dstrauss

It's actually been over a year since Pink got there, apparently.

And the reason the alien threat was focused on that area of London was due to the Doctor -- he's the one who gives off artron energy. Because he has spent so much time in that part of the UK during this time period, that's why the threat was there. It's a subtle nod, but I think it ties into that whole idea of the Doctor trying to make up for the mistakes and terrors he's caused. (Which seems to tie into the whole nethersphere arc as well.)

boredsilly

I didn't watch this episode, but I think this season has lost me. Capaldi shows promise, and I don't hate anything about the show, but it's just felt like a slog to get through the Who I have watched. I've been becoming increasingly disenchanted with the show from series 7 of Smith's run (the stuff just past River Song's finale), so this isn't Capaldi's fault, but I was hoping that the new Doctor would reinvigorate the show for me. Sadly that hasn't been the case.

Xiroteus

This Doctor comes off so grumpy, not a huge fan of that aspect.

Based on what I have seen so far I'm not going to mind if this is a one and done, something just feels off.

Fist of Doom

Agreed. There was always a sense of childlike wonder to this show, and this season - so far - just doesn't have it.

riley_dude

Personally, I am enjoying the season but I haven't been a huge fan since RTD left the building.

ytrez

I'll throw a dart. Danny Pink gets killed, Clara is pregnant with his child and leaves the Doctor, Doctor picks up Orson Pink from the future to be his companion.

Ropes Pierre

it has been nagging at me where i knew the actress who plays Courtney Woods before

Cellar Door

The Valeyard

Episode 7 of 12


<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/leGP3JXSSxQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Orbi-Wan Techno

The couple of reviews I've seen this afternoon have been positive. Looking forward to it.

Keith6601

Damn, they're making it really hard to decide what is my favorite episode this season. This was another one that I absolutely loved. Except for the whole spider thing since no no no no no I don't do spiders.

Baron Of Hell

Many people are going to have moon on their face after watching this episode.

wmansir

This episode had potential but had 3 things that annoyed the heck out of me.

1. The annoying kid. Enough said.

2. The obvious and predictable moralizing. I know it's part of the show, but the moral dilemma that was the heart of this episode was completely undercut because it was so telegraphed what the "right" thing to do was, and everyone watching knew that doing the "right" thing would not result in the destruction of human kind. And that's because....

3. Magic physics. Again, par for the course, time travel show after all, but there are limits. From the start I was annoyed at mass appearing inside the moon, and the egg explanation for that was even more annoying. But then the moon breaks apart and the debris magically disappears because.. um, the Doctor says so? Then the creature lays a new moon when we aren't looking that only slight bigger than itself. To me this ending went beyond the normal deus ex machina for the show.

All that said, the spiders were cool, and the exterior shots looked pretty good as well. Clara's fit seemed more like forced drama than something organic. The Doctor's being completely dismissive about people getting killed continues. I keep expecting him to be called out on it. Maybe it ties into the heaven arc.

Cellar Door

That was ridiculous, even for this show. One of the weakest episodes of NuWho.

Josh-da-man

Oh, god, there was some shit science in there.

Aside from the physics, we were shown that the side of the Earth facing the moon was the nightside, yet when the TARDIS dematerializes on Earth to watch the moon hatch it was broad daylight.

And the moon has been there for a lot longer than one hundred million years.

And what was up with all of the abortion rhetoric?

Who the fuck was the science consultant on this? The Heritage Foundation?

Also seemed the The Doctor was being a major asshole, and acting wholly out of character on top of that. All he does is interfere with history.

Pizza

I hate lazy writing, so I hated this episode. Oh, and how convenient that the doctor can't see key moments/junctures in time. And, he can't try and guide us silly humans to the correct decision. Hey, Earth, vote by turning on or off your lights . . .oh, never mind. They couldn't even let us feel good about ourselves. Well, then, let it be the wrong decision and make things interesting rather than convenient plotting.

Xiroteus

I kind of went o.O when I heard that. The Moon has been there a LOT longer then that.

More often then not this Doctor is bothering me with his attitude.

Shannon Nutt

I must make a confession: I gave up this season after three episodes. I keep checking the weekly threads to see if things have gotten better, and they haven't. I wonder if Capaldi is as frustrated with the scripts as the rest of us seem to be.

wmansir

I didn't mind the Doctor leaving the decision up to humans. Yes it was completely out of character, but it set up an interesting idea. This was a decision that would both immensely impact and define human civilization and so it was humanity's decision to make.

Of course, not knowing that magic would save them, humanity as a whole appeared to have made the "wrong" choice. I was expecting at least a little moralizing on that point from the doctor, or perhaps a suggestion that the guilt or regret from that choice had a lasting impact on humanity as it spread across the universe. If either was there I missed it.

Regarding the abortion theme, I have to give them props for it. For a series that is full of heavy handed, leftist allegories this was relatively subtle and balanced, or even conservative. Some are saying it's pro-life propaganda, but that is only true in that the Doctor has always been for the preservation of life. In Genesis of the Daleks he even refuses to "abort" the daleks as a species. The episode also had a pro-choice message with the Doctor leaving it up to "womankind" to make the decision. Of course, we all know that "pro-choice" isn't just about supporting choice, but also supporting the choice to kill the unborn. Not surprisingly, the Doctor didn't do that, which got some upset. Personally, I think it would have been a stronger episode if it had taken the "pro-choice" option and killed the creature, or at least had negative consequences for the "pro-life" decision, instead we got a fairy tale ending.

Kdogg

The only think I take away from this episode is that the regeneration limit is completed lifted not just reset.

dstrauss

Maybe that's why he knew it would be fine -- this cycle has occurred many times in the moon's history. Just a guess.

The writing was scientifically gibberish, yes. For some reason I just laugh at it and still enjoy the episode.

Rex Power Colt-Robot Man

At least Clara had the line "ill smack you so hard youll regenerate."

Adboy151

I really want to like Capaldi -- and he's shown flashes of really good work -- but I'm so tired of the story lines and plotting at this point that may need to take break from the show.

Superman07

I really enjoyed the episode. It was tense and rather unpredictable. I find that SciFi is really strong when it is used as an allegory for social issues, so I though the abortion theme worked quite good.

I know the words "fixed point" were not said, but that's how I took the explanation. So I don't understand why everybody is saying it was a convenient plot device to have the Doctor say he can't say the outcome. It's been established before.

I did like how Clara reacted. It seemed genuine and I hope it's something that sticks. However, it was convenient after Danny just said as much last episode about not letting the Doctor push her too far. At this rate, I expect Clara will be gone by the Xmas special.

Shazam

Gee, I've been enjoying these episodes.

I think a lot of people just want the happy prancing Doctor back.