Clara Oswald: Good Bits Edition (Doctor Who)

Okay, so I’ve not been entirely generous in my estimation of Clara.  To be fair, I’m getting better at recognizing many of my issues with her as hugely problematic writing, but it doesn’t change the fact that I’ve struggled with liking her, which, as a Whovian, makes me terribly sad because I want to love her.  However, my last pre-series-9 Sunday Who Review is an attempt at balance, acknowledging what I find to be the successful pieces of her character that I hope can be nurtured and brought more to the fore.

I’ve mentioned my disappointment that the series 8 version of Clara seems to have lost the series 7 version’s empathy, and that’s something that I did love about Clara when she was with Eleven.  In “The Rings of Akhaten” (which remains my favorite episode for her,) when Merry is on the run, Clara does more than just help the little girl hide; she talks to Merry, finds out what’s troubling her, and shares a lovely personal story to help Merry feel a little less worried about her situation.  It’s not a big, flashy, stopping-nefarious-aliens moment.  It’s a quiet little scene that simply shows Clara taking time to care about and empathize with someone she’s just met.  It’s something that seemingly comes naturally to her, and she’s similarly wonderful with Emma in “Hide” and Eight point Five in “The Day of the Doctor” – I love the way that, despite his appearance, she gets how much younger he is than Ten and Eleven and realizes he doesn’t yet have the weight of ending the Time War on him.  And to be fair to series 8 Clara, this trait isn’t completely gone, just mostly.  We see the old empathy peeking through when she reassures young Danny in “Listen” and comforts Maisie in “Mummy on the Orient Express” (although I think she veers a bit too much into making it about her in the latter.)

This ties into Clara’s big moment in her debut episode, “The Bells of Saint John.”  Though I’ve complained that her only tangible contribution to that adventure relies on skills that aren’t actually hers (temporary tech wizardry on loan from the Great Intelligence,) I like the specific way she uses those tech skills to figure out where the creepy, people-eating Wi-Fi is coming from.  As she tells the Doctor, “It’s never about the security.  It’s about the people.”  After hacking the webcams at HQ to get pictures of the employees, she discovers their physical location by tracing the images to assorted social media pages, where the employees have all mentioned working at the Shard.  That’s a really creative idea, one that relies on understanding people and how they operate.  This trait, using her understanding to tactical advantage, is a talent she pulls out a bit in series 8 as well – she holds her own nicely during interrogations from the Half-Man in “Deep Breath” and the Sheriff of Nottingham in “Robot of Sherwood.”

The last quality I’ll mention doesn’t get a ton of play, but I like it when Clara acknowledges being afraid but still rocks it.  It seems she opts for bottling her fear more often than not, and maybe this sounds strange, but the odd scene of vulnerability makes her feel stronger to me.  For instance, after repeatedly rebuffing the professor’s attempts to start a whistling-in-the-dark-style sing-along in “Cold War,” I like how she finally drops the pretext of being totally fine with being trapped on a broken submarine with an Ice Warrior and starts mumbling/singing “Hungry like the Wolf.”  Her scene with the Half-Man in “Deep Breath” delivers on this front, too.  She’s freely admits to being terrified and later starts crying outright, but she presses forward, continuing to press the Half-Man for answers even as he threatens her.  I love how brave people can be when they’re afraid, and whenever we see this dynamic with Clara, it’s pretty great.