I happen to quite adore Hide, flaws and all. For better or worse, I think its designed as a shortened version of the Doctor and Claras romantic story. Think about it: a man who has seen a lot of death, who has had trouble living after so much of the other thing. He holes up in an isolated location, brooding and looking for ghosts. A woman whose emotional intelligence is through the roof (and there the similarities between her and Clara end). When Clara is telling Emma that Professor Palmers feelings for her are obvious, she says they stick out like a big chin. Remember "the nose and the chin"? Yeah, shes talking about the Doctor. She knows how much she means to him because its really obvious. Every companion understands how important they are to the Doctor eventually, but this is different. Then theres this speech: Every lonely monster needs a companion. Its the oldest story in the universe, this one or any other. Boy and girl fall in love, get separated by eventswar, politics, accidents in timehes thrown out of the hex or shes thrown into it. Since then theyve been yearning for each other across time and space, across dimensions! This isnt a ghost story, its a love story! Talk about double-speak! And he does this all with his arm rather inappropriately wrapped around Claras neck! Look, I know a lot of people didnt like the twist of the love story in Hide, but it fits perfectly in an episode thats about how not everything ends, not love, not always. What phrase would apply better to the strange experience the Doctors had with Clara and her double-deaths? Finally, the line This isnt a ghost story, its a love story is especially important in the context of Clara and the Doctors earlier conversation about ghosts. How could Clara not be a ghost to him, if shes died in front of him? Because its not a ghost story, its a love story. Clara the person is a mystery, as are all humans to the Doctor. We live, in spite of the weight of the universe.