BOOK OF LISTS - RANKING THE MASTER - PART 6

And so, we reach the end...



MISSY

Admittedly, Missy was difficult to accept. For some reason, I did not like the idea that Time Lords could change genders when they regenerate (forgive me if that causes me to appear sexist). Yes, there had already been any number of discussions about casting a woman as a Doctor - but it was all talk. It hadn't happened yet so I could stay happy in my theory that male Time Lords always stay male and Time Ladies are always Time Ladies. Even when it's mentioned in The Doctor's Wife that the Corsair could, sometimes, be a woman - I took that more as the Doctor just talking nonsense (Eleven was quite good for that).

But then we get that big revelation at the end of Dark Water. The Master has done what I never wanted a Time Lord to do. This is truly it: Gallifreyans can have sex changes without major surgery. And they've demonstrated this fact through the Time Lord I least wanted to see do it!

Still, that revelation was made in a totally awesome manner. Giving us the most stupendous of cliffhangers. But even if the whole thing hadn't been done in such a spectacular fashion, I knew I needed to give a proper chance to this new incarnation of what I feel is the greatest TV villain (and one of the best villains, ever) before passing judgement.

 I was so glad I kept my mind open!

I think what I love most about Missy is just how truly unique she is from her predecessors. Not only is she a different gender -  but her character, in general, is handled very differently from the rest of the rogue's gallery that she's a part of.

There are, of course, many traits that make her so different. But there's two that I really want to home in on:

1) Cameo Appearances:

Do you remember the flashback sequence in Caves of Androzani? All these floating heads of the Fifth Doctor's former companions are calling out to him and telling him not to die. And then, suddenly, the Ainley Master appears and tells him to do the exact opposite. And it would seem that it's the goading of his enemy rather than the support of his friends that compels him to survive.

It's a cool sequence for various reasons. One of them being that it was great to just see the Master do a cameo. Up until then, if the Master appeared, it meant we were going to get a Master Story. It was so cool to just see him pop up briefly in an adventure that wasn't really about him.

Amazingly enough, no one thinks of doing this again until Deep Breath. But when Missy does appear at the end to greet the deceased cyborg, it's a magnificent moment that builds up all sorts of intrigue. Missy's cameos throughout Series Eight become the main arc of the season. Which gives her a real presence in all kinds of episodes that aren't properly about her. It's a great device that causes those final two episodes of Series Eight to be all the more poignant. 

That device gets used again but in a different way throughout Series Ten. Even though it's not revealed that Missy is inside the Vault until Episode Six, her presence is still felt throughout the first half of the season. Whatever mystery lies within the Vault is discussed quite heavily in each episode. Little clues that insinuate her presence are given throughout those first five episodes, too. Like the way the piano music gets excited when the Doctor tells her he's got a story about teenagers dying.

Of course, after it's revealed that Missy is in the Vault, her cameos increase. The latter half of Series Ten focuses quite heavily on an attempt to reform her. Once more,we get to enjoy Missy in small doses throughout those episodes. Only in the season finale is she featured more fully. Again, it's done very effectively.

I love that Missy is used in such a manner. It gives us the same effect as the notorious Delgado Season without actually over-using the villain. We really feel that we know Missy because we've seen so much more of her. But we haven't gotten tired of her. It was a great way to involve her in the show.


2) Character Growth:

Easily, the trait about her that I love the most. This is, in fact, the thing that made her climb to Number One on this list. In his other incarnations, the Master is more of just a foil to the Doctor. An anti-thesis, if you will. He represents the exact opposite choice the Doctor made.

Because of this, the character stays very constant. Yes, he tends to go more and more mad as he gets older, but there's still no real sense of growth to the character within each incarnation. The Delgado Master, for instance, seems like the same person in Frontier In Space that he was in Terror of the Autons. He has neither progressed or regressed at any point. He's this very suave-but-evil man who seems to seek some sort of approval from the Doctor as much as he wants to destroy him. That sense of consistency has a certain entertainment value to it. But it would have been nice to see him be a bit more three-dimensional. To, maybe, see him learn a lesson or two from his experiences. Or even soften a bit in later adventures (perhaps he actually shows mercy to one of those people he uses on a regular basis by allowing them to live rather than killing them once they have fulfilled their function). Or anything that indicates the years have changed him a bit. But he's still just a repressed sadist throughout his entire era. It almost seems like he's grown a bit at the beginning of The Sea Devils, but we see in later episodes that it was all just a front.

