Doctor Who in Review: Mummy on the Orient Express

WARNING: SPOILERS

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

I went into this episode with some reservations--it looked pretty cheesy. Yeah, I know Doctor Who and cheesy go together just about as well any anything can go together, but still, I had my doubts. I mean, a train in space? For some reason, I was worried about like Slitheen level cheese, or Absorbalof. But wow. This episode delivered a fantastic story. Honestly, one of my favorites from the season. Beyond the silliness of the train in space, the setting was pretty serious and atmospheric. It delivered a hell of a monster, gave us some great Clara/Doctor conflict, and showcased both the callous and caring sides of 12.

I was sold on this episode from the get-go. One of my favorite intros to a Doctor Who episode. It sets up the very creepy monster--only the victim can see it? Was not expecting that. The clock counting down with each victim really helped amp up the tension in the scenes. It wasn't "66" seconds, but an actual 66 seconds counted down in real time. Helped make the whole experience feel a bit more real.

The Doctor and Clara

I was initially upset when I saw Clara and the doctor together. The first thought that crossed my mind was that the show would simply ignore their fight at the end of the previous episode and we'd have to assume that they just made up off camera. A stupid thought, but the show's done similar things before.

They did a great job keeping the tension just below the surface between the Doctor and Clara. The entire tone of the episode, this adventure being their last hoorah, created a moving atmosphere for the entirety of the episode. But I'm glad that the Doctor was able to show Clara that he is still that same man. Yes, he's callous, but he absolutely does care. When he makes the mummy come after him, instead of Maisie, Clara sees that the Doctor does still care about people, and it does still hurt him when he's not able to save them. That seems to be a major feature of this new Doctor, is how he is dealing with his inability to save everyone. It does still hurt him, but he tries to ignore that hurt because it's not 'beneficial.' He's trying to be more utilitarian, but it still hurts.

We get some excellent past doctor references--cigarette case with jelly babies? Awesome Tom Baker reference. "Are you my mummy?" Fantastic Eccleston! And the reference to the phone call 11 got about basically this exact scenario at the end of season 5? Very cool.

When will we see Gus again?

I want more Gus. The machine controlling the train, killing people over and over, trying to figure out how to capture the Foretold, and actually getting away with it all at the end? Awesome. There is no direct connection to Missy--yet. We could see some connection by the end of the season. We might not. But I'm absolutely positive that Gus will be coming back at some point in the future. If not in this season, then as another villain/figure for the Doctor to hunt down. It's left far too open at the end of the episode to simply let Gus get away with what he's been doing.

Clara the Addict

Finally, the end of the episode sets up a great little piece of tension that will absolutely have to get resolved soon. She's revealed she's a bit addicted to time traveling with the Doctor, actually lying to Danny, pretending that it's all over but actually continuing to travel with the Doctor. This is the perfect kind of thing that will have to blow up in her face at some point very soon. I'm thinking somewhere tied up in the series finale, but we'll see.