clocketpatch | Deep Breath

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Deep Breath

"What? It laid an egg!"
"It dropped a blue box, marked "police" out of its mouth. Your grasp on biology troubles me."

And then I laughed, quite a bit.

I like the way this episode started. The Paternoster gang going after a dinosaur (who is acknowledged to be… slightly larger than usual. I'm going to blame vortex energies. I'm also pleased that the TARDIS is to blame for the transportation, because that takes care of the geographical issue of a T-rex in London).

Twelve (and I will refer to him as such in this response, even if the numerology scheme has gone a bit out the window) running about in post-regeneration distress is suitably funny and terrifying. Poor Clara, dealing with it all.

ooooEEeeoooo!!! DumdiddyDum! DumdiddyDum!

The title sequence was the thing I was most excited for with this episode and it did not disappoint. The fact that it is fan made will never stop being lovely (I'm also wondering if it was at least partially responsible for inspiring Moffat to have the droids in the first episode). The new rendition of the theme song…

My initial reaction was horror, but it quickly grew on me. I like it much better than Eleven's original theme. Listening to them side-by-side, I think I even like it better than the Day of the Doctor amalgamation of themes.

"You might as well flirt with a mountain range."
"He flirted with you."
"I wore a veil for the same reason he a face… For the oldest reason. To be accepted."

The, "he's not young any more, deal with it," preaching seems a bit too directed towards the audience, though I did enjoy Clara telling Vastra off on behalf of the audience.

I also find the sentiment that Clara was never that way interested in Eleven, and that Eleven was not that way interested in Clara, but that he was working under the assumption that he had to be a dashing young romantic partner in order to be… accepted… very sad, and very telling of Eleven's behaviour.

Eleven (and Ten, and even Nine, and, heck, this goes all the way back to Eight, doesn't it?) having been falling more and more into that assumption. But it isn't true and never has been. Twelve coming to that conclusion at the end of the episode and admitting that he's been pretending to be something he's not was was poignant for me.

As a side note, I'm a bit worried about Vastra and Jenny's relationship. They keep having spats in this. They're treated as humorous, but the underlying control issues really aren't funny. And Jenny cheering her on when she gets back at Vastra was just slightly too enthusiastic. O_o
(and the scene later on with her posing naked is creepy, OMG Moffat, forced nudity is not as funny as you think it is!)

"I will keep you safe! You will be at home again!"

Poor Doctor. The more things change…

"A dinosaur is burning in the heart of London, nothing left but smoke and flame. The question is… have there been any similar matters?"

A very nice segue into the plot with the Doctor leaping into the Thames. The comedy Strax morning after is also very nice. As is Clara's Victorian dress. I can tell why they keep visiting this era. It's not just the wonderful banter of the Paternoster gang – it's the fact that Clara looks very nice in the requisite garb.

Strax's medical exam is a bit creepy though (again with the nudity jokes, Moffat, and wtf, Clara is thinking always of slash?) I do like Strax's false cheerfulness about the Doctor's propensity for abandoning companions.

"These are attack eyebrows!"

The whole post-Thames scene with Twelve in his wet night gown terrorising that poor tramp is unspeakably sad. The references to Four with the scarf and Eight with the mirror… The implication that all of the Doctor's faces belonged to people he met somewhere along the way (backed up by what happened with Five to Six). And the idea that all of those faces are trying to tell him something.

Funny bit in the middle with the seceding Scottish eyebrows (though they carried on just a bit too long, me thinks). Quickly turning to terrifying as Twelve starts demanding the tramp's coat. The Doctor often steals his clothes. Usually from people who can afford to replace them. Never off the backs of the people wearing them.

I was very glad when Twelve suggests in the next scene that he traded his watch. Though I'm not certain I believe it. And I do worry about that tramp.

"The smell is everywhere."

The bickering between Twelve and Clara in the restaurant is great. They make a very enjoyable double-act. The mystery of the note-writer is a great puzzle within a puzzle. Speaking of which –

"How long can you hold your breath?"

The list of things Moffat has made terrifying:

Statues

Blinking

Dolls

Clocks

Gas masks

Breathing

"I might need it."

Twelve will throw you to the wolves. It is a very Seven-like manipulation. I always thought Eleven was very Seven-like, perhaps the regenerrrration will enhance this.

"You are stronger than you look."
"I hope that you are too… And unlike you, I don't expect to reach the promised land… You realize, of course, that one of us is lying about our basic programming. And I think we both know who that is."

The climactic scene with the clockwork man and the Doctor was very troubling to me. Whether the droid fell or was pushed isn't the issue here. The issue is, should suicide really be such a reoccurring theme on this show given its viewership? And worse, should it be implied at the end that this is the way to Paradise?

(because do any of us, for one second, believe that that Doctor pushed the droid with his hands? His words however… the Doctor definitely did some word pushing… but clean hands, right?)

