Arriving in the 1980’s before the deluge that created the lake from the first part of this story, the Doctor must solve the mystery of the ghosts in the underwater base to save Clara even though he knows that his own ghosts is taunting her in the future and that his fate is pretty much sealed.
All right, it’s pretty extraordinary to see a series with fifty plus years behind it to take the risk of the main character opening up an episode directly musing a psychological quandary to the audience, but it’s done perfectly in this episode and creates, at the end, the perfect payoff that creates goosebumps.
The episode is pretty slick in many ways. It’s fun to see these characters prodding each other to suceed in the way that Clara prodded the Doctor (and how the Doctor prodded the Doctor by using Clara). It’s like these guys know how to bring out the best in each other even in the most hopeless of times.
So far, I’m loving the two-parters of this season. It’s really giving the stories a chance to grow and develop without being rushed. It’s giving us a chance to get to know the disposable characters of the week so that, when they are disposed of, it’s easier to actually care.
I even liked the mysterious Fisher King alien who stayed sufficiently scary throughout the episode (even though having him appear in broad daylight at the end made him a little less so).
The plot that worked so well in part one was more than sufficiently paid off in clever timey-wimey ways and, all together, was a way more than satisfying conclusion to the entire adventure. Another wonderful installment to an already stellar season.
Jason Gaston 