So I recognize that I've probably fallen off the face of the Earth...
Just wanted to say sorry about that. I've been pretty busy. I've been working on math, French, etc. Also I realize that I've fallen majorly behind on my watching Doctor Who Season Eight -- I was intending to get back to it, but things kind of got in the way. Fortunately, I've gotten relatively back on track. Caught up with the Doctor Who episode "Listen". How was it? Really, really good! Highly recommended.
I admit that I do have a soft spot for horror, so the horror element of this episode was really well-handled. There were elements of the episode that delivered well on the tension, such as when the Doctor, Clara and Orson are listening to...whatever that thing outside on Mars was banging on the doors, and the strange noises outside. Not to mention the scene in Rupert's bedroom (to make a long story short, the TARDIS steered off course and Clara ran into him. He's kind of a little Danny, or at least that's the impression that the episode gave me) when there's something stirring under the bedspread, sort of forming under it like a person's about to pop out. And the Doctor's working to defeat it by having Clara and Rupert look away from it. So the tense, scarier moments of the episode were handled very well. And the Doctor's monologue at the beginning of the episode, and the reciting of that nursery rhyme...that was really well-executed. Peter Capaldi did great in those parts. The scene with the nursery rhyme was also pretty creepy because of what happens next -- if Orson (future descendant of Danny, I think) hadn't stepped in, the Doctor would have probably gotten sucked into Mars' atmosphere. It definitely shows a different part of the Doctor's dark side -- sort of that obsession with finding out things that can be both admirable and, in this case, self-sabotaging. Like I said, if it wasn't for Orson and Clara, he probably would have at least had to regenerate.
I also liked the glimpse we got into the Doctor's past. I heard some people didn't like Clara sort of playing a role in the Doctor's timeline again, but the way it was executed was actually pretty well-done, and Clara's speech was quite moving. It's a theme, I think, that is obvious but doesn't hurt to be repeated -- how it's okay to be afraid, and how there's nothing wrong with it. And the bits of it playing over a flashback of the War Doctor, plus bits of the end with Orson and Clara, plus Clara mending things with Danny after their disastrous date (which left me cringing at the end, but in the way Moffat wanted me to cringe, i.e. "Oh, poor Clara and Danny."). And it gives some insight as to why the Doctor would try and help a crying child besides...well, being the Doctor -- because he knows what it's like. It was definitely interesting (if at first sad, and I say at first because things do turn around in that scene) to take a peek into the Doctor's childhood. And the scene with Rupert and Clara helping him set up his toy army was a lovely scene if sad considering...basically, how Danny is when we're introduced to him (i.e. kind of shellshocked and such).
There were also nice moments of humor in the episode -- for instance, after Clara's date with Danny goes wrong, the Doctor appearing in her bedroom and asking her why she has a three-sided mirror. "Can't you just turn your head?" Also, two actually, believe it or not, when they first meet Rupert -- the first is during a tense scene with something (and we never really see what it is, which kind of makes things creepier. It's kind of a rule with stories like this -- sometimes inexplicable scary stuff happening can be pretty effective. "Midnight" was also pretty good with this, even if the focus was more on how scary the mob mentality can be. *) stirring under Rupert's covers -- shortly after Clara hides under Rupert's bed to show him there's no danger and there's this crashing sound -- and then the Doctor flips on the light to complain about not being able to find Wally (I'm guessing it's sort of a counterpart to Where's Waldo. That or I misheard him. Either way, it was good at getting me to laugh after the initial fear and tension without causing too much whiplash). And the second one is after...whatever creature there was in Rupert's room leaves and Rupert complains about his bedspread being gone, and the Doctor replies, "Humans...you're never happy, are you?" Another good tension-breaker without causing too much whiplash. Honestly? It was a great episode, and I'm glad I'm finally getting back into the swing of Season Eight.
* That's my interpretation, at least.
So overall? Awesome episode. Definitely one of the best of Season Eight so far.
I admit that I do have a soft spot for horror, so the horror element of this episode was really well-handled. There were elements of the episode that delivered well on the tension, such as when the Doctor, Clara and Orson are listening to...whatever that thing outside on Mars was banging on the doors, and the strange noises outside. Not to mention the scene in Rupert's bedroom (to make a long story short, the TARDIS steered off course and Clara ran into him. He's kind of a little Danny, or at least that's the impression that the episode gave me) when there's something stirring under the bedspread, sort of forming under it like a person's about to pop out. And the Doctor's working to defeat it by having Clara and Rupert look away from it. So the tense, scarier moments of the episode were handled very well. And the Doctor's monologue at the beginning of the episode, and the reciting of that nursery rhyme...that was really well-executed. Peter Capaldi did great in those parts. The scene with the nursery rhyme was also pretty creepy because of what happens next -- if Orson (future descendant of Danny, I think) hadn't stepped in, the Doctor would have probably gotten sucked into Mars' atmosphere. It definitely shows a different part of the Doctor's dark side -- sort of that obsession with finding out things that can be both admirable and, in this case, self-sabotaging. Like I said, if it wasn't for Orson and Clara, he probably would have at least had to regenerate.
I also liked the glimpse we got into the Doctor's past. I heard some people didn't like Clara sort of playing a role in the Doctor's timeline again, but the way it was executed was actually pretty well-done, and Clara's speech was quite moving. It's a theme, I think, that is obvious but doesn't hurt to be repeated -- how it's okay to be afraid, and how there's nothing wrong with it. And the bits of it playing over a flashback of the War Doctor, plus bits of the end with Orson and Clara, plus Clara mending things with Danny after their disastrous date (which left me cringing at the end, but in the way Moffat wanted me to cringe, i.e. "Oh, poor Clara and Danny."). And it gives some insight as to why the Doctor would try and help a crying child besides...well, being the Doctor -- because he knows what it's like. It was definitely interesting (if at first sad, and I say at first because things do turn around in that scene) to take a peek into the Doctor's childhood. And the scene with Rupert and Clara helping him set up his toy army was a lovely scene if sad considering...basically, how Danny is when we're introduced to him (i.e. kind of shellshocked and such).
There were also nice moments of humor in the episode -- for instance, after Clara's date with Danny goes wrong, the Doctor appearing in her bedroom and asking her why she has a three-sided mirror. "Can't you just turn your head?" Also, two actually, believe it or not, when they first meet Rupert -- the first is during a tense scene with something (and we never really see what it is, which kind of makes things creepier. It's kind of a rule with stories like this -- sometimes inexplicable scary stuff happening can be pretty effective. "Midnight" was also pretty good with this, even if the focus was more on how scary the mob mentality can be. *) stirring under Rupert's covers -- shortly after Clara hides under Rupert's bed to show him there's no danger and there's this crashing sound -- and then the Doctor flips on the light to complain about not being able to find Wally (I'm guessing it's sort of a counterpart to Where's Waldo. That or I misheard him. Either way, it was good at getting me to laugh after the initial fear and tension without causing too much whiplash). And the second one is after...whatever creature there was in Rupert's room leaves and Rupert complains about his bedspread being gone, and the Doctor replies, "Humans...you're never happy, are you?" Another good tension-breaker without causing too much whiplash. Honestly? It was a great episode, and I'm glad I'm finally getting back into the swing of Season Eight.
* That's my interpretation, at least.
So overall? Awesome episode. Definitely one of the best of Season Eight so far.