Doctor Who in Review: Listen

WARNING: SPOILERS

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Now that that's out of the way...

Right after watching this episode, as the credits were rolling, all I could think was 'I need to watch this again. Right. Now.' I've since watched it twice, and plan on watching it again tonight with my wife (she's been too busy with Grad school to sit down for the episode since it aired). This is definitely one of my favorite episodes of Doctor Who, if not my absolutely favorite. From the acting to the directing, from pacing to the music (or lack of music at times), this episode did everything right for me.

Capaldi was brilliant. We really got a good look at the twisted side of the Doctor here. Yes, he's always been a bit mad, yes he's always been a bit eccentric, but we really saw his character take those traits to the extreme--we watched him latch onto an idea and throw his own personal safety to the wind. He weathered a breached environmental seal, potentially dying there at the end of the universe, all for the chance to know whether the creatures were real--to speak with them. He's been a mad, eccentric man before, but this episode he was a bit insane.

And I loved it.

I'm enjoying watching Danny and Clara's romance develop, as well. They're both wonderfully awkward and insulting and perfect for each other. I'm thinking that in a couple episodes, we'll finally see Danny go on a trip somewhere with Clara and the Doctor. Still waiting for the conflict of the ex-soldier Danny and the 'I hate soldiers' Doctor this season. They're putting that on a slow burn, not throwing us into it right away, which is working really well.

Clara herself continues to impress me this season. Sure, in series 7 they did talk about her being a teacher every once in a while. But now, in series 8, we're actually seeing her act like a teacher. It's a part of her personality now. And I think it's brilliant.

The ambiguity of the 'monsters' in this episode is really refreshing. We don't actually know if they exist or not. Yes, the ending reveals that Clara was that 'monster' for the Doctor when he was younger, but that could simply be the trigger that got the Doctor to obsess over the idea of the real monster. Personally, I think the episode works better if there actually is no monster, but the possibility is open. I'm hoping they leave it be--I'm happy thinking that it was all in the Doctor's head. It fits perfectly throughout the entire episode that the monster isn't real--except for the figure beneath the bed sheet in Rupert Pink's childhood room. Sure, they said 'well, it could have just been another kid playing a prank,' but that doesn't quite satisfy me. Most of that scene would have been a bit too awkward/unbelievable from the pranking kid's perspective.

One theory I read over on Reddit delved into an intense timey wimey explanation that the figure beneath the sheet was a future Clara, after realizing she needed to go back to that point to ensure that sequence of events happened--since she's already experienced it. I don't know if I buy that, or if it will ever be necessary to reveal, but it isn't quite Doctor Who without some wild, unfounded speculation. It could tie into some kind of finale, similar to series 5 with Matt Smith's 'accidental' costume change in "Flesh and Stone." Unlikely, but fun to think about.

But wait, you say, what about the similar dream that everyone has? So many people share that dream of a hand grabbing their ankle from beneath the bed. Sure, Clara accounts for the Doctor's 'dream,' but what about everyone else? A really cool option, also found over in /r/Gallifrey and linked to "The End of Time," was the idea of the Untampered Schism. In "The End of Time," it is revealed that the Gallifreyan High Council planted the sound of drums into the Master via the Untempered Schism. If the Doctor saw the Untempered Schism after this experience with Clara, he could have accidentally projected his deep-seated fear into it and spread that experience across time and space. His 'dream' then became everyone else's dream. It fits fairly well. I doubt it's anything that will ever be covered or answered in any way, but again, a fun thought.

Some people have complained about how the hell Clara was able to visit Gallifrey to see the Doctor as a child because it's time locked (sure, that barn might not be on Gallifrey itself, but that's a whole 'nother discussion). Someone pointed out something so simple that I've gone ahead and made it my own headcanon. It's a fixed point. The only reason the Doctor has obsessed over this monster under the bed is because Clara was there that night in the barn, so she had to go there to be with the Doctor that night. It had already happened. It couldn't not happen.

For my parting thought about this wonderful episode, I wanted to touch on a little bit of Capaldi's characterization which has left me grinning since "Deep Breath." And that is the Doctor's complete lack of interest in Clara (romantically) this season. Not only is he not interested, but he seems to be too absent-minded to understand anymore. He's constantly making little quips about her appearance, and not in a demeaning way--it's as if he's finally thinking more like an alien and just not quite understanding human beauty anymore.

Doctor: I need you for a thing

Clara: I can't.

Doctor: Oh, of course you can, you're free! More than usually free, in fact.

Clara: No, it's just possible that I might get a phone call.

Doctor: From the date guy? It's too late; you've taken your makeup off.

Clara: No, I haven't! I'm still wearing my makeup.

Doctor: Oh, all right. You probably just missed a bit. Come on come on come on!

Also, check out the behind-the-scenes of the episode!