Doctor Who in Review: Time Heist

WARNING: SPOILERS

. . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . .

. . . .

. . .

. .

.

Now that that's out of the way...

I'm going to start right off by saying that this was my least favorite episode of series 8 thus far--I still enjoyed it (a lot more on the second viewing, actually), but it didn't fit in with the quality of series 8 to this point.

I think a big part of why this episode was a letdown for me was the fact that the intro was great! It sets up such an intriguing mystery. A bunch of characters are thrown together, no idea why or how, to rob a bank, not knowing why or any of the details of said robbery--other than the fact that they all agreed to wipe their memories before-hand. This episode started off so strongly. The letdown after the amazing beginning colored my perception of the entire episode.

What worked The Teller

The alien defense of the bank was pretty awesome. A creature that can search out guilt and thoughts? Let's do this. That initial scene, when we see the teller melt the criminal customer's brain near the beginning--that was so well done. It set up the next-level threat of breaking into the bank and created the tension of who in the group would make it out alive at the end.

Also, the Doctor realizing he wasn't there to rob a bank, but instead was there to rescue the last two survivors of an entire species, was heartwarming. I was a bit disappointed that it mimicked so strongly the ending of "Hide" back in series 7, but I actually felt that this episode earned the ending a lot better than "Hide" ever did. The Doctor Still Cares

The Doctor is still cold and callous, as we've seen the past few episodes. But this time we also see that it's more or less for show--an act. After Saibra "died" and he yells at Psy, who questioned his callousness, the Doctor turned around and showed us the pain and regret on his face. Doctor Who isn't always great at its subtlety, but I think Capaldi nailed that emotional turmoil this episode. Also, we get his incredulity when he learns that Saibra and Psy actually lived. He wasn't happy in any obvious way, but the way he repeats the question several times insists on a private joy. The Doctor celebrated their survival, even if he didn't fully embrace that emotion publicly.

Shut up!

I can't talk about what worked this episode without bringing up the Doctor's flash of Malcolm Tucker toward the end of the episode. "Shut up, shut up. Shuttity up-up-up!" That's probably as close as we're going to get to the Doctor swearing up a Tucker storm. Which is perfectly fine. I don't want the Doctor ever jumping into that Tucker persona, but it was nice to see him nearing that level of rudeness and frustration.

What didn't work The Editing

Way, waaay too many choppy scene cuts. A lot of the time this might come down to time restraints, and it usually isn't that big a deal, but in this episode they felt way too frequent. This especially stood out in the resolution of the episode. After they freed the two teller creatures, each scene was too choppy. It cut between quick bits of dialogue and laughing, then the TARDIS flying through space, then another speedy goodbye, then another shot of the TARDIS flying through space, then another quick goodbye... the pacing was too jerky to really ever get our bearings in any one scene. An unbalanced resolution like that heavily contributes to that feeling you get when an episode ends, and you think 'that's it?' You're left so off-balance from the pacing that it lessens the whole viewing experience. The Bank of Karabraxos

We're told over and over that this is the unbreakable bank. But we're not given much on that front. It has less security than the Bank of America down the street from my apartment. Other than the teller and a handful of security guards (in admittedly cool uniforms), it's all fairly empty and open. The "unbreakable" bank is likely more of a tag line for the bank--not necessary the most impregnable, but because of the teller, Karabraxos likes to throw the claim around. I feel like, if the doctor and team had to deal with more security issues, the episode's pacing and threat-level wouldn't have felt so... I don't know, off. Other than the Teller, the bank was utterly forgettable.

Honestly, I think this episode could been stretched into a 2-parter, assuming that they filled in more threats and less empty corridors. Really, even an extra 15 minutes could have rounded the episode's pacing out a bit. More time would also have allowed the audience to become attached to Saibra and Psy a bit more. Having a single, brief heart-to-heart with each character wasn't enough to make us care about their "deaths." The character concepts were pretty enjoyable. I wouldn't mind seeing them come back at some point. But as they were presented in this episode, I just didn't care as much about them. The Concept Itself

I mean, come on! You have an episode called "Time Heist" and it doesn't even deal much with time travel! Yeah, sure, they realize later on that time travel must have been involved, that the Architect must be from the future to predict the solar storm. But come on! The episode ended up being a fairly ordinary/boring bank heist. I try to go into each episode with zero expectations, but with a title like "Time Heist," I'm expecting some more than what was given to us.

Final Thoughts: Clara's relationship with Danny

This is something that is becoming more and more important as the episodes go on. We got a nice, brief flash of their relationship developing--nothing huge, just enough for us to know it's progressing off-screen. We're seeing Clara spending more and more time with Danny, even refusing to leave with the Doctor at the start of the episode to go on her date. Because of how time travel works, she could easily go on an adventure with the Doctor and get back in time for her date (which she ends up doing anyway). But she actually wanted to go on her date first. She was more excited about going out with Danny and with the Doctor. This, paired with the fact that Clara treats the Doctor as her hobby (outright calling him this in "Into the Dalek," I believe), makes me think she might be on her way out as a companion. I'd heard rumors a while back about Coleman possibly leaving the show after this season. I haven't looked into those rumors at all beyond that initial hearing, but based on the direction her character seems to be taking, I can believe it. She seems to be moving in the direction of a normal life. For the first time since Martha back in series 3, we might see a companion stop traveling with the Doctor of her own free will.