Doctor Who Review: Hell Bent – How To Succeed At Death Without Really Dying
2. The Impossible Girl
Did writer and showrunner Steven Moffat go too far in making Clara into a kind of uber-companion? She was there to comfort the Doctor in childhood and save him at various points throughout his timeline. She sacrificed herself as a Dalek. She eventually took on the Doctors role and treated those around her as expendable as long as they serve her need for control. Her arrogance led to her downfall and the Doctor tortured himself for over four billion years to save her only to forget her as she flies away in her very own TARDIS. She became the Doctors everything and in doing so was never allowed to become herself. In a reversal of perhaps the most tragic companion story ending of the entire show the Doctors mind is wiped and Clara is left with the memory of their time together. Why does this not have the same power as Donnas loss? Is it because women are habitually required to give up their identities in service to another while men are not? In this story the loss of memory feels more like a gimmick than a tragedy. Clara gets her happy ending but her character is sacrificed on the altar of expediency.
Mary Ogle is the author and illustrator of “Orangeroof Zoo” a whimsical tale of magical realism told through the pages of a coloring book for adults. Working as a professional artist in the digital medium, Mary’s commissions have included everything from fine art to fan art, book cover design, illustration and book layout. Find more of Mary’s work at www.maryogle.com. Mary currently finds inspiration in the Ojai Valley, residing in a snug little cottage with a recalcitrant cat.
