Letter to Clara

Dear Clara,

I could start this letter with compliments about your courage on Akhaten or at Trenzalore, but that’s not why I’m writing this letter. There’s one simple fact I’m struggling against when I try to like you.

You are not a Pond.

Now, this may not mean anything to you. But let me repeat it again. You are not a Pond. You are not a River, or a stream, or even a puddle.  You are Clara “Oswin” Oswald, Souffle Girl, not possible, a wonderful friend to the Doctor, but you are not a Pond. 

I’ve talked with other friends about your good qualities, your loyalty, your ability to manage “Doctor life” and “real life” at the same time, your willingness to take charge of a situation and trust the Doctor. But I’m not warming to you like I did to the other companions, and I’m not sure why.

They were my first, you know. The first companions I ever met, and I’m slow to make friends and unwilling to accept loss. Maybe if the wait hadn’t been so long…if I’d had more stories with you…but I feel I never knew you, nor why you made the sacrifice you did at Trenzalore. I can come up with versions in my head, stories that make me understand you better, but that’s only a shadow. 

And with this new news..how long will you travel with him? Will I ever really know you?

I’m sorry.

Secrets that Must Never Be Told: The Name of the Doctor (1/3)

First of all,  this was one of the most explosive episodes I've seen in a while. Therefore, I'll be splitting this review into three parts: one for Clara's identity, one for the Doctor and River's relationship, and one for John Hurt's character. A fourth section may be necessary for other comments.

I blew into this world on a leaf. I'm still blowing. I don't think I'll ever land. I'm Clara Oswald. I'm the impossible girl. I was born to save the Doctor.

This section will analyse Clara's character, building on certain points from the previous post "Mysteries Worth Solving."  Once again, I apologize for any unintended ill will towards Clara as a replacement for the Ponds.  Anyway, the opening was a jaw-dropper, right from the get-go. Clara on Gallifrey. Clara seeing  Bessie. Clara in a guard uniform from Invasion of Time. I'd borrow the Once Upon a Time meme and say we've been Cora'd, but  as they all turned out to be her, it's not entirely correct.

At least I guessed part of it. When I saw the pillar of light in the trailer, I thought it would scatter Clara, creating echoes of her throughout time and space. On the other hand, I thought her comment "I was born to save the Doctor" meant she was a tool of the Silence, which she still could be, but that's a bit of stretch.
 
Am I satisfied with this reveal? Yes and no.  It's something different, not like River, where they keep meeting out of order, or Donna, who keeps running into him.  Instead, he meets two echoes first, only meeting the original and allowing the creation of said echoes afterwards.  On the other hand, it doesn't seem the natural conclusion to Clara's arc; there's no moment of AHA! after she leaps into the Doctor's timestream.

I actually think this plot would have been better served by an authorized novel than the TV series. While the modern tie-in novels are one-off adventures (I have some reviews posted),  this would have been a great plot to launch something like the Virgin New Adventures or Eighth Doctor Adventures for Eleven.  Those novels, published during the wilderness years of Doctor Who, had reoccurring characters and varying degrees of arcs--Compassion is one example. A member of an alien race know as the Remote, she undergoes various degrees of media manipulation before becoming a Type 104 TARDIS.  Something like that would have been the perfect medium for Clara's story--more time to explore her story,  more physiological insight, and the chance to insert scenes showing her with past Doctors, without the limitations of stock footage and replacement actors.

I also didn't feel a solid connection between Clara and Eleven for most of the season, so it surprised me that she was so willing to sacrifice herself.  I can think of maybe three non-family members I'd die for, and they're all people I feel I could tell anything to.  Would Clara really be willing to do that for the Doctor? Perhaps it would have made more sense if she'd done it to save the universe; stars were going out again, as the Great Intelligence's rewrite was erasing every world the Doctor had saved.  Maybe if we'd seen Earth disappearing, the whole world vanishing and Clara, at the Eye of the Storm, knowing everyone she knew would be gone otherwise... I couldn't see her doing that.

River would have. Without a doubt, River would have done that for him, if she'd been able to. But that's another post.

And what's next? If I remember correctly, JLC's contract is renewed for season eight.  Is he going to get her out? Or will he end up chasing her echoes through time and space forever? It would be amusing..."She died saving me. Again. Guess I'd better go find another one."

