Doctor Who: Explaining the Season Finale 'Hell Bent'

Let's talk about Doctor Who's Season 9 finale, "Hell Bent" -- a strong close to a very strong season of Doctor Who that wrapped up the hybrid storyline... and much more.

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[worldsboss]

The best part was them talking in the diner. The whole time you were led to believe it was Clara who didn't remember the Doctor, but actually it was the other way around all along. Absolutely gutted to see Jenna go though.

[cornibot]

No. No no no no no, _no._

I let myself sit on this overnight and I just can't take it anymore. I've seen at least twelve different reviews that basically all say the same thing—a satisfactory, poignant resolution, with varying levels of discontent at how Moffat handled some of the major plot points. But the general consensus is that the season has finished strong.

I finished this episode and felt betrayed. Was this how they were going to handle the Doctor's return to Gallifrey? Something they've been building up to for years now; hell, for all of New!Who, even if we didn't know it until "The Day of the Doctor"! Just look at Eleven's face when he finds out that his plan had worked, that he managed to save them: "Is that what I'm supposed to do now—go looking for Gallifrey?" Eleven often exhibited that sort of childish excitement, but I don't think he was ever as sincerely happy as he was in that moment. And when Twelve realizes that Missy lied about the coordinates of his home planet, he takes his anguish and rage out on the TARDIS console, something I don't think we've ever seen the Doctor do before. At the end of "Heaven Sent", to see the Doctor look at Gallifrey with hatred was something so powerful, I still can't believe they were willing to throw it away just like that. And for what? The drawn-out ending of a story arc that had _already been resolved._

Here's what really gets to me: After the repeated dangling teases of Season 8 ("she's definitely leaving this time; oh wait, nope, just kidding, she's back again!"), I was actually convinced that when the time came for Clara to leave for real, no one would believe it. It was getting almost as bad as Rory's deaths. But I was so deeply impressed by "Face the Raven" and "Heaven Sent", not just because they were brilliant episodes on the face of it (which they are), but in how they handled Clara's departure. There were no convoluted plot threads or cheap tricks or unanswered questions; just a beautifully executed story that wrapped up all its loose ends, gave the character both depth and dignity, and allowed the Doctor to grieve.

And that’s the thing—the Doctor already grieved for Clara in “Heaven Sent”. They took time out of the episode to specifically address it, and rightly so! But the reason he went through what he did, repeating the same excruciating process over and over for 4.5 billion years, wasn’t for Clara’s sake. It wasn’t because he was determined to somehow bring her back; in fact, it _couldn’t_ have been, because then not a single part of this scene would make sense:

Doctor: “I can’t keep doing this, Clara. I can’t! Why is it always me? Why isn’t it ever anybody else’s turn?”
Clara (chalkboard): _How are you going to WIN??_
Doctor: “Can’t I just lose? Just this once! Easy—it would be easy. It would be _so_ easy. Just tell them—just tell them, whoever wants to know, all about the Hybrid. I can’t keep doing this—I can’t. I can’t always do this! It’s not fair, Clara; it’s just not fair! _Why can’t I just lose!?”_
Clara (chalkboard): _NO!_
Doctor: “But I can remember, Clara. You don’t understand. I can remember it all. Every time. And you’ll still be gone. Whatever I do…you still won’t be there.”
Clara: “Doctor. You are not the only person who ever lost someone. It’s the story of everybody. Get over it. Beat it. Break free. Doctor, it’s time. Get up off your arse, and _win.”_

This is literally the _climax_ of “Heaven Sent”, and it makes everything established in “Hell Bent” null and void. Because this isn’t just a conversation, this is what’s going on in the Doctor’s head. He can’t claim to have been lying about this. The emotion in this scene is raw and unfiltered; this was not some elaborate plan to spare Clara from her death, this was the only way for him to break out of that prison without sacrificing crucial information. He couldn’t have known _nothing_ about the Hybrid; otherwise, why would he be considering the possibility of telling them? Of “losing”? He contemplates breaking his rules out of agony and grief, out of knowing that Clara won’t be there no matter what he does, so why can’t he take the easy way out for once. It’s Clara, the memory of her, that reminds him not to wallow in his grief, but to fight—not for _her_ sake, but to _win._ To say that the Doctor subjected himself to 4.5 billion years of torture just to give Clara a way to survive is not only cheap, contrived, and a blatant violation of every rule he’s ever followed, it’s a _direct_ contradiction to everything that came before it.

