Doctor Who
Season 8, Episode 8 “Mummy On The Orient Express”
Directed by Paul Wilmshurst
Written by Jamie Mathieson
Starring Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, Samuel Anderson, Frank Skinner, David Bamber
BBC America
Air Date: Saturday, October 11th, 2014

This season of Doctor Who seems to keep turning back to the same question: “Clara, be my pal, and tell me: am I a good man?” Uttered in just the second episode of the season after a turbulent regeneration in the first, her answer of “I don’t know” seemed to echo and replay itself yet again this week. Now the question and the answer are not part of a conversational exercise, but have become central to the question of Clara’s continued friendship with the Doctor.

When Matt Smith’s Doctor said “Rule #1: the Doctor lies” more than once, it all seemed like a humorous technicality. With a pure heart, the Eleventh Doctor could be trusted to let the end justify the means, even if the means involved some purposeful misunderstanding. Now, Clara seems to ponder the full meaning of that statement since the less polished manner of Peter Capaldi‘s Doctor sometimes seems gruffly at odds with his inner intentions.