Doctor Who 9x12, "Hell Bent"
Oct. 24th, 2019 01:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
enemyofperfectConflicted spoilers follow.
I feel like there should be a term for the particular kind of story structure that dives deliberately towards the worst possible narrative choices specifically in order to reverse course at the last moment. I was horrified that the Doctor would be so cruel as to drag Clara back just for a few minutes together -- and then that he'd destroy the universe for a dream of more time with her -- and that he could even contemplate doing again what he did to Donna -- and I hated that she had to argue with him, that she had to debate whether she had a right to her own mind.
And then he accepted it as justice that he should lose his memory of her, instead. And for once, he is not the holder of secrets; she is. And it looks like Clara and Me are going to have a few (thousand?) adventures along the way back to Clara's inevitable death.
The kind of story that feints towards something that would make me furious just so it can avoid it at the last minute -- I'm not the biggest fan. I like it when I trust stories, not when I'm in suspense as to how much I'll hate them when they're done.
But I can't really regret the ending of this episode.
I feel like there should be a term for the particular kind of story structure that dives deliberately towards the worst possible narrative choices specifically in order to reverse course at the last moment. I was horrified that the Doctor would be so cruel as to drag Clara back just for a few minutes together -- and then that he'd destroy the universe for a dream of more time with her -- and that he could even contemplate doing again what he did to Donna -- and I hated that she had to argue with him, that she had to debate whether she had a right to her own mind.
And then he accepted it as justice that he should lose his memory of her, instead. And for once, he is not the holder of secrets; she is. And it looks like Clara and Me are going to have a few (thousand?) adventures along the way back to Clara's inevitable death.
The kind of story that feints towards something that would make me furious just so it can avoid it at the last minute -- I'm not the biggest fan. I like it when I trust stories, not when I'm in suspense as to how much I'll hate them when they're done.
But I can't really regret the ending of this episode.