I did a literally, wtf at both this, and the gratuitous impaled-on-a-weathervane scene.

That was just upsetting and uncalled for. The episode had quite enough creepiness without that scene (the skin balloon? The Doctor wearing an ACTUAL face? That hand hanging on the clockwork man's lapel?) Yeah. I enjoyed the creepiness. I did not enjoy it when that over-the-top camp creepiness superimposed itself over something darker and more serious and acted like it was the same sort of thing.

"You can't see me, can you? You look at me, and you can't see me. Have you any idea what that's like?"

I was spoiled for Eleven's cameo. I don't know what effect it would have had unspoiled. It was nice to see him again, but… it felt like a ghost talking. I don't need any more confirmation that Twelve is the Doctor. He confirmed that for me the moment he looked out of his T-rex spit covered TARDIS and started accusing Strax of being all seven of the Seven Dwarfs.

His awkward, hands-flailing-in-distress response to Clara's hug is incredibly funny, a little bit sad, and very… Twelve. He has sprung into being not totally defined. He is still a rough sketch of a Doctor. But you can see who he is.

He is afraid.

He is a man who has been given a second chance and is terrified that he will blow it.

He doesn't know who he is. He is afraid that his friends don't know him either. Old broom. He doesn't know if he can still sweep, or what he is sweeping, or why.

But I think that he knows himself now more than he did before (even if he doesn't know it yet). I am eager to see more of his adventures. And that eagerness means that this episode has succeeded.

Post-Script

The lady with the telephone. The lady who took out the ads. I thought she might be Romana or Susan, but on seeing her… (and

a_phoenixdragon said the same in her review)… Iris Wildthyme? What mischief are you getting up to now?

Post-Post-Script:

"I don't like her; I love her, and as for different... she's a lizard."

So, I was wrong about Jenny being naked in that scene. I still find it vaguely disturbing, but that doesn't change my love for the above line (which I forgot, somehow, while rounding up quotes). So... even if I think that their relationship has a few worrying elements, I also think that it's still a very strong and loving one, and that line is lovely (and really... what kind of response was Clara expecting to that question?)

It has, however, given me a fic bunny, (what would Jenny's reaction be if Vastra were to suddenly become human? Or vice versa) with which I shall probably do nothing at all...

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I wondered if that dinosaur was unusually large! Glad to know I wasn't the only one.

and wtf, Clara is thinking always of slash?
That line didn't make sense to me because earlier in the episode Clara made such a point of not obsessing over attractive young men. Strax keeps calling her a boy, so I almost wonder if she was thinking about girls and he got his genders mixed up again.

and the scene later on with her posing naked is creepy
Wait, what? I remember the part with Jenny posing in like a corset while Vastra was pretending to paint, but I don't remember forced naked posing. Was it like a throwaway line and I missed it?

so I almost wonder if she was thinking about girls and he got his genders mixed up again.

that would make considerably more sense.

Jenny posing... she's doing it voluntarily for a painting, then Vastra isn't painting, Jenny is confused and Vastra is very, "hush dear, keep looking pretty." On it's on it wouldn't have had me cocking my head to the side, but combined with the, "hush dear, pour the tea" earlier. It weirded me out.

That line didn't make sense to me because earlier in the episode Clara made such a point of not obsessing over attractive young men.

The lady doth protest too much, methinks.

Strax was analysing her subconscious, so presumably the thoughts he found were ones she doesn't allow into her conscious mind.

Wait, what? I remember the part with Jenny posing in like a corset while Vastra was pretending to paint, but I don't remember forced naked posing. Was it like a throwaway line and I missed it?

No, you didn't miss anything. She wasn't naked. Posing, yes, but dressed.

I like your theory on Strax and the genders.

Re-watching... she isn't completely naked, but I'm sure she would be considered as such by Victorian standards. The scene still weirds me out.

She's not even remotely naked by modern standards; having one button askew would be naked to Victorians. The audience isn't Victorian, and the only character in that scene who is is so atypically Victorian that I'm not sure it matters.

I did not think Jenny was posing naked unless i missed something.

Twelve goes beyond SEven, I think. I don't think Seven would've gotten himself in the situation with the balloon. He would've manipulated someone else to be up there.

Hrm. My crack hteory is that the woman at the end is the Master. Who else acts like the Doctor's psycho ex?

On re-watch, I think you're right about the woman being the Master. She's got the right evil smirk, and the twirling was very Simm.

I don't know about Seven not being up in that balloon. While I had issue with the scene, I have no trouble at all imagining Seven saying the line, "One of us is lying about our basic programming."

That's "seceding" eyebrows (not succeeding as you've typed) - as in breaking away - a joke aimed at the British audience since the Scots are about to have a referendum on whether or not to become independent of Britain again.

