NuWho Review: Series 5 Episode 13 "The Big Bang"

By: Steven Moffat

**Spoilers**

If you have not yet seen this episode, please go and do so before proceeding.

"Okay, kids. This is where it gets complicated."

As Emily said in her review of 'The Pandorica Opens', this series finale is just epic. The first part had all of the end-all-be-all-to-end-all feel that season finales should have while this second part takes all of the themes and twists them around into a mind-boggling timey-wimey plot that will leave you scratching your head in wonder for days after you watch it.

I say that in a good way, though, as this episode can be confusing, but it's not ever to the point that things actually start breaking down. This is one of those episodes that you really cannot watch casually. It is so complex and so well woven together that any plot hole is explained with a clever line and every plot contrivance is neatly and quickly tucked underneath an original idea. Not to mention every single loose end is tied up and new ones are laid down for the new season. It's just an incredible series finale.

And talk about 'everybody lives'! In fact, in this episode, some people come back to life who had been dead. Amy comes back. Rory is un-plastic-a-fied. Amy's parents return. The Doctor jumps into the void but is remembered back into existence. Really the only person who does not chance is River, who is as much of an enigma as ever.

Personally, I think my favorite scene of all time is where Amy wakes up in the museum and finds the story of the Lone Centurion. I just get chills every time I watch it and the emotions are so poignant and powerful after all that we've gone through with these two. Especially after the gut-wrenching end of 'The Pandorica Opens'. I always cheer whenever Rory comes in to save both Amy's from the reanimated dalek. Go Rory!

The Doctor is rewinding through his life after he jumps through the cracks is one of the most understated and sad scenes ever. He quietly says goodbye to Amelia (How does an actor as young at Matt Smith manage to look that ancient and weary?!) and then resigns himself to his fate because, quote, "I've seen enough." Looking at the end of 10's life, I don't blame him for not wanting to finish the rewind.

But the episode is not content to end on such a depressing note, instead giving us the much-longed-for wedding of Amy and Rory where Steven Moffat turns the old wedding rhyme into a vital clue that Amy uses to call The Doctor back from the void.

5/5

NuWho Review: Series 6 Episode 3 "The Curse of the Black Spot"

By: Steven Thompson

**Spoilers**

If you have not yet seen this episode, please go and do so before proceeding.

        Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum! Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me! And all that jazz...

       This episode is definitely a guilty pleasure of mine. When it comes to the story, it's not very strong. There's lots of issues with pacing and all that, but it's pirates! HOW CAN WE GO WRONG WITH THAT?! Answer: we can't. There's nothing wrong with this episode if you just accept the shaky technobabble and hang on for the ride. We've got pirates, we've got sirens, we've got alternate dimensions, we've got The Doctor walking the plank, we've got Amy fencing, we've got alien snot, we've got just about everything that you could possibly want from a Doctor Who pirate-themed episode. It's definitely one that I watch again and again and it just becomes more fun with each repeated viewing.

Favorite Moments & Random Thoughts:

- This episode has one of the best openings ever with the pirates certain their shipmate was doomed for death that very night because of a small scratch on the hand. At first this seems very absurd and ridiculous (even the pirates from PoC weren't that cowardly) but then the titular curse is revealed and we hear the song of the siren for the first time. Then we know that we're going to be in for a wild ride.

- "Yo ho ho! ...Or does nobody actually say that?"

- It's Rory and Roman and Pond the Pirate! Implausible as Amy actually holding off a bunch of pirates with her fencing skills is, I do really enjoy this scene a lot. Especially since all of the pirates are so terrified of the smallest scratch. It's both funny and chilling.

- "If someone's going to kill you, it's nice when they drop a note to remind you." Man, The Doctor is so comforting to Rory.

- I really love the effect of the Siren leaping up out of the water. Lily Cole really gives a serene, ethereal performance as the seductive spirit. Is that really her singing? Because it's beautiful.

- "Look at these brilliant pirates. Look at their brilliant BEARDS! I'd like a beard. Amy, I'm going to grow a beard!" Why didn't Rory get enchanted on this show more? He's a riot!

- The Doctor equating the siren to a shark (and then the later revelation that she was a medical program) was a cool twist. What was so sinister makes an equal amount of sense as a helpful thing.

- Amy and The Doctor getting taken by the siren was quite a tense scene. It is, unfortunately, also the place where the episode starts to break down a bit logic-wise.

- The med bay was quite interesting. I do find it hilarious that the siren went all red-evil-eyes whenever The Doctor sneezed, though. She really did not like that he was leaving snotty handkerchiefs around.

