This was interesting but... I feel there has to be more to it than "it was Clara." I mean, who wrote that word on the board? Who said "Listen" outside the time ship? And, most importantly, who was that under the sheet??
Depending on what happens over the rest of the season this could either be Moffat at his best (e.g. A Good Man Goes To War, where all the tiny hints and pieces suddenly fit together perfectly to form an amazing whole) or at his worst (e.g. The Girl in the Fireplace, where the premise looks clever and everything is loaded with emotion, but once you think about it for more than one second there's gaping plot holes that totally undercut the emotional impact of the story). As a standalone, it's not as bad as the latter but certainly nowhere near as good as the former.
Mysterious cold open, building up a very interesting concept.
"We probably shouldn't talk about work" meaning we shouldn't talk about a big part of our lives? That we have in common? To actually talk about and get to know each other more? Nevermind.
Clara fancied 11, who was very over-confident, and now she fancies this man who is very unconfident. Doesn't really make sense, but it's only one aspect of a person, and it does go along with her bossy personality, he's a man who she can more easier control, and especially easier to control than a being like the doctor.
Clara makes a joke about his appearance. Unrealistic and nonsensical. He also can't take the joke.
Then Danny becomes arrogant about her service in the army. At least he becomes aware of it and can laugh at it. Then he becomes arrogant again towards Clara.
These people do not have a connection at all and are not meant for each other at all.
The scene in the bedroom with the creature had some tension and was interesting.
Clara and the doctor helped instill a dream soldier fantasy into the young Danny Pink, forever altering the course of his life. His life that he will then go into war and kill people and innocent civillians. He could have been killed in the war, but instead it instilled in him trauma for the rest of his life. All thanks to Clara and the doctor.
These are horrible people.
Of course, Clara feels guilty and wants to help Danny and be connected with him because she connected with him as a kid too. It's all bad and destined for failure.
Oh wait, it just did, already. In the same conversation Clara messes up by mentioning his real name and being unable to explain.
Ugh.
Then, the episode gets so much worse. A descendant of Danny Pink's from 100 years in the future appears, and he looks exactly like Danny, and he's also (supposedly) Clara's descendant.
Ugh.
Apparently when he time travelled he had a whole base with him.
Why would the doctor say Clara would be fat looking in the future?
Oh and they have time travel 100 years in the future.
Ugh.
And Awesome Pink somehow time travelled to the last planet in the future, at the end of time.
Ugh.
Apparently invisible beings are the last beings on the last planet in the universe.
Ugh.
Now i remember why i didn't like this episode so much. It's a nonsense episode with constantly bad pay offs.
Now anyone can fly the tardis by putting their hands in the telepathic gel.
Ugh.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Wait, it gets even worse.
Remember how advanced Gallifrey is? And how powerful and complex time lord society is? Wow, imagine what the doctor's life was like as a kid, what it was like and who he was-
Wait, nevermind, he was in a barn, and everything looks medieval, and everyone acts human. Oh and the doctor cried all the time. Oh and he wasn't that smart either. Then Clara gives him horrible advice.
I get it, he's weak and cries a lot so then he wants to change so much and then does to become the person who he is now. Still don't like it.
Stupid, stupid, stupid episode with abysmal writing. The payoff to the concept of the episode is mostly nothing. Every interesting idea either goes to waste or gets executed badly.
"I don't take orders Clara"
"Do as your told"
(Doctor takes her order)
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Somehow, it gets even worse. Clara sleeps with Danny on the first date, even after how horrible it went, and cements a relationship with him.
Ugh.
One of the worst episodes to happen to the doctor's mythos, and one of the worst episodes of doctor who.
This is one of the reasons I stopped watching doctor who when I was a kid
Absolutely loved this episode. Might even be one of my favorites. Very tense and scary
The idea of a creature behind you/beneath the bed so good at hiding that no one knows it exists is actually quite good. I was hooked by the NEXT TIME and the Doctor's first scene in the TARDIS. Up until the point before they went to the end of the universe and such, everything worked well. The atmosphere was right, and the tension was all set up. I was properly terrified by that creature under the bed sheet.
But then all the interesting sparks got wasted by the dull, pedantic ending. Either it is a foreshadowing for something bigger later in the series, or this is just another idea the writer failed to make complete.
That intro was incredibly awkward, and not in a good way.
Shout by ragreynoldsVIP 7BlockedParentSpoilers2022-12-17T21:08:18Z
"Why do you have three mirrors? Why don't you just turn your head?"
"It's because her face is so wide - she needs three mirrors."