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8X04 "Listen" Grading/Discussion)(SPOILERS!

Grade "Listen

  • Attack Eyebrows!

    Votes: 67 48.9%
  • Amazing

    Votes: 39 28.5%
  • Okay

    Votes: 22 16.1%
  • Bad

    Votes: 5 3.6%
  • Terrible

    Votes: 4 2.9%

  • Total voters
    137
  • Poll closed .
[BTW, mighty convenient that telepathic interface. :eek: Pretty much any Companion can fly the TARDIS now, given a couple minutes instruction!

Those circuits have been around for years, but that didn't help Tegan any when she tried piloting the TARDIS.
 
I came in here to ask why Moffat has to make everything so bloody terrifying. But the ending was actually reassuring for a change. Unlike Silence in the Library, for once, there's nothing scary in the dark. It's just your own fear of the unknown. I'm OK with that.

The little moments otherwise were pretty good. It seemed that paragraph in the opening post was a real struggle to explain the episode, but the ghosts of past and future part was correct. Plus, Clara managed to reach Gallifrey.
 
In the end, my only question is, what brought all this on to begin with?

You mean, what caused the Doctor's fear in the first place (Clara) or what got him thinking about it (all by himself too long, Transcendental Meditation on the TARDIS roof is clearly not for him)?

Oh, and - the psychic paper's back! Yay!

Yeah, it was mostly "What set him off on this creatures hiding over our shoulders obsession in the first place"?

I guess in the end, we've learned another reason why the Doctor shouldn't travel alone.
 
I voted ok, but its probably more like between ok and bad (so more of a "meh"). The creatures weren't scary, and the Danny/Clara stuff was not very good. This wasn't horrible, but it was extremely mediocre and its the first episode of Capaldi's that I can say I didn't really like at all.
 
In the end, my only question is, what brought all this on to begin with?

You mean, what caused the Doctor's fear in the first place (Clara) or what got him thinking about it (all by himself too long, Transcendental Meditation on the TARDIS roof is clearly not for him)?

Oh, and - the psychic paper's back! Yay!

Yeah, it was mostly "What set him off on this creatures hiding over our shoulders obsession in the first place"?

New regeneration, new opportunity to think about it? Maybe the last couple Doctors have been trying to forget it instead. Maybe it's Clara's voice that's been triggering it. Who knows?

Okayish episode but inconclusive. So the whole thing was just everyone's imagination? It made no sense.

I don't think ambiguity is the same thing as making no sense. It's just as likely if not more likely that it was a "misunderstanding" (mostly imagination, but, obviously, Clara grabbing the Doctor's leg was real and possibly another orphanage boy playing a prank was real). Certainly, there's no way to disprove something that's perfect at hiding. But it wasn't shown to exist by the end of the episode. Instead, it was just us being afraid in the dark.
 
A lot of people are annoyed that Clara showed up in the barn to reassure a young Doctor. I can see their point of view, but it didn't bother me in the slightest. Why it worked (at least for me) is because Clara is my favorite companion of nuWho. She might be my favorite companion ever if Ace wasn't so darn lovable :D

As for the episode itself, I really enjoyed it, and like someone else above me said: I felt this was the first really strong episode with Capaldi as the Doctor. I wasn't a fan at The Doctor's bickering in last weeks episode, so it as nice to see the Doctor relatively grim in this episode.

So of course I gave it "Attack Eyebrows." :)
 
I was fine with the tie-in. And how does it contradict anything about regeneration?

The Eleventh Doctor told Amy and Rory that Timelords and their ability to regenerate came about because of their exposure to the time vortex when they were wondering how Mel had developed that ability. As far as I remember he did say Timelord and Mel certainly didn't go to the Academy so this separation between Gallifreyans and Timelords as suggested in this episode is a contradiction.

No, he told Vastra that. "Prolonged (emphasis mine) exposure to the time vortex. The Untempered Schism. (And) It didn't just happen." A moment later, he added, "You can't just cook yourself a Time Lord."

In the wider DW mythos (lonemagpie, check me on this), regeneration requires the following ingredients:

Artron (time vortex) energy (aka the glowing orange stuff)
Artificially produced self-replicating biogenic molecules (read: nanites)
Lindos, a natural Gallifreyan hormone that's produced in moments of extreme trauma that sets off the whole process

The young Doctor survived exposure to the Untempered Schism, made it through the Academy and (when he was declared a Time Lord) was given the molecules and infused with enough concentrated artron energy for twelve extra lives.
River/Melody, OTOH, had gotten only "one hell of a start" at being a Time Lord - she was infused with artron energy from her conception. The rest (Gallifreyan Time Lord DNA=lindos/nanite molecules) I can only assume was the result of samples taken from the Doctor when he was literally wasn't looking (The Silence) and then infused into baby Melody after her birth by Madame Kovarian.
 
A lot of people are annoyed that Clara showed up in the barn to reassure a young Doctor. I can see their point of view, but it didn't bother me in the slightest. Why it worked (at least for me) is because Clara is my favorite companion of nuWho. She might be my favorite companion ever if Ace wasn't so darn lovable :D

The biggest thing here is Clara didn't do anything superhuman by reassuring the Doctor. For starters, had she not scared the Doctor in the first place, she wouldn't have needed to reassure him (although I'd argue she only did that because the Doctor had made her so terrified, which he did because she scared him). Second, all she did was parrot his words back. It was smart thinking, but nothing too superhuman (of course, he was parroting her words, but that's Moffat for ya).
 
