Doctor Who: Season 8: Top 12 Episodes: Part 1

Doctor Who season (or series if you are British) eight has come to a close, and now it is time to take a look back at each episode of the season and rank each one from worst to best. For each episode, I will review it in retrospect and give it an updated score thanks to my weeks of revaluation in mind.

12: Kill the Moon

"Kill the Moon" is one of the few episodes of recent Doctor Who that has actually made me angry while watching it. Doctor Who has never been a series where logic always applies, because that is the case for most time-travel stories, but "Kill the Moon" had so many gaps in logic and general stupidity that it makes me wonder if anyone actually read the freaking script! The logic gaps aside, Courtney ruined almost every scene she was in with her annoying dialogue and general uselessness. Almost nothing in the episode worked! Some say that the episode is an allegory for abortion, but as my friend Jamie said, you know what a human child is. On the other hand, no one knows what is inside the moon's giant egg. I could go on and on, but again, logic aside, Clara completely disregarded democracy was terrible! In addition to all that, we had a forced character conflict between Clara and the Doctor. Jenna Coleman managed to nail the scene in terms of acting, but this conflict could have been handled so much better in many different ways. Overall, in my opinion, "Kill the Moon" is one of the worst Doctor Who episodes of recent memory; why did it even happen!?

Kill the Moon Review

*2.2/10*

11: Deep Breath

Despite Peter Capaldi's first season as the Doctor being overall strong, unfortunately his first outing, "Deep Breath," is possibly the weakest introduction of any of the last four Doctors. While the episode is not completely without merit, the stupidly written dialogue with the Paternoster Gang and even Clara's character moments fell completely flat. On the plus side, Capaldi had some fun moments of humor, and the scenes involving the clockwork droids and references to one of my favorite episodes, "Girl in the Fireplace," all worked nicely. Unfortunately, most of the episode focused on the other elements. All in all, "Deep Breath" is not the worst episode ever, but rather a disappointment, especially for a season premiere.

Deep Breath Review

*4.5/10*

10: Into the Dalek

After the weak first outing, Capaldi's second outing as the Doctor, "Into the Dalek," did not do much to define Capaldi's version of the Doctor or impress all that much, but it was a decent episode of the Doctor Who. However, the episode did have one of my favorite quotes from the entire season, "She's my carer. She cares so I don't have to." The episode shared a few similarities with a previous season one episode "Dalek," and the theme at the end about the Doctor's hatred proved to be an important part of the finale's theme.

Into the Dalek Review

*7.2/10*

9: In The Forest of the Night

"In The Forest of the Night" is the type of episode that does not necessarily do any wrong, nor does it do anything all that special. Conceptually, the idea of a forest engulfing the entire planet is rather unique; unfortunately, the execution is not the best. The children, except Abigail Eames as Maebh, only served to distract from the plot with annoying quips, and the episode continued to undermine its sense of danger by completely forgetting the dangers of the animals in the forest throughout the world. Fortunately, Clara and Danny both had some great moments, and the episode's general whimsicalness gave it a fun fairy tail type atmosphere. Overall, not a bad episode by any means, just a slightly forgettable one.

In The Forest of the Night Review

*7.5/10*

8: The Caretaker

"The Caretaker" is the type of episode that is inevitable in the context of the story. At some point during the season, we knew that Danny had to discover the Doctor and Clara's time-traveling adventures, and even though the episode mostly served to progress that plot thread, it did so well enough. Unfortunately, that meant that the episode's main foil, the Skovox Blitzer, was more of an after thought. However, in retrospect, the setup with Danny and the Doctor's dislike of soldiers was an important aspect in the season finale.

The Caretaker Review

*7.5/10*

What do you think of the episodes that I have reviewed thus far? Please comment below and check back tomorrow for the second part of this list.

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