2nd Opinion: Kill the Moon
David Selby and John Hussey both give their own verdict on the 7th episode of Series 8.
David’s Verdict
The first half of Kill the Moon was penned as a ‘Hinchcliffesque’ sequence of Gothic suspense, a feat which it managed to pull off with a spectacular locale, complemented by both the wide breadths of Lanzarote filming and the gift of glorious HD. Sadly, the rest of the adventure failed to deliver on what it started.
The story was said to require Courtney’s presence, yet I find myself split on both the character and her role in the episode. She was another generic teen, not unlike last year’s Angie; too unrealistically concerned with social media and frustratingly indecisive. Her distress at not being called ‘special’ came across as childish and pathetic (and I have the philosophy that no one is special; everyone is unique – and besides, if Courtney’s the only young girl of her age to go into space, how isn’t she special?). Neither did it help that the actress failed to engage me. Contrary to these complaints, I did enjoy Courtney’s role in the final decision, especially proving that she wasn’t ‘stupid’.
Unlike many I found the revelation that the moon is an egg both dissatisfying and unlikely. The development of the creature and the moon’s altering relationship with the Earth both appeared to contradict the Law of the Conservation of Mass. Whilst time travel itself as presented within the show breaks a law of physics, and while sci-fi is both flexible and lenient when it comes to scientific accuracy, breaking such a widely-proven and well-known law was a crude plot point – especially since the episode was bent around discovering the true nature of the moon from a scientific perspective. The question was posed: why is the moon gaining weight? The answer was: in a way that’s not actually possible.
The parallels between the unborn creature and a human foetus were uncomfortable. The themes were too close to home in terms of abortion, and with a trace of moral absolutism in the air, I disliked the perspective which the narrative was potentially suggesting, albeit inadvertently. It could have been covered up.
The issue at the heart of Kill the Moon was the lack of consequence. Granted, there were personal consequences: Clara’s confrontation of the Doctor was a superb moment, but did seem to come out of nowhere (there should have been a series-long build-up), and the quiet, poignant scene of Clara pouring herself a glass of red wine was superbly-done. Unfortunately, in a wider context, the resolution was grossly convenient. Clara took a huge, Beast Below-style gamble yet the pay-off was the same as The Beast Below: humanity was both safe and enlightened, and the creature was innocent, free to journey the universe. The concept worked in The Beast Below but is tired now. The moon inspiring humanity to travel the stars was unnecessary; as Adelaide was motivated by a Dalek and went on to inspire the rest of humanity – but perhaps that was undone by Amy Pond and her magical mind. I’d rather Clara’s actions had had some viable consequences, showing that she’s not always a perfect decision-maker, that taking the same set-up as previous stories in another context causes different consequences (anti-absolutist, for a change) and that there’s not always an easy way out (Day’s done ‘everybody lives’, and it’s become a frustrating and distracting trope. One-off periphery characters may die, but they mean very little in the grand scheme of things). Also note how the new moon pops happily into Earth’s orbit, with no ramifications felt below.
There were aspects of Kill the Moon that could be enjoyed, such as Hermione Norris’ understated performance and the ingenuity of the decision-making process. Sadly, bar some intriguing character-development, it was a disappointing and falsely-promoted piece of lacklustre storytelling, leaving me uncertain and cynical towards the rest of the series.
John’s Verdict
I for one really enjoyed ‘Kill the Moon’. It was extremely dark, full of tension and above all full of shared emotion. The atmosphere alone made the story fill you with dread and left you sort of hanging throughout it all in suspense at what would happen. Newbie writer Peter Harness handled himself well and created a scenario that made us question the Doctor big time.
The other things I enjoyed about the episode were Courtney’s development, the terrorising spiders and Lundvik’s depressive attitude throughout the adventure. These three elements came together to really spice up the story and give it extra character.
Courtney’s role throughout proved very interesting as her character really was explored and you felt you understood her more. That whole rebel side to her now comes across more like a plea for attention and a way for people to try and see her innocent side that was displayed in this story. She underwent three separate emotional states throughout the story: excitement, fear and then surprisingly, care. Her commitment over trying to save the creature from death really did make me like her character. She felt innocent in her views but certainly didn’t come across as being childish, like Lundvik claimed her to be at one point, she was being honest and brave. By the end of the story she had fully developed and felt a better person, something she was deprived of at the beginning of the story due to the Doctor’s harsh comments against her.
Lundvik proved to be a depressing character that viewed the world in a bleak way and made you feel almost disgusted with her whilst somewhat intrigued as to how she had got to that point. Throughout the journey she wanted to do almost everything but the right thing, proving to be just as much as a treat as the spiders. This made Clara’s job of choosing the right decision after the Doctor abandoned her all the more difficult.
The spiders proved extremely scary, especially for me who hates spiders. The scuttling sounds they made and their sudden pounces all came together to create a horrifying atmosphere resembling that of the Hinchcliffe/Holmes era.
This week saw the Doctor finally push Clara too far. As predicted with Danny’s speech at the end of last week, we saw what happened when the Time Lord goes too far. It was an interesting idea in allowing his companion to solve the problem themselves. The scenario was selfish, childish but also rewarding in a sense. The alien nature of the Twelfth Doctor has proved most entertaining to watch throughout his first series as you try and get into his mind and understand his motives. It’s all just a massive contrast to Matt Smith’s Doctor and I think this episode was the final straw for Clara. In ‘Deep Breath’ it was clear that Clara was hesitant over the new Doctor and his traits in comparison to the Doctor she’d come to befriend and respect. ‘Kill the Moon’ showed that Capaldi’s portrayal became far too inhuman and inconsiderate towards both humanity and Clara.
What made the final scene all the more emotional was the fact the Doctor didn’t seem to quite understand what he’d done wrong. In his eyes his actions were to better Clara and allow her to be able to take destiny into her own hands and wield a sense of judgement like the Doctor does on a day-to-day basis. But this is a factor that has proved fatal to companions within the past, with Rory’s response in ‘The Girl Who Waited’ being a prime example of how the Doctor tries to convert his companions into his ways of thinking. The situation in itself was terrifying and completely emotional for anyone to handle. How do you make a decision that potentially affects the future of both Earth as a whole and an unborn life? The pressure alone to do the right thing is enough to push anyone over the edge and this is what happened to Clara. The Doctor’s actions were clearly out of proportion, even if the intention was good, and not something that one friend would do to the other.
I think ‘Kill the Moon’ really went about to show the final development for the new Doctor and showcase to the audience this is what we have to deal with throughout the rest of his tenure. We have a truly alien Doctor on our hands, like with the First Doctor, whose awareness and understanding is basic and does things how he wants them regardless if the people around him think it’s okay or not. This idea is fascinating in my eyes and allows for a more dynamic storytelling in which we don’t know what to expect from our supposed hero and we don’t know whether we’ll appreciate his actions or not. He’s a no nonsense Doctor, plain and simple. Because of all this Clara has had to put her foot down because she can’t tolerate it anymore.
There is hope that the story now will tell the Doctor realising his wrongs and mellow down for the rest of the series but I think this won’t be fully the case as that would be the obvious choice. I think the nature of Capaldi’s Doctor will prevent him from fully mellowing out and will always have a sense of alien nature and lack of understanding of human traits and emotions. This is a great thing to see because you don’t always want to be able to trust the Doctor and want to be reminded he’s a 1000 and something year old Time Lord who holds tons of information from us and is generally a mysterious fellow. Moffat has done what was needed after the brilliant and warm performance by Smith and that is to reshape the character again and throw him at us in a completely different direction that makes him and the show unexpected.