I had no clue about Eleven's cameo. At the time, half of me thought it was lovely, the other half of me was irritated, but having re-watched the ep, I'm wholly irritated as it wasn't needed.

Really? That's interesting. Personally, I loved the cameo. I had no idea it was coming either, but I recognized Matt's voice right away, and it was a big "OMG!" moment. From a story perspective I agree that it wasn't needed -- it would've been just as believable for Clara to be persuaded without the phone call -- but it was a beautiful scene, and it helped wash away some of the bad taste of "Time of the Doctor" for me.

I did think it was weird that Clara had so much trouble accepting Twelve, given her history. She's met ALL the Doctors, and even if you say she doesn't really remember most of them, she would definitely remember Ten and the War Doctor. She's the first companion in the history of the show who met other Doctors before she saw a regeneration, and yet she had one of the worst reactions to her new Doctor.

Yes - Clara's apparent inability to accept the Doctor's regeneration given her on-screen history with him (never mind the off-screen stuff) really irritated me too. This is a very boring trope and I'd far sooner they stop reverting to it!

That really did irk me as well.

I think it's less a trope than "we have to show the audience that it really is okay to have a Doctor who's over 45, and this is the only character we can use." It felt as pasted-on as Martha's stupid crush, but added for better reason (even if I think it would have been better to proceed as if fandom hadn't had a giant strop over something stupid).

Yes - pandering to portions of fandom who are behaving like spoilt brats is a bad reason to do anything.

Very bad indeed, and leaves you with a story that doesn't quite work...

Yes! It's almost as if Moffat plugged the characters into one of those plot randomisers, and then turned what it spewed out into an episode - because bits of it almost make sense, but it's not a coherent whole.

Which is a shame because I love the Paternoster Gang - they're shameless fun (for the most part), and Jenna finally had good material as Clara, and Peter was just great! The whole regeneration's-made-me-bonkers stuff is great from him: what was all that stuff he was writing on the floor with the stick of chalk? Working out how to return the dinosaur? Or starting to figure out how to find Gallifrey? Or something else all together? It was so very Doctorish at any rate!

bits of it almost make sense, but it's not a coherent whole

Bingo.

I love the Paternosters, and I keep looking sideways at those (including a certain colleague of mine) who are all, "Good grief, why do we keep going back to Victorian London?" Well...if you have a set of recurring characters who don't actually move in time, seems to me you're going to end up doing back to where they are a bunch. This is not rocket science...

what was all that stuff he was writing on the floor with the stick of chalk?

Good question!! I just know I wish he'd kept going with that!

I love the Paternosters, and I keep looking sideways at those (including a certain colleague of mine) who are all, "Good grief, why do we keep going back to Victorian London?" Well...if you have a set of recurring characters who don't actually move in time, seems to me you're going to end up doing back to where they are a bunch. This is not rocket science...

Exactly! Besides, what's wrong with Victorian London? It's no worse than any other recurring place/time that's come up...

Good question!! I just know I wish he'd kept going with that!

Yes!

It's no worse than any other recurring place/time that's come up...

THIS TOO. You're better off making an argument for landing on Earth too much (which...either that's died down or I'm blissfully ignorant if it hasn't, though I agree that it was getting ridiculous for a while).

I've not seen anyone bemoaning that of late - mind you, I stay away from the forums and LJ comms devoted to Who - what I pick up comes via Twitter and Tumblr...

Likewise, and probably for the same reasons! I do have the feeling like we've been away from Earth more often in recent years, but that could be completely wrong by the numbers. ::shrug::

I have the same feeling...

She's the first companion in the history of the show who met other Doctors before she saw a regeneration, and yet she had one of the worst reactions to her new Doctor.

I didn't realize this, but you are completely correct. How odd.

a_phoenixdragon had an interesting explanation for this in her review: that Eleven's transformation from young man, to old man, to dead man was so quick from Clara's perspective that she sees Capaldi being old and can't shake the feeling that he will be gone in the blink of an eye too.

I've got a feeling this isn't what was actually being written and that its just a regeneration-tropey heavy episode, regardless of how little sense it makes.... but I like the theory, and am using it as my own head canon.

My thought was that Clara's reaction to the new Doctor may be because while she's seen and interacted with the others (usually not to speak to, if I recall her narration correctly), she always thought that Eleven would be the one she travelled with — the one she considered 'real', for want of a better word. Now she hasn't got Eleven to come back to: she's got to rely on a Doctor she hasn't seen or interacted with before.

Thanks for the typo check. I do know what the word means, and what vote will be taking place next month. There have been similar votes in my own country.

I enjoyed seeing Eleven again, but it really wasn't needed - for me. I'm sure there are some less adaptable fans who required it. Hopefully it saves us some of the carry-on the happened after Tennant regenerated. Though somehow, I doubt it...

