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So Clara's been the mastermind behind every single episode of Doctor Who?
Firegazer
Posts: 5,888 Forum Member
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My heads in a mess, I feel like I've just watched 50 years of Doctor Who in one episode 
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Firegazer
Posts: 5,888
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1) Why did she seemingly have no memory of The Doctor as Oswin and Vicky Clara but clearly knew he was in her other forms? Which leads me to -
2) Beside Oswin and Vicky Clara were the other echoes real people? Were they born? Did they have a life? Did they die? Because besides the two we had already meet, the others seem to be flash appearances, going from one Doctor to the next. For example when she followed Six around a corner she saw Four, and when she was watching Three drive she suddenly appeared in a park with Eight and Two (all the time wearing the same clothes).
The bigger question I have, is who or what is The Great Intelligence, and how has The Doctor annoyed it, or encountered it in the past?
He's a longtime foe of the Doctor, from 2's era.
So, the answer to your question is kind of yes and no. That's what I think anyway...
Clara prevented the GI's interference in those adventures, so they happened as they did originally.
Also, I would have liked to of seen more of how Clara stopped him.
I dunno, the flashbacks just made it seem like instead of killing the Doctors, the GI was just being mischievous and setting up events that would hinder him and Clara was counter acting these. At least one Clara/GI showdown would have been good to see.
Or the Doctor's Anti-Virus software
Little emotional investment, Clara is a walkin' talkin "deus ex machina"
Perhaps deliberately, but still... poor stuff from Moffatt! Again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2y8Sx4B2Sk
She is a normal person, barely knew the Doctor. Basically sacrifices herself to save him.
You can only get away with such self-sacrifice if it was a long-term companion who had got to know the Doctor very well and was probably in love with him. Certainly that does not apply to Clara.
Maybe with the Rose companion it would have worked. But few people watching at home would care about Clara when she jumped into the light.
This is all very poor stuff masquerading as epic.
Uncharacteristic behaviour of a character is after all the usual "deus..." cop out.
She didn't just save the Doctor. She saved the universe.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2y8Sx4B2Sk
And it was completely out of character.
There was no reason for her to behave that way other than the script saying so.
If she hadn't saved the Doctor, there wouldn't have been a universe to be alive in. It was a sacrifice but in a way she was just choosing the manner of her death.
Also she knew that she had to go in the timeline because she heard Vastra mention the Dalek Asylum, something The Doctor said happened so it was her destiny in a way.
People can fall in love in a matter of days and weeks, and that is a normal person.
This is the Doctor and how long they were travelling together is not exactly clear is it, it's not like we saw all their adventures. :rolleyes:
And what she did in the end was in no way out of character, in the slightest.
When stepped into the Doctor's timeline, fixed the GI's meddling and then the Doctor saved her, Clara's voice over said her story was done.
So I think the character is now just an ordinary girl, hence her crying, so maybe the link to River Song will be lost.
You could be right, I just felt river implied more than that
.... by the way are you in Edinburgh too?
Have to say though, Clara...yeah, she behaved really out of character, and for what...I was watching the episode and thinking if you gender-flipped Clara's character she would be incredibly dislikeable for how (in general) helpless she is and more of a hinderance than anything. When she was a Dalek at least she was kinda helpful, but in this episode...and in the flashbacks for that matter - apart from the first one with the TARDIS, she seems to just miss the Doctor. (thus actually having no effect)
What else does she do in the episode? Finds herself lost and just bangs her head down on the floor, gets herself caught by those things going through the door and just grabs out for him to help her rather than shaking free or whacking them herself, nearly gets herself caught umpteen times...
It just grates on me how she's meant to be a great saviour but every time I've seen her she's been pretty helpless and more of a hinderance than a help to the Doctor as he has to always look out for her.
Doesnt the Doctor say it himself? That the one advantage she has is...him. Like she actually has nothing of her own to offer?
She could have been written better so this didnt seem like such a leap, is all.
I loved the episode but I also have doubts. It's not a matter of how many adventures they've shared, but how they acted together and it was always stilted or quippy and always cool. It was only in The Name of the Doctor that they suddenly seemed closer. Fair enough that on his part he should trust her after what she did, explaining her mystery, but he seemed more affecionate, even beforehand - maybe for narrative reasons. As for Clara, I've never believed that she really cared for him, more that she thought he was ok, if weird, and could help her to travel, while she still held down her job. All the other main companions seemed to have a more genuine personal relationship with him.
I'm not rehashing the tired and easy old Moffat vs RTD thing, either. Amy wouldn't even have stopped to think, remember.her trying to run to him at Utah - what was she going to do, jump between him and the Astronaut? I had no trouble with Amy adoring him enough to do try that. Rory had already died for him in Series 5, when he wasn't even that close to him and had had about as much screentime as Clara, but I easily believed that he was noble enough to take a bullet for him, even if he was quite ambivalent about him personally. River's life was one big sacrifice.
Clara wasn't a deus ex machina, because that suggests she or her time travelling came out of nowhere. However I wasn't convinced that the character I'd been shown would do this (and sadly didn't care.) Vastra I'd have believed, but she'd have had trouble blending in...:p