Because the reason the trees wouldn't burn was their ability to control the oxygen in the air. It was explicitly stated. Chemicals don't require oxygen to react.
8x10 In the Forest of the Night (Grading/Discussion) SPOILERS!
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Because the reason the trees wouldn't burn was their ability to control the oxygen in the air. It was explicitly stated. Chemicals don't require oxygen to react.
Ah, yeah they do.
I could see that...and that makes me dislike Clara more. Though it graces on Danny's point: World's ending, they're going to die, and she's still playing games rather than admitting / facing the truth.
All chemicals do?
Given one big enough and strong enough, it could strip our atmosphere away and burn whichever hemisphere was facing the Sun at the time.
Luckily that hasn't happened, and the most we have to worry about is interrupted communications and really pretty auroras.
So the early Universe couldn't do anything without oxygen?
Agreed, it better not be that for the reasons you state.
Missy's appearance this time was particularly pointless. Why even bother including her. I guess just to show that she's always watching.
Mr Awe
I voted "weak". It was bland, forgettable, and had mediocre child actors (although for Doctor who, mediocre child actors are much better than what they usually get for child actors). This is an episode I've watched once, forget about tomorrow, and never watch again.
Are we really to believe the possibility of the trees trying to protect humanity wouldn't have occurred to either the Doctor or Missy? As I said, I had it figured out as soon as they reveal the solar flares a few minutes after learning the trees are fireproof, and I have an IQ significantly less than the Doctor's is supposed to be, and presumably less than Missy's as well. Now the Doctor we can hand-wave an excuse in as being caught up in the ongoing situation, but Missy? She would have been watching all this on her tablet in the comfort of the Promised Land. How could the idea not have occurred to her? Best I got is she was interrupted and missed the info about the trees.
Actually, you want pointless, there wasn't really much of a need for the Doctor to even be in this episode. The mystery of the forest was the solution to the problem of the solar flares, which he had no involvement in. Those fairy things would have protected the little girl from any real danger, and Danny could have dealt with anything endangering the other kids.
Ditto! Well said!
That and Danny's speech to Clara really made me dislike him and convinced me he's not right for her. Danny needs to get his own show and stop being such a drag on this one.
Mr Awe
The writers definitely haven't done a good job of making Danny likeable. Then again, they don't seem particularly concerned with making the Capaldi Doctor likeable either. It's as if the only person they really want to make likeable is Clara.
I suppose it could be a useful strategy if they're planning to turn the table on us. They could make Clara become the villain and have the Doctor and Danny fight together to stop her. It could act as a turning point for the Capaldi Doctor and Danny characters and create the foundation for a Doctor/Danny season nine minus Clara. Weirder things have happened, after all.
I suppose it could be a useful strategy if they're planning to turn the table on us. They could make Clara become the villain and have the Doctor and Danny fight together to stop her. It could act as a turning point for the Capaldi Doctor and Danny characters and create the foundation for a Doctor/Danny season nine minus Clara. Weirder things have happened, after all.
I wonder why none of the kids asked Clara how their schools old Caretaker was going to save the world.
Humans apparently forget a lot of stuff.
Why should any character be likeable? Compelling, sure, intriguing, why not, relatable, yes, but why should they be made likeable?
Moffat needs to make the Doctor, the title character on this show, the STAR of this show. Not Clara's sidekick. Moffat admitted that Clara is basically the star of the show and that shouldn't be the case. I totally agree that he needs a companion of his own and inheriting Clara was a mistake.
They didn't recognize him, because when he was the Caretaker, he was wearing an impenetrable disguise.
To be honest, I don't remember that. I might not have been caring by that point.
And magical trees are magical, how would anyone know for certain it would work. It would have been smart to show that it worked, then we would've known for sure.
I'm not sure she was pointless this time. We don't know what the point was, but I get the impression it was entirely possible she sent the solar flare.
Well, you don't have to like the episode, but, when you criticize it for plot holes, it's worth considering first if they addressed the issue when you stopped paying attention (which was apparently about five seconds after the trees were shown to be fireproof since that's when it was stated). Sometimes an episode doesn't have plotholes, it's just an episode you don't like.
Maybe they could have shown the defoliating agent being successful (or, given the timing of when things occurred, at least changed "they were trying a defoliating agent" to "they were having success with a defoliating agent."). However, the threat that it could work (with the whole "be nice to trees" commentary) would be enough to cause concern (after all, you don't really want to increase the risk of a massive solar flare destroying Earth).
All that being said, the Doctor's actions in stopping them from using the defoliating agent was the only action he took to save the day. It's the reason criticism that he was passive isn't quite accurate. However, since that was easy to miss, it was probably a good idea to make it more prominent and more clear.
I have read comments here and elsewhere. This episode has roiled up some of the viewers, including myself, yet I am sure the appreciation figures will be in the 80s. I would like the show to be centered on the Doctor; however, I think that ship has already sailed.
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