Sorry - wasn't sure how widespread the knowledge of Scotland's referendum actually is so didn't want to assume...

Given how many people I've seen wanting Tennant and RTD back, no...

Also, some morons have started up a petition to get rid of Moffat. *rolls eyes*

Copy that. And genuinely, thank you for the spell check. ;)

Alas, the more things change...

I'm not going to petition for it, because that would be mean-spirited (and also, the devil you know, right?) but I am a bit sad that we never got to see what Eleven would be like under a different head writer. Or what Ten would've been like under Moffat, for that matter. And with the constant re-using of ideas, I wonder if Moffat isn't just a teeny bit bored with the show, or struggling with it creatively.

But enjoyed the episode immensely in any case, so no biggie.

Welcome.

Yes, it would've been nice to see Ten under Moffat's control, or Eleven under someone else's, but he's the man in charge and petitioning for him to be fired is pretty juvenile in my opinion...

I thought the story was pretty confused, but the actors were great especially Capaldi and Jenna...

the constant re-using of ideas

It's clear that Moffat came in with an agenda--to right the wrongs of the Rusty years. That's obvious from The Eleventh Hour and keeps going through all of S5 and then is more scattered throughout the next two years. But it's as obvious as the day is long.

Part of the reason I have been SO looking forward to Capaldi is that I feel like now we've done all that--we've had the Rusty madness and the course correction to something far more Classic Who and now we can BE that. We have an older Doctor who's not interested in being anyone's boyfriend, played by a serious old-school fan, and I am hoping against hope that now Moff feels like he can really let loose and do this thing the way it was meant to be done.

I could be wrong and my hopes could end up utterly dashed, but if Capaldi is the one who initially said, "No more snogging in the TARDIS" then I have to think that he'd object to anything that feels off to him.

A girl can dream, right?

I will happily dream alongside you.

Can I hug you for this review?! Cause yeah...wanna hug you for this review, lol!!

*HUGS*

I wanted to hug you for you review, but the comments were off. So just both just *cling*

Aww, thank you!! Kinda needed that...

*Clings back*

Don't worry about the tramp, his clothes looked quite well so I think there's a nice rich person nearby doling out nearly new clothes and broth.

Ha, ha I was terrified by everything on the list before Steven Moffat picked up a pen! Well, maybe not terrified slightly irritated more like. Dolls & gas masks brrr though.

Very astute on both counts. :D

Random thoughts:

Skin balloon: Ewwww.

Jenny and Vastra: Indeed, though Jenny was never naked in the episode. And seemed to be frustrated at having to remind Vastra (or anyone else, including herself) that they're married. Still problematic, methinks, but at least not completely accepted as normal.

It felt like a regeneration episode to me and yet...not. It seemed so disjointed and internally confused. I think this was because really, it was preoccupied with being a thinly-disguised message to the audience saying, "PETER CAPALDI IS NOT THAT DAMN OLD AND YOU NEED TO GET THE FARK OVER IT ALREADY."

I am convinced that's why it was called "Deep Breath," honestly--because fandom needs to take one, stat. It's not nearly as strong as "The Eleventh Hour" because there was no need. Would it have been better to ignore the idiots and just tell a good story? Yes. Yes it would have, no questions asked. It felt a bit heavy-handed (and disjointed) because it was an episode that really didn't know what it was. The robots and the link to the Pompadour robots felt tenuous and strange. Jenny and Vastra felt very odd, especially given that Jenny's died once already--you'd hope Vastra would be a bit more appreciative as a result.

I have no idea what happened in the last two minutes or even where I was meant to be. I assume that'll become clear, because otherwise, WTF?

Mostly, I am ready for the attack eyebrows to bloody well ATTACK, dammit, and I hope we've dispensed with the "OMG, he's so old" bullshit and any need to respond to it now.

Skin balloon: Ewwww.

I made a very unique facial expression at that part. And when Twelve put his skin mask on Clara. Urgh.

The preoccupation is annoying, because it makes the episode draaaag a bit on re-watch. I enjoyed it generally, but I dislike greatly being thwacked over and over with HE IS THE DOCTOR GUISE! AND HE IS OLD! DEAL!

Yes! He is! And I don't need to be told he's the Doctor, his performance tells me that! It feels condescending, because it's preaching to the converted in my case, but... I think that I am not the intended recipient of all the head thwacking, and that for some it may be quite necessary and emotional.

Regeneration episodes are tricky. I liked the Eleventh Hour better though because it just went for it and told a story instead obsessing over how Eleven isn't "too young," which was a big concern at the time. How, how fickle fandom.

I agree--you and I are not the intended audience for the head-thwacking. Fandom is (largely) stupid.

I just hope we can relax now and that normal service will be restored.

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Deep Breath

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