Series 9 of Doctor Who wrapped up on Saturday night and definitely left me wanting more, so much more. I know that the Christmas special will be here in a few weeks, but I don’t want to wait until the end of next summer for more of the Doctor.
“Hell Bent” was a great finale and partnered perfectly with “Face the Raven” and “Heaven Sent.” This is another recap that I can’t keep spoiler free because there was so much happening in the episode. So if you’ve yet to watch “Heaven Sent,” fire up your DVR or Apple TV, watch the episode and come back to read this post.
I was distraught after “Face the Raven” and Clara’s death. Her death in that episode seemed so senseless and I felt like there wasn’t enough time to properly say goodbye. “Hell Bent” offered a better opportunity to say goodbye to Clara and brought a better conclusion to her relationship with the Doctor.
Here are some other thoughts I had while watching “Hell Bent.”
The Hybrid
I thought the answer to the riddle of the Hybrid was genius. At the end of “Heaven Sent,” the Doctor declared that he was the Hybrid and would stand in Gallifrey’s ashes. The Doctor was only partially correct, though, because he was only half of the Hybrid; the other half was Clara. The Doctor was willing to punch a diamond wall for over 4 billion years because of his love for Clara. Clara would have burned down the universe in order to rescue the Doctor. Together their passion was dangerous and could have led to the destruction of the universe. The answer to the riddle was tremendous, but its solution was heartbreaking.
Forget
The only way to save the universe from the Doctor and Clara was for one of them to completely forget the other. When I think about Alycia or my best friends, I can’t fathom how crushing it would be to completely forget them. If I for some reason forgot Alycia then a large part of my life would be missing, my life would feel almost incomplete. What’s worse than that, though, is that Clara had to see the Doctor living with a her-shaped hole in his memory. I suppose this is what makes diseases like Alzheimer’s so heartbreaking, loved ones completely forgetting about those closest to them.
Hope
Since when is hope a bad thing?
Hope is a funny thing. Hope can make someone like Rudy Reuttiger believe he has a shot at starting for Notre Dame football. Hope also pushed the Doctor for more than 4 billion years, believing that he could save Clara from certain death. Hope isn’t always a good thing; the value of hope depends on that in which we place our hope. If my hope is to play in the NBA, then that hope is going to let me down; I can’t even make a layup. However, if I place my hope in God for all things, then that hope will never be disappointed. God is always good and always looking out for our best interests. So when we place our hope in him, hope is never a bad thing.
The final three episodes of this series can go toe-to-toe with any of the previous series’ best runs. Capaldi has really come into his own as the Doctor and I wouldn’t mind him sticking around for at least another two years. I will miss Clara, though, but I’m happy she received a better goodbye.
What did you think of “Hell Bent?”
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