- One of my issues with the ending to this episode is the question of WOULD the captain REALLY be able to pilot a futuristic spaceship? Really? There's quite a difference between a sailing rig and a rocket, just sayin'.

- Oh, and Rory died again...

- Rory's continued Kennyfication is starting to become a big problem, especially when it is used to force a climax like this. We don't believe that Rory is really in danger. Not really. We know that he's going to come back to life with little to no consequence, so why would we care if Amy saves him or not? It's not like he's going to be gone for good. 

- The scene where Amy saves him is either sad or annoyingly hilarious, depending on your level of attachment to the Ponds.

        This episode was a lot of fun. I do take issue with the ending, but it's harmless enough. I really, really enjoy all of the banter and jokes when they're on the pirate ship and (with the exception of the alien snot joke) all of the humor is very on point and funny. The Curse of the Black Spot is a 3/5.

What did you think? Do you agree with my rating? If not - what would you say differently?

NuWho Review: Series 6 Episode 8 "Let's Kill Hitler"

By: Steven Moffat

**Spoilers**

If you have not yet seen this episode, please go and do so before proceeding.

        You know, sometimes there are episodes that really make me question myself, both as a reviewer and as a fan. Episodes that all of my knowledge about writing and characters tell me are TERRIBLE, and yet the inner fangirl in me gets bossy and starts shoving to the forefront and demanding that I enjoy it and squee over it and ignore all of the problems. (Rather like those who still enjoy the wanton destruction and zany badness of the Transformers franchise, I suspect.) Those episodes are troublesome because they really bring forth the question of what is more valuable - the quality of the product or the amount of enjoyment that it brings?

      This is my relationship with Let's Kill Hitler. My brain tells me that this is an absolute train wreck of an episode that contains false advertising, a convoluted plot, and is basically Moffat's version of a Mary-Sue fanfic. That is what my brain tells me. However, the fangirl in me is all heart eyes and uncontrollable giggles the whole way through. See my problem?

      Let's start at the beginning. 

Favorite Moments & Random Thoughts:

- I absolutely LOVE the start of the episode with Amy and Rory making a crop circle to contact The Doctor. Funny stuff. Shame Mels ruins it the minute she Mary-Sue's her way into the episode.

- Okay, so I THINK I should explain a bit what I mean whenever I say that Mels is a Mary-Sue because I know sometimes people will just accuse female characters they don't like of being one and, no, I don't do that. Mary-Sue is a fanfiction term that arose from the Star Trek fandom. It is used to describe OC's (original characters) in fanfiction that are just a little bit too perfect in the eyes of their creators. These characters are usually sassy, strong, independent women with a penchant for inserting themselves into the past lives of the actual main characters where they weren't before, warping reality to revolve around them, being extremely flawed but always having an excuse, being flashy and over-the-top just for the sake of it, having long descriptions of their appearance in the most flattering tones, being someone that the audience is just EXPECTED to love, breaking the rules but rarely getting in real trouble, and basically hooking up with the main character and being someone that the author WISHES they either were or that they could date. Mary-Sue's can also appear in original fiction. 

- That describes Mels. She comes right out of nowhere, is over-the-top rebellious, has an attitude that any sensible person would call her out on, is obsessed with her appearance, falls in love with The Doctor, is shot and everybody instantly sympathizes, warps reality by being inserted into Amy and Rory's childhood where she wasn't before, and there is literally no explanation for why she has never been mentioned before or seen whenever we are in Amy's home town. Everything about her just feels like I'm torturing myself with a bad fanfic. They could use her scenes as a PUNISHMENT in The Matrix! 

- Yes I just said that. I really do loathe her character that much. It gets a little bit better once we're back to Alex Kingston (because her performance is less bratty) but Mels is still just about unbearable.

Awww...widdle baby Rory!

- That being said, I really do enjoy the little peek we're given back into Amy and Rory's childhood (also what a great friend Amy is) and the adorable way that they grow up together. Rory is just so totally besotted...but he's so sure that Amy could never notice him that he never says anything. Which, to be fair, I don't really mind that Mels was the one to get them together. I get the feeling that both Amy and Rory would be so equally oblivious and awkward that they wouldn't go and confess their feelings for each other without a bit of help. So that wasn't out of character. It's nice to have little Miss Blackwood back as young!Amy too. Those parts were just adorable and I kind of regret that we didn't get to see more of Amy and Rory when they were kids. That would have been enjoyable.

- Mels shot the TARDIS. Why? What was the purpose of that?