I can’t have been the only one to notice this. What’s more, this is coming from a person who started in Season 5 and had to backtrack to see Nine and Ten’s eras, and has been a devout follower and defender of Moffat’s style ever since. These last two seasons have officially broken that. I was ready for Clara’s departure to be lackluster at best, and was so, so pleased and proud when it wasn’t. I was pleasantly stunned at how the overarching plotlines were being addressed and dealt with, unlike the convoluted mess that was “The Time of the Doctor” and, let’s face it, the entirety of Season 6 (I enjoyed it nonetheless, but even so). I love plot twists when they are done correctly, but I’ve come to realize that Moffat relies on them a bit too heavily and with far too much complexity, and it seemed he wasn’t making that mistake this time around.

So “Hell Bent”, for me, felt like a punch in the gut. All I could think at that midway point was why, _why, _ were they going back to Clara? What happened to the plot? Clara was over and done with; everything had been resolved perfectly. Quite apart from the fact that this is yet another example of a companion that Doctor Who writers just can’t seem to kill off, it undermines everything that already happened in the previous episodes, and in the worst way possible. It doesn’t even make sense. The Hybrid was addressed in a way that left more questions than answers, and Gallifrey was tossed aside as barely an afterthought. It doesn’t even work with the Doctor’s character; it’s not as if he hasn’t lost people before. He is, for all intents and purposes, an immortal being that insists on making friends with mortal ones, and he’s faced the consequences of this many, many times. It hits him hard when it happens, but there was no reason for him to go off the deep end and risk the fate of the entire universe for Clara, not a single one. Not even Clara herself wanted that.

I am baffled as to why people are satisfied with this ending. The only thing I can think of is the fact that, despite my frustrations, it actually isn’t a bad episode in itself. “Sleep No More”—now _that_ was a bad episode. This one? No. The premise is solid, the twist is clever, and the acting (as usual) is phenomenal. There are some great moments, like the Doctor drawing a line in the sand (literally), the General’s regeneration (as a side note, how anyone can think that this show is misogynistic is beyond me—“Dear lord, how do you cope with all that ego?”), and Clara’s reaction to finding out exactly what the Doctor had gone through. I even enjoyed Ashildr and the Doctor toying with the different theories of what the Hybrid could be, including almost-but-not-quite re-canonizing the “half-human” concept from the movie. The problem is that, considering everything that came before it, none of those moments should have happened. As an episode, it’s quite solid, but as a season finale, it fails miserably.

Apologies for the wall of text, but I needed to get that out of my system. I just spent the better part of three hours writing this, so forgive me if I indulge myself and repost it elsewhere. If you’ve read this far, please feel free to respond—I would love to know if anyone was as frustrated by the finale as I was. And if not, I’d be more than willing to hear a rebuttal or just have a discussion about it.

[ChaosZeus]

I would some Hell Bent up with one phrase - missed opportunities. The Doctor has finally returned to Gallifrey, with no Clara to hold him back. There is so much room for excellent storytelling and a fantastic finale. Instead, the Doctor leaves Gallifrey quite quickly with Clara back at his side. Moffat, you could have just left her dead. And after a weird explanation of what the hybrid is, the Doctor's memory gets wiped. Some say emotional, I say silly. Especially since all of that was undone 5 minutes later. The Doctor said that he could remember everything about Clara except what she looked like. Then, Clara effectively tells him that it's her by getting in a Tardis and flying away, and leaving her face spraypainted on his Tardis. This episode managed to leave me confused and disappointed. And after such a good series as well.

