Doctor Who Review: Under the Lake (Season 9 Episode 3)

This week’s episode of Doctor Who, titled “Under the Lake,” takes us on an confusing underwater journey with ghosts, complete with Clara being left behind, and the failure that is the Time Lord/Companion dynamic this season being thrust in our faces. (Once again. *sigh*)

Let’s talk about that.

What episode did we watch?

The set up for the episode isn’t worth the confusion that we are left with. Weird writing on the inside of an alien ship? The Tardis Cloister Bell? An earworm? A song that you can’t get out of your head? Ummm, explain that one to us again? None of it is properly connected with the general underwater mystery mayhem of the episode. Even The Doctor’s overt enthusiasm at discovering ghosts doesn’t make up for the head scratching we’re left with at the end. (Trust me. There was a lot of head scratching!)

The second part of this story airs next week, but this week’s episode is not enough to attract anyone to visit this bland and confusing story again.

Leaving Clara behind…again.

This Doctor has an affinity for leaving his companion behind. Half the time it feels like he’s abandoning her, never to see her again (Bye, Clara. Hope you can hold your breath!). The other half it feels like he’s confident in her ability to take care of herself (I’ll be back. Just have to do this thing. You’ll be okay, right?). Either way it’s gotten quite boring.

Stick to one option, Doctor. You’re confusing Clara, and you’re confusing us.

What makes this “Leaving Clara behind” moment extra special is that The Doctor asks Clara if she trusts him. Does she shout out: “Yes, I trust you with my life! I always have?!” No she doesn’t. She stares at him with the same confused eyes she always has when he pulls stuff like this. Only when the water level is covering the windows does she nod once. But the intercom system is still up. Why doesn’t she say it?

Because she doesn’t trust him anymore. She doesn’t trust that he will always have her back.

The end is near for The Doctor and Clara.

Clara and The Doctor have a strange and happy interaction in the opening scene of this particular episode. They have apparently gone on some adventures that have cemented the bond between them so they aren’t as tense around each other.

We need to see these adventures.

We don’t need to be told that they had fantastic adventures that brought them closer together, we need to see them before being thrown into a mess. Especially a mess they can apparently fix in a jiffy now that they’re such a well off team. Even with this newfound confidence in each other, there is still an undercurrent of something wrong between the two; a doubtful and guarded tolerance that was never present before his regeneration.

Right now Clara and The Doctor are like that married couple down the street. They’re getting divorced but still live in the same house. Neither of them can afford to move out, so what they do is, they pretend. They ignore all the horrible things and fake it in the hopes they can survive or fix their marriage. But they never do. The Doctor and Clara never will.

They’re just biding their time.

The Doctor’s index cards.

There is no denying that The Doctor’s packet of index cards are hilarious. Each are individually chosen to help The Doctor since he has the social ability of a rock. But why those? What kinds of silly adventures have they gotten themselves into that they need an apology card for not knowing someone didn’t live in Aberdeen? (Research is needed for this inside joke.)

A spin off of these adventures needs to be explored. It’d be a hit without a doubt.

Other observations:

• The Doctor talking to The Tardis again is refreshing. We miss you old girl. Come back!
• Even though the plot and set up is bland, the monsters were scary! Those eyes would give anyone the hibbie jibbies.
• The mining crew is dynamic and refreshing. Even had a fangirl gushing over The Doctor. (Pretty sure that would be all of us if we met him.)
• PLEASE BRING BACK THE SONIC SCREWDRIVER!

We’re going to close this off with a special shout out to Colin McFarlane. He is killed in the first couple minutes of this week’s episode, barely spoke a word, and tried to kill the crew, and yet, somehow he’s still able to frighten us to the point of wanting to hide under blankets and wait till the episode is over.

What was your favorite part of the episode? Do you completely disagree and love The Doctor/Clara dynamic happening this season? Which parts did you enjoy?

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Doctor Who airs Saturdays at 9/8 c on BBCA.