Heaven Sent Reaction and Discussion Post [SPOILERS!]

[jjpor]

Following the shocking conclusion of Face the Raven, the grand Series 9 finale continues this week with Heaven Sent. And this one, I suspect, is going to be regarded as either an instant classic or a real oddity depending on how well it turns out. Given the Capaldinator's past form, however, and the fact that he's basically the whole show this week

Comments

[jjpor]

Half human on his mother's side??

[femme_slash_fan]

Am I going nuts or was this a call-back to Eighth?

[jjpor]

You are not going nuts. :)

[femme_slash_fan]

Oh thank god. Some of the FB Who pages have me questioning my sanity.

[ravenskyewalker]

Okay, so I got to see that a few hours earlier than I would have on BBC America (though I'll be rewatching it), thanks to someone providing a way to watch their own recording online on my tablet, bless that person

[persiflage_1]

That was weird af.

Capaldi was absolutely bloody brilliant, but that episode was definitely high on the weirdness scale.

[ravenskyewalker]

It was brilliantly bizarre in a way that feels as if it was written exactly for me. *evil grin* Reminded me of some the crazier, most intense New Adventures novels back in the 1990s, like what Kate Orman or Paul Cornell would've written, the whole Doctor-torture thing. See how far he'll go and what he'll endure to prove he can survive and win. It's instantly become one of my favorite episodes of all time, and I'm not sure how they accomplished that. (Well, Capaldi's acting and Rachel Talalay's directing. Even Moffat's script and Murray Gold's music, though I've frequently wanted Gold to shut up during his DW career. Loved him here.)

[persiflage_1]

Murray Gold's music was really amazing...

I realised, as I was re-watching it this morning with audio and visual in sync (I HATE YOU iPlayer!), that it's basically Groundhog Day taken to the nth degree. (And while I love that movie, it is also weird af!)

[dbskyler]

So, I just finished watching, and holy crap.

Really excited to see Gallifrey!

And, I guessed he was inside the confession dial. The whole bird thing was a surprise, though, and really well done.

Except . . . the Doctor was in the transporter buffer? Way to take one of the stupider things from Star Trek and import it over to Doctor Who. I kind of wish they'd thought of something more time loop-ish instead. But I did love the changing sky, and that kind of makes up for it.

[lost_spook]

:lol: So amused at everyone thinking the hybrid means the half-human line is true! I think:

a. I don't even care if it is (because actually, it works with an awful lot of canon just fine and doesn't change anything, in the end) but if it were, it'd have been seeded somewhere along the lines because they're not going to expect general audiences to get that ref.

b) as some people have said, it could well be misdirection: "The Hybrid is Me" not the hybrid is me. (Ashildr)

and c) what has been called back to, via McGann, is Night of the Doctor with Ohica - so what exactly did she give him in that? Is that enough to make him a hybrid, via the War Doctor's existence?

Soldier-Gallifrey makes me sigh though. Give me academia Gallifrey again, please.

Good ep. :-D

[garpu]

Yeah, MOffat's too clever for obvious. I think there will be some trick or misdirection, but it won't be the most obvious (or even second-most obvious thing.)

[ravenskyewalker]

Hmm, the Hybrid could be Me, as in Ashildr, but the Doctor keeps disregarding her name preference and determinedly calls her Ashildr. She seemed to be a Viking teenager, but commented on how different she felt, never quite fitting in. Oh, lord, misdirection. Maybe she IS part Time Lord

[lost_spook]

Heh, I can see you're having fun! :-)

Actually, I just rewatched the next time trailer and it makes a whole lot more sense if you assume Ashildr is the Hybrid (and the Doctor is being blamed for creating her as she is). But we'll see - maybe everything is misdirection!