Well folks, it’s been a while. I wanted a more regular column but school had other plans. Did you know that professors don’t keep your free time time in mind when they assign homework? Those bastards! Anywho, allow me to give you my talk on episodes 4 and 5. The talk for 6 and 7 will come in the next couple days and after that I hope to keep up to date. if you’re a reader of this blog then thank you for your support and patience with me.
Remember, TARDIS talks have spoilers, so allow this picture of a cat eating a Dalek to be your last warning.
Episode 4: Listen
I’m torn on this episode because it wasn’t bad but it felt like Moffat was trying too hard to recreate the feeling of fear that Blink or Hide produced. The opening was good if not a little cheesy. The mediation on the top of the TARDIS was a bit much. The Doctor’s rambling scene was fantastic as we don’t get many opportunities to see him by himself in his element. I did have a problem when the Doctor was nearing the end of his speech where he mentioned that he was alone. Doesn’t he remember that he’s never alone when he’s in the TARDIS? It was something we knew well before that episode, but in The Doctor’s Wife (series 6, episode 4 I think) we met Idris who was the TARDIS! But that’s getting off point.
The next scene breaks the tension that the opening built and therein lies the problem. This episode could have been very creepy but it kept jumping around too much. Each time something creepy would happen, the scene would shift and the mood would be killed. I’m not saying that a spooky episode has to be spooky one-hundred percent of the time, but the change in tone from scene to scene bounced around too much. That being said, I still love the way Clara and Danny’s relationship is shown. Clara gets home looking defeated and then as the scene progresses, we learn why. I’m a huge fan of how Clara and Danny’s pivotal moments are told in flashbacks. It’s well done and I’m glad it wasn’t just a one time thing. Clara, once again, shows how she doesn’t think before she talks and upsets Danny and then he goes and does something very similar to upset her. As some of you may know, I write romance so I’m very critical of it. The date scene in this episode was very well done as, lets face it, fights in relationships are rarely one person’s fault. It take two to tango as the old adage goes.
I laughed when Clara found the Doctor waiting for her and even though he’s probably surprised her like that multiple times, she was still startled. I liked how cold the Doctor was when he was trying to get her to come with him. Pointing out the fact that she’s given up on going out again was harsh and it really shows the Doctors character. Smith or Tennant would have been a bit more caring that Capaldi was. The fact that Danny calls when she’s concentrating for the TARDIS telepathic circuits was just a little too perfect. I’d have much preferred another flashback at that moment to help show how Danny is on her mind and that could have easily taken them to the orphanage. The Doctor does a good job of explaining the dream he believes everyone had and the episode once again started to get creepy, but the moment was lost when the phone call happened.
What this episode really was, was a relationship episode that focused on Clara and Danny which I would have liked if that’s all the episode tried to be. It reached too far and spread itself too wide by trying to be creepy, having a large focus on the relationship, AND having a brief glance at the Doctor’s childhood. This episode would have been better split in two with each part elaborated on. One part of the episode could have been about the Doctor’s fear and maybe even dive into why he’s such a jerk. The second episode could have been about Clara and Danny and that way I could have appreciated the affect Orson Pink had on Clara’s view of her relationship with Danny.
The entire part with Clara in the barn with the young Doctor was okay but it left me with more questions than it did answers. When the man and the woman, who I assume must be relatives or foster parents for the young Doctor, say that he’ll never “make a Time Lord,” I was utterly confused. I thought Time Lords were a race of people. How could the Doctor’s fear stop him from being a Time Lord? Did I miss something pivotal somewhere along the line?
I’m very torn about the ending to this episode. I feel like it was just very anticlimactic. We had two separate stories building up, the thing under the bed and Clara and Danny’s story/Orson at the end of time. I feel like both of the stories could have been much better if they didn’t try to squeeze so much into one episode. But that’s enough about Listen, let’s move onto an episode that I really liked.
