Doctor Who Episode Review: Kill the Moon

Guest stars for this episode include Ellis George (Courtney Woods), Hermione Norris (Lundvik), Samuel Anderson (Danny Pink) and Phil Nice (Henry).

I think the part of this episode that really surprised me was the Doctor’s insistence he stay out of any decisions involving Earth’s future. While, on the surface, it did make sense that humans should be able to determine their own destiny, it was in complete contrast to what I’m used to seeing this character do, at least since the series was re-booted.

This hasn’t been the first instance of this either and it really makes me wonder exactly what is going on with Capaldi’s version of the legendary television character. Is he growing tired of humans? Is he starting to feel superior to them? I have to admit, those questions have kept me interested.

As far as the rest of this episode goes, I honestly have to admit I’m a bit disappointed. The concept was a good one. However, the execution, in my opinion, wasn’t quite up to par when compared to what I’ve seen from this series in the past.

I think a big part of the problem is the episode tries to do too much in a short time span. The giant-sized germs, for example, were creepy and actually a pretty clever idea. However, the episode really doesn’t give them enough time to do anything of any significance because the focus has to shift to the hatching egg concept. The writers would have been better off splitting this over two episodes rather than trying to fit it into one hour (with commercials).

I will say this; Clara’s blow-up at the Doctor toward the end of this episode was both surprising and intense. You don’t see many of his companions questioning his decisions and even quitting on him so I do have to say I gained a little respect for her as a result of her standing up for herself and am curious if and how they will repair the rift that is starting to form between them.

The episode was OK but, as I said before, it really should have been written as a two-part episode rather than trying to cram so much into such a small amount of time. Had things not been so rushed at times, I do think this would have been much more memorable.

My Grade: C