This is not another attempt from me to criticize the Great Delgado. I could use any incarnation that we've seen and make the same point (in this sense, you can't pick on Roberts too hard - how much character growth can you put into just one appearance?!). The idea of trying to get the character to evolve a bit has just never been explored.

Until, at last, we reach Missy.

The first sign of character development happens during that huge twist at the end of Death In Heaven. After building an unbeatable Cyber-army, she hands control of all her forces over to the Doctor. Never could we imagine any other versions of the Master doing this. The fact that Missy does indicates that the character is going to go in some very different directions than her predecessors.

The evolution continues in Magician's Apprentice/Witch's Familiar as Missy sets out to, specifically, save the Doctor. Yes, there have been alliances between the two of them over the years. The Master was even influential in saving the Doctor in his trial during Ultimate Foe. But any time he's been helpful to his arch-rival it's because he stood to benefit from the gesture in some way. This is the first time the character has acted out of sheer friendship. She's still quick to point out that she's evil - but we can see Missy continuing to move along a redemption arc.

Of course, a key aspect of Series 10 is that final journey that Missy takes to become truly good. While she's very shaky, in places (particularly as she starts interacting with her previous self), Missy does choose to stand at the Doctor's side at the end of her time. Her journey does complete itself.

Even if she had, ultimately, chosen to remain a baddie - watching a character that has always remained constant go through an evolutionary process of some sort was an absolute delight. There's a lot of things that I greatly enjoyed about Missy. But it's the fact that Moff decided to take her through a character arc of any sort that sets her above all the rest. It completely re-defined the rules of the Master. It even offered us a little hope. No matter how genuinely evil a person may seem, there's hope they can change for the better. It's a bit beautiful, really. An adjective I never thought I could attach to the character.


Final Thoughts...

Some of you who have followed this may have been noticing a certain inconsistency, here. A few entries back, I complain about the Simm Master being so crazy. That the New Series Master really shouldn't keep moving in that direction. But Missy is quite openly mad, too. Shouldn't I be just as bothered by this?

Yes, I should. But, somehow, I'm not. I think it's how Michelle Gomez plays the role that gets me to be okay with it. Simm seems to go too OTT with it whereas Gomez is more controlled and measured. She just gets it to work even though I really would like the character to go in a different direction. Moff's writing probably has something to do with it, too. A lot of her dialogue seems to indicate that she's quite aware that she's out of her head. And, somehow, that keeps the camp that Simm over-indulged in down to a bare minimum.

Michelle Gomez has announced that she intends to leave when Capaldi leaves (or, at the very best, she'll come back to do a regeneration scene). I'm saddened, of course. The only thing that would make her cooler is if she did an Anthony Ainley and played against several Doctors. But, like his/her greatest adversary, changes must happen from time-to-time. We will get a new Master and/or Missy soon. I don't envy the replacement. They have big shoes to fill.






And thus concludes our annual end-of-the-year countdown. Enjoy what's left of 2017, folks. I'll see you again in the New Year with new subjects to be pedantic about...


The other posts in the series: 

Part 1: 
https://robtymec.blogspot.ca/2017/11/book-of-lists-ranking-masters-part-1.html

Part 2: 
https://robtymec.blogspot.ca/2017/11/book-of-lists-ranking-masters-part-2.html

Part 3: 
https://robtymec.blogspot.ca/2017/12/book-of-lists-ranking-masters-part-3.html

Part 4: 
https://robtymec.blogspot.ca/2017/12/book-of-lists-ranking-master-part-4.html

Part 5: 
https://robtymec.blogspot.ca/2017/12/book-of-lists-ranking-master-part-5.html





Didn't get enough of the Master? Here's a whole special series I wrote about him a while back: 

Part 1: 
http://robtymec.blogspot.ca/2016/10/chronologies-and-timelines-master-part-1.html

Part 2: 
http://robtymec.blogspot.ca/2016/10/chronologies-and-timelines-history-of.html

Part 3: 
http://robtymec.blogspot.ca/2016/10/chronologies-and-timelines-master-part-3.html

Appendix A: 
http://robtymec.blogspot.ca/2017/07/chronlogies-and-timeline-history-of.html