In the Forest of the Night - Reaction and Discussion Post [SPOILERS!]

[jjpor]

Tyger tyger, burning bright...Well, tonight's episode of New Who Series 8 certainly looks interesting. I just hope the Doctor can see the wood for the trees

Comments

[eloriekam]

The 1970s called. They'd like The Seeds of Doom back. Actually, let me change that. Can we have The Seeds of Doom back instead, if we're going to have a 'science-y' episode?

Crazy/bad science on DW doesn't usually bother me as much as it did today, but yeerrrggh, even though I enjoyed the forest very much, I was cringing a lot.

[jjpor]

I don't really get that annoyed by bad science in Who, because they basically have always winged it since the very early days (cf. David Whitaker and his obsession with mercury and static electricity), but I can imagine if you are somebody who gets annoyed by that (and there are plenty of fans who do) this story would have been absolutely horrendous. It wasn't just bad science, it was some sort of magical-realist science vacuum.

Having said that, the character stuff was interesting and is setting us up for something horrible, I'll bet, in the season finale.

[eloriekam]

It wasn't just bad science, it was some sort of magical-realist science vacuum.

Exactly my problem. I'm a Star Trek fan; I don't get to complain about technobabble. I just want it to make sense or be consistent in that world, which may be the show universe or the planet of the week or both. For example, if they'd set the story on another planet, I might have been able to keep suspending my disbelief. I don't expect perfect science from my TV (good thing!), but if someone doesn't know the rules, they can move the location and make stuff up, like everyone else has been doing since forever.

I should probably watch another DW ep so I'll stop thinking about this one. ;)

[persiflage_1]

The science was terrible - but the various interactions were fascinating. The Doctor's with Maebh; Clara's with both Danny and Twelve; Twelve's with Clara when they're in the woods (seriously Doctor, you're flirting with her now? "strangely compelling masculine figure").

And nice FX!

[jjpor]

That's pretty much my take on it - the plot was no great shakes, and the science wasn't so much bad as non-existent (although I must be a bad science fiction fan because that sort of thing generally doesn't bother me at all if it serves the story), but the character stuff was good and all of the regular actors (and the kids too, to be fair) gave a good account of themselves.

And having seen the trailer, I now can't wait for next week...

[persiflage_1]

I'm normally willing to suspend my disbelief by the tiniest of threads - but this week? It snapped. Just - no!

Yes, the child actors were great.

The finale is going to be REALLY dramatic!

[ravenskyewalker]

I continue to love Capaldi's Doctor. The rest was... meh. I'm really tired of Sam Anderson's attempts to act as Danny and would very much like him not to be around in S9; the Clara/Danny thing has just annoyed me.

[jjpor]

Capaldi is worth the price of admission alone, I would say.

And judging by the next week trailer, I'm starting to think that Clara/Danny will not be an issue by the time this season is over.

[ravenskyewalker]

I had a chance to watch BBC America's midnight repeat, thought, "No, I really don't need to see this one again soon," but then went and rewatched anyway, just to get my Capaldi fix. heh heh

ETA: Oh, and that preview!! I'm now officially terrified what these last two will bring. It's not that I'm terrified for Clara, because I'm not as utterly fascinated by her as the series wants me to be (cast Capaldi as the Doctor, then focus on Clara? really??), but I'm really worried about what it'll do to the Doctor, because I know he loves Clara more than he thinks he should.

[wunnerwmn]

I'll let Nathan Fillion give a dramatic interpretation of my reaction to the storyline:

[liadtbunny]

The story was naff, but I liked it:)

With Clara making a song and dance about the Dr not calling a kid special in KtM and this week saying she doesn't think her class of "gifted" kids are special, I think Clara's under the influence of Missy who is in fact.....the Black Guardian!! I hope so I don't want to dislike Clara.

I agree with ravenskyewalker the Dr is more into Clara than he lets on. It's not going to be good for him - espc when she nicks his keys - worried! The Dr may want to approve her boyfriends and have them be a version of him, but she wants to control him too. They're increasingly bad for each other.

I think the moral is to listen to others, but not to forget to listen to yourself too.