The Only Mystery Worth Solving: Why Clara's Arc Didn't Work (but River Song's did)

a/n: written before Name of the Doctor, so I'll complete some of these thoughts in my episode review.

Since Clara’s initial appearance in Asylum of the Daleks,   it was clear that something was going to be different about this new companion.  Her reappearance in The Snowmen confirmed this suspicion, sparking jokes about Soufflé Girl giving Rory a run for his money in the most-deaths category. This isn’t the first time Moffat’s introduced a character with a mysterious past; his most famous example is River Song. But despite her divisive nature, I feel her plot arc succeed in in a way Clara’s has not. 

First of all, River Song’s role as a reoccurring character allowed writers to space out her episodes,   instead of continuously having to incorporate a mysterious background.  Between River’s introduction in season four and the reveal of her identity in season six were 30 episodes*, of which she appeared in nine (all but one were two-parters).  In comparison, Clara’s introduction and reveal have been compressed into one season, appearing (in some form) in all but four episodes.   While the compressed nature of this arc could be justified by Clara’s role as a companion, it creates a cramped feeling. While River’s arc stretched longer, it was interspersed with other plots, such as the cracks in time, and didn’t become the key arc until season six.

Secondly, each story of River’s arc adds something new to the viewer’s understanding of her.  At the Library, we are as befuddled as the Doctor, knowing only that she’s met him before.  The episode ends with the first significant clue: she knows his name.  

In Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone, viewers learn slightly more. She can fly the TARDIS, having had lessons from “the very best. Shame (the Doctor) was busy that day.”  More ominously, she is in prison for killing “a good man. The best man she’d ever known.”   Though the second part isn’t part of her initial identity, it remains in play to the end of season six.

The Pandorica Opens and The Big Bang are more plot-driven, though we do see her leave messages for the Doctor (with the implication she does so regularly) and make a Dalek beg for mercy.  The latter heightens our curiosity---what could she have done to inspire that level of dread? The nature of her connection to the Doctor is teased as well.

Are you married, River?Yes.Hang on, did you think I was asking you to marry me or asking if you were married?Yes.But was that yes or yes?Yes.

Her reappearance in the season six premiere focused more on her relationships with the Ponds and the Doctor,  though viewers learn that the first time the Doctor met her, as a child, he already knew “everything about her.”   Only in AGMGTW do we learn her true identity, tying together the main themes of season six: Amy’s pregnancy, the regenerating child, and River’s background.

While it is still possible that Name of the Doctor will pull off a similar connection, the lack of visible clues leaves me concerned that Clara’s identity, whatever it is, will seem random, rather than purposeful.  Despite the plot twist of Oswin’s true form in Asylum and the confirmation of a connection in The Snowmen, very little has been revealed since then. In fact, all indications, from her childhood background to the conclusions of the empathic psychic, suggest that she’s a perfectly normal girl who just happens to have two duplicates with a similar interest in soufflés and identical tastes in last words.

*two-parters counted as two episodes

Replacement Goldfish (The Bells of St. John)

