Doctor Who Synopsis & Review Season 9 Episode 12 “Hell Bent”

Doctor Who Season 9 Episode 12: “Hell Bent” Synopsis and Review.

Please note that there are spoilers ahead so if you haven’t watched the episode yet, please consider watching it before reading this article.
We are greeted by the doctor emerging from his confession dial from the end of the last episode. We find out that he is on Galifrey. Now that The Doctor knows where he is he can find out who did this to him and deal with them.

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We then see The Doctor in Nevada, being let out at a diner, inside we see Clara or someone who looks like Clara who does not appear to know who the doctor is. Throughout this episode he is relaying a story to her about none other than Clara.

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As The Doctor tells the story we see that he went home. Up to the loft where Clara met him as a child in a previous episode speaking aloud in a dream “I don’t want to be a soldier”… Remember? It’s all these little nuances within the doctor who universe that make them very interesting to watch.

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After returning home The Doctor refuses to see anyone, quite literally drawing a line in the sand. Shutting out the commander of the guard and only when the lord president comes does he actually speak to someone. He tells the lord president that he is to blame for all that he has gone through and tells him to “get off [his] planet”. After which the lord president tries to have The Doctor killed by firing squad, which fails as he is a war hero and thought very highly of by all of the soldiers in the firing squad. The Lord President is then banished along with the council.

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The doctor then discusses with the remaining people at his disposal: the sisterhood and the commander of the guard that which they want to know, about the hybrid. He then tells them that he needs to use the extraction chamber as he needs to talk to someone about it. This person turns out to be Clara, who is pulled out from her time stream at the moment of her death. He grabs the commander’s gun and shoots him, escaping with Clara and a human compatible Neural Block.

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They escape to the cloisters and then past where The Doctor steals another Tardis, takes them both to the end of the universe past the time lords where they won’t follow. He tells Clara that she should be alive again by now since they are way past her time stream yet she still cannot find a pulse. At the end of time they meet Ashildir/Me. Who he lets in on his plan to wipe Clara’s memory of him so that she can start a new timeline. Meanwhile Clara has been watching this whole exchange on the viewscreen and managed to tamper with the Neural Block using the sonic sunglasses. When The Doctor and Me enter the Tardis and Clara isn’t surprised to see Ashildir The Doctor realises something is up and confronts Clara. She then admits to tampering with the Neural Block, giving it a 50/50 chance to affect either her or the doctor. They activate the block… we are then taken to the desert where a stranger tells him that a girl called Clara told him to look after him, to which he replies Clara who?

 

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The doctor finishes his story to Clara at the diner, finishing with that he cannot remember what Clara looks like or sounds like. She says, Clara could be anyone…
They finish their discussion with mentions of the Tardis, after which Clara leaves and the diner dematerializes leaving the Tardis and The Doctor. We then see Clara and Ashildir in the Diner Tardis where they discuss that Clara still doesn’t have a pulse to which she replies that she will go confront the raven but that they have some wiggle room with a huge smile on her face. Ashildir asks where they are going, and Clara says Galifrey the long way around. We cut to the doctor entering his tardis and getting a new sonic screwdriver. A very fitting ending I think. It leaves a lot open and I can’t wait to see what they come up with next.

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All in all this was a good episode, answering a few questions and bringing up more. Using lots of plot devices from Doctor Who days of old as well as mentions of days past. I give this episode a very solid 8.5 out of 10.

If you would have rated it differently or have any comments please leave them below. I will try my best to read and reply to them.

I have also included a nice detailed style sheet of the new sonic screwdriver below care of io9.com

Until next time. Stay awesome!

 

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