I knoooooow I really liked her!! She was like an in-canon Whovian, which was what I thought when I saw Day of the Doctor but now with the bowtie it's like totally confirmed. And holy crap Missy/Master was amazing and everything was amazing and holy shit was I the only one who saw what they did with the opening credits right after Clara claimed to be the Doctor? Like that had be freaking out reeeeally bad and I wasn't sure how to feel but I'm kind of glad she was lying because I feel like it would be a step too far if it was true but holy jeez she was reeeaaally good at bluffing and she also claimed she knew the Doctor's name so like between that and everything else she knew about him does that mean she actually remembers all that shit like from Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS and Name of the Doctor? And oh my god when I thought for a second that she really was the Doctor and she said that Clara was a lie she made up, the Cybermen said that her birthday was November 23rd and that she picked that date especially because she liked it so much. ...HAH.

Also Seb. I really really liked Seb. Why did he have to die. D:

Oh and that whole soldier subplot? I can't believe they actually pulled all that shit together in a way that I actually really really liked. Noteworthy: This means that the Doctor has been the temporary president of not one, but two planets. Holy shit.

Also when Missy mentioned the galactic coordinates to Gallifrey, I actually recognized those numbers and reacted before the Doctor could even say anything. I apparently accidentally memorized Gallifrey's galactic coordinates, which I'm pretty sure were only mentioned in one other episode ever. I am a huge nerd.

Oh and holy shit the Brigadier. THE BRIGADIER. I... I... I just can't words.

Also, remember before when I was fangirling cuz my OTP went canon? Well the first time even I was kind of like "Well, technically, the Master kissed the Doctor while the Doctor kind of cowered against the wall, so it wasn't exactly mutual" but this time HE KISSED HER so yeah I am the happiest shipper in the world right now.

Does this mean that November 7th is the Doctor's birthday? Man hell if I know, but fans will probably celebrate it anyway.

Also, it took a good 3-season break to realize how much I missed the Davies formula of having an ABSOLUTELY HEARTBREAKING season finale but then letting the last couple seconds be a complete wtf moment and then having the credits roll like "yeah we ain't explaining nothing till Christmas".

Speaking of which, did you read the credits? The guy who played Santa is named Nick Frost. ....That's kind of too amazing to be true. It's like that man was born to be Santa. Holy shit.

Also, I think they kind of broke the 4th Wall towards the end. ...That's something they haven't done in a while. I'll add that to the list of things they've brought back from Four's era because wooooow. o.o

The moment when you realise some people don't know who Nickfrost is....Have you heard of simon pegg? if not, Then have I got three movies YOU NEED TO WATCH...It's called the cornetto trilogy....hmmm-hmmm. Go watch...now, and also paul. Nick frost is lovely. Also, he probably was born to play santa. I wouldn't be surprised if he is...

It does really punch you in the face with one thing, and that is they really love to use moments out of context. Like, most of the trailer was completely out of context. But that's fine

Also, Seb died squealing...nice. Well, he didn't die since he was an AI but still...

I was sure the whole scene Clara was bluffing. Since, her being the Doctor would make no sense...but her birthday is a nice touch.

when they showed Danny was an cyber man, I just paused "Well shit"

Yeeeaaaah but, I mean, I can't get mad at the writers for that one. That's the marketing team's fault. They should... probably be ashamed of themselves. Especially since there was PLENTY of crazy trailer-worthy shit in that finale. There was no need to screw with us like that.

And, I mean... I know Seb's an AI, but, like... he's still dead, and, given the circumstances, I don't see him coming back... at all. But, I guess it is nice that he died squealing. Because he is just that awesome - it's an appropriate way to go.

I just still can't believe they killed off the in-canon Whovian. She was awesome. The very fact that she existed was awesome. D:

I wasn't sure whether or not to believe the whole Clara thing. On the one hand, you're right, it doesn't make any sense. On the other hand... it sounds like something Moffat would do. Also, like I said, they changed the opening credits just to put the finishing touches on the facade. ...I was really glad she was bluffing, though. It let the moment be awesome without coming across as a really stupid twist that makes less sense the longer you think about it.

Honestly I was expecting them to put Nick Frost in Doctor Who at some point. He and Simon Pegg are ALWAYS a duo in shows and movies, so ever since Simon Pegg made an appearance during the 9th Doctor I've been waiting for them to put Nick Frost in somewhere.

As for the whole Clara = The Doctor thing.
Don't you guys remember the episode with the 2D world where the Doctor was trapped in the Tardis and Clara used the chance to bluff as the Doctor (aka the very episode Kaga has in her sig)? I just thought of her claiming to be the Doctor in the last episode was a teaser/reference to that.

As for the dead whovian? Yea that does kinda suck... :/
Unless if she's such a whovian that she actually made herself a timelord and has regenerated... :P

Oh, I'm well aware of the reference to Flatline. It's not like it was something that happened a good handful of seasons ago, and I'm fairly certain it's pretty fresh in everyone's memories. In fact, looking back on it, it's pretty clear build-up to this episode - as Flatline established that Clara is kind of already turning into the Doctor, as his personality traits are starting to rub off on her. Therefore, she can imitate him very well.

However, one could also argue that Flatline would make the whole Clara-is-the-Doctor thing more convincing at first, since it has been shown that she can pull off the Doctor so well - well enough to actually be him. That's one of the things that was running through my mind when I was still debating whether or not I could believe what had just happened.

Also, and this is the part that I think is slightly annoying... They've kind of pulled the exact same fake twist twice so far. Like, the "I'm the Doctor" line was used with pretty much zero context in a teaser trailer for Flatline. That got me really interested in the episode, and I kind of praised it for being a fantastic teaser trailer since it did exactly what that sort of advertising is supposed to do - get people interested. Really interested. Granted, what actually happened in that episode was far from any of the barely-fleshed-out theories that my imagination came up with right off the bat. But, the episode was still really enjoyable and, given the circumstances, it was fun to think of Clara as the Doctor, even if it was made clear that she wasn't really the Doctor, just... a close substitute. So, I didn't feel like the trailer was being misleading.

