~by Korama Danquah
Doctor Who
Season 9, Episode 5 Recap
“The Girl Who Died”
Written by Jamie Mathieson and Steven Moffat
What Happened
The Doctor (Peter Capaldi) saves Clara (Jenna Coleman) from imminent doom in the nick of time. That’s how the episode starts. The Doctor and Clara stop off so that the Doctor can wipe alien guts off his shoe, and they are taken hostage by vikings who (thankfully) break his sonic sunglasses. That is how the episode begins. The Doctor spends two days trying to formulate a plan and the best he comes up with is pretending to be Odin. The vikings aren’t falling for it, to which the Doctor responds “Have you ever seen Odin?” Of course, a projection of Odin (who looks like a cyborg) appears immediately thereafter and takes the strongest men in the village along with Clara and Ashildr, (Maisie Williams), a young viking girl to “valhalla”. There are death rays in “valhalla” that kill all the men. It turns out OdinBot is not a god. Though as he says “what is a god but the farmer to the cows”
Ashildr is (understandably) devastated at the death of her people and challenges OdinBot to fight her village. I should mention now that Ashildr is pretty rash and headstrong. Sort of like Arya Stark (wink wink). All of her village’s warriors are dead, but The Doctor decides to stay and help the village try and win a war against one of the greatest warrior races in the galaxy (though I’m sure Sontarans might have a thing or two to say in opposition of that title).
Through a combination of trickery, science, and the power of electric eels, The Doctor and Clara are able to save the village. Unfortunately Ashildr dies in the process. The Doctor gets frustrated and waxes poetic about how he’s tired of losing people then running off in his box. Then he decides that he can save her, and even if he’s not supposed to, he doesn’t care. So he makes her immortal and gives her the power to make someone else immortal with her. Then he runs off in his box.
What Does This Mean
This episode was funny and dark in equal parts. There were some really great one-liners throughout the episode. Like when Clara told OdinBot “The universe is full of testosterone. Trust me. It’s unbearable,” and when The Doctor reminded Clara “I’m not actually the police. That’s just what it says on the box.” There were also moments of real depth that I don’t think we’ve had from curmudgeonly and misanthropic Twelve before. He’s frustrated with the fact that he can do anything, but he’s not supposed to do most things that can help people. He’s tired of losing people. He’s sad.
Ashildr’s immortality is exciting because we will undoubtedly be able to see her grow as one of The Doctor’s companions (as hinted at in next week’s episode). Maybe she’ll be like a tiny Jack Harkness! Also, I’ve made it very clear that I hated the sonic sunglasses and I’m hoping and praying furiously that this was the last time we saw them. All in all I think this episode was an exciting turn. I still haven’t figured out what’s going to happen to Clara at the end of this season. We know that Jenna Coleman will be leaving and we know that she’s been asked more than once to find a hobby, but it’s not clear yet how it’s all going to go down. I’m keeping an eye out.
Notable Quote of the Episode
“People talk about premonition like it’s something strange. It’s not. It’s just remembering in the wrong direction” – The Doctor
For a sneak peek at next week’s episode, ‘The Woman Who Lived’ starring Maisie Williams, click here!
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