- "That's right, Adolph. The British are coming!" Haha...okay. That line was pretty funny.

- And it was highly satisfying to watch Rory sock ol' Hitler in the jaw, sass him, and then lock him in a closet for the rest of the episode. Good on you, Rory!

- Unfortunately, Hitler being locked in a closet is a pretty good indicator of the rest of this episode. It has almost nothing to do with Nazi Germany or the time-travel-kill-Hitler-when-he-was-a-baby question. The story could take place in 78'th Century Poosh and still be almost exactly the same.

- Rory did get a chance to be a real awesome husband and father in this episode. I'm glad to see that all of the character development building up to that UTTERLY EPIC entrance in A Good Man Goes To War was not squandered. He punches Hitler and steals motorcycles from Nazi's and takes being sucked into a giant, robotic version of Amy in a matter-of-fact, cool-as-a-cucumber way that is just so RORY.

- I think I'm in love...

- Matt Smith and Alex Kingston were as on-point as ever. They really have a lot of chemistry on-screen and they make the banter between River and The Doctor a lot of fun to watch as they dance around each other. So I do enjoy some of their interactions in this episode. I still think the Graduate joke was a bit much. That was a funny little aside joke from one episode. Don't kill it, Moffat!

- The Teselecta (forever getting confused and thinking I'm talking about the Tesseract) is a pretty cool concept. I could split this episode up into two separate stories: The Mels Saga and Let's Kill Hitler. And both would have been fine in their own episodes.

- I really like the morbidly cheerful antibodies. They weren't exactly scary, per say...but they did make me laugh even while I shuddered. It's a shame they haven't appeared again in the show. They were fun and they certainly created a lot of suspense whenever they started going after Amy and Rory.

- The fact that they're like robotic jellyfish also cracks me up for some reason.

- I'm not entirely sure what the point was of having The Doctor be poisoned? I mean...the Kiss of Death was kind of cool. Almost James Bond worthy, even. And I laugh that it was sap from the Judas Tree that did him in...nice bit of reference irony there.

- But, seriously, what was the point? We KNOW that he doesn't die here! WE KNOW THIS! So the fake-out just kind of felt like padding.

- Even if it DID give us a chance to see Rose, Martha, and Donna again. That tie-in back to the past era of the show was nice.

         I just don't know what to think about this episode. On the one hand, it's awful and painful and kind of annoying. On the other hand, it is an episode that I will watch again and again and again. Rory is awesome. Amy is wonderful. The ending is actually quite nice. But it's such a mess! *sigh* Do I review it based on enjoyability or do I review it on how well-structured it is? The answer is: a combination of the two. Because something can be extremely well-written and visualized and created, but still as dull as a brick. Let's Kill Hitler is a 3/5.

What did you think? Do you agree with my rating? If not - what would you say differently?

Who Is The Fairest Of Them All?

            

       There will be spoilers for ALL EIGHT SERIES' of the New Doctor Who in this one. So if you are not caught up and you wish to view without my opinion clogging your perception and enjoyment, this is your warning to back out now while you still can. If you are caught up and/or don't care about spoilers, then feel free to go on and scroll down while I review the eight aired series' of NuWho from least-stellar to best. Please note that this list is subject to my personal preferences and opinions. I do not claim to be the ultimate authority. I merely give my observations.

9: Series 7b

       This series suffered from two things: bland, boring characters and dull, delusional writing. Poor Matt Smith. He did not have a good final series. The loss of the Ponds was the final nail in the coffin for this struggling series and poor Clara was never given any character development outside of 'cute' or 'feisty' or 'The Impossible Girl', so she remained very flat and one-dimensional and unable to carry a weaker plot due to emotional connection alone. I honestly cannot think of a single episode from this series that I did not either loath or look on with utter apathy. It was that bad. The supporting characters ranged from utterly boring to actively annoying and the stories only became more convoluted and pointless with every step taken towards the entirely stakeless finale. What a disappointment!

8: Series 2

         There actually are quite a few good episodes in this series, so I debated to myself for a long time as to whether or not I could put it this low on the list. But then I remembered Rose sniggering about her 'first date' with The Doctor and I said yes. Yes I could. Because that was annoying as all get out and sucked a lot of the enjoyment right out of the episodes for me. 

