- Title: Doctor Who – The Caretaker
- wiki: link
Clara‘s (Jenna Coleman) worlds collide when The Doctor (Peter Capaldi) shows up as her school’s new caretaker forcing Clara to apologize and make excuses to and for both men in her life. While not dealing with the deadly killing machine known as a Skovox Blitzer, The Doctor spends most of the episode insulting Danny Pink (Samuel Anderson) who he cannot see as anything more than a soldier (which Danny hasn’t been for some time) and P.E. teacher (something he’s never been).
The location of the Skovox Blitzer makes Coal Hills School the perfect location for The Doctor to trap the creature and send it into the far future where it can do no harm. Unfortunatly his usual bizarre behavior piques the suspicions of Danny who unintentionally foils the well-crafted plan and not only puts himself, Clara, and The Doctor in danger but the rest of the school as well on parent’s night.
“The Caretaker” certainly gives audiences the hard sell on Danny Pink. Although I like the fact Danny is distrustful of The Doctor who he figures out nearly as fast as The Doctor sums up Danny, I’m still on the fence about the character overall and the amount of time spent this season on his relationship with Clara. Clara’s feelings for Danny are certainly meant to help sell the character (as is The Doctor’s juvenile attitude towards him), but other than Clara’s glimpse at a man she believes is a future descendant I’m not sure why Clara actually loves the man.
Given the circumstances, Coleman gets to play most of the episodes flumoxed and out-of-her depth trying first to keep her lives separate and later forced to explain her feelings about Danny to The Doctor and her travels with The Doctor to her new boyfriend. The epilogue of the episode lessens the tension among the threesome, but neither Danny nor The Doctor are sold on the other as an important and influential person in Clara’s life meaning we likely haven’t seen the last of the two going at it over her well-being.