              Saturday was the last day I could say "the Ponds were the Doctor's companions." Today--and everyday afterwards--I have to say "Clara is the Doctor's companion." But I'll never be over the Ponds. I'll always wish we had more time with them, more of Rory's ridiculous deaths and steadfast loyalty, Amy's insights in the Doctor's character and concern for him. I wish Amy could have had more time to tease River about how she always knew the Doctor was going to marry her,  that Rory could have given the Doctor a warning...I just wanted to see the Doctor with his family,  going out to breakfast with the Pharaohs and dinner at Versailles...
            I know the Doctor can't see them again....I understand that, as much I wish it could be otherwise. But I want River to see them again; they are her parents, no matter how much she insists it doesn't matter. Even if she would be okay without them, she deserves so much more time with them, a lifetime of popping in and out of their lives to make up for the little girl they never got to know.  It's not fair, nothing about their lives is fair.
         With that established,  on to "The Bells of St. John." I thought the title was rather clever, as an allusion to the St. John's ambulance sticker on the TARDIS door.  Not to mention the Doctor's reaction to the phone call. After all, the last time it rang was in "Empty Child," over two hundred years ago for him. I mean, being rung up on your generally non-functional phone is odd enough, but being asked for tech support while you're in the thirteenth century is even stranger.
        And he's happy again. Not  carefree, because he can never be that self-forgetful, but he gets to invent the quadricycle, ride a motorcycle up the Shard, and eat half a jammey dodger. He's also very kind and protective in this episode--the  "under my protection" message arguably applies to the whole planet. Just...he's caring about someone besides himself, he's not wallowing in his own self pity. I think that's what he needs most right now. To care for someone, and , eventually, realize that it is appreciated, no matter how much it doesn't seem like that after Manhattan--that will help him heal. At the same time, I like the subtle use of the bowtie and the book to remind us that he's still missing them.
            As for the plot, well, I thought it was distinctive but still fit well without the Doctor Who universe. Aliens in the wi-fi--it was bound to happen sooner or later. Though the strongest moment was when Kizlet, surrounded by UNIT guards,  started blubbering for her parents. Ouch. Poor, poor, woman.
             But the biggest concern, of course, was the proper and lasting introduction of Clara Oswald. As I have already said, she needs to be caring, enthusiastic, and a good listener.  While it's dangerous to judge based on one episode--Donna, especially--I didn't exactly see any of those in Clara. She was serving as a nanny, but we didn't really see her interact with them much, so I don't know how much she cared for them. Enthusiastic  well, I'll suspend judgment on that part, since having a mad monk turn up on your doorstep can be a little disconcerting.  A good listener--eh, not. She either came up with witty retorts--"snog box" comes to mind, which really bugged me-- or just pushed him away.  Some of that can be blamed on the situation, but she's not listening to him right now, and that absolutely has to change. Honestly, part of me would have liked the Victorian Clara--a change of backgrounds and feisty--or even the open flirtiness of Oswin over this Clara, but I'm willing to give her a chance.
         

Clever Title Loading--Insert Something About Clara Here

I'll admit it---as the new season of Doctor Who draws nearer, I'm worried about it. Okay, I'm excited too, but mostly worried. This is the first change of companions since I've started watching in 2010,  and one of my other shows is getting wibbly, so I'm just on edge about fandom things right now. The main thing I want to see in this season is the Doctor's smile--a real one, not a half-smile of remembrance or distraction. I want this companion (who I'll be calling C3 to distinguish her from Clara and Oswin) to help Eleven heal from ---but not forget. He can't ever forget them) the Ponds.
When I thought about this, I came up with three character traits that I think C3 needs.
1.  Most of all, C3 needs to be a good listener.  More than that, she needs to be a meta-listener, understanding all the things he doesn't say, all the times he stops himself from mentioning a name or looks at her with distant eyes. This might mean drawing him out on occasion, but mostly it means paying attention to him. He doesn't look back, it hurts too much, and if she ignores what he does say, he'll bottle it all up and we know where that leads....
2. Because he's sulking, C3 needs to be enthusiastic about life. Not necessarily an optimist--sarcastic would be fine--but someone who grabs his hand and drags him out of the TARDIS to meet Geronimo or visit the planet where all the ballpoint pens go. Eleven said in a season five extra scene that he brings people with him so the universe is not just "stuff," but something exciting.
3. C3 needs to care about him. Well, she should be compassionate in general, but she especially needs to care for him. He's convinced that the universe doesn't care, that it doesn't matter how many times he does good things, it will always go unnoticed--and since we're not sure where River is*, that job falls to C3. I just wish I could be there to give him a hug, but since I can't,  I'm counting on C3 to remind him that he's not alone.
 (And a bonus:  C3 MUST get along with River) They don't have to be buddy-buddy or anything like that--it might hurt too much,  now that I think of it.  Oh, mah Pond girls!--but if she tries to belittle or diss River, it will not end well. If River doesn't claim revenge, all her fans will be lining up for a shot, and I'll be at the head of the line.

The only other major concern I have is that Clara might be a lesbian. Not that I think they'd show anything more than flirting or a kiss on family TV, but it would still be awkward with my family, especially the little brother. Don't want her crushing on the Doctor, either...




*Still wish Sarah Jane could show up and remind him "You've got the biggest family in the whole of creation."