7: Series 7a

            I have decided to divide Series 7 up into two parts, part 7b obviously being everything post Christmas Special with Clara and part 7a being everything pre-Farewell to Ponds. Series 7a was MARGINALLY better than its successor, most likely because the emotional connection of Amy, Rory, and family could carry us through some of the weaker writing, and because all of the side characters were memorable and well-fleshed-out. But that's not to say that it didn't have its share of stinkers too. Asylum of the Daleks was a HORRIBLE piece of contradictions and stupid choices and The Sign of Three, while starting out strongly, had one of the weakest and most out-of-left-field-and-not-connected resolution/climax I have ever seen in my entire life. Dreadful!

6: Series 6

        This was the year of River Song and, depending on your opinion of her, you either loved it or hated it. Personally I really enjoy the character of Professor Song (most of the time) and so I didn't take quite as much issue with it as some others may have, but I do agree that the writing was definitely weaker than its predecessor and only became worse as the series went on, making even Dr. Song herself INTOLERABLE in a couple of places and forcibly blasting plot holes into its own hull.

5: Series 3

        Poor Martha always gets such a bad rap and, to this day, I don't understand why. She should be an absolute dream. A competent Doctor who didn't take any nonsense from anyone, but also was willing to blend in when needed, Martha did indeed suffer from her ill-fated crush on The Doctor...but in the end she did the smart thing and got out, so I think we can blame RTD instead of the natural progression of her character. What is it with females and falling in love with The Doctor anyway?! But I digress. If it weren't for the painfully melodramatic and stupid three-parter finale, this series would probably be higher on my list.

4: Series 8

         I have such mixed feelings on this. On the one hand I am very happy with Capaldi's less friendly and more prickly take on The Doctor. We've had the zany heartthrob from space for long enough. It was time for a change. I am also DELIGHTED with the character growth that was given to Clara this series. It was long overdue. Unfortunately, though, the entire series built up to an ultimately unsatisfying cop-out of a finale that did great disservice to the characters in question and literally spit on the graves of YEARS of Who lore and history. Honestly the only good thing to come out of that was Michelle Gomez as The Master.

3: Series 4

         Whenever people say that it is about time to have a companion who isn't twenty-something, willowy, and looking for The Doctor to save her, I ask if they have met Donna. Because Donna was awesome and had a great character arc. Catherine Tate and David Tennant were THE DEFINITIVE TARDIS DUO of Ten's entire run. They just clicked perfectly and, together, created some of the best comedy and chemistry ever seen on this show. Donna's entire run is chock-full of excellent episodes as well, the only real clunker being the Sontaran two-parter. True things were a bit overshadowed with the return of Rose and the series finale ultimately turned out to be painful (on SO many levels) but the rest of the episodes pretty much make up for that. Donna was awesome. Never forget that.

2: Series 1

          I have no time for those who skip Nine... (Ha! See what I did there?) Seriously. WHY would you skip Eccleston's run? It had some of the best episodes, Nine was a master of sass, and Rose was actually tolerable half of the time. It built up to an excellent series finale too that put all of the characters to the test and remains, to date, one of the best television finales I have ever seen. Really my only problem with this series is Rose's persistent abuse of Mickey and the fact that sometimes the 'Bad Wolf' arc word could feel a bit...forced. Not as bad as 'The Medusa Cascade', but pretty close.

1: Series 5

         I have noticed that, since the revival of the show, most showrunners seem to run through a pattern with their series finales. The first series that they do is just about perfect. It will be epic and funny and heartbreaking and everything that you should wish for...and then the next ones will become worse and worse as they go along. That is what happened with Russell T. Davies and that is what I see happening with Steven Moffat. Because Moffat and Smith's first series was...well...I know the word is overused, but there's no better word to use. It was epic. The characters were well-developed, the stories were intertwined perfectly, and it all culminated into a finale that managed to be both cosmic and personal on multiple levels of intrigue and emotion. I honestly don't think that it can ever be re-created or topped. It was just that good.

NuWho Review: Series 8 Episode 12 "Death In Heaven"

By: Steven Moffat

**Spoilers**

If you have not yet seen this episode, please go and do so before proceeding.

          I'm calling foul on the technobabble in this one...


Favorite Moments & Random Thoughts:

-  "The dead outnumber the living." 

- No sure how I feel about Missy (okay, okay...The Master) flirting with The Doctor so much. On the one hand, The Master has been doing that for a while and it clearly messes with The Doctor's head. On the other hand, WHY DO ALL OF MOFFAT'S FEMALES HAVE TO LOVE OR BE ATTRACTED TO OR FLIRT WITH THE DOCTOR?! Seriously! Only Jenny and Vastra didn't, because they don't swing his way, but The Doctor STILL got to kiss Jenny!

