The first part of the two part finale is titled, "Dark Water." It begins with a bang as Danny Pink is killed in the opening few minutes. This is a sad event, as I really like Danny Pink. He was a nice guy, and a great man for Clara to fall in love with. His death obviously upsets Clara. In fact it upsets her so much that she threatens to destroy all the Tardis keys ever, preventing The Doctor from ever, ever going back into his Tardis. And when the Doctor refuses, she goes through with her threat.While it luckily turned out to be a simulation, I found it very unlikely Clara would do that. I didn't buy it and I felt it was over the top. Plus, my biggest complaint for the entire two parter is that I felt we didn't really spend enough time with Danny and Clara. It (their relationship) was way too underdeveloped for this whole scene, and most of the scenes in both episodes that make up the two-parter finale, to fully work. I didn't feel the love Clara had for him, the relationship feels as if it hadn't been going on too long any way. That's the one aspect of this episode, and the next part of the two-parter finale that desperately needed improvement. But, besides that, I am happy to say I was very satisfied overall with the finale.
The rest of Part 1, "Dark Water," served primarily as set-up, and it did indeed set-up the finale very well. It was a slower episode, but also one of the darker Doctor Who episodes ever.
It also finally reveals who the Season Antagonist really is. Missy is, in fact, The Master. Yes, it's not super shocking, I've seen it being theorized about since her first appearance back in the Series 8 Premiere, "Deep Breath." But the scene still worked, and it was an excellent cliffhanger.
Part 2, "Death in Heaven" was pretty outstanding. It was nice to see it was 90 minutes long, including commercials, so only about 60 without commercials, but anyway, the extended length was a great thing because for the first time since Series 5, the finale did not feel rushed. Despite the fact that the Series 6 finale "The Wedding of River Song," and the Series 7 finale, "The Name of the Doctor," were both good, they were only 1, 47 minute (without commercials) part, so they felt more rushed than usual, and they were especially disappointing compared to the super amazing two-part Series 5 finale, "The Pandorica Opens," and "The Big Bang." I'm so glad to finally get another finale that's extended length.
"Death in Heaven," moves at a brisk pace, with lots of action and excitement. Lots of cyberman, who looked cooler than they've ever looked on Modern Doctor Who.
This episode also saw the return of the character Osgood, who was in the outstanding 50th Anniversary Special, "The Day of the Doctor." But.........she returned only to die. It was a sad scene. I felt more could've been done with her character as well. Shame she had to get killed by Missy.
Speaking of Missy.....
Missy was a absolutely fantastic villain! Of the two Masters to appear in Modern Doctor Who, Missy was by far the best. Michelle Gomez's performance as Missy was truly great. It really elevated the episode.
The episode comes to a very fitting, and dark ending. Missy is defeated (possibly killed, who knows? Maybe she'll be back), and Danny sacrifices himself and dies. Luckily for him, he had a way to get back to Earth, and out of the afterlife, but he choose instead to send the boy he had killed in war back to Earth. And since only one person could be brought back, that left Danny stuck forever, in the afterlife, without Clara. Damn.
And The Doctor doesn't end up with things much better either, as he fails to find Gallifrey and punches the console of his Tardis, which was a great scene that I absolutely loved!
The two-parter finale ends with a melancholy scene where Clara and The Doctor hug and part ways, both choosing to lie about their lives, not mentioning all the bad that has happened. The Doctor believes Danny is back with Clara, and Clara believes The Doctor found Gallifrey.
In the end, The Doctor flies away in his Tardis, and Clara walks away, down the London street, towards what, I don't know.
(Oh, and The Doctor meets Santa Claus! Good luck to The Doctor! Can't wait to see what The Doctor gets up to in the Christmas Special, ominously titled, "Last Christmas.")
Overall, Great Episode!
Dark Water
+Very, Very Dark
+Sets up the finale
+Cliffhanger (the Missy reveal)
-Danny and Clara relationship underdeveloped
Episode Score: 8.5/10
Death in Heaven
+Intense, action packed, and dark!
+Ending
+MISSY!
+Danny's Sacrifice
+Extended Length
+SANTA CLAUS
Episode Score: 9.4/10
