Huffy Flounce

Half these people are baiting more than they're speculating. They're Master baiters.

If it's not him, it's the Valeyard, or the duck-pond with no ducks, or The Rani etc. etc. ad infinitum.

I need to do a better job of keeping up with Who this season. As it is I have finished these first two episodes. I liked much of the first episode, Lady Vastra and crew are always enjoyable and I liked the return of the automatons though they didn't look as cool.

The second episode was pretty bad though. Felt very much like a heavy retread of "Dalek" from the Eccleston season.

Who the hell is Missy and what the flip is "heaven" ???

Heaven is a place where nothing ever happens.

Heaven is a place on Earth.

In Heaven, everything is fine. You've got your good thing, and I've got mine.

But WHO is she?

Now this is good. Light and whimsical to start. Sense of fun. Liking this.

Also, Jenna Coleman. Wow-and indeed-ser!!!!

If they don't get an 'Everything I Do, I Do It For You" gag in here somewhere then it's a wasted opportunity.

Creepy Moffat, back on 'Blink' form?

Wait..... is that soufflé girls room? From the Asylum Of The Daleks?

I worry that I'm becoming too much of a grump.

Without going into spoilers, which I will if need be, I feel the Robin Hood episode was mostly fun but collapsed into a messy end.

Listen was mostly the same. It was pleasantly creepy and posed an intriguing mystery. And then crashed down upon itself.

Am I being to hard on Dr. Who? Does this season just suck? Am I asking rhetorical questions out loud while alone and sitting on my bed?

How do you feel the Robin Hood episode collapses into a messy end? In what way do you feel the other episode crashes down upon itself? (I haven't watched either, but I'm fine with spoilers.)

I liked the Hood episode because it showed Capaldi at his grumpy best and with the acceptance that, after all, both the Hood and the Doc are legends built on tales and myth so who is the Doc to criticise Robin Hood.

I liked how Listen looped Clara back into that 'being the impossible girl' thing from the Docs timeline in a much less OTT way than that last episode about it.

I fear that Clara is going to leave just as she is really becoming a very good character. I also fear that, with her place in the Doctor's life at this point that she will not end well.

Basically, if they hurt Jenna Coleman I will get all upset! I think I have something of a crush on her.

On the other hand, it may free up some time for her to shave her head and become a Marvel villain.

JLC makes me more happy in my pants than Amy Pond ever did. If Jakester were here he would be mind-cheating on Amy Pond every Saturday at the moment.

Robin Hood spoiler/problems first.

SPOILER: I actually had a trio of problems with the Robin Hood episode. Two of which are somewhat minor so i'll get those out of the way first. Near the beginning the Doctor is alerted to Hood by an arrow sticking into the Tardis, which shouldn't happen due to force field? Meh, a nitpick, I know. Secondly when challenged to a sword fight the Doctor uses a spoon. Not in a creative or surprising way, he just sword fights with a spoon. He does win the fight in a clever way that gets tied back to, but yeah he parry and thrusts with a spoon and it works. Very silly.

My main problem concerned the end of the episode. But first, explanation: the sheriff was using crashed alien robots to take over England. The robots needed gold to repair the circuitry for their ship so they could go home. By the end they had completed enough to power the engines but not enough to clear atmosphere and the ship would soon explode taking the earth with it. The Doctor and Robin used a bow together (Robin had hurt his arm) to fire the golden arrow tourney prize at the spaceship. The Doctor theorized this would be enough gold to complete the circuit. Previously it was shown that gold was being melted down and molded into circuitry. But apparently simply shooting the ship with a gold arrow powered it up and let it fly away.

After that the Doctor and Clara said their goodbyes and left. When the Tardis vanished Maid Marion was left standing there, a significant thing since Robin Hood brooded that she was...absent. He brooded this to Clara, who apparently told the Doctor who hopped away for a second while no one was looking and mysteriously found this girl he didn't believe to be real and then brought her back to Robin.

So yeah, maybe I shouldn't expect too much from the show but they had built up a mystery and presented it pretty well. Then, rather than solving the problem in a real fashion they just shot an arrow at it and that worked because the arrow was gold and magic. Then the Doctor presented Robin with a prize that he didn't believe in and apparently just had held captive in the Tardis.

And also Listen.

SPOILER: I pretty much loved all of this episode, the premise being that humans/sentient talk to themselves because somehow they know they are never actually alone. It was an intriguing mystery and went in the creepy direction that Who does well. There was even a really creepy scene in a kids room that also featured a very nice message about the usefulness of fear. I especially enjoyed this bit, using fear as a power source to accomplish what we need to do but are afraid of is a thing I came up with in college and I have tried to use it to help people from time to time. Anyways, all of this worked well and I was pretty much riding high as the show veered to the end of time and the last man in the universe who still locked his doors because scary things are still out there.

Creepy stuff. So in a panic they fly the Tardis away and long story short Clara ends up under the bed of the Doctor as a kid. He wakes up and in an effort to stop him from seeing the Tardis, or whatever, she grabs his foot and gives him the fear speech. Which apparently helps him not be afraid but also suggests that this whole mystery was simply the doctor being preoccupied with his own fear of the dark which was really just Clara under his bed. so mystery solved I guess and I also guess the scary blanket monster was also just some weird kid messing about.

After Time Heist and The Caretaker I am loving Capaldi, and loving Clara even more.

What about you Reg?

This series is properly dark. It's like Moffat is doing 'Blink' every single episode!!!

I've really liked the past two episodes. This season is on an upswing for me.

Decent companion with lots to do, ambiguous Doctor, darker villains, not hammering the over-arching storyline into your face every 5 minutes........ I agree!

Oooooooh! Now THIS is interesting.