I liked the awkwardness of the soldiers when the captain said to search them. The were hesitant since Clara was underdressed and soaking wet. There would be no way for searching her body--for weapons, devices--to not come off partially sexual. "Yes, I know. She's a woman. Now search her."

Do you think there was any significance in the offspring Skaldak mentioned being a daughter and not a son? Was it one of the early clues that Clara was going to become like The Doctor? Skaldak's daughter was at the beginning of her journey to becoming like her infamous warrior father.

some similarities between The Doctor & Skaldak
1) assumed their species was extinct
2) Ice Warrior v man who pretends not to be a soldier (when he totally is) and has been said to have "ice in his heart"
3) finds out his people are still alive
4) could have blown up a planet but chose not to
5) is one of the most legendary person of his species
6) are aliens
7) are more technologically advanced than humans
8) mentions a daughter v mentions a granddaughter the previous ep
9) sang the songs with daughter v sang the songs with granddaughter (took Susan to Akhaten where everybody sings)

Songs have been very important in The Doctor's relationship with Clara. In this episode the professor sings and asks about bands. Clara sings a verse. And Skaldak talks about singing.

Yeah, I like my ocean adventures to be a bit more ocean-y.

We really need an arc set deep in the ocean. The ocean contains 50-80% of life and 99% of living space on Earth. And only 5% of it has been explored by humans. We know more about outer space than we do about our own planet's ocean. The lower levels of the ocean are what space looks like without stars. Total darkness.

I haven't gotten to watch all of s9 yet (despite meta-ing the hell out of Face the raven, Heaven sent, & Hell bent) so for all I know that's what Before the flood/Under the flood are about.

I thought the submarine nearly sinking was scarier than Skaldak. Don't get me wrong, I loved his character and think he is very formidable. It's just the thought of going into the no-man's land of the ocean is SCARY. We have no idea what is down there. All we know is nobody that doesn't already live down there could survive it.

When you do rewatch season 8, make sure to revive each episode thread.

Do you think there was a special reason Cold War was one of the two memories with Clara that The Doctor referenced in Hell bent?

Yeah, I've seen season 7 & 8 a lot. Can't get enough of Whouffle. I've only seen half of season 9 so far.

This episode was heavily referenced in Under the lake/Before the flood. Now I have to think about all the ways they tie into each other.

The immediate similarities are 1980s military and being submerged & trapped in a ship.