I was fine with the tie-in. And how does it contradict anything about regeneration?

The Eleventh Doctor told Amy and Rory that Timelords and their ability to regenerate came about because of their exposure to the time vortex when they were wondering how Mel had developed that ability. As far as I remember he did say Timelord and Mel certainly didn't go to the Academy so this separation between Gallifreyans and Timelords as suggested in this episode is a contradiction.

No, he told Vastra that. "Prolonged (emphasis mine) exposure to the time vortex. The Untempered Schism. (And) It didn't just happen." A moment later, he added, "You can't just cook yourself a Time Lord."

In the wider DW mythos (lonemagpie, check me on this), regeneration requires the following ingredients:

Artron (time vortex) energy (aka the glowing orange stuff)
Artificially produced self-replicating biogenic molecules (read: nanites)
Lindos, a natural Gallifreyan hormone that's produced in moments of extreme trauma that sets off the whole process

Maybe for Time Lords but we know that Kastrians and Minyans can also regenerate.
 
Good, enjoyable but not amazing. The weakest one so far, but not bad. It was interesting to see the Doctor to form a hypothesis and start a quest. Very different than most stories where he stumbled in.

The hijinks with the various Pinks was funny/interesting. I think we were supposed find it profound, but it didn't venture in that territory.

Rather a plot convenience that the TARDIS could travel to Gallifrey even though it is still lost. Also, never before has the Doctor been able to travel into Gallifrey's past.

I would've rather have followed the Doctor through on his quest to it's end rather than have it aborted the way it was. That felt unsatisfying.

It seemed like this was the germ of a great episode with good ideas and creepy locations. But, each one was aborted before it went somewhere very interesting. The one at the end of the universe could've been an entire story!

Mr Awe
 
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So, did the episode imply that Danny and Clara will have at least one child together?
Her becoming pregnant could be the reason why she will leave?
 
So guess Moffat's Grand Plan for turning the series into "The Adventures Of Clara Featuring Some Old Bloke" is complete.

Hooray?

It wasn't that bad. I wasn't wild about the story for other reasons, but the scene with the young Doctor and Clara wasn't set up to be the all important reason that the Doctor does what he does. In fact, he was probably asleep and Clara is just a forgotten dream. Parents will often talk to their children as they fall asleep and it's generally forgotten.

No big deal.

Mr Awe
 
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This was the first episode I really didn't enjoy.

I wasn't impressed with Capaldi tonight, he was trying too hard tonight. Really getting annoyed with Clara's snide remarks to Danny and the anti-soldier storyline they're pushing. Don't care for the Doctor/Clara insultfest and not impressed with Danny so far. Also annoyed at Clara stupidly hiding information to the Doctor about knowing Danny.

The revelation that the kid was the young Doctor was cool though and always like seeing more of the War Doctor. But I didn't like inserting Clara AGAIN into the Doctor's personal timeline in Moffat's effort to make Clara THE MOST IMPORTANT COMPANION EVER. Observation...she's not.
 
Not really understanding what all the controversy is about in this one, but I thought it was fantastic. I was worried at first it would be just another run of the mill horror episode, but thankfully it got more and more interesting and twisty as it went along. And the suggestion at the end that it was actually Clara who triggered this entire journey of the Doctor's to begin with (at least the journey we see in this episode), was absolutely brilliant.

And I don't really see this as Moffat suggesting that Clara was the only factor in the Doctor ultimately becoming what he was or anything. Just that she was a very small presence in the back of his mind perhaps. Which is a pretty cool possibility I think.
 
Rather a plot convenience that the TARDIS could travel to Gallifrey even though it is still lost. Also, never before has the Doctor been able to travel into Gallifrey's past.

Well technically it was Clara who traveled into his past, with the Doctor never stepping out of the TARDIS (and we've seen before that the TARDIS is a safe haven when it comes to time paradoxes and what not).

And seeing as one of her splinter selves had actually been on Gallifrey at one point, it's always possible Clara's psychic energy was able to get them to cross over briefly to wherever the planet is now.
 
A bit of a boring, nothing episode, with the monsters lacking the agency of the silence of the angels, the return of the impossible girl (which is a shame after the decent characterization in the last two episodes) and a bit of decent witty dialogue.

Pretty much sums up my views.
Me too. A few interesting moments, good to see John Hurt again, and would certainly be creepy for kids, but just didn't reach me.

Point to ponder the barn from TDOTD was supposed to be a long, long way from anywhere. How did the kid get there, and how did the adults know about it?

Point to ponder 2: as someone else said, how could Clara visit a Gallifrey not only timelocked but in a different universe? One not normally accessible?
 
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Point to ponder the barn from TDOTD was supposed to be a long, long way from anywhere. How did the kid get there, and how did the adults know about it?

All Rose/Bad Wolf said was The Doctor parked the TARDIS a long distance away, as if he did not want the TARDIS to know what he was going to do. So while The Doctor may have trekked for hours to reach the barn from one side, it could just be a half hour walk from civilization on the other side.

Point to ponder 2: as someone else said, how could Clara visit a Gallifrey not only timelocked but in a different universe? One not normally accessible?

We have no idea how timelocks work. Maybe all it took was to disable the TARDIS's safeties. Besides, its been shown repeatedly that the timelock can be broken. Dalek Caan, Rassilon and The Moment all managed to circumvent the timelock.
 
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