Doctor Who 8x05 Time Heist
Oct. 4th, 2014 10:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kerravonsenThat was fun. And clever.
I wonder who that customer was, that the Doctor got to donate his cells, and what it was that made him cooperate? Mind you, just being able to warn the guy in advance that he needs to withdraw everything or lose it, might be enough inducement. Pretty big and sudden way for the most secure bank in the universe to fail -- melted by a solar flare. Though if it was that fierce, it might have melted half the planet, and no ship in orbit would have been safe anyway. (Okay, I know, handwave, handwave.)
Okay, let me get this straight, try to unravel the timey-wimeyness.
* Madame Karabraxos (what is it with villain-names starting with K?) on her deathbed, calls the Doctor.
* Madame K gives the Doctor all the information he needs to plan the heist/rescue.
* The Doctor researches for a team, and what their price would be. Psi, his memories; Saibra, the gene suppressant; the Customer, we don't know.
* The Doctor goes off and gets the equipment needed, including the memory worms.
* He disguises six teleport-things as disintegration-things (and where have we seen that trick before, hmmm? Parting of the Ways)
* He fills the briefcases and makes the recordings, disguising his voice.
* He gets the DNA sample from The Customer, and gives the briefcase with the bomb in it to the Customer for him to deposit in his safety deposit box.
* He places the other briefcases in their spots -- how? With the TARDIS? Why couldn't he use the TARDIS for the rescue? I mean, yes, he couldn't because of the solar storm, but why did he have to time it for then anyway? Oh, I think it's because he couldn't rescue the Teller until Madame K had left, and she wasn't going to leave until the bank was melting. Okay. Perhaps it was also the case that normally teleports wouldn't work in the bank, but the solar storm had disabled that particular protection too.
* He recruits Psi and Saibra.
* He borrows a space ship, parks it in orbit, parks the TARDIS in it. Or maybe the ship belongs to Psi or Saibra? Or The Customer?
* They all go down (teleport?) to the room in the bank, declare their willingness to have their memories erased, and touch the memory-worms that are on the table. The memory-erasure is in order for them not to broadcast their guilt; with their memories wiped, they don't feel very guilty because they don't know why they're here, nor what the plan is.
* They all wake up confused. The recordings play. The briefcase opens. They are briefed.
* The guards bang on the door, they run, the guards come in and touch the memory worms and forget.
* Saibra disguises herself as The Customer.
* They go to the safety-deposit vault, and open the box, and get the bomb.
* The bomb blows a hole in the floor. They go down, and the doctor reverses the translation and the floor is restored. (How's that for a locked-room mystery?)
* They find the next briefcase, which has the disintegration/teleport things in it.
* They are caught by the Teller, and Saibra "dies".
* Next briefcase, directions for Psi to unlock the Vault, and a piece of paper indicating what box to go to.
* Psi unlocks all but one lock, and distracts the Teller away from Clara, and "dies".
* The solar storm hits, and zaps the last lock.
* The Doctor and Clara enter the vault, find the first box, which has Psi's price, and directions to the next box, which has Saibra's price, and directions to the Private Vault.
* Psi and Saibra teleport back down and disguise themselves as guards (presumably the correct guards).
* The Doctor and Clara are caught.
* Psi and Saibra rescue them.
* They somehow get all the way back to the Vault, which is still unlocked. (?)
* They enter the Private Vault and confront Madame K.
* The Doctor gives Madame K his phone number.
* The Doctor points out that the bank is melting. Madame K grabs stuff and leaves.
* The Teller arrives, and the Doctor allows it to scan him in order to unblock the memory wipe.
* The Teller realizes that they are here to rescue him, and he unlocks the safe in which his mate is kept.
* Six teleport-zaps up to the ship in orbit.
* HEA.
With all the clones that Madame K made, I wonder if we'll see her or a clone of her again?
Some themes...
Everyone has their price.
If that's the case, then the Doctor's "price" is the chance to rescue someone.
You hate and distrust your own face on someone else.
That, I'm not so sure of.
I have a feeling that that is backwards. That you fear someone with your own face because of the power they have to steal your identity... but you wouldn't fear them unless you already distrusted them. But it may be that someone with such power is inherently hard to trust. Well, that could be the case with Saibra, but... why would you distrust your own clone? Then again, Madame K probably didn't get where she is by trusting anybody, which is why she had the clones made in the first place.
Something I've pondered for a while: that if someone knows everything about you, that is either a comfort or a terror, and which is which depends entirely on whether that person is trustworthy. Hence, for example, it is a beautiful thing when a spouse knows one so very well; and it is a horrible thing when a stalker (or a government) knows the intimate details of one's life.
I wonder who that customer was, that the Doctor got to donate his cells, and what it was that made him cooperate? Mind you, just being able to warn the guy in advance that he needs to withdraw everything or lose it, might be enough inducement. Pretty big and sudden way for the most secure bank in the universe to fail -- melted by a solar flare. Though if it was that fierce, it might have melted half the planet, and no ship in orbit would have been safe anyway. (Okay, I know, handwave, handwave.)
Okay, let me get this straight, try to unravel the timey-wimeyness.
* Madame Karabraxos (what is it with villain-names starting with K?) on her deathbed, calls the Doctor.
* Madame K gives the Doctor all the information he needs to plan the heist/rescue.
* The Doctor researches for a team, and what their price would be. Psi, his memories; Saibra, the gene suppressant; the Customer, we don't know.
* The Doctor goes off and gets the equipment needed, including the memory worms.
