Being a sometimes enterprising sort who likes a challenge I can invest in, I shall attempt to tackle all three of our requested submission mandates for this month in one tasty treat- scariest episode to date, who the heck is Missy, what might happen to Clara and Danny… because we don’t have enough problems with the triple goddess without her selling dragon burgers and goofy hats at Caerbannog, otherwise known as The Moon.

Cue the rabbit.

My personal scare fest was the Tenth Doctor episode Midnight. It showcased the Doctor’s helplessness and vulnerability in the face of an enemy, two key elements of his inner personality which had not really been on display since Mind of Evil and the end of Planet of the Spiders. He was in the wilderness, stuck with a bunch of paranoid humans who wanted to kill him, slowly being possessed by a ruthless creature (presumably comprised of pure consciousness) desperate to survive and willing to mind-hop until it got its way. There is nothing more horrifying than imminent foreknowledge of the inevitability that you will become powerless on someone… or some-thing… else’s terms.

Which brings me to quite a few notions of Missy. In a hypothesis far far away in the left field universe, perhaps she is an incarnation of the remnant of the Midnight Monster left in the Doctor’s mind? She certainly has the power of menace in her toolbox, but this could be a misdirection. Therefore, perhaps she is the Doctor in some innerspatial, self-projective or split off capacity? Also, remember that the Doctor, at times, can be exceptionally menacing and in many different ways, as evidenced in Genesis of the Daleks and Into the Dalek, to name two such instances. And let us not forget those vivid scenes with the Flesh Doctor. what really happened to good ole Fleshy, by the way? Taking another leap, perhaps Missy is a version of Romana or Clara, judging by the amount of smack she can talk and that little air of narcissism every time she gets the urge to twirl, like River Song. And one may add River Song to the list, as per the former mention of twirling- remember that scene with her at the prison, right after she’d gone with the Doctor to ice skate or something? And the Flesh River cannot be discounted, either, due to the fact that the Flesh Duplicates at the factory seemed to bring out another side to their original body’s personality. Could we be dealing with the original River in the form of the mysterious Missy? Now all that is fine and good, but… as we well know, nobody does twirling mad lady like the TARDIS. Yes. Missy could be the TARDIS.

Finally, anyone who knows about the Eighth Doctor books Zagreus and Scherzo knows that there were good and bad versions of the Doctor and the TARDIS struggling against each other within a mental landscape much like in The Deadly Assassin and The Dominators… only less Bread and Circuses and more Schizophrenia. And speaking of The Dominators, it looks like Moffat is drawing heavily from that episode, judging by the black and white duality elements subtly yet thickly laid throughout this season, starting with the return of the clockwork robots. The presence of the clockwork droids are a direct reference to the Dominators, in my view. I need to see that episode, because it may hold some clue for us about the fate of everyone we’ve been rooting for thus far, like Clara and Danny, self-absorbed though they might well be, though that notion depends on certain factors not yet in evidence.

Why self-absorbed, you ask? It’s simple, if you consider the Doctor’s actions as justified so far this season. It’s a difficult thing, triage. So many people have no notion of it, and condemn people for using it to determine what must be done in a crisis situation, of which we’ve had plenty this season. Inside the scope of the show, it seems no one knows how hard it is to make a real choice better than the Doctor. The new season is exploring this idea, and leaving us all up in the trepidatious and deliciously intrigue-thick air, awaiting every new tidbit with pensive breath. It’s always hard to explore the self, especially when those around you don’t understand your need to finally grow out of previous patterns. They scream inconvenience, at best. Much like Clara and Danny, many might view the new Doctor with concern, and claim he is becoming too dark, too unmindful. But there is another view, one that I personally favor, a view which will either make or break Clara and Danny’s future in the show depending on where you land as a fan. And that view, my fellow fans, is the view that the Doctor is evolving rapidly as a person, as a character. Which doesn’t bode well for Clara and Danny if they fail to understand this. So far, all they seem able to see is the trees, not the forest. The Doctor is well-known for seeing the forest, and missing the trees. He makes hard decisions because apparently, the vast majority of people aren’t cut out for those hard lessons, and what does he get in return? Clara and Danny, gutting him every time he finally decides to make the larger moral choice based on the larger picture. Still, they are developing into another Ian and Barbara, and it’s just fantastic! I can see them, too, as the Doctor’s parents- probably the Woman and the unnamed man in End of Time. Or, perhaps Clara is really his nanny, Mamlaurea! Of the lot, though, only Ian and Barbara got a happy ending. Didn’t they? History denotes the future, and I’m smelling Pythia.

Why? One sequence of scenes in Kill the Moon.

Courtney. Clara. Lundvik.

Maiden. Mother. Crone.

BadaTSSS.