"The Woman Who Lived" is kind of an anomaly. It's the second of a two-parter, but has a different writer than the first and an entirely new setting. I don't think that's ever happened in the history of Who. But "The Woman Who Lived" nicely weaves back into the events of "The Girl Who Died," and explores the character of Ashildr and how she's dealt with her immortality. There's also some not-so-subtle foreshadowing towards the fate of Clara.
The Recap
In the year 1651, a highwayman known as The Knightmare is in the middle of robbing a rich husband and wife when the stick-up is interrupted by the Doctor, who ends up distracting the Knightmare enough to allow the couple to escape. The Knightmare reveals herself as Ashildr, much to the Doctor's surprise. Ashildr reveals she was robbing the couple to ultimately retrieve a valuable amulet in their possession. The Doctor is after it as well.
The two return to Ashildr's mansion, where the Doctor learns about the toll immortality has taken on Ashuldr. She's forgotten the name "Ashildr," instead she now goes by the name "Me." She's her own companion now. She wants the Doctor to take her with him off-world, having grown very frustrated with an eternal life on Earth. Going through the journals that serve as her "memory storage," the Doctor finds out she had children, who died during the Black Death and has promised herself to never have any again, not wanting to go through more heartbreak.
Ashildr offers her help to retrieve the amulet, and she and the Doctor break into the rich couple's house and grab that gem *wink*. The Doctor asks where the other Mire repair kit is, and Ashildr reveals she still has it; she didn't find anyone she wanted to save. She asks why he hasn't made Clara immortal, and how many people like her he's lost.
On the way back, the two encounter Sam Swift the Quick, another highwayman. He and "Me" have a banter-off (which the Doctor is against) and they have a short brawl, which "Me"wins. The Doctor tells her to let Sam live.
The next morning, the Doctor discusses the origins of the amulet with "Me." She makes one last plea with the Doctor to take her with him but he declines, saying it "would not be good." An angry Ashildr then reveals her true plans. Enter Leandro, a lion-like being who claims he is the last of his kind. He and Ashildr reveal that the amulet can open a portal to the other side of the galaxy. Ashildr has thrown in with Leandro because he's promised to take her with him off-world, unlike the Doctor. To open the portal, however, someone must die. Luckily, Sam Swift is scheduled to hang in half an hour.
At the hanging, "Me" slams the amulet into Sam's chest and the portal opens, but it only lets in, not out. Leandro's people are alive and they begin to invade Earth. Ashildr realizes she'd done wrong and begs the Doctor to help her find a way to close the portal. The Doctor says that if the draining of life energy activates the portal, reversing it must close it. Ashildr uses the second repair kit on Sam and the portal closes. Leandro is disintegrated by his people for failing them.
While celebrating with Sam, the Doctor tells Ashildr they can't travel together because they always need reminders on how valuable a normal human life is. If they did travel together, both of them would be desensitized to that value. Ashildr pledges to be the Doctor's patron saint. She will fix the damages and take care of the people the Doctor leaves behind after his adventures.
The Doctor picks up Clara, who shows him a picture of a student he helped with her homework. in the background: Ashildr.
The Doctor tells Clara he missed her, and Clara says she isn't going anywhere. Oh, if only that were true...
The Review
- Maisie Williams and Peter Capaldi have a great chemistry. The two just click, both in the humorous scenes and the more dramatic ones.
- The shot of the two of them, on all fours, crawling around that guy's couch during the robbery sequence cracks me up. Everytime.
- Maisie Williams gives an excellent performance here. I really bought that she was a girl who who had an intelligence beyond her years and had seen some things over the centuries.
- Having Ashildr/"Me" hold the Doctor in high regard after saving her, blame him for all she's been through was a very interesting way to go with the character.
- "Me" almost becoming the big villain of the story was neat, but her redemption felt a little too quick and convenient.
- Rufus Hound's Sam Swift was a great highlight, bringing some comic relief to an overall dark-ish story. We probably won't see him again, but he is immortal now, so who knows?
- Leandro was forgettable. His look was great, but he just turns up, breathes some fire, and dies.
- The climax was resolved a bit too quickly, but I'm willing to look past this since I see this episode as more of a character piece rather than a grand Doctor Who adventure
- Though she wasn't in the episode for the main chunk of it, we got some teases towards Clara's fate. They're really hyping up her dying.
- Clara should stay alive somehow. If she does die, all of us will look back at her tenure and complain about how predictable her death was. Come on, Moffat! Give us some of your writing razzle-dazzle!
- We deserve an explanation as to how on earth the Sonic Sunglasses were resurrected!
- Series 9 seems to have an agenda of making more connections to the show's past and creating a greater sense of continuity. The Doctor tells Ashildr about Captain Jack and his immortality.
Rating: 9.0/10 curio-scanners
Halfway through, and Doctor Who's having a great ninth series. Let's hope the quality remains constant over the next six episodes.
Next week, the peace between the Zygons and the humans is Zy-gone! (Fight me)
Also, Osgood returns!
Noah
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