Doctor Who: Initial Reactions to Hell Bent
December 7, 2015 in Dr Who, Guest Blogs by GuestBlogs
A Guest Blog by Hevy782
Usually when an episode disappoints me these reviews give me an opportunity to get it all out of my system and then look forward to the next episode with a somewhat positive frame of mind. This episode however I just want to forget about as soon as possible and immediately move on to the strangely appealing Christmas special, The Husbands of River Song. I mean I’m usually not a fan of the more whimsical specials but this one’s got River Song instead of Clara so that’s a definite plus straight away. Admittedly I’m not the biggest River Song fan out there but she’s been growing on me as of late and I’m really interested in seeing the tour de force of Capaldi and Kingston, especially because she won’t know who he is to begin with. It’s also got a shouting head for a villain so what’s not to love there? Okay, so I guess I should stop talking about The Husband of River Song now as I do want it to appear as if I’m taking this review somewhat seriously. So then, let’s actually start talking about the few positives and many negatives of Hell Bent.
Now I think it’s safe to say that this episode turned out in a way that none of us were expecting it to. For some that’s a good thing but for many like myself it’s a very big negative. This was supposed to be the grand return of Gallifrey after so many years of absence but it instead ended up being yet another departure for Clara and an unnecessary one at that as we had already experienced a fitting end to her story in the form of Face the Raven. I mean there was so much potential here for an epic Gallifrey story with the Doctor trying to bring down Rassilon and yet the most legendary Time Lord of all time just gets on a shuttle and leaves because the Doctor told him to. And it is from that point which the story goes down hill for me.
Now it’s only fair that I dedicate this next section of the review to the episode’s positives as believe it or not I do believe it has some. Most of them come from before Rassilon gets on a shuttle and flies off though. Peter Capaldi is of course one of them and while his performance may have taken a step down from last week it is still nothing short of incredible and it’s amazing how much he gets across without saying a single word. There’s also some good comedy there as you get into the routine of the woman going to the Doctor, the Doctor going outside and then the Doctor immediately going back in again. The General was also a welcome return from Day of the Doctor and Ken Bones did a good job expanding on the small role he was given there and he turns it into quite a likeable character actually. The female version was good too but I honestly don’t see why we had to get rid of the magnificent Ken Bones for what was ultimately nothing more than a cheap political move. It was also nice to have the Sisterhood of Karn back in this even if they didn’t do a whole lot.
Some of you may be a bit confused as to why I left Donald Sumpter’s Rassilon out when I was talking about the positives and it’s not because he was poorly acted but because the character just wasn’t written like Rassilon should be in my opinion. He was portrayed as more of a standard Time Lord as opposed to the legendary one he’s supposed to be. But anyway, let’s now talk about where this episode ultimately went wrong and that was when it bought back Clara. I didn’t care much about her before and I care about her even less now. The way it was written feels as if I’m supposed to care more for the Doctor and Clara and see the Time Lord’s as the villains but I was actually cheering the Time Lords on during this. It really did make Clara feel selfish in the way that she put herself before the safety of the timeline and when she called the Time Lords cowards for hiding at the end of the universe I was just sat there thinking that they’ve gone to the end of the universe so that the Time War doesn’t restart. As you can imagine, none of this rubs off well on Clara but hopefully now that she’s gone it’ll be a fresh start for the Doctor, especially since he won’t be able to remember her. Speaking of that, I’m glad they didn’t wipe Clara’s memory instead as that would’ve just been a blatant rip off of Donna’s fate so that’s another thing the episode has going for it, I guess.
Overall, I’m going to give Hell Bent a four-out-of-ten and now that I’ve done that I can go back to talking about my odd sense of anticipation for The Husbands of River Song. Maybe it’s just because I’ll take anything after watching this episode or perhaps I just want a light romp after all the serious stories we’ve had in series nine but either way I’m looking forward to watching this one on Christmas day. So then until we see it a few weeks be sure to sound off your thoughts on either this episode or if you’re like me and you’d prefer to talk about the next one instead then you’re welcome to do both in the comments below.
I think you nailed my feelings about this episode. So much potential wasted just to ruin the exit they’d given Clara in Face the Raven. All the mystery about the Hybrid came to nothing. I haven’t managed to raise the enthusiasm to re-watch it incase it’s better on a second viewing (I suspect it’s not).
Gallifrey looked good.
