Series 8, episode 7 – Kill the Moon

Why killing the Moon? Only the living creatures, as vegetal, animal and alien reign can be killed, right? And then, why Kill the Moon, Earth’s natural satellite? Is this related with the strange spider creatures, with jaws like the Predator that can be noticed in the trailer and the preview of this episode? Or is this related with the theories that you (probably) have heard about that said that the Moon is hollow on the inside, just like an egg.

On the other hand, the Doctor have not treat Clara very well lately, in the last few tricks, after Matt Smith‘s regeneration into Peter Capaldi: he got estranged, treating her with superiority and cold, in some degrees. That got to a fight during last night episode: Clara exploded, nervous, and she got to say some things into his face about the troubles she had lately. Getting everyone’s attentions, of course, and the Doctor’s also (Tell me what you knew, Doctor, or I’ll smack you so hard you’ll regenerate. is just brilliant). But their story is not over, at least not yet (there were some rumours about Clara’s departure not long from now). And if the rumours were right, well, at least we will understand why. Probably.

Anyway, I can’t blame the Doctor for his reaction from the episode Kill the Moon. However, the episode begins with Clara’s ask for help in the message send for the human kind from the planet Earth: in the year 2049 the people had to choose between a life of an innocent creature and their future. Courtney Woods (played by Ellis George) returns into the TARDIS and the Doctor’s life. He has to get her to the Moon, to be the first women (girl) to step on it’s surface in order to show her how special she is. But they don’t get exactly to the surface of the Moon, they get to a NASA shuttle that was just landcrashing to the surface, somewhere not far away from a Mexican mining station, deserted because its inhabitants have been massacred. A space shuttle fulled with nuclear bombs prepared to destroy the aliens that “messed up” the gravity of the satellite, increasing it several times. And the effects to nearby Earth were disastruos. Lundvik (Hermione Norris) was leading some astronauts with a simple mission: to blow up the Moon, clearing the effect threatening their future. But the astronauts are getting killed one by one, everyone but Lundvik, by some spider-like creatures with jaws that reminded me about the aliens from the Predator series. However, these creature are not the most important thing to worry about, despite their great number and their ferocity: the Moon really was alive. Like a chicken inside an egg, but alien. And it was preparing to get out. So, Clara, Courtney and Lundvik had to take their hardest decision: to detonate the nukes, killing the innocent creature before it was born (in order to save the lives below, from the surface of the planet, whos future was threatened by the Moon rocks crashing as meteorites) or to let the nature to follow its course, hoping that nature will find a way to save them all.

Clara has a very unpleasant surprise: the Doctor choose not to involve in choosing the right decision. It was their planet, humans’, their satellite, they were the only ones to make that decision. A thing that would seem strange to many people, after so many times the Time Lord has changed their history, after so many people he has saved and helped around the Universe. But, at least this time, I can not blame him: it’s an attitude very similar with the one he had during the negotiations Amelia Pond and the silurians took part (Cold Blood, series 5, episode 9). And, eventually, it does not matter how many times the Time Lord helped the humans or how much he resembles them: he is an alien from other planet.

You will have to watch the episode to find out more, and what kind of decision they take. Maybe you’ll tell me if you think the Clara’s and the Doctor’s decisions were right. On the other side, am I the only person who find a resemblance between Lundvik and Adelaide Brooke, played by Lindsay Duncan in the episode The waters of Mars? Probably the two characters have no connection: the Mars landing and colony happen only 10 years later (the year 2059).

Director Paul Wilmshurst, written by Peter Harness, producer Peter Bennett, executive producers Brian Minchin and Steven Moffat. Cast: Peter Capaldi (The Doctor), Jenna Coleman (Clara), Samuel Anderson (Danny Pink), Ellis George (Courtney Woods), Hermione Norris (Lundvik), Tony Osoba (Duke), Phil Nice (Henry), Christopher Dane (McKean).

Next episode of series 8 it’s Mummy on the Orient Express, and it was written by Jamie Mathieson.The Doctor is on the most beautiful train in history, Orient Express, in space, speeding among the stars of the future. But a deadly creature is stalking the passengers: once you see the horrifying Mummy you only have 66 seconds to live. No exceptions, no reprieve. As the Doctor races against the clock he’s seen at his deadliest and most ruthless. Will he work out how to defeat the Mummy? Start the clock!