Longtime “Who” reviewer Kelvington says tonight’s episode is not a “fence sitter,” yet he himself seems to be “slightly” on the fence.
Here’s his review of the final air version, which he saw Thursday:
Doctor Who - ListenThis episode is not going to be a fence sitter, you are either going to love or hate this one. I don't think there's going to be much in-between here. After a very zen moment on top of the TARDIS where the Doctor says the name of the episode. The episode actually starts with the Doctor talking to himself inside the TARDIS, using his chalkboards to determine why can't an animal hide perfectly. When the Doctor turns away his chalk goes missing for a moment only to discover that the word "listen" has been written in his own hand writing on a chalkboard. It's a very clever opening, it's also a scene where if you love Capaldi, it's brilliant, if you don't, then the scene will drag a bit.
Now through a series of flashbacks, we get to see the stumbling first datie of Clara and Mr. Pink, and man are they terrible at dating. Clara must really, really have a lot of lady wood for Mr. Pink because wow is this a terribly awkward date, it doesn't end well, the scene only lasts about two and half minutes, but it's a lot like watching the most uncomfortable moments of "Seinfeld" where you really want to cringe and look away, but you can't. Except here, it's not that funny.
Finally, after what seems like hours the Doctor shows up to take Clara on an adventure. He puts the TARDIS in her bedroom, because he doubts she will be needing it, and then off they go. If you want to understand what budget cuts mean, the last few episodes have shown this. When you put the TARDIS in a cupboard, or a bedroom, it's incredibly easy to build a bit of those sets right in front of the actual door that leads to the TARDIS interior.
You don't need to cheat the door when opening it, you don't need special outdoor lighting, you don't need a green screen shot. You just move a wall and a few bits in position in front of the actual door. This saves the production budget some real money not having to do a scene outside, away from the studio, and then trying to cover the fact that the interior set is no where near where the outside box is. In this case you just take the portable TARDIS into the bedroom set, and then just take bits of the set to the door in front of the TARDIS interior. It looks great, and it's really not cheating. I like that they are doing this, despite it being a cost cutting maneuver.
We now get to the crux of what you will either fall in love with in this episode or hate about it, the basic premise. The Doctor postulates that maybe we are never alone, maybe we always have a silent companion with us, a shadow, or something. There's two ways to roll the dice here, one way says the Doctor is off his rocker and has been on his own two much, and has come up with this daft idea. The other is, this is an attempt to create something that's not exactly like the weeping angels, or the silence, or the vashta nerada, because you know... shadows. So it comes down to the concept that everyone must from time to time have the exact same nightmare, you wake up scared, and something grabs your leg from under the bed.
The Doctor plugs Clara into the telepathic circuits of the TARDIS, (i.e. a new bit on the console that we didn't know what it did) she gets a bit distracted by her failed date and the TARDIS ends up in Mr. Pink's childhood where they interact. Or as he is known as a kid, Rupert. We get to see the Doctor roll out his psychic paper to be able to wander around what appears to be a children's home care facility. Clara finds her way into Rupert's room and they discuss the dream of being grabbed from under the bed.
At this point there will be a lot of discussion about what happens in this next scene, is this the elusive creature the Doctor was going on about, is this a child playing a trick on Rupert, or is this something else entirely? It starts with "something" sitting on the bed covered by the duvet. Which Rupert, and Clara try to politely interact with, it's roughly shaped like a small person under the covers. The Doctor turns on the light in the corner of the room and searches for "Wally" in a non-Wally book (Waldo for Americans).
While the lump in the duvet remains. Not over reacting, or doing something very banal while a potentially dangerous creature is near you, is one of the best way to build up the tension of the scene. The Doctor appears at first to be completely nonplussed by this moment, tries to build Rupert by telling him being scared is good.
That said, the obvious answer to deal with a creature under your covers is to... wait for it... turn your back on it, and promise you won't look at. I'm pretty sure this works with lions, and bears, and rampaging elephants as well. This moment seems lifted from "Raiders of the lost Ark" where it's best to not actually look at the thing that scares you, to give it a chance to get away without being seen. This is not my favorite moment in the episode but it's an interesting approach. We catch a tiny glimpse of the grey like being as it takes the bed spread off, or it could have been a kid in a Halloween mask. Clara then devises a way to make Rupert feel safe using ARMY men toys to protect him, and then off we go.
