BWW Recap: Spend Your 'Last Christmas' with DOCTOR WHO

The Doctor and Clara are back! A month after finishing off Season 8, we are reunited with our favorite duo as they battled Dream Crabs on Christmas Eve! Keep reading for my recap/analysis of "Last Christmas" but beware of SPOILERS!

Ok, quick plot recap before I get to the good stuff!

So the entire episode was pretty much Clara and The Doctor trapped in a dream within a dream within a dream within a dream (within a dream?), brought on by Dream Crabs which feed on your brain and put you in a dream state while it kills you. The two were saved by Santa, who their brains used to remind them that what they were seeing wasn't reality, and helped them wake up. In the end, they escape the clutches of the mind-sucking Dream Crabs, and The Doctor and Clara both realized that they still want to travel together. Yay! All's well that ends well.

So, since this episode was kind of confusing to follow, I am going to talk more about important character moments then I am plot.

First off, was it just me or did this years DOCTOR WHO Christmas Special feel a lot like their version of Inception? I mean they had multiple dream layers, Clara channeling Leonardo DiCaprio in wanting to stay in the dream state, and their version of a token in Santa Clause. At times I thought I was dreaming that I meshed the movie and the show together to make this episode. Not saying that it was a bad episode, though, I actually loved it! I just couldn't help but notice the striking resemblence.

Anyway, I want to talk about Clara, because I feel like we saw a lot of how she has been feeling in this episode. I was worried about here there for a second, when she didn't want to wake up from the dream she was having about Danny, even though it was killing her. I hoped she hadn't been so down since his death and The Doctor leaving that a fake reality would be better than living. Thankfully, The Doctor, and mainly dream Danny, helped her see that she needed to wake up, but you could tell it was difficult for her. That was further evidenced by her not wanting to wake up when she was on the sleigh with Santa Claus. However, the dream where she saw The Doctor for the first time in 62 years made her realize that she needed to stop living in dreams and enjoy life, which I believe prompted her to start back adventuring with The Doctor again! (Also, it might be because I just watched Peter Pan Live!, but the scene where The Doctor is in Clara's room only to find out she's an old woman felt eerily familiar to the scene where Peter comes back to see Wendy and she's all grown up. Just a random sidebar thought.)

I am really glad Clara will continue to be The Doctor's companion, because she and Twelve work so well together. I really think they bring the best out of each other. I can't wait to see what Season 9 brings, because now that they have worked through a lot, I think they will be closer than ever, which will make for some great moments.

This episode has cemented my love for the Twelfth Doctor. He is sassy and disconnected, but at the same time very caring, and I think Peter Capaldi has made this Doctor very unique and perfect for the direction the show is heading. The scene where he meets Clara 62 years in the future really hit me hard, because it was the first time I've seen this Doctor realize how much his time with Clara matters and how he shouldn't have let her go. I was so happy to hear Santa's jingle bells, so that he could wake up a final time and have a true reunion with Miss Oswald. I officially can't wait for what Season 9 has to offer. (Oh, and watching him fly Santa's sleigh was probably one of my all-time favorite Doctor moments.)

Nick Frost guest starred in tonight's episode as Santa Claus, and although it wasn't what I was expecting, I think his part was a great addition to the Special--a comedic addition that is. From the tangerine jokes, to him fighting with The Doctor, I couldn't stop laughing. It was a nice break from the more somber moments of the episode.

I also really enjoyed the minor characters, especially Shona. Even though the four trapped in the dream didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things, they definitely added a lot to the episode. From Shona's skepticism of Santa being real (and calling him a beardie weirdo) to Ashley's pragmatism and direct approach to solving their issue, I think the minor characters enhanced the plot greatly. For a second there, I even thought Ashley could have had companion potential if Clara and The Doctor stayed separated. (Thankfully, however, they did not). The minor characters in this episode capped off a season of really strong supporting cast members. This is the first season I can think of that one-off characters made such an impact in my mind, and I think that is a part of what made Season 8 so strong.

Favorite Moments from "Last Christmas"

Elf- "Not often we get upstaged on a rooftop."

Shona- "It's a skeleton man and a girl in a nightie."

The Doctor- "Go to the window." Ashley- "Why,?" The Doctor- "Because it gets worse."

The Doctor- "If im right, and I usually am, then we're dying."

The Doctor- "How did you get all the presents in the sleigh?" Santa- "It's bigger on the inside."

The Doctor- "There's a horror movie called Alien? That's really offensive, no wonder people keep invading you."

"Clara!! Dreaming!! Dying!" You Are Dying!"

Danny- "You can miss me for 5 minutes a day."

The Doctor- "You know what I hate about the obvious, missing it."

"It's a long story."

Santa- "Fortunately, I know all of your home addresses."

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Thanks for reading my DOCTOR WHO recaps this season! Leave any comments you have below, and please come back next time, when I recap Season 9! (unless all of this is a dream, of course).