theory is right. I do agree with you that two people can't really be a hybrid in the usual, literal sense though, no matter how close or similar they become,. I was hoping for a spin off series of Ashildr/Me and Clara following their adventures in their Tardis separately from the stories in this programme. I won't say anything about what does or doesn't happen next though. The usual apologies in advance if I am mistaken about what you do or don't already know but just in case. The Tardis that they steal from Gallifrey is a new unused one which is why it has the old original design inside and no disguise on the outside until it lands in Nevada. I am sure that Clara tells the Doctor that she has fixed the neural blocker so that it will take away his memories of her. But he isn't sure that she can actually do that so he says it is a fifty/fifty chance. Clara even says that she has "revered the polarity" which is something the Third Doctor used to say and has been a bit of a catch phrase for other Doctors too. And did you notice that when the Gallifrey soldier says out down your weapon, the Doctor drops his spoon? I have droned on at incredible length again! So I'll just say I am so glad you enjoyed this story and I hope you like what is to come!
Stephen Males
2024-03-30 18:05:26 +0000 UTCThe "Bird" was in reference to the story of the shepherds boy by Brothers Grimm. He wrote bird to remind him of that story so he knows he needs to be he bird and "sharpen his beak on the diamond mountain" against the 20 foot wall to break through it.
DeathSwitch
2024-03-30 16:33:17 +0000 UTCI think after losing so many companions in horrible ways, this was the time he said "not again" and went too far. He even said in the episode when he saved Ashildir that he was sick of losing people. There had to be a time he snapped and I LOVE that they explored this. 12 & Clara are my favorite TARDIS team and this whole series was building to this ending imo. You can tell it's actually Clara who remembers him the whole time on a second watch through too, it's so great. Also, time isn't broken & we saw the Raven go into her.. so we know she did go back to Gallifrey eventually. Something you should know if you don't already, there was a 1 1/2 year break between series 9 & 10 so there are actually 2 Christmas specials. First one is The Husband's of ... And the 2nd one is The Return of Dr Mysterio. I only mention this because I'm unsure if they actually them on the list you're using
DeathSwitch
2024-03-30 16:29:20 +0000 UTC
