Listen

[clocketpatch]

"Listen"
…
"Why is there no such thing as perfect hiding?"

I get the Doctor's hypothesis here. If something is so good at hiding that it can never be found, never seen, never sensed in anyway at all – how do you know it exists? And if a tree falls in a forest with no one to hear it, does it make a sound? Lovely, and philosophical, and just a little bit cliche. It would be a strong opening –

If I weren't already face palming a bit from the evidence he's using to support his conclusions.

Yes, it's obviously stock footage from a nature program being used to cheapen production costs, but I can't help thinking that lions aren't very effective hunters since they missed their targets more often than they actually catch them.

And puffer fish certainly don't have perfect defence, given that they're still predated by humans (who hasn't heard of fuju?), and sharks (who, according to the internet, have been known to get away with this on occasion). They aren't especially deadly either, unless you eat them... which is less defense, and more darwinism in action (who will try to eat the spikey puff ball of death today?)

And why are perfect hunting and perfect defense both showcased by earth animals? The pufferfish was CGI. Couldn't we have had an alien? A drashig maybe? Or would that have broke the budget?

I'm being very pedantic. Moving on.

I do enjoy Twelve writing on his chalkboard (plot point, anyone?) and talking to himself. I feel like this is something the Doctor has always done when left alone, and enjoy getting to see it. I've also got a theory on who wrote "Listen" on the board.


"Yeah. It took a bit of time. Family stuff. But here we are."

I am very curious to know if we're going to find out anything else about Mr. Pink's family. We learn a lot about his possible future family in this episode, but all we learn about his past is that he was in a children's home at some point. Which makes me curious: Is he talking about his birth family? Adopted family? A foster family? Friends he considers family?

I wouldn't normally be interested. I'd normally take it as the throw-away line it clearly is. But it was put into the episode by the same writer who wrote Daniel's backstory, so I'm hoping (really hoping) that Moffat was also thinking about this when the line was added.

(Yes, I am overthinking again, and onwards…)

"I like a man who moves fast"
"Yeah, I might go straight for extras. Afters. I mean dessert."

This the most awkward thing to watch. Does anyone really want to watch someone else's awkward first date? And why does Clara keep on not realizing why Daniel might be a bit sensitive on that subject? Moffat, stop making Clara stupid to advance the plot please.


"I thought you had a date. I thought I'd hide in the bedroom in case you brought him home."

Twelve is hilariously oblivious.


"It looks like your handwriting"
"Well I couldn't have written it and forgotten, could I?"

You know that theory from above? I'm actually fairly certain this is what happened. I'm not sure why or how (though I suspect the Doctor did it to ensure that he would have that meeting with Clara when he was a boy)

(Which also makes me wonder if the Doctor has been hiding under everyone's bed, pulling their legs)

(Though not my leg, because I've never had that dream)

(Also, goopy, TARDIS goop. Ick.)


"Now don't get distracted. Remember, you are flying a time machine."

Lol


"I've never been to Gloucester in my life and I've never lived in a children's home."
"You've probably just forgotten. Have you seen the size of human brains? They're hilarious."

Perfect line delivery. Perfect.


"So why did you bring me out here?"
"I was still talking, needed someone to nod."

That might be the most self-aware thing the Doctor has ever said. Lmao.


"An inspection? It's two in the morning!"
"What better time?"

1. The night watchman is very creepy, 2. Twelve is doing a good job of making night shifts even scarier than usual, 3. Sometimes you look down and your drink is missing, that means that either Twelve or Eleven have stolen it when you weren't looking. Every time.


"Do you know what's under there?"
"What?"
"Me!"

I do enjoy Clara's mad child minding skillz.

And then someone sits on the bed. My first thought was that it would be the Doctor on top of the bed, and I was genuinely surprised when it wasn't… or wasn't it? Because the effects of meeting yourself can be catastrophic, I feel like the person on the bed is the Doctor, or Clara, or Daniel. Though I also kind of hope that it isn't...

Because that's a rather obvious time loop, yes? I hope that this episode is a stand alone, and that we are left to our own theories on it and that blurry half-second of a maybe-face.


"He's not in every book."
"Really, while that's a few years of my life I'll be needing back."

Funny. And I do like the Doctor's explanation of adrenaline that follows.


"People don't need to be lied to."
"People don't need to be scared by a big grey-haired stick insect, but here you are. Shut up."
...
"A soldier so brave he doesn't need a gun. He can keep the whole world safe."

Re-watching this scene is very interesting. The Doctor's glares. His assertion that people don't need lies (and I wonder what he thinks the lie is, probably that he can keep the world safe). He definitely knows, from this point on, where this story is going and what time loop he's stuck himself into.


"Once upon a time. The end. Dad skills."

Funniest thing in the whole episode, imho. I like that the Doctor is so casual about it. I like that with Capaldi acting you can buy it. I like that he's stopping Clara from making her "fear makes companions of us all" speech twice in the same episode.

And then back into the date of excruciating awkwardness…

Why is Clara so suddenly dumb and saying Rupert. Gawwww. Why is this a thing that is happening? Fast forward. Fast forward. Hmm, so

Clara's great grandson is named Orson according to the subtitles. I'd thought his name was Awesome Pink. That's slightly disappointing. Oh, it's on the TV too. Don't I feel smart.


"The TARDIS isn't supposed to come this far, but some idiot turned the safe guards off."

So, is this happening before or after Utopia? I like the way they've set this up to make the next trip a thing that might happen.


"We can't leave immediately though, the TARDIS needs time to recharge."

Twelve, you manipulative bastard. I do wonder, though, if the Doctor isn't setting all this up for the next trip.


"Orson, take my advice, when you get home, stay away from time travel."
"Runs in the family."

So, at this point I'm mainly hoping that Clara doesn't end up being the Doctor's mother or something. Though I do still have a theory that she is somehow related to Susan.


"It's like… pipes banging when the heating goes off."
"I always thought there was something in the pipes."
"Me too."

Scariest moment in the episode. Pipes banging. *shudders*


"Did we really come to the end of the universe because of a nursery rhyme?"

Sapphire and Steel crossover, anyone?


"You're an idiot"
"I know."

At least he acknowledges it.

And then comes the scene in the barn. I hypothesised this scene based on the preview for this episode. I'm not certain how I managed that, since there was nothing in the preview to suggest it, but once I got the thought in my head I had to check it, and I was worried about it. I like it though. Mostly.

I don't like that it takes away possibilities. Because the Doctor might be a scared child crying in the night. Or he would might be a headstrong bully who bosses the other children around. Or he might be an adult who came straight out of a vat and never knew what it was to be young. Maybe he grew up in the citadel. Maybe he grew up on earth. Maybe he grew up in a lonely house on a mountain filled with cousins.

Most of those are still true, but some are maybe less true now. I don't like that.

But I do like Clara's speech. I do like how it ties in with the 50^th. And I really, really like the hugging.

I am certain that the Doctor was under the sheets, in the barn, and in Rupert Pink's room. That he was writing on the blackboard to remind himself of Clara's speech, or to make it happen.

But I did enjoy the message, that it doesn't matter if there's nothing under the bed (or if the pipes are just banging on their own), because we all have a universe of our own terrors to face.

(Though, I do kind of feel like shouting, "but I'll face them on my own terms!" at the end)


End notes

I liked the ending. I liked certain bits of dialogue. Other bits were boring, awkward, and obnoxious. I don't know. I like and don't like this episode. It's like eating through a box of very dry cereal to get to the prize at the bottom. It's an awesome prize, but I wish I didn't feel guilty about wanting to toss all that cereal…