Doctor Who Review: Can You Hear Me? (Season 12 Episode 7)
The Doctor confronts the stuff of nightmares on Doctor Who Season 12 Episode 7, “Can You Hear Me?” and it is everything this sci-fi drama should be.
This episode blends adventure, history, and mythology to deliver a seamless story that invites a viewer’s interest and settles them in to get closer to the companions.
First, I have to give Doctor Who props for subverting my expectations. When the series opened in Aleppo, I thought we might be in for another history-based plot, ala Doctor Who Season 11 Episode 6, “Demons of’ the Punjab.” The quick pivot to the present was a surprising switch considering the drop-off scene could have signaled a companion-light episode.
Instead of leaving the Tardis fam, “Can You Hear Me?” weaves their earth lives into the story, and as a result, gives the backstory and character development that has been missing.
The center of this episode is nightmares and fear, and it’s such a universal subject that it works to cross time and space to knit the story together. It gives us a compelling plot, ties in a bit of mythology, and even provides us with some compelling side characters.
Tahira is a very interesting character who sounds very similar to the Doctor. When Tahira talks about being orphaned at the age of seven and being on the run since it draws a subtle parallel to the Time Lord who stole a Tardis and ran away.
Even the first word we hear shouted out in the marketplace, “Thief!,” makes me think that maybe there’s more to this character than meets the eye.
In contrast to Tahira, we have two very compelling villains with Zellin and Rakaya who drive the action to the story. (Seriously, that dismembered floating finger thing is creepy and gross at the same time.)
Even though their tenure on the show was short, they are formidable enough that we get the impression they can do some real damage had they been left unchecked.
While the story twists and turns and we get information in a slow trickle until the Doctor ultimately releases Rakaya, the story also has space to breathe. This stands in stark contrast with Doctor Who Season 12 Episode 6, “Praxeus,” which felt unrelenting, eating through the plot in such a way that makes it hard to connect with anything that’s happening.
Being able to eat through a plot can be a good thing, but it shouldn’t come at the expense of characters. “Can You Hear Me?” gives Yaz, Graham, and Ryan a bit of time to explore their personal lives. Ryan gets to connect with his mate Tibo who is going through something himself, and Graham goes to a poker game.
We get some good character development for Yaz that I hope the writers continue to explore. The flashback of Yaz wanting to run away and the officer making a deal to look her up in three years feels like something we may have seen early in the modern era.
Early on in the revived series, both Rose Tyler and Donna Noble had arcs about looking for something beyond their daily lives so it’s fitting that Yaz fills that role.
The realization that life keeps turning without them when they’re in the Tardis is another narrative that feels very familiar. It reminds me of Doctor Who Season 7 when Amy and Rory started to realize that there were two sides of their lives.
Knowing how companions tend to exit the show this feels a little bit ominous. As we go into the last three episodes of this season, I wonder what that means for the companions and what the future might hold for them.
Stray Thoughts:
- Graham’s nightmare about Grace is heartbreaking. I am glad they haven’t glossed over that as a key element of his character. It felt like Doctor Who Season 11 Episoder 10, “The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos,” put a nice little bow on that, but this was a good reminder that there’s really not an end to grief.
- One of the final scenes in the Tardis where Graham is confessing to the Doctor his anxiety about his cancer coming back felt so real. As a cancer survivor myself I can relate to Graham’s feelings, and the Doctor’s socially awkward reaction is a little too real in that situation. It’s also remarkably human. The Doctor doesn’t tend to lose people to illness and that’s something she can’t control or offer comfort for.
- I didn’t even touch on the myth of the timeless child. I am glad the writers are starting to echo that going into the last few episodes of the season. The fact that we’re dealing with immortals here doesn’t feel like a coincidence. I can’t actually recall any time we’ve met an eternal being from another plane of existence so I actually have to wonder if Zellin and Rakaya are going to fold into the new plot somehow.
- I might just be a sucker for sister storylines, but I want to see more of Sonya. The little bit of interaction we get between her and Yaz is adorable. Plus I loved the nod to her dad about about Doctor Who Season 12 Episode 5, “Fugitive of the Judoon.”
What did you think of this episode of Doctor Who? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Doctor Who airs Sundays at 8/7c on BBC America.
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Lauren Busser
Lauren Busser is an Associate Editor at Tell-Tale TV. She is a writer of fiction and nonfiction whose work has appeared in Bitch Media, Popshot Quarterly, Brain Mill Press Voices, and The Hartford Courant.