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8x08 Mummy on the Orient Express (Grading/Discussion) SPOILERS!

What do you think about the episode?


  • Total voters
    97
Between this and the Titanic, I don't see the futuristic fad of disguising spaceships as vintage Earth transportation lasting much longer.
 
I wonder if the Doctor's plan to see the Mummy was there from the beginning or if he felt guilted into it when he made Clara an accomplice to his lie.
 
It was a good episode. I mean you have the arrogant Doctor straddling the line of trying to be kind (failing at many times) and himself. I appreciate what Capaldi is trying to do - speak very fast as Matt Smith - and then act appropriately as a Scottish Doctor will do.

Then Clara lies completely through her teeth about giving up traveling with the Doctor. The Doctor is astonished - which is amazing - since acidity seems the one thing that he has perfected. Off the two go.

:rolleyes:

I did not like that stark contrast between her talking about addiction with the poor granddaughter and then embracing it. I guess that is intentional. I find myself openly sympathizing with Clara. Her act is not good.

I liked the Engineer's realization when he looks under the hood of the Tardis's 'stem'. He talks about replacing some filters. Then he choses to walk away. I liked that part and maybe he could come back?
 
Loved it! The Doctor got it stumbling and precariously right. Clara proved herself to be a Time Lord addict. Foxes was so miserably forgettable that... what were we talking about? Oh, yes! The Mummy! Best monster costume in ages.

Perkins was an unexpected treasure. Interesting that an engineer of his calibre would choose to walk away from such an offer. But he's very astute, as we've seen. I'd love to see him again.
 
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Hm. It was good, much better than last week. Still don't care about Clara, frankly miffed that she didn't leave in this one a la Tegan in Ressurection of the Daleks, but you can't have everything - I'll settle for a half decent episode.

And yes I know she's on the call sheet for the Xmas episode, but I can secretly wish it's all a twisty turney Moff misdirection and she really will go soon, can't i?

Remember that there are potentally infinite Claras via the Doctor's Time Stream. Much like Oswin and "Victorian" Clara last series. Admittedly I would rather have Victorian Clara...if nothing more that her ability to keep up with the Doctor and in some ways outpace him in thought and speech. One reason Coleman was hired was that she could talk (accurately) faster than Matt Smith. And Peter Capaldi sometimes talks just as fast as Matt Smith.



Also expecting Galaxy Express 999 for some reason.
 
Pleasantly surprising. I liked it. The setting was nice, it was cool to see a mummy and the 1920's theme, the switch to the experiment...it drew me in to an episode I wasn't sure I'd like at first. Because when it started out, I thought to myself, "This is depressing. The magic between Clara and the Doctor is totally gone and it's like the writers are completely forcing this."

And I'll admit it: I found myself missing Matt Smith. Eleven and Clara had such great chemistry and so much fun on their adventures. I thought back to Rose, and how she got along with both her Doctors, and that, if they were going to continue down this road till Christmas with Clara and Twelve, the show would be difficult for me to watch. When Capaldi was cast, I envisioned him quite a bit more jolly than this. I thought he'd be an older, yet kindly professor type that Clara struggled to keep up with, rather than what he's been so far.

But once the episode got going, I really liked the plot. The ending with him transferring the girl's grief into his own head was a "that's more like it!" moment. "That's the Doctor!"

The ending with Clara lying to Danny will have repercussions. She needs to just be honest with him. Ah well.

Good episode on the whole. Here's hoping it's got this season back on track.
 
While I've liked the previous two episodes, I appreciated that this episode felt like a return of "Doctor Who", meaning telling a mystery story where the Doctor takes charge to solve said mystery. The previous two stories were mainly about Clara and her struggling relationship with the Doctor (and coinciding that with Danny) that it felt like the Show forgot what it was for a second. While that struggling relationship was still there, it was used as a subplot to the much more interesting mystery story of the Mummy on the train. I also really liked the supporting characters, especially Perkins, who was instantly likable.

However, I did feel that Clara's decision at the end was anti-climatic. I was kind of hoping this part of the story would be pushed out a little more and we might not even have a Clara story, allowing the Doctor to develop on his own and maybe discover that compassion he lacks, but I guess you have to pay Coleman for being on the show and that means actually being on the show. It would have been nice though if this episode and the next episode were Doctor only. Like I said, it kind of cheapens what happened at the end of last week's show, and her Lie to Danny makes it worse.
 
I voted good. The setting was cool, the mummy was interesting, and Clara wasn't obnoxious. The Doctor had some cool moments (like the jelly baby case) and the ending was interesting. Overall, this was an entertaining episode.
 
I finally noticed Twelve's theme song in this episode. Its dramatic and grand, so unlike Eleven's playful bombastic "I am The Doctor" theme.
 
I have one comment relating to Clara's costume in this episode...

BEWBS!

That is all. Oh, and I liked it.
 
I loved the episode, although I'm not sure what to think of Clara in this.

Frankly, I think I would've prefered if we saw Twelfth in a Clara-free episode before this one. I dunnot, but I think this came too soon after the whole Kill the Moon thing for her.

That said, I enjoyed it thoroughly. The setting was nice, the deaths actually carried some weight, and the Doctor was once again menacing - I wasn't sure he didn't just abandon those people on the train to die.

And like fellow poster The Haunting noticed, I loved the Tom Baker/Fourth Doctor channeling there. It was lovely - and wouldn't it make sense, if he was talking to himself, that he'd inflect his previous selves' accents from time to time? This really makes me think he's the all-encompassing Doctor, more-so than Eleven, who at his core, was a lot more like the Second.
 
I have one comment relating to Clara's costume in this episode...

BEWBS!

That is all. Oh, and I liked it.

One of my favorite pictures of Jenna. I'm thinking she had a boob job because you can see what appears to be a scar around her left armpit area. Also, there is a movie where she did a topless scene and I think it was pre-boob job.

(image removed)
 
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