Previously on Doctor Who: While helping a viking village fend off an alien invasion, the Doctor makes a realization about “why this face?” and saves the life of a young woman by turning her (effectively) immortal.
Geeze, show. Way to go straight for the feels.
Here We Go Again
On the trail of an alien object, the Doctor stumbles into the middle of a robbery in mid-1600s England, and makes the re-acquaintance of an old friend. In this time, she’s going by the name of Me (or Lady Me, if you’re not close friends), but the Doctor knew her way back when as Ashildr. Me/Ashildr has become jaded in the centuries since the two last met, and is looking for any way out of her life. The one she’s found, however—an alien named Leandro who’s promised to take her away through a dimensional portal that can only be opened by death—turns out to be a clever ruse for Leandro’s people to invade. In the end, Ashildr realizes she still cares, but isn’t exactly pleased with the Doctor’s inability to think about consequences, and so becomes the “patron saint of the Doctor’s leftovers.”
Fantastic!
Captain Jack Harkness lives! (In a manner of speaking …)
Don’t Blink or We’ll Exterminate
Leandro looked like he could have been related to Beast from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. The whole fire-breathing thing was sort of frightening, I suppose, but his skulking around in the woods while other people did his dirty work was pretty pathetic. I’m assuming he wasn’t that high up the political or military chain of command, either, with that whole killing him because he failed miserably situation.
We’re All Stories
Winner: Sam Swift. No death for you today, sir! Or, er, ever?
Loser: Leandro. What a putz.
Words from the Madman
Doctor: “Sorry, sorry, I really was planning to listen that time, but, basically, uh, I didn’t. Usually someone hits me at this point but she’s taking year sevens for taekwondo.”
Doctor: “No, not the puns. Line in the sand—no puns.”
Doctor: “I didn’t know that your heart would rust because I kept it beating.”
Doctor: “See the mayflies, they know more than we do. They know how beautiful and precious life is, because it’s fleeting.”
Keep Moving
Yay for yet another moment of remembering the past! I was hoping Jack’s name would get mentioned at some point, as his characters was a bit of an elephant in the room with the immortality plot. (How great was the Doctor’s eye roll when Ashildr asked “Who?”) I’m really starting to get worried, though, about what’s going to happen when it comes time for Clara to say her goodbyes. And, also, what’s to come from Ashildr’s new life goal.
But, what did you think of “The Woman Who Lived”? Let’s discuss in the comments.
