This week’s episode seems to have gone down a storm with fans (at least the ones I know) … but I’m convinced we’ve only been given half the story.
Time Heist was fun, but smacked of red herrings and almost-dropped clues. It’s possible that this could be down to sloppy script-writing or poor direction, but I don’t think so. There was a lot of double-bluffing going on: things that may have seemed slightly odd, but got brushed off quickly, but will probably come to mean something else once we the information we’re missing.
Consider the following:
- Clara seems unusually distressed at not being able to get into Vault 1. The Doctor, judging by the look he gives her, appears to think so too. Why does she want to get into the vault so desperately?
- The reveal, that the guards are actually Psi and Saibra seems far too convenient. One second the Doctor and Clara are facing the Teller, which until this point in the episode has always ended with a brain suck; the next they’re in ‘safely’ in Ms. Delphox’s office.
- The entire end of the episode is curiously off-note. When has Capaldi’s Doctor ever taken the time to share a laugh and joke with his travelling companions? What’s he up to? Making sure they’re all at ease? Why?
- How, why and when did the Doctor decide to recruit Psi and Saibra? We get a brief montage at the end, but where did he get the list that he picked them from? I guarantee we will be seeing them again this season.
- As Clara hugs the Doctor, near the end of the episode, he reacts defensively: note the way he’s holding his arm.
- The odd exchange as Clara leaves the TARDIS at the end of the episode. The Doctor is testing her for a particular reaction. Does he get the one he’s after?
Given the above, why is the Doctor so very interested in Clara’s personal life in next week’s episode?
In short, an episode which dealt simultaneously with clones, as well as mutants who could assume someone else’s identity with a single touch (not to mention the Doctor hiding his own identify as the Architect), ended up with no one acting quite like themselves. Coincidence? I don’t think so …