Doctor Who Review: Death in Heaven

Season: 8 / Episode: 12 That’s it, folks. Season eight of Doctor Who wrapped up on Saturday with what I have to admit was a very depressing and disheartening episode that also left many questions unanswered. If you recall last week’s episode, “Dark Water,” it broke out the sorrow early on in the episode and took its time setting up all the drama and reveals as a lead-in to this week’s episode, “Death in Heaven.” Sure, last week was just an intro, and sure, you could tell Steven Moffat was milking it just a little, but I still liked it. “Death in Heaven” started out with Clara trying to outsmart some Cybermen by telling them she was the Doctor. It was a smart move on her part, and it continues what we saw of her in “Flatline,” when she was a bit too convincing in her role as the Doctor. Here, too, we see her whip out an almost encyclopedic knowledge of him (also making us realize just how much Clara knows about the Doctor, especially compared to his other companions) and even mimic his confidence and manner of speaking. I’d believe Clara as the Doctor—but of course I’m just talking hypothetically here, because of course a female Doctor would turn out to be disastrous and totally destroy the show for good (::nudge:: right, Moffat?).   To save herself, Clara tries the Doctor method: Talk out of your ass until you come up with a plan   In this episode, we finally get a full explanation of 3W and Missy’s evil plan. It’s about as absurd as most of the evil plots in Doctor…