- "Don't salute. Don't do that. You'll give yourself a concussion...which rather explains centuries of military operations when you think about it."

- I'm also calling foul on the validity that is the entire world agreeing to work together and elect The Doctor Commander in Chief in case of an alien invasion. Uh...yeah. Suuuure.

- Okay. So what is it with Moffat and killer precipitation? First the evil-snow-of-boredom in The Snowmen and now rain that can convert people into Cybermen? Somehow I'm not buying that, even with Time Lord technobabble stapled onto it. Nope. No. That just sounds dumb. I like the idea of converting the dead, but they should have found a different way to do it.

-The scene in the morgue gave me flashbacks to the made-for-television film.

- "...I have a non-Gallifreyan daughter created by a genetic transfer..." AAAA! Squee! They really need to bring Jenny (not Vastra's Jenny) back somehow.

- The meeting between Danny and Clara almost ripped out my heart. Though, it does hold shades of Amy and Auton!Rory from The Pandorica Opens.

- Whatever happened to the Cyberman canon that the reason for the emotional inhibitor was to keep the human brain from going mad, because being inside the suit is too much to take? Why are you messing with long-established, excellent canon, Steven Moffat? I love Danny...but that was bad writing.

- HOW were the upgrades transferred via water? How?! EXPLAIN! EXPLAIN!

- The scene with the Cybermen climbing out of the graves made me laugh.

- Osgood was SLIGHTLY less annoying in this episode than she was in the 50th. But only slightly. I have to say that I wasn't too sorry whenever The Master killed her.

- Though...what exactly was the point of the "I'm going to kill you." scene? Aside from giving Michelle Gomez the chance to mug into the camera, that is?

- So...if all the graves on Earth are being opened, does this mean that Amy and Rory are now Cybermen too?

- The scene with The Doctor skydiving to the tune of cheesy Bond-esque music was absolutely hilarious. I laughed and laughed. I don't say that as a good thing, though. Kate Stewart had just fallen to her apparent (and sudden) demise, but we were given no time to feel the loss.

- That being said, Capaldi's Doctor is a badass!

- I am glad that they actually had the guts to make Clara erase Danny's emotions. That was too perfect a set-up to not use. And excuse me while I go and watch a bunch of cat videos on YouTube to cheer myself up.

- The Master is now officially Evil Mary Poppins. Ha! She and Mrs. Foster from Partners in Crime would get on well!

- "Oh go on! Crack a smile! I want to see those eyebrows drop off!"

- Finally we got a speech from The Doctor that was both humorous and dramatic and reminded us that he's not a big, tragic hero. He's just a traveler passing through and helping out where he can. Thank you, Moffat. (Now if you'll only stick to that story...)

- Danny even got his own Aragorn/William Wallace speech. Har har har...

- I still wish his soldier saga had been executed a bit better.

- Burning clouds in the sky...WHERE have I seen that before? *sticks out tongue*

- They turned the Brigadier into a Cyberman. They turned THE BRIGADIER INTO A CYBERMAN! WHAT? WHAT? WHAT?!

- At least he saved Kate, though...

- This episode had a Return of the King ending. It just kept going. And going. And going. I will say that I like the part where they lied to each other about their happy endings, just to avoid hurting the other, and then hugged for what seems to be the last time. If this is indeed Clara leaving the show, then I'm glad she had a leaving where she just stopped travelling instead of dying or being trapped or something. Maybe she and Martha could meet up for coffee sometime?

- And what, exactly, was the point of Father Christmas turning up on the TARDIS? Hmmm. Maybe it's a lead-in to the Christmas Special? Yeah...

          This was a good episode. It had little of Moffat's usual excess and actually managed to touch me emotionally instead of just being annoying. Clara has developed into a truly delightful character and I feel like Danny's heroic sacrifice (and then saving that child) was a good wrap-up to his arc. I REALLY want to see more of this Doctor and Master! Pretty please, Moffat? Death In Heaven is a 4/5.




What did you think? Do you agree with my rating? If not - what would you say differently?

What I Want For Doctor Who Series 9

      For those of you who have not yet seen Dark Water, PLEASE DO NOT READ THIS! It's nothing personal, but you seriously do NOT want to have that spoiled for you. So go and watch it before proceeding. I'm dead serious. SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS!

       If you are still reading this, I assume that you have already seen the first part to the Series 8 finale of Doctor Who. If not, well, you were warned. Spoilers are your own fault at this point.