Clara now shows up in the restaurant just after she leaves to go home to meet the Doctor and tries to fix the problems she and Mr. Pink had on their first dinner date. Which includes the fact that obviously Clara and Mr. Pink will be getting married (warning sloppy foreshadowing) and as their conversation starts to end up in the same place it did at the start of the episode, an astronaut shows up, to take Clara away. They get into the TARDIS and Clara is scolding the astronaut for messing up her date, who as it turns out, is NOT the Doctor but, astronaut Awesome Pink... no relation.. well no relation to Clara, except we obviously know this is Mr. Pink and Clara's son or grandson. Timey Wimey.
Turns out that Awesome who is from one hundred years in the future, was found at the end of time, because in a hundred years on Earth humans discover time travel, and accidentally shoot Awesome Pink to the distant future where he lands on the last planet, or should I say "the last planet" in the universe. I wonder if he ever ran into the Master and a female Malmooth named Chantho? Because I thought that was the end of the universe as well. So many ends... so little timelines.
At the end of the universe Awesome Pink is still scared of something that isn't there in plain sight. He doesn't wish to spend another night in his ship, so Clara takes him into the TARDIS where he will be safe, so she and the Doctor can spend time in Awesome's ship, waiting for something to show up. Noises start to be heard inside the ship, with probably perfectly prosaic explanations. Right until there's a knocking at the air locked door. The air lock is breached by nothing we can see, the Doctor is saved by Awesome, and Clara flies the TARDIS to a familiar place.
If you have enjoyed the episode up until now, you are going to freaking love the ending, if you haven't liked it, this is going to seem just a bit too clever. Personally, I love this, on a lot of levels. I think it's important not to forget that even the Doctor has a past, and a child hood. And even though Moffat calls Capaldi the "first" Doctor... even the first Doctor has a childhood. Clara lands the TARDIS in a farmhouse where a small unseen child is crying, under the covers, on a bed, as Clara goes to talk to him, two guardians approach to try and talk the boy into coming back into the house to be with the other boys. Who knew the Doctor was in a children's home? Clara now under the boy's bed is listening as she thinks she's hearing another set of children's home caretakers trying to talk to Rupert. In the end, it's not Rupert's bed she is under, it's that of the Doctor's. Crying, sad, (presumably broken by looking into the untempered schism) they discuss his future in the ARMY, and that of becoming a timelord.
Clara now a bit desperate to get back to the TARDIS, sees a pair of legs hit the floor, and instinctively grabs one, instantly aware of what's she has done, she convinces the child Doctor to just go back to sleep and she leaves and gets into the TARDIS. She convinces the grown up Doctor to just leave this place, leave and never check where they have been. They do, and as they do, we flashback to see that the speech the Doctor gave to Rupert about being scared, is now mirrored here in the end by Clara to the young Doctor. The next few moments are flashes of Clara and the young Doctor, the Doctor in his TARDIS, even the War Doctor, and Clara's first kiss with Danny.
I think there will be a lot of discussion about this episode. Does the Doctor always know about Clara and Danny's link? (yes) Is there really ever a creature, is Clara always the creature, maybe even as a child? Or was it just another kid in Rupert's room, despite the fact we see the duvet come off the creature's head, still could have been Clara or another child in a mask? Was there something really trying to get into Awesome's ship? Or was it merely a set of malfunctions? I like that there aren't any real answers here, I like that this could all have been Clara's just fulfilling a predestination paradox. I liked the way the episode was shot and the pacing of it.
I'm not a fan of the terrible foreshadowing, it's not really foreshadowing if you say EXACTLY what will happen. Foreshadowing is suppose to be vague, a hint, a nod to what's coming. Not actual exposition that explains what's down the road. And I didn't catch any "Promise Land" here, which was a good thing. If you take out all the foreshadowing of Clara's future relationship, it's a perfect episode. That said, with it left in... I'm just ever so slightly on the fence.