[benfriar]

This series has put doctor who back on form, that finale was spectacular

[SGlitz]

It was like a beautiful horse race where the horse breaks its leg on the large gallop.

[BrSSMoNkY]

I was just happy that The Doctor got a new screwdriver and left the sonic glasses alone

[stevie]

So the doctor spends billions of years eventually getting Clara back for her to wipe his memory, not sure how I feel about this ending

[revemb]

Is nobody confused at how the eyebrow chick was just chilling at the end of time as the earth was about to be destroyed and later on the eyebrow chick and clara somehow know how to operate the tardis which is supposed to be technology unique to timelords.

[jsanchez]

the ep is online already, and it is quite exhausting

[DonoughMurphy]

In the words of Honest Trailer's John Baily "it's not that we don't understand it, its just really stupid! "

[tomthepenguin]

Clara also has the doctors sonic sunglasses so she has the sonic 'powers' and a tardis. All she needs now is the regenerations :P

[nelord]

Perhaps the best finale in new Who period.

[SirBelmerD]

Ok, so there are a few things I don't understand from the episode and the season itself. Maybe some fellow whovians who've watched the episodes can explain it to me. SPOILER ALERT for those who haven't watched the episode and/or seasons.
1st topic: The Hybrid - Me tells the Doctor that Clara and him met via Missy. But what does that have to do with them BEING the Hybrid, and what damage have they caused or can they possibly cause that would make them seperate in the first place. IS the mere concept of being called the "Hybrid".
2nd topic: The Time Lords - They travelled to the last corners of time, and they speak of a prophecy of the Hybrid. How does this concept of the Hybrid come to be? How does that make the Gallifreyans lock the Doctor in his own Confession Dial as torture so he could reveal the identity of the "Hybrid" (which we all thought was Me, turned out it wasn't)?
3rd topic: The departure - How does erasing the memory of one of the "halves of the Hybrid", and seperating themselves cause the rupture in Space and Time that was caused by the saving of Clara to (not heal) but accept it?

[Delalow]

I thought Clara's death was done very well but for her to come back in this episode made the whole thing feel extremely cheap. Her becoming like the doctor was also just ergh. There were many good moments between them though but ultimately I really hated this finale. And it's sad because the season had been so good. Heaven sent is my new favourite episode. But at least Clara is gone now I just pretend in my head that she is just dead.

[quantumyoutubeguy]

Hell bent is one of my favourite episodes!

[TheNaiv]

what confuses me is if clara gets killed can she not die now, i get that she has to eventually return to galifrey and resume her death scene but until then is she indistructable? and it buggs me that Me should return to where she was

[liamwilliams]

I thought it was ok but not as exciting as id like it to have been. I like the idea that this time it is the doctor who forgot the companion. It was bit like donnas exit but in reverse.

[mijic]

Was a really good episode definitely watch it :P

[SEG.]

The only useful information that I gained from the finale is that The Doctor has more than one extra (13th) regeneration give to him by the Council. I could say I hate this season finale for "bringing back" Clara (The thought of spin-off makes me want to puke. Sarah Jane Adventures was made for nostalgia, while Torchwood was to use the spectacular character design of Jack Harkness both with the actors delivery and a reasonable 'immortal-loophole'. A Clara spin-off would just make her a Doctor Who clone that would constantly wear 'kid-gloves' as not physically hurt her relieving any tension or sometimes necessary plot-device as it would retcon her death scene.), but that's not the case... the reason I hate this season finale is 'Me' and making her part of it, the character I don't mind, but to not establish her as villain is just a waste of the character's potential. So yeah, I hate this season finale irrationally and you for some reason read this paragraph.

[nickthompson]

"She's gone off in her own tardis, with her own companion: me" umm... What?