       MISSY IS THE MASTER! WHAT? WHAT? WHAT?! I did NOT see THAT coming! I seriously thought that she would turn out to be The Rani or Romana or something like that. Needless to say, my head just about exploded whenever I realized just WHAT or (more importantly) just WHO she was. AAAAAA!

     So, supposing that Missy doesn't die in the series finale, what I REALLY want is for Clara and Danny to get their happily ever after and then for The Master (er...Mistress) and The Doctor to form a tentative, grumpy alliance while they go in search of Gallifrey together. Sort of like Magento and Professor X working together grudgingly to stop Mystique in X-Men: Days of Future Past.

     Come on! Wouldn't that shake up the dynamics a bit and make things fresh and interesting? Just imagine the conversations!

Doctor: "Hang it all, Kosch! I told you: don't touch anything!"

Missy: "I don't have much of a choice. You drive like a blind, geriatric, DRUNK platypus. Did you even ever pass your driver's exam?!"

Doctor: "No! Of course not! That exam was...it was part of the stuffy section of Time Lord council."

Missy: "Along with their terrible fashion sense?"

Doctor: "I wouldn't talk if I were you. You wore worse during that little meeting we had with the Eye of Harmony over in America."

Missy: "Bugger. Why couldn't you have forgotten that instead of how to work the brakes?!"

    Now how awesome would that be?!

NuWho Review: Series 8 Episode 11 "Dark Water"

By: Steven Moffat

**Spoilers**
If you have not yet seen this episode, PLEASE go and do so before proceeding. Seriously. Go. You do NOT what to have this spoiled for you.


          WHAT? WHAT? WHAT? WHAT? WHAT THE WHAT? WHAT? WHAT IN THE GOOD GREEN EARTH DID I JUST WATCH?!

       Okay, so first off there has been quite a controversy about this new series of Doctor Who. I don't know how much you all follow the news in the media and all that, but there has been rather a stir all throughout this new series that the show has grown too dark and scary for children. Excuse me while I go and re-watch The Brain of Morbius and Mind Warp, because this has NOTHING on Classic Who!

      I will say this, though. I was scared by the Cybermen for the first time in YEARS while watching this. It wasn't quite pee-your-pants, dive-behind-the-sofa scared...but they actually seemed like a credible threat for once! And Missy...just, wow. I take back what I said about her being bland and forgettable. That was all washed away here (haha...water puns...sorry). After the disappointment of The Name of The Doctor and the ridiculous, unnecessarily-complicated mess that was His Last Vow, I have been less than pleased with Moffat's series finale work of late. So I was exceedingly nervous going into this one. Series 8 reminds me of Series 5 (IMNSHO the greatest series ever of New Who) in that it had a lot of great episodes, a couple of not-so-great episodes, and only really one that can be classified as a total stinker. And Moffat actually seems to be delivering for the season finale. I am late in getting this review out only because I watched the episode and then had to go think about it for a while before watching it again and finally figuring out what I thought about it. (aside from the all-caps babbling at the top of this review...that was my initial reaction).

     So what did I think of it? IT WAS BLOODY AWESOME! Not once did I guess where the story was going and, despite a confusing beginning that tricked me into thinking we were getting more of Moffat-by-the-book, the episode thundered on ahead, hurtling towards its cliffhanger conclusion with scarcely a slow moment even to breath. It left me short on breath! It made me think and jump and squee and sob! It blew my mind! It was exhilarating!


Favorite Moments & Random Thoughts:

- Danny! No! We were just starting to like you!

- The Doctor keeps his TARDIS key inside a copy of The Time-Traveller's Wife.

- I love how the cloister bell tolls every time one of the keys are melted. But, wow, Clara really went off the rails!

- "I'm dead? I'm not dead!" "My most sincere condolences." Now where have I heard THAT before...?

- The dead in the tanks of water slowly moving remind me uncannily of the Silents from The Wedding of River Song.

- Why was Missy bothering to masquerade as a hologram interface? Or IS she a hologram interface? After all, The Master DID turn into a little grey slug thing and infiltrate the mechanisms of a Californian ambulance once...

- "Hello? I hope you are well. How may I assist you with your death?" 

- Clara's face whenever The Doctor is being kissed by Missy almost makes up for the fact that Missy is yet another Moffat female who is apparently attracted to The Doctor.

- We FINALLY got an answer to who Danny killed. That was actually, kind of anti-climatic. Maybe it will be brought back in the next episode?

- "What's with all this swearing?" Aaaand THERE'S your Malcom Tucker showing, Doctor. Good job you keep him internalized.