* He disguises six teleport-things as disintegration-things (and where have we seen that trick before, hmmm? Parting of the Ways)
* He fills the briefcases and makes the recordings, disguising his voice.
* He gets the DNA sample from The Customer, and gives the briefcase with the bomb in it to the Customer for him to deposit in his safety deposit box.
* He places the other briefcases in their spots -- how? With the TARDIS? Why couldn't he use the TARDIS for the rescue? I mean, yes, he couldn't because of the solar storm, but why did he have to time it for then anyway? Oh, I think it's because he couldn't rescue the Teller until Madame K had left, and she wasn't going to leave until the bank was melting. Okay. Perhaps it was also the case that normally teleports wouldn't work in the bank, but the solar storm had disabled that particular protection too.
* He recruits Psi and Saibra.
* He borrows a space ship, parks it in orbit, parks the TARDIS in it. Or maybe the ship belongs to Psi or Saibra? Or The Customer?
* They all go down (teleport?) to the room in the bank, declare their willingness to have their memories erased, and touch the memory-worms that are on the table. The memory-erasure is in order for them not to broadcast their guilt; with their memories wiped, they don't feel very guilty because they don't know why they're here, nor what the plan is.
* They all wake up confused. The recordings play. The briefcase opens. They are briefed.
* The guards bang on the door, they run, the guards come in and touch the memory worms and forget.
* Saibra disguises herself as The Customer.
* They go to the safety-deposit vault, and open the box, and get the bomb.
* The bomb blows a hole in the floor. They go down, and the doctor reverses the translation and the floor is restored. (How's that for a locked-room mystery?)
* They find the next briefcase, which has the disintegration/teleport things in it.
* They are caught by the Teller, and Saibra "dies".
* Next briefcase, directions for Psi to unlock the Vault, and a piece of paper indicating what box to go to.
* Psi unlocks all but one lock, and distracts the Teller away from Clara, and "dies".
* The solar storm hits, and zaps the last lock.
* The Doctor and Clara enter the vault, find the first box, which has Psi's price, and directions to the next box, which has Saibra's price, and directions to the Private Vault.
* Psi and Saibra teleport back down and disguise themselves as guards (presumably the correct guards).
* The Doctor and Clara are caught.
* Psi and Saibra rescue them.
* They somehow get all the way back to the Vault, which is still unlocked. (?)
* They enter the Private Vault and confront Madame K.
* The Doctor gives Madame K his phone number.
* The Doctor points out that the bank is melting. Madame K grabs stuff and leaves.
* The Teller arrives, and the Doctor allows it to scan him in order to unblock the memory wipe.
* The Teller realizes that they are here to rescue him, and he unlocks the safe in which his mate is kept.
* Six teleport-zaps up to the ship in orbit.
* HEA.
With all the clones that Madame K made, I wonder if we'll see her or a clone of her again?
Some themes...
Everyone has their price.
If that's the case, then the Doctor's "price" is the chance to rescue someone.
You hate and distrust your own face on someone else.
That, I'm not so sure of.
I have a feeling that that is backwards. That you fear someone with your own face because of the power they have to steal your identity... but you wouldn't fear them unless you already distrusted them. But it may be that someone with such power is inherently hard to trust. Well, that could be the case with Saibra, but... why would you distrust your own clone? Then again, Madame K probably didn't get where she is by trusting anybody, which is why she had the clones made in the first place.
Something I've pondered for a while: that if someone knows everything about you, that is either a comfort or a terror, and which is which depends entirely on whether that person is trustworthy. Hence, for example, it is a beautiful thing when a spouse knows one so very well; and it is a horrible thing when a stalker (or a government) knows the intimate details of one's life.
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no subject
Date: 2014-10-04 05:16 pm (UTC)* They enter the Private Vault and confront Madame K.
* The Doctor points out that the bank is melting. Madame K grabs stuff and leaves.
for completeness should be added "The Doctor gives Madame K his phone number". (I think there's a nice timey-wimey paradox here. The Doctor wouldn't have given Madame K his phone number if he hadn't gone to the bank, and he wouldn't have gone to the bank if she hadn't had his phone number.)
It was never quite clear to me why Madame K called in the Doctor. Even if she was on her deathbed, feeling remorse for what the fate of the Teller and its mate would be (would have been) if she hadn't done so hardly seemed plausible given what we'd learned of her character.
no subject
Date: 2014-10-04 10:05 pm (UTC)Even if she was on her deathbed, feeling remorse for what the fate of the Teller and its mate would be (would have been) if she hadn't done so hardly seemed plausible given what we'd learned of her character.
Naw, I don't have a problem with that. Facing death tends to revise one's priorities, IMHO.
no subject
Date: 2014-10-04 06:29 pm (UTC)Apart from that it was a lot of fun
no subject
Date: 2014-10-04 10:12 pm (UTC)Oh, I agree. It doesn't make sense unless you already distrust the person in question.
But then I'm always being told I look just like my mum when she was my age.
Ha! Me too!
no subject
Date: 2014-10-05 02:40 am (UTC)Funny, I knew from early on that the Doctor had somehow engineered the heist, but from the moment the Teller came into the picture, I thought it was the Teller who had brought the Doctor into it all.
I agree with you--a very fun "caper" episode; I've seen bits of all previous Doctors' personalities in Twelve (I will continue to call him that, even though not technically correct) but this episode really put me in mind of Three.
no subject
Date: 2014-10-05 03:19 am (UTC)The technically correct name is difficult to figure out; I'm just going to call him Twelve, too.