Doctor Who Review: The Woman Who Lived (Season 9 Episode 6)

Welcome time travelers! Time for another episode of Doctor Who! This episode, titled “The Woman Who Lived,” continues with the adventures of Ashildr and The Doctor.

By coincidence, The Doctor ends up returning to Earth and finding Ashildr on the hunt for strange and mysterious things. But that girl he left behind is no more. She is now a weathered and strong woman named “Me.”

She’s got no time for The Doctor’s games.

Life Sentence on Earth

As soon as Ashildr comes into the scene, there is something different about her. She’s colder, smarter, and more refined. There are no traces of the girl we met in that small village. Ashildr is no more. ‘Me’ aka ‘The Nightmare’ are the only things left. She has transformed, and it’s all because of The Doctor’s decision to leave her on Earth.

All of this against her will. We all know how well that goes right?

She didn’t ask to be saved and changed into an immortal. The Doctor gave her the choice of a companion, but in the grand scheme of things, was it the right choice? No. Ashildr needed guidance and the teaching hand of someone who has lived hundreds of years alone. The Doctor could have helped guide her through the pits of falling in love, losing her children, and living in a mortal world. But he did none of these things.

Instead he sentenced her to be locked away, watching everything fade and die with no choice of leaving and meeting other beings. To top it off she only has the brain capacity to keep her current lifetime in her mind, memories fading away constantly. The walls of journals with their tear stained and ripped pages, are a somber testimony of the lives she’s lived ALONE.

Ashildr: Singular, unattached, alone.

It’s no wonder she ended up the way she did. She’s a survivor who learned, painfully, how to survive and manipulate the world around her when she needs too. (Take that, Doctor! She pulled through and flourished without your help!)

Ashildr: I don’t need to be indestructible. I’m superb.

Abandonment is the real gift he gave Ashildr.

The Doctor is the Hero, Right?

The Doctor is a liar, a cheat, and a manipulator. He’s also the master of making up excuses. Oh, he thought she would be better off on Earth with other humans? That they would remind her of the fleeting nature of life? Then explain the Time Lords. A society of people with extended lifetimes that live on a planet TOGETHER. There was no need to have humans there to understand what is valued, wanted, needed in life. They had that together as a community.

The Doctor could have had that with Ashildr. He chooses not to because…he can. He has the power and he chooses to travel alone because he feels like it. After years and seasons of him complaining about being alone and watching all his companions leave him, this makes no sense.

See. Liar, cheat, manipulator. And this is who we’re supposed to cheer for? Please.

Then comes the next doozy in this tale of The Doctor saying whatever he wants. He takes all the blame onto himself. He bemoans that he left her alone for too long. That she’s changed from the girl ‘he’ once knew. Excuse me? This isn’t about The Doctor! He left her alone, with no regard for what could happen to her or how much she would suffer. He didn’t think of her.

If he really checked up on her he would have seen her wasting the days away, almost dying, and losing herself in the pain of her children’s deaths. The Doctor doesn’t like looking back at his mistakes or the way that he’s changed the world in dynamic and chilling ways. He runs.

The Doctor runs from his creation because he doesn’t care. Ashildr figures that out all on her own.

Ashildr: You’re the man who runs away.
The Doctor: Who told you that?
Ashildr: Maybe I just worked it out.

Enemy Turns Into a Friend

By the end, she remembers a piece of who she is, the valiant Viking. It’s a beneficial move that stops her from being so cold and closed off. She can feel the world again and see the people that she can help. From who you ask? Well The Doctor of course! He’s the one who endangers the world left and right, abandons it, and chooses what tidal waves he can cause willy nilly. He needs someone to put a stop to that and watch out for the people of Earth, the ones born there and stuck there.

Despite her assurance that she isn’t The Doctor’s enemy, she is. Ashildr will stop The Doctor by any means if it means she can protect the Earth from the hurt that he’s caused her. She no longer has a desire to leave this place. It was her prison. Now it’s her home.

Time to protect it.

Other Observations:

• Is that the whisper of Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) in the wind? Could he be returning sometime soon? Could Moffat be teasing us?
• Clara saying that she’s not going anywhere is a clear sign that…SHE IS GOING SOMEWHERE! Her run as The Doctor’s companion is coming to an end.
• Ashildr (Maisie Williams) will return.

Are you sickened by The Doctor’s decision? Were you cheering for Ashildr? Why is she watching Clara? Leave us your comments or answers below!

Reviewer Rating:

User Rating:

 

Doctor Who airs Saturdays at 8/7c on BBCA.