Doctor Perseus Reviews: "Listen" *SPOILERS* · 3:09am Sep 14th, 2014
In this week's episode of Doctor Who, the Doctor comes to the conclusion that every living thing has a silent passenger constantly following them and wishes to investigate further. After a less than successful date with Danny, Clara unwittingly joins the Doctor in his investigation. So what exactly is following behind everyone and grabbing their legs in dreams? What is the Doctor most afraid of when he's alone? To find the answers, the Doctor and Clara will have to listen...
This episode...was awesome. Plain and simple. Point. Blank. Period. I think it's pretty obvious that I absolutely loved this episode to bits. It's nice when an episode can live up to all the hype and anticipation surrounding it. This was easily one of my most anticipated episodes this season because it was arguably the episode we knew the least about. And after seeing it...I think it's clear why Moffat was so keen on spoiling as little as possible about it.
Four episodes in and Capaldi is really starting to come into his own as the Doctor. He was truly a blast in this episode. His casual insults and jabs at Clara's expense were chuckle-worthy and never felt too mean-spirited. His insults feel very much like a person messing with one of their best friends, which is pretty much the Doctor and Clara's relationship right now. It was great seeing the Doctor practically become consumed by his curiosity in relation to finally seeing what follows everybody around. The moment where he shouted at Clara to get into the TARDIS was definitely one of the most intense moments in this episode.
Clara continued to be absolutely fantastic here. As is usual, her chemistry with Capaldi's Doctor continues to be a joy to watch. I've easily grown to love the chemistry between Clara and the Twelfth Doctor as much as I enjoyed the chemistry between Donna and the Tenth Doctor. It's always nice to see Clara take on a motherly role and her talent with children continued into this episode with both the young Rupert/Danny and...well...the young Doctor (more on that amazing twist later).
I was really looking forward to seeing Danny Pink again and I was not disappointed. His chemistry with Clara continues to be enjoyably awkward. Though, I must say that the two of them are moving awfully fast. I mean, this was their first date and he and Clara are already kissing. I suppose it's understandable given all that Clara learned about him throughout the episode but it seems kind of fast from Danny's POV. Maybe it's because Danny's just really quick to cling to anything that could help move him away from his past as a soldier. It was interesting to learn his backstory and meet his younger self (while also learning that he decided to have a name change later in life). And, for any of us who are hoping to see Rupert Grint become the first ginger Doctor in the future (myself included), we at least got a Rupert on the show (okay, I know, that's a stretch). Also, is it just me or does it seem like it's going to be a recurring them to see Danny hit his head against something? Orson Pink was also an interesting twist for the episode. Originally, I, like everyone else, expected this character to be Danny or, at the very least, a future version of him. But nope! Moffat had to go and play with our expectations like the madman he is and make Orson a descendant of Danny and...Clara? Could this be hinting at the possibility of Clara and Danny having a happy life together post-Doctor?
Moving onto the "monster" of the episode, I was glad that we never saw it. It's like what they did with the entity back in Midnight. Though, it also seems like the episode left the possibility of the monster even existing at all up to speculation. Personally, I think that the monsters really did exist but Clara just decided to move the Doctor's attention away from them because, in the long run, it didn't really matter if they were real or not.
But, now, the time has come to discuss the moment that literally made my jaw drop. I bet nobody (aside from the impatient asses who read the leaked script) saw that twist at the end coming! At first, I thought Clara had gone to visit her younger self. Then I thought it was young Danny/Rupert again. But nope (again)! It turns out to be the First Doctor back when he was a little boy. And, to top it all off, the barn the young Doctor was sleeping in is the same barn the War Doctor went to in order to activate the Moment in The Day of the Doctor. The whole scene with Clara and the young Doctor was a truly fantastic way to end the episode. It was wonderful seeing Clara continue her role as the Doctor's "Impossible Girl" and see that she really has been protecting him since the very beginning. It was also nice that we never heard the young Doctor speak nor saw his face.
Other things to note. The moment when Clara had the Doctor bring her back to right after she stormed out on her date with Danny was a funny bit. I especially liked how she asked if that's really how she looked from behind (which, from my perspective, seemed like a subtle reference to the time travel segment in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban when Hermione did the exact same thing). The atmosphere was also really good. It was fittingly creepy and kept me on my toes throughout the whole story. This was easily one of Moffat's most suspenseful episodes. It was also nice to see the journey of Danny's toy soldier from it belonging to young Rupert Pink, to then becoming a family heirloom passed down to Orson Pink, and finally ending up in the possession of the young First Doctor (thanks to Clara).
Overall, Listen was an amazing episode. The Doctor and Clara were superb, Danny's childhood backstory was interesting to see and learn about, Orson was a nice twist of expectations, the atmosphere was perfectly creepy, the pacing was great, and the final segment with the young Doctor in the barn from The Day of the Doctor was an excellent twist. Will this end up becoming my favorite episode of Series 8? We'll just have to wait and see how the rest of Series 8 turns out. Next week's episode is Time Heist!
I admit I have no experience with these kinds of things, but is it?
I agree for the most part with the character study aspects as well as the various twists. However, I did not like it as much as you did because I just found it baffling.
I like the concept of that perhaps when you talk to yourself, like I occasionally indulge in, that you're not really alone. I kind of like when on Doctor Who they reveal that there's this secret thing out there among us, but we can't just see it. It kind of felt unfulfilling to never find if that is in fact the case with this. 
I think my overall favorite part was when it slammed into me that this was just after the first doctor looked into the time vortex, Did you see his eyes? That was all of time and space right there. I was actually hoping that Clara would tell him to run like she always does.Not to mention that Clara got her revenge by ordering the doctor not to look, after he ordered her not to stay.
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I can see where you're coming from. I liked the ambiguity because I'm personally a fan of a show occasionally leaving things up to subjection within the fandom. What they did in this episode is like what they did with the entity in Midnight (with us never finding out what it looked like, how it survived on Midnight, or what its ultimate plan was) and the "devil" in The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit (with it being left up to the audience do decide whether they thought the creature was really Satan or was just a powerful being calling itself the devil).