Doctor Who-Listen

Yes, I know I should get on to the 100th update special, but I promise, after the series is done I will get right to it. Also I'm extremely sorry for the delay, I am getting even more busy these days. Next review out soon.

So 'Listen', the forth episode of the series and introducing a new monster for us to hide behind the couch, kind of! You know after watching this, it got me thinking of a famous quote from the cult horror film 'Peeping Tom'.

"Do you know what the most frightening thing in the world is. It's fear."

It was less about a monster and more about character development and the psychology of fear. It really is becoming apparent that this series is maturing. Rather than just remain the serial from the 60's and feature a mad adventure with a creepy alien, it is delving into the characters, focusing on plot rather than plot conveniences and feeling emotion rather than being told an emotion.

The story (as far as I know) concerns the Doctor delving into a deep rooted fear felt universally of whether or not we know we are alone. Assisting him after a poor date, Clara assists in the investigation. But after some close calls and confusing temporal displacement, the Doctor might finally find the answer at the end of the Universe. All the while, Clara is learning more about Danny than he know's himself, from meeting his younger self to meeting his descendant. It all get's quite confusing. (And I thought understanding Donnie Darko and Pulp Fiction was a walk in the park)

As far as the episode goes it's not the worst one I have ever seen. I mean episodes like 'Hide' or 'Love and Monsters', now those sucked. But I find this episode suffers from a lack of focus, is it trying to tell a scary story, is it trying to be psycho-analytically evaluation of the characters or is it trying to be quirky with it's overlapping time-lines and loopy romance. Don't get me wrong, the individual aspects are good, but melded together they just don't mix. Moffat, for this episode at least, may have bitten off more than he can chew. Then there is the attempts at being scary that are eerily reminiscent of 'Blink', as though this series is trying to recreate classic episodes that I love and approach them from a new angle. That instead of looking at the Angels, you cannot look at these creatures or else who knows what happens. But the episodes lack of a proper monster/antagonist is it''s downfall and only serves to confuse the viewer as to what it is and infuriate them as to what they can't see. It's like what John Carpenter (horror/sci-fi director) said when seeing the haunting. I pay my money, I want to see what the f*** it is!

So I commend the writers for trying something new, for developing the characters, trying to create a tense atmosphere and delivering a comforting morale that even the Doctor is afraid of the dark.
But none the less, I would have expected a new monster going into this episode and a focus on the actual thrills, plus it's a bit to romantic comedy cliche. Glad the two are attempting to date, but it could have been pushed aside. I fully believe they are trying to recreate a lot of the most popular episodes of previous episodes.

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