Now that the whole season has aired for most of us, what did everyone think? Me, I loved it 8).! Second best season since S4 with Ten & Donna for me
.
This is how I ranked the episodes:
Dark Water/Death In Heaven-
10/10In The Forest Of The Night-
9.7/10Listen-
9.5/10Mummy On The Orient Express-
9/10Flatline-
8.5/10Kill The Moon-
8.5/10Deep Breath-
8/10Robot Of Sherwood-
8/10Time Heist-
7.5/10The Caretaker-
7/10Into The Dalek-
6/10Thoughts On My Top Five EpisodesDark Water/Death In HeavenI think those of you who've seen all of S8 can probably guess one of the biggest reasons I liked this story so much (more on that in a bit)
. Besides that, though, I really liked the writing of the characters, especially Danny and Clara. I'm one of the seemingly few people, at least in the DW fandom at large, who really liked Danny, and found his relationship with Clara both convincing and interesting, so I was curious what direction Moffat & company would take it. My ultimate reaction to how it was handled?
. I still liked it, though 8].
In The Forest Of The Night This was just an all around lovely, enchanting story, and the environmental message it contained was an additional plus. I've always liked it when the show brings up thought provoking subjects and issues (the rumination on slavery in "Planet Of The Ood", the necessity or non-necessity of war in "Human Nature"/The Family Of Blood", cloning in "The Rebel Flesh"/"The Almost People", obsession with & popularity of reality & game shows in "Bad Wolf", violence on television & the power of corporations in "Vengeance On Varos" (a Sixth Doctor story), etc.), so that brought the episode up to a much higher level of excellence in my estimation
.
ListenI can't really add much more here, except for my mini-review of it in a previous post, so I'll just copy & paste that :]. Just an absolutely wonderful episode 8]! There were a couple of parts when I felt like this
, but ones where I felt like this
& this
, too. Also, it was a great character piece
.
Mummy On The Orient ExpressA very creepy, suspenseful episode. And for once, one of the minor supporting characters (e.g. Maisie) was actually pretty well-written, that is, was pretty layered and complex. That's been rather lacking since Moffat took over as showrunner— most of the characters in the above category have been pretty one-dimensional and flat, so to see one that was the opposite was a nice change
.
FlatlineAnother suspenseful episode. Great, unique idea for an alien, too
. And I
loved Twelve's "I am the Doctor" speech
. Very different, interesting take on that 8]. I also liked the examination of Clara's character, and the way her behavior was compared and contrasted with the Doctor's.
******************SPOILERS**************************Now, that other thing that made me like the finale story so much— the return of the Master, er, I mean
Mistress . I'd suspected for awhile that's who Missy would turn out to be, but I still squeed when she said, "Well I couldn't very well continue calling myself "The Master", could I?" I hope that flash of light was just her teleporting, rather than being disintegrated by the Cyber-Brig's weapon, because I would
really like to see Missy again
!
Those of you who've seen those two episodes, what did you think of the character's return? And what are your thoughts on the Master going from being a man to being a woman?