Episode 5: Time Heist
This was the episode I’ve been waiting for the whole season. Time Heist was fun, it wasn’t predictable despite how formulaic it was, and it didn’t spread itself too thin. Episode 5 took the standard heist trope and gave it a Doctor Who spin and I thought it worked perfectly.
The opening of the episode made me realize something that is unique to Clara. The past companions have always stayed in the TARDIS. True, they may have returned home on occasion, but for the most part they lived in the TARDIS with the Doctor. Clara, on the other hand, goes home after each adventure and balances her private life with her time traveling adventure life. It amazes me that she’s able to pull it off as historically the Doctors were never that great about getting companions back on time. But with that part out of the way, I loved the sudden jump from the phone call straight to the bank. It obviously added mystery to the episode but it also grabbed me right away and got me interested. I liked seeing the return of the memory worms which you may remember from Clara’s first Christmas special where Strax kept on forgetting to use his gloves when grabbing it.
The addition of Psi and Saibra just added to the classic heist movie feeling and the sheer scope of the job, including the size of the bank and the intense security, made me sit up and eagerly await what came next. The introduction of Ms. Delphox and her Teller (the thought eating alien), and the powers of Psi and Saibra further added towards the Ocean’s Eleven feeling of the episode while keeping it different enough so it didn’t feel like a clone of an episode of Leverage. The Architect was a brilliant addition but I noticed that as the episode went on, the less they mentioned him so when it was revealed that the Doctor was the Architect the whole time, it didn’t feel as impressive or important as it could have. That was my one gripe with the episode as the rest kept me entertained and on the edge of my seat.
The secret behind the atomic shredder was a welcome surprise as I was just expecting Psi and Saibra to be expendable characters and be two more casualties in this death heavy new season. But when they came back near the end to save the Doctor and Clara from the Teller, I cheered through my mouthful of popcorn. I was actually surprised that this episode was so happy over all as this has been one of the most sober seasons yet. Both times the shredder was used were very tense and I found that I actually cared for these characters I was only introduced to about thirty minutes before. This says a lot about the episode since just a few episode back in Into the Dalek I didn’t care about any of the minor characters.
The chase scene after Saibra had already used the atomic shredder, was very fun to watch. It was just another example of how the show was able to follow the outline for a heist story so well but keep it original enough to keep me from getting bored.
When the Doctor and Clara make it into the private vault and it’s revealed that Ms. Karabraxos lives there, it took me a moment to digest it. It wasn’t what I expected at all. I knew there was going to be a few twists as any good heist story has a couple, but that wasn’t one that I thought would happen. I loved how cold she was which made her turn around at the end, in her old age, that much better. It showed that there was some humanity in her after all and I’m glad that the Doctor was the one that planted the seed.
The reunion of the two Tellers was sweet and made Karabraxos that much worse as an evil character so her face turn at the end was a bigger deal. It feels like this episode was hinting at the Doctor’s promise from the first episode this season where he was talking to Clara about all the mistakes he’s made and how it was time to make amends. Karabraxos is the perfect poster child for how it’s never too late to change. She was on her death bed and managed to do some good. The Doctor’s far from his death bed so the rest of this season will show us how he plans to right his past wrongs.
As you can probably tell I was a big fan of the writing for this episode and maybe it’s because Moffat turned it over to someone else to write it according to the episode’s wiki on the TARDIS Data core website. But maybe I’m being too hard on Moffat. I mean, for all the problems people have had with his continuity issues, he’s does a lot for Doctor Who and the show is more popular than ever. The reviews for episodes 6 and 7 will come either later today or tomorrow so please stay tuned.
Remember folks. I’ve never done anything like this before so I’m still working out the kinks. Please send me any constructive feedback you have about my TARDIS Talks to billiamreviews@gmail.com. You can also hit me up with any questions or requests of movies or games to review. Remember I review games? I’ll start that up again as soon as I have more free time. Also, keep your eyes open for reviews of Maze Runner and Gone Girl which should also drop sometime this week. Thanks, as always, for your support.