Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don't: Doctor Who 'Kill The Moon'

The Doctor has certainly come a long way. From the Fourth Doctor's dilemma in Davros' bunker; does he, the Time Lords or anyone have the right to decide upon genocide for the greater good? To the Tenth Doctor in Water of Mars having an egotistical view that since he is the last Time Lord he has the right and privilege to rewrite time. Both of the actions taken had their consequences, especially those of the Tenth Doctor.

"I don't want to go."

Damned if you do.

This weeks episode, Kill the Moon, sees the Twelfth Doctor in a similar dilemma. The moon has gained mass (handy for the BBC budget) and is causing widespread destruction on Earth due to increased tidal activity. NASA, in it's death throes, sends one last mission to the moon that has a cargo of nuclear weapons in the aim to blow up the moon and reduce it's mass.

Meanwhile the Doctor is in trouble from Clara for telling Disruptive Influence, hang on I'll Google her name, Courney, that she is not special. Courtney being a teenager is upset, as a teenager might be, but Clara is angry at the Doctor for telling the girl this. Why? Protection. I have no idea. So right from the outset the Doctor is in strife for pointing out the truth.

The Doctor attempts to make Courtney special by making her the first female on the moon and lands on the surface in 2049. There they intercept the NASA mission and the Doctor learns the truth of what is happening to the moon. The moon is an egg and it is about to hatch. What does this mean for the Earth? Well possible destruction from the shell fragments, which the Doctor points out may not be harmful at all and any mass that does approach the Earth will burn up on entry.

Here the Doctor does something that he hasn't done very often at all. He gives the power of the decision whether to destroy the moon and the lifeform and the knowledge that Earth is definitely safe or whether to risk the unknown to the three human females present; Clara, Courtney and the astronaut. He even leaves in his TARDIS abandoning them to their decision.  And while Clara umms and ahhs over the decision getting angrier and angrier at the Doctor, the astronauts sets the timer for the nuclear arsenal making her argument clear, while Courtney is on the side of letting the lifeform hatch. It's obvious what side Clara picks, and the Earth is all OK due to the egg disintegrating and the life form laying a new egg is it's place.

This is definitely a bold a new move from the Doctor. And I am sure his motivations of letting the humans take control of their own future also has a large part of letting Clara mature and make the right decision. And she does eventually. But this results in her being angry at the Doctor because she felt abandoned and in charge. Something that she has never felt with the Doctor before.

The final scene consists of Clara yelling at the Doctor to get out of her life and that she never wants to see him again. It is reminiscent of when the Doctor was helping Ace mature in season 25 and 26. And the thing is that the Doctor is astounded. He stands back with a look of lack of understanding and astonishment. He is quiet. 

Damned if you don't.

Last week's Caretaker revealed that the Doctor was stand offish towards Danny not only for him being a soldier, but also for his care of Clara and wanting whoever Clara loved to be good enough for her. This week we see the Doctor trying to make Clara grow up a bit more and make the tough decisions. But she failed. And he failed. And Clara has left the TARDIS in a huff and a bit of a childish tantrum.

Many have said that the Twelfth Doctor is too alien, rude and not likeable. I think he is the most human. Unlike his predecessors it seems like Twelve is striving for more than a play-date.