But then in Death in Heaven, it was really clear that Moffat wanted us to think he was being for-reals this time. The dramatic pause immediately after that line as they cut away to the opening credits, and the fact that the animation for said opening changed to show Clara's face instead of the Doctor's showed that pretty heavily. It was almost like Moffat actually thought to himself, "Hmm... we can't trick them with that line alone. We already did that, so they'll think we're just bluffing again. How can we really trick them? Oh, I know, we'll change the opening theme. They won't think that we did that just for a trick like that. Especially not in a season finale!" ...But they did.

Like, part of me wants to be annoyed with the fact that they felt the need to mindfuck us that hard when it didn't even have nearly as good of a payoff as what happened in Flatline, as this was just Clara bluffing to a bunch of Cybermen and Moffat trying to play it off as something bigger. ...On the other hand, another part of me wants to laugh at the fact that they went to such great heights to try to trick us into thinking that was a thing, especially since they changed the opening credits. Part of me thinks that is just the most hilarious thing ever. ...So yeah.

In all seriousness, though, I'd like to state that the finale did still sort of continue the theme of Clara kind of being the Doctor in terms of personality. He definitely has rubbed off on her. Like, let's look at what they have in common now...

-Loving adventure to the point of coming off as almost addicted to it.
-Being fucking terrifying when angry.
-Plotting elaborate schemes to get what they want.
-Acting like they own the fucking universe and all its rules sometimes when they really want something.

And probably the biggest thing of all...

Lying. So. Much. Lying. Not only does Clara lie a lot now but she's good at it. Just as good as the Doctor, probably. And she lies for a lot of the same reasons as he does: to get information, to manipulate others, and to make people think that she's totally ok when she's kind of dying inside.

It's honestly really concerning.

I honestly could just tell from the start what he was doing considering it was a directly follow up on the last episode, you say exactly what happened beforehand, you've seen Clara do the bluff before, and you know she's both good at it and has fun doing it...

Plus I may have missed the fact they added her face to the Intro.

But yea, I totally get how she's turning into the Doctor personality wise. I just didn't ever think she was a literal time lord in disguise.
(And now I have the transformers theme playing in my head, only the lyrics are "Companions, Time Lords in disguise", which kind of does work for Donna at least ).
Except the for the "Both are terrifying when angry" thing. Maybe I just don't get freaked out or intimidated easily but I can't remember a time when I'd call them terrifying. Definitely moments when they had some emotional breakdown (which are the moments I assume you're talking about) but not terrifying.

But yea, her constant lying is worrying. Especially when you consider that companions of the doctor have a history of bad things happening to them, not necessarily end unhappy or miserable mind you, but concerning none the less...

Rose & Mickey= Stuck in another Universe, but considering the people with she's probably the best off of so far.
Captain Jack = Given his previous experience before the Doctor he was probably good at coping with a lot. But he had to deal with being unable to ever die while watching everyone he knows die, and being thrown into an unknown time out of the blue, and have no idea about how his immortality happened for a while because he was basically abandoned by the Doctor.

And having watched a season of Torchwood, he is definitely a lot more cruel and calculating (though still a good person and the same Jack whovians know and love) when the Doctor isn't around. Which granted is pretty confirmed not to be the doctors fault, just that Jack puts up an act around the Doctor so he doesn't have to see that side of him, but he clearly doesn't just brush things off easily like the show might have you think.

Martha = Least damaged in terms of what directly happened, but also least good on top (Like how Rose found her dad and a proxy doctor) but her life still clearly impacted by being rejected by the doctor and having her eyes opened to the dangers of the universe,
Donna = Memory wipe, and her parents have to be extremely careful not to say anything to reminder her of what was wipe or they'd kill her.
Amy & Rory= Stuck back in time. Still happy mind you cause Rory, but they still got separated from everyone else they knew and would have had to deal with a lot of technology and social norms they were used to no longer existing.
River = Has to deal with seeing the love of her life slowly forgetting who she even is until ultimately he doesn't recognize her at all.

Uhhhh I was pretty fucking terrified of Clara when she was tossing all those TARDIS keys into the lava. @_@ Like... lots of companions try to make the Doctor break the laws of time in order to save someone they loved. That's not exactly new (Father's Day especially comes to mind). But most of the time the only real reaction I have is "Oh, honey, time doesn't work that way" with a little pat on the head. But this is like... holy shit. Clara. Calm down. I'm really really sorry, but time doesn't work that way. Please don't do anything rash. @_@

And I mean... the whole notion of the Doctor being scary when he's angry was kind of always a thing. The ending to Human Nature/Family of Blood was kind of dedicated to showing that, to give one example. Plus there's the whole "demons run when a good man goes to war" thing. The Doctor's normally a nice guy (or at least he tries to be one), but get him angry and there'll be hell to pay. @_@ Clara's acting the same way, now...

Though I think the Doctor implied that she was PMSing when he scanned her with the screwdriver and said "Yeah, you're just a big mess of chemicals right now" which is uh... wow. That's an interesting addition to the list of things a screwdriver can do.

That keys scene was one of the things I meant when I said they definitely had emotional breakdowns, but weren't quite intimidating.
Plus the whole 'Hold an item of importance hostage' routine is very common in shows where a character is that depressed.

And I guess I don't get intimidated by the Doctor because I can sympathize. He get's angry when trying to protect people, I would get the same way so it's more something I respond to in a "I get that" manner rather than a "That scares me" manner.