- The moment that door shut and the Cyberman theme began to play...I threw my slipper at the screen and spent a bit of time chanting "NOOOO!" But, I have to say, the cybermen were actually slightly intimidating again. I'm shocked.

- "Humankind...bring out your dead!" Did...did they just make a Monty Python reference?

- Missy = Mistress = The Master. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

- To be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about having a Time Lady Master. It's been established in canon ever since The Doctor's Wife that Time Lords CAN occasionally change genders whenever they regenerate, so on the one hand it is cool that they decided to exploit that for The Doctor's most personal opponent. Michelle Gomez is also excellent in the part now that she's actually being given something to work with. Yay! But, on the other hand, I feel like this is going to make a lot of people clamor all the louder for a female Doctor next time he regenerates. Personally I feel no great need for a female Doctor (ESPECIALLY not until we get some companions and secondary female characters who are actually interesting and well-developed) because the character is fine as is. Now if they wanted to cast Idris Elba as The Doctor...yeah. I would be all behind that. But I digress. Missy looks to be an interesting character and I'm excited to see what they do with her in the next part of this story.

- The moment when Danny pushes Clara to cut off their connection because he realizes that if he confirms that it is indeed him, she will probably kill herself. Curse you, Moffat!

- So...is Danny a Cyberman now or what?!

         This episode has just utterly turned everything I've been feeling about these characters and story lines on its head. Clara was interesting and tragic. Danny was heroic and tragic. The Doctor was horrified and tragic. Just everything was tragic and scary and disturbing and...and everything that I have wanted to see from this show for a LONG time. I am glad that Capaldi looks to be pushing things darker again. We need some more stories that focus more on telling good tales and building up good characters and moral quandaries rather than just timey-wimey set dressings and a hastily slapped together script. This is good. This has real potential. For the first time in a long time, I have found myself really becoming immersed in this show. That hasn't happened since the Ponds left. Wow. Just...just wow. Let's pray that we aren't let down in Part 2. Dark Water is a 5/5.




What did you think? Do you agree with my rating? If not - what would you say differently?

NuWho Review: Series 8 Episode 9 "Flatline"

By: Jamie Matheison

**Spoilers**
If you have not yet seen this episode, please go and do so before proceeding.

        This episode was like...like everything that Fear Her SHOULD have been. Never before has the 'smudge' tool on photoshop been so terrifying.

       I think part of the reason I've always hated Fear Her so much (aside from the irritating presence of Rose) was because it just felt like a massive blunder and a waste of a great idea. The idea of being controlled/sucked into a drawing on a paper like a type of two-dimensional voodoo doll should have been creepy. And, here, that idea is refined and re-woven to give us a pretty cracking good episode.

    One thing that has been interesting this series has been Clara's relationship with The Doctor. Because of her insistence on keeping up her job and home life and his radical personality swing towards Old Grump, their relationship has been tumultuous and rocky. Which is nothing but a good thing, character-wise. It has, however, made it so that they work well as a team but often quarrel. And in this episode Clara is given a chance to step into The Doctor's shoes because he is trapped in his TARDIS. She has to take control of the situation and use what she has observed and learned on her travels with The Doctor to keep her cool and work things out, something that both reminds us of the difficulties of The Doctor's normal job and helps Clara to understand him a little bit better.


Favorite Moments & Random Thoughts:

- "These readings are very 'ish-y'."

- I feel like I've seen a shrunken TARDIS somewhere before...maybe in Classic Who. Seth? Can you remember?

- Why did that community service worker follow Clara and start spewing forth information about his aunty or gran (can't remember which)? Normally whenever I see people acting strangely I just let them go about their business, not offer up stories from my personal life. That just felt weird and almost put me on the wrong foot with that character.

- "I'm, um, I'm The Doctor!" "Don't you dare!" Hahahaha!

- "I love a good locked-room mystery."

- The Doctor being a sulky child while Clara usurps his usual position and scolds him is just precious.

- Ugh. Why did they have that awkward and strange phone-call to Danny? At least he didn't assume the worst...but what exactly was the purpose?

- The 2D creatures sounded a little bit like recordings of humpback whales whenever they were talking.

- Green Shirt Guy#3 had the most epic death scene EVER whenever he was grabbed by a giant, stone hand and dragged backwards through the tunnel, shrieking all the way. I know it was supposed to be scary or something, but I was practically sobbing with laughter the longer it went on.

- I appreciate the Addams Family reference...it was one of the most strangely adorable TARDIS scenes ever. Reminded me of a mutated, blue-shelled snail.

- That dimensional box-thingy that the TARDIS eventually turns into looks like a mini Pandorica.

