The moon is an egg.

The Doctor doesn't much like Clara. Clara doesn't much like The Doctor.

Things in Doctor Who Season 8 Episode 7 almost take things beyond the state of repair for these two souls, but perhaps Danny Pink knows that Clara isn't willing to give up her fun in space and time just yet. 

Watch Doctor Who Season 8 Episode 7 Online

Remember when Clara was a nanny and her wards went into space with them? I'm not exactly sure how the writing team thought that doubling down on their utter annoying behavior into one student who needed to be told she was important was going to help the show, but they did.

I'm not sure what lesson that was supposed to teach us, but Courtney's behavior hardly felt indicative of a future president. Unfortunately, I have a feeling she's not going anywhere.

Courtney Woods is a giant pain in the behind. Clara's instinct to protect her is also rather annoying. "Tell her she's special." When that doesn't seem like a good idea, The Doctor whisks them all to the moon instead. Shudder. Courtney continues to whine and at the end we find out she eventually becomes President of the United States (I suppose the constitution has been amended by that time).

Hermione Norris (Cold Feet, MI-5 for those of you who like Brit TV) guest stars as an astronaut headed to the moon to try to discover what's ailing it. It's 2049 and the world is suffering the worst natural disaster of all time because the moon has gravity. High tides are all around and that's just not good.

For some reason, there were no rescue missions to help the Mexicans (Yes, Mexican blankets and cactus littered the space station there) who died while exploring or mining the moon. They died at the hands of bacterial spiders which were rather frightening. But that's not the real story.

The real story is that the moon is an egg. Inside is a gigantic baby of sorts and Norris' Lundvik wants to kill it to try to keep the moon in tact and save the earth and Clara and Courtney think it's a cute baby that deserves to be saved. There's no explanation about how killing the creature would save earth since it's already in disaster mode, or how allowing it to hatch will affect the future of the planet.

That's because The Doctor wants to teach Clara a lesson or something. In this middle of all of this peril, The Doctor gets downright mean. He shouts at Clara that it's time to take the training wheels off of her bike and leaves her to make a decision that will impact the future of mankind.

They have a giant row (argument in British speak) about it before and after. It was hardly the best timing for him to throw Clara into the fire. He argues that it was because he had faith in her. She was minding a student of hers, one that he took onto the TARDIS, for goodness sakes. He could have chosen a better moment to force her hand.

She was especially frightened because mankind decided to kill the baby. They were prepared to do what earth wanted but she stopped it at the last second. A second later The Doctor appeared, full of knowledge about the moon and what was to come. Was he merely testing Clara? It was a very awful situation to be certain.

It turns out that The Doctor knew all along what would happen. The moon would hatch and the hatchling would immediately leave behind a new egg (a new moon) and all would be right with the world. Not sharing that with Clara might have ruined their relationship forever more.

There is a very great Doctor Who quote session that adds meat to both ends of this particular bit that Clara shared with The Doctor: 

Oh don't you ever tell me to mind my language. Don't you ever tell me to take the stabilizers off my bike and don't you dare lump me in with all the rest of the little humans that you think are so tiny and silly and predictable. You walk our earth, Doctor, you breathe our air. You make us your friend, and that is your moon too and you can damn well help us when we need it!

That's pretty much how they left things between them. It wasn't pretty by any means and it, perhaps, sets things up for their parting over Christmas. The Doctor is firmly more alien in nature and Clara human. That's as it should be.

There was no fun in this installment. This was all business with what seemed like a story set to progress the relationship between The Doctor and Clara. It did a great job of that, even if it was unpleasant. The space bit, while illogical, was still an entertaining look at space even if the story around saving humanity was a bit too emotional.

The Doctor and Clara seem to have lost their ability to adequately communicate and while painful, it's also an interesting way to take their companionship. What did you think of it all? Is this The Doctor you've been craving? Hit the comments. 

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Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.