The latest season of Doctor Who is all over now which always comes too fast. I posted about the first episode when it aired at the end of August, and I wanted to comment again on the season as a whole.
-- Some Spoilers Below --
I never really warmed up to the 12th Doctor now that it's over. I think it's because I want him to be a hero and a good man, even if he has to do bad things. I'm okay if the Doctor has to explore that side to him and there is doubt to this side to his character, but ultimately I think of the Doctor as a an eccentric, who's clever and a bit of a madman, but who represents the better side of humanity because he believes in it. For lack of a better word since of course he's not human. The 12th Doctor really let me down a little too many times with how often he treated his failure in saving people so cavalierly. Even though it might be a mask for how he really felt. And even though in the end the fact that these people died had something to do with the overall season arc. I just didn't enjoy it. If the 11th Doctor's run felt like a fairy tale (especially for Amy Pond) that fairy tale is over. But now that we've gotten over the rough parts of developing this Doctor as a broken but indurated character, I hope that means he's going to be built up to the more dependable Doctor.
Clara's character development was much better this season - she really gets to show off quite a bit, and I often thought she was much more the Doctor than the Doctor was. So that it made total sense to see her try to pass herself off as the Doctor in the finale. And while it made her a great character, it still made me sad to think the Doctor needed her so much to help him fulfill the role he's put on himself through his past lives.
The Missy reveal was a great moment though, and I thought the new Master was amazing - just so creepy, offbeat and crazy. And what was up with the Mary Poppins vibe? So wrong, but I loved it.
The Danny and Clara story was a major heartbreaker. I was shocked when Danny was hit by the car in the first half of the finale, and when Clara wanted the Doctor to fix things I really wanted him to too. (But I knew he wouldn't because this is not a Doctor who can fix things yet.) Danny and Clara's romance felt like it developed fast (but I know a lot of time passed between episodes) but I liked them together and I wanted Clara's ending to be a little bit happy - if this is her last episode? Which maybe it's not. The finale was such a downer though, and sad, but in a way that made me feel so frustrated with the Doctor and Clara because they are so caught up in themselves they can't see through to comfort each other. But I am hopeful that it can't get any darker for the next season (and at least the Christmas special looks like it will be a bit of fun).
Overall, the season and the characters didn't draw me in as much as before. I appreciate that Moffat is doing new things with Doctor Who, but the season felt disjointed sometimes, and I felt too disappointed in the 12th Doctor to really like him. I think the best episode of the season was 'Flatline' which had an imaginative script, and of course a major hero moment for the 12th Doctor.
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