I’m also looking forward to The Husbands of River Song 🙂 Capaldi and Kingston has been something I’ve wanted to see (but thought we never would) right since Capaldi was announced as the new Doctor. A light-hearted Dr Who is just the thing on Christmas Day 😀
Yeah, I think Twelve and River is the main selling point there and hopefully it won’t be all we see of them. And yeah, after this finale, I think we all need something fun and light-hearted on Christmas Day:)
I think I’m on the verge of agreeing. To be honest this whole season has been a write off for me. Hardly any of the episodes really excited me besides Heaven Sent, the comedy was hardly existent and the stories, in true Moffat fashion, try too hard to be the cleverest of cats.
Having said that, I didn’t mind this one too much, but Gallifrey was indeed wasted and Clara’s “real” send off just undermined the original completely and I was kind of glad to see her gone, since she’d been way too annoying this season.
I agree, this season has been one big write off. What annoys me is that there was so much potential at the start with so many possibilities for good stories and yet they threw almost all of that away apart from a few good ones like Heaven Sent as you mentioned.
For a long time I thought that the lack of two part stories had been what’s holding the show back as many episodes before this had seemed rushed to me, especially in their conclusions. But this season has shown me that it’s not the lack of two-parters, it’s just the writers who are given them 🙁
Absolutely. I actually preferred the shorter, one part stories from last season simply because they weren’t trying too hard, a lot of them were actually really funny. As far as I can see they know how to write the funny stories, but as far as more meaningful, epic sci-fi romps, they’re up the creek without a paddle.
Here’s hoping for a shift in ceatives next time.
“This was supposed to be the grand return of Gallifrey after so many years of absence but it instead ended up being yet another departure for Clara and an unnecessary one at that as we had already experienced a fitting end to her story in the form of Face the Raven.”
Yep.
It’s so disappointing that we have to leave a companion on such a bad note. She left with a strong conclusion in “Face the Raven” and we were all satisfied, but after this episode I’m just glad to see her gone… unlike any of the older companions. All of them had strong endings that made me sad – losing Clara in this episode just feels like a relief.
I feel the same Nam. Clara’s been a bumpy road for me for a long time. I’ve tried to like her and sometimes I have but her character’s so all over the place that she’s just become a mess, I’d go so far as to say a stain on the last few years of Doctor Who but now that she’s gone we’ll hopefully have a much more consistent new companion who will help to put Clara out of our memories.
I like Clara and I enjoy her character (and Jenna Coleman’s acting is great too) but the things they do to her just get tiresome. We’re supposed to believe that Clara is amazing, special, one of the best companions but none of that is proven through her actions. Rose, Martha, Donna, and Amy are all better than her (except maybe Amy, but she wasn’t as tiresome) because they actually *do* something. Clara saved the Doctor in Series 7, that was great, and then that was it.
The “Clara is amazing and special” thing seems to me to be the culmination of a trend that’s run through the whole of ‘New Who’, that of the companion being the central character. Rose, well the Doctor fell in love with her for crying out loud and then she became Bad Wolf, able to destroy an entire Dalek fleet and grant immortality with a thought! Martha was more like a traditional companion thank goodness. Donna, although she was an OK character they stuck in the DoctorDonna thing so she was super special and saved the universe. Amy, centre of the universe, even more literally than Rose or Donna!
I watched Planet of Evil the last couple of evenings on the Horror Channel and there was Sarah Jane Smith, the archetype. She was part of the adventure, she did things but she was not the centre, it wasn’t all about her. In fact it wasn’t all that much all about the Doctor either. It was a story, an adventure, not a study in how freaking awesome either the Doctor or Sarah Jane was. SO refreshing!
I want to go back to a Doctor who has to work things out and come up with a plan. I’ve had more than enough of him being the universe’s ultimate super-being who can defeat his enemies by the simple power of his awesomeness. It was funny the first time they did it but it’s got tired and old and stupid. I also want to go back to companions who are regular people without a special destiny to save the universe. Like they used to be, someone for the audience to identify with.
I agree. I mean, I like when the companions are also the main character and I never had problems with what they did to companions like Rose and Donna. But even though Rose, Donna, and Amy (with Martha, she was there more *for* the Doctor than he was there for her) were also special, for much of their respective seasons they were just travelers alongside the Doctor. And it worked so much better. With Clara, she was the focus (and sadly it wasn’t like she was a fascinating character anyway) and you know something is really wrong when she’s the focus of an episode that also brought back the Time Lords after 9 seasons. She’s too important.
But I do agree with you completely on the Doctor being a super-being with a huge reputation. It’s getting repetitive. Same with the theme that the companions become the Doctor’s weapons. That culminated in “Journey’s End” and should have stayed there, but it’s still repeated.
IMO stories that are character-driven are stronger, but the characters have to actually be interesting.