Doctor Who season 9, episode 2 unveiled the fate of Missy and Clara straight off, as if there was any doubt.
Did you ever notice that sometimes Doctor Who vaguely resembles Stars Wars? That’s how we felt tonight.
Never tell me the odds
As we predicted in our recap of last week’s episode, Missy and Clara survived the Dalek attack (I mean, did anyone actually think they were dead?) by using Missy’s vortex manipulator. Missy explains that she learned the trick by taking a page from the Doctor’s own playbook when he was in a similar dire circumstance. Missy and Clara are now the weirdest of teammates ever. They are on board to save the Doctor, who apparently doesn’t assume he is going to win this Dalek showdown, but Missy and Clara assume they will.
Better than a sandcruiser
The Doctor hijacks Davros’ body shell and zooms into the main audience chamber as Davros screams and writhes on the ground, oddly reminiscent of C3PO being taken apart by the Jawas.
The Doctor demands that Clara be brought to him, not believing she is dead, but before you know it, Davros pops back up on the transmission screen. Davros is back in control thanks to the snake minions of Colony Sark, who continues to win our vote as the best new alien in years.
One thing’s for sure, we’re all going to be a lot thinner.
Clara and Missy find themselves thrown into the Dalek sewer, which is akin to a slowly decaying, yet living, graveyard. All it’s missing is its very own dianoga…but we digress. Missy, ever the pragmatist, uses Clara as unwilling bait to trap a Dalek. Clara has apparently taken an entire bottle of dumb pills, or hit her head too hard, because we can’t figure out how she keeps getting suckered by Missy.
For reasons not readily apparent, trapping a Dalek and having the sewer Daleks eat it alive and blow it up are all a part of Missy’s master plan. On a side note, we picked a really bad time to be eating ice cream with chocolate sauce. Note to self: Don’t have anything to eat on the rewatch.
Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi
We quickly see young Davros screaming for help in the minefield, and then we are back to Davros’ lair where the Doctor has been brought and plopped on the only other chair on the planet. We’re betting they don’t have beds either, but a car wash might come in handy.
Soon Davros reveals more information regarding his connection to the Daleks. He feeds off their life forces like a slowly decaying vampire. The Daleks allow it due to a single genetic flaw: They have mercy and feelings for their creator. Talk about a paradox. The creatures who have had emotions taken away have feelings for their creator? Yes, our canon brains are rattling more than R2D2 on a bumpy surface.
Meanwhile, back on Endor
Run you clever boy and remember! Clara is in a Dalek, and we are having all sorts of déjà vu. All we are missing are Amy and Rory and a couple of souffle references. Now, will she ever get out of this? Missy may have disposed of Clara for good. We are starting to wonder if Clara being tapped into the Dalek life source is what is causing these gigantic mood swings and out-of-character moments with Davros.
The Force Compassion, runs strong in your family
Davros and the Doctor continue their banter. The Doctor came because Davros called. He couldn’t resist, in the name of compassion and hope, seeing if there was anything worthwhile in Davros. It’s also heavily implied that the reason the Doctor has traveled for all these years is to run away from the fact that he let the child Davros alone on a battlefield. Our canon brains are now rattling more than an X-wing fighter under fire.
Davros in turn lets that Doctor know that this compassion will be the Doctor’s undoing. And faster than the Millenium Falcon can do a 180, Davros gets all weepy wanting to see the Doctor’s face. He tells Twelve that the Doctor redeemed the Time Lords from the fire, and that the Doctor shouldn’t lose them. Also, Davros is suddenly asking the Doctor if Davros did right, and if Davros is a good man.
Before our heads split open in a giant WTF overload, no worries, all goes back to normal. We discover it’s all been a ploy for Davros to suck regeneration energy out of the Doctor. At this point we are wondering if Doctor and Clara shared the bottle of stupid pills.
May The Force not be with you
You know things are bad when Missy looks panic-stricken, and Missy looked positively terrified when she realized regeneration energy was coming from all the Daleks except the Clara Dalek. Davros’ master plan of a hybrid Dalek and Time Lord seems to be a reality.
Destruction of the Death Star
Not to worry, kids. Missy saves the Doctor before things get too far, and we learn that this was part of the Doctor’s plan all along. By regenerating the sewer Daleks, they are seeping up from the ground and destroying the rebuilt city on Skaro and all the Daleks that are there.
Until the next sequel
Dalek Clara finds the Doctor and shortly thereafter Missy joins them trying to convince the Doctor that this is the Dalek that killed Clara. Since Dalek Clara doesn’t behave normally, the Doctor realizes what is going on. He tells Missy to run, and he rescues Clara. Mind you, how he does this is unknown in an annoying off screen kind of way. Also unknown is if Missy took anything from the Doctor before she left. She was awfully close to his pocket. Well, we’ll just have to wait and see because she no doubt escaped the Daleks. Lastly, since we are asking questions, did Missy intimate earlier that she had a daughter? Maisie Williams, anyone?
The mercy concept is solved with a bit of wibbly wobbly and the Doctor goes back to young Davros, saves him from the hand mines, and doesn’t kill him. Instead he instills a concept of mercy, which will save Clara decades later when she invokes the word.
Doctor Who will be back next Saturday on BBC America at 9:00 p.m.
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