C+Q - Face the Raven (2015)
And so begins my favourite companion ending arc. The death of Clara Oswald in this episode (spoilers) is brilliantly handled in a number of ways. The big one of course is that Clara brings the tragedy on herself by being needlessly reckless. Her overall progression as a character over Series 7, 8, and 9 has been that of an adrenaline junkie coming out of their shell and it's a great way to show that travelling with the Doctor can have a negative impact on a person as well as a positive one.
Of course, Face the Raven isn't Clara's last appearance in the show. I love her return in Hell Bent and the way she's able to live countless adventures in the gap between her last two heartbeats. If the Doctor can put himself into dangerous situations and worm his way out of it in time for the cliffhanger to be resolved, why can't his companion? It brings the whole 'Clara Who' thing to its logical conclusion by allowing her a clever and unpredictable way to delay her death. Notice I said 'delay', not 'escape'. She still dies in Face the Raven and always will, but there's just more to her story between her last two heartbeats that we haven't and most likely will never see. It's a beautiful and poetic way for the show to have its cake and eat it.
The other thing that makes this death so good is that everyone can see it coming from miles away. It's absolutely inevitable and even now after Hell Bent prolonged her life we still know that the day she faces the raven will come eventually. Instead of happening quickly, there's a countdown on the back of her neck that gives her and the Doctor enough time to fully process what's happening and go through the stages of grief all the way to acceptance. She accepts full responsibility for what she did and willingly faces her death instead of trying to run from it. Meanwhile, it's the Doctor with his hatred of endings and his inability to cope with loss who rebels against Lady Me. This episode kicks off an arc that not only says goodbye to Clara but also deals with this aspect of the Doctor's personality. It isn't until the final moments of the 2015 Christmas Special, The Husbands of River Song, that he is able to work through it and accept that everything has to end sometime.
The death of Clara is obviously the headline of this episode but it's filled with lots of other little details that make it amazing. I ADORE Capaldi's new red velvet coat. Seeing him walk around trap street in that look actually gave me more of a Colin Baker in The Ultimate Foe vibe than a Jon Pertwee vibe, although that's definitely in there too. It's also nice to see Rigsy back and find out how his life has changed since Flatline. Maisie Williams was terrific as Lady Me and she absolutely commanded every scene she was in with a wisdom far beyond her physical years. She's clearly one hell of a good actor and between this and Hell Bent she makes a very convincing immortal.
All in all, Sarah Dollard needs to write more Doctor Who.
Next: Heaven Sent