- Rule #1 is 'use your enemies' power against them'? I thought it was 'The Doctor lies'.

- "Clara, my Clara. I HAVE chosen well." Okay, Missy. Are we ever going to find out what's up with you? Or is it just your job to lurk in postscripts and spew vaguely cryptic sentences every once and a while?

        All in all this episode was good fun, had a few legitimately tense scenes, and did wonders for furthering the great character development Clara has been given this series. I really think that it will hold up to multiple future re-watches as well and, if I may say so, was something that I enjoyed even more than Listen. It felt fresh and new and also capitalized beautifully on the before-untapped potential of Fear Her (I can't believe I just said that...) Flatline is a 4/5.




What did you think? Do you agree with my rating? If not - what would you say differently?

NuWho Review: Series 8 Episode 10 "In The Forest of the Night"

By: Frank Cottrell-Boyce

**Spoilers**
If you have not yet seen this episode, please go and do so before proceeding.

     This episode felt like something out of a modern Red Riding Hood tale...and it was AWESOME! Easily my favorite episode of this new series and newly one of my favorite Doctor Who episodes of ALL TIME! Now everyone who has read on this site for a while knows that I am a sucker for fairytales...especially fairytale references or fairytales retold in a new and exciting way. So, needless to say, this episode was right up my alley.

      But that doesn't guarantee that I would like it. Remember, I close to loathed the Robin Hood episode and that is one I should have LOVED. This episode, though, had great atmosphere that, along with beautiful cinematography and fun characters, just made for a fun, fun ride. The imagery alone of London covered in a thick layer of trees is interesting and the story kept us all guessing as to who the real culprit (or villain was) but was gripping enough to keep attention on the screen. I'll also say that the kids in this episode were what made it. Giving Clara a job as a teacher was probably the best thing ever done for her character as it seems to be the catalyst for pushing her forward as an actual person rather than just eye-candy there to make 'witty' remarks. I actually spent quite a bit of time squeeing over Clara in this episode, which is something I NEVER thought I would get the chance to say.


Favorite Moments & Random Thoughts:

- The Doctor and children is something that is always perfectly adorable. The kids in this episode are written WORLDS better than Courtney the Annoying Brat.

- "That's the problem with being the last of your species...no one to ask whenever your TARDIS won't start." Or, y'know, it could be because you threw the manual into a supernova, Doctor.

- I didn't know that having a sleepover at a museum was an option. I'm also disappointed at the lack of Night at the Museum jokes!

- What I want to know is why, whenever Danny, Clara, and the kids are wandering around, why don't they run into dozens of other people wandering around and staring at the Sleeping Beauty-esque forest? Huh.

- "The government emergency program, Cobra..." Why do I suddenly feel the urge to scream 'COBRAAAA!' and start singing the GI Joe theme song?

- This episode is great because it's a forest and the Sonic doesn't do wood.

- "Farewell to the Ice Age, say hello to the Tree Age." 

- I'll bet Sexy is laughing at The Doctor's distress over the band of 'rugrats' that are now inside the TARDIS.

- What exactly was the purpose of having Maeve's mother going about looking for her? I get that this was supposed to be emotional and all that, but she literally added nothing to the plot. It was just kind of pointless.

- OH MY GOSH THE FAIRYTALE REFERENCES IN THIS EPISODE WERE EPIC!!!!!!!!!!


- Danny fending off the tiger with a torch like it's a gigantic kitty was the best.

- "Class project: save the earth."

- Clara keeping on her game face and smiling as she walks with Danny and the children to the picnic she thinks will be their last on Earth just so they wouldn't be scared and would have a good final memory...that made me want to cry. I am officially in love with Clara. That was one of the sweetest and bravest things a companion has ever done.

- MISSY! *shakes fist* WHAT IS UP WITH YOU?! Not that I'm interested...it's just nagging at me. If she's going to be at the end of almost every episode, then surely she serves some kind of purpose? One would hope?

         In case you couldn't tell, I really, REALLY liked this episode. It had a kind of magical feel to it that calls to mind Blink or The Doctor's Wife and the characters were all a lot of fun. The kids were adorable, Clara and Danny finally got caught kissing, Danny figured out that Clara was lying but was perceptive enough not to fall into the typical romance clichés about it, and The Doctor was absolutely brilliant. I know I didn't say a whole lot about this one...but you really have to see it to understand. My words will not do justice. In The Forest of the Night is a 5/5.




What did you think? Do you agree with my rating? If not - what would you say differently?