Episode 9: Flatline
Episode 8: Mummy on the Orient Express
Episode 7: Kill the Moon
Episode 6: The Caretaker
Episode 5: Time Heist
Episode 4: Listen
Episode 3: Robot of Sherwood
Episode 2: Into the Dalek
Episode 1: Deep Breath
Summary:
One day, a little girl runs through a forest to find the TARDIS. The Doctor is aggravated when he sees the surrounding forest and the little girl running inside, and is further annoyed when he keeps aiming to go to London when the TARDIS says they are already there. Annoyance turns to shock when the little girl points out that they are in London, a forest as grown all around Trafalgar Square, and the Earth suddenly became green. A lot more green.
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As I said in my previous reviews, the three episodes that tie as my favorite of this season are "The Caretaker", "Mummy on the Orient Express", and "Flatline." On the other side of the spectrum however, three other episodes tie as the worst (or least good) of the season for me: "Robot of Sherwood", "Kill the Moon" and, this most recent one, "In the Forest of the Night".
This one seems to have the opposite of Robot of Sherwood. As much as that episode was dull and having nothing to call home about, it at least had a neat villain/threat of the episode in the form of the robot knights. In the Forest of the Night conversely has some good moments that happen in the episode, but it is contrasted with a rather boring story and one of the more...annoying elements of storytelling: caring about the environment. It's a subject that has been hammered into us since we were children and we have watched more than one movie or TV show that was either subtle about it or hammered into us.
It's hard to say if this most recent episode is either subtle or hammered in. On the one hand the environmental focus is not quite as apparent, but on the other hand the ideas The Doctor gets across are rather preachy. It is a combination of this, combined with a rather boring story, a mixed supporting cast, and odd character moments, that really make me uncaring about this episode.
The episode starts almost fairy-tale esque; a little girl is running through a lit forest. This is Maebh, and we later learn that she is...unique, to say the least. The Doctor discovers that she was part of a group of students that were at a museum, and her supervisors are none other than Clara and Danny. All the characters learn that a gigantic forest has grown overnight across the world, baffling the world governments. Clara immediately calls up The Doctor, and, following up on previous episodes, Danny is resentful of him and the fact that Clara lied to Danny again. The Clara and Danny relationship sub-plot is IMO one of the few strong elements of this episode, as it continues the themes throughout the season so far.
This episode is also filled to the brim with a child supporting cast; the students that Clara and Danny look after. As expected when it comes to child actors, most of them are not that great, though there a few that do all right.. Shame Courtney from a few episodes was not one of them; her snarkiness might have improved this episode. The two teachers and the students meet up with The Doctor just as Maebh runs away from the TARDIS, and Clara and the Doctor discover her leftover notebooks; the drawings inside them depict an angry sun-
No, not THAT angry sun!
bombarding the Earth with its rays. The Doctor also deduces that the trees must have been influenced by an outside force, possibly the sun itself. Clara and Danny further explain that Maebh has been suffering issues because of the disappearance of her sister a while back, thus putting her on medication. The Doctor takes this as a sign that Maebh must know something about the appearance of the trees, and the duo head out to try and find her, and Danny and the students following soon after.
After evading wild animals, everyone catches up to Maebh to find her flailing her hands. The Doctor takes this as a sign and uses his Sonic Screwdriver to make some fireflies appear. They say that they are the ones that created the forest, and the Doctor discovers that Maebh's drawings are a sign of another solar storm, similar to the one in Time Heist. In another good moment, The Doctor decides that he can save everyone present with the TARDIS, but Clara insists that The Doctor leave her. She doesn't want to abandon Danny and the children and become the last human being, much like how The Doctor is the last Time Lord. Bringing it full circle from Kill the Moon, the Doctor departs.
Inside the TARDIS the Doctor contemplates further on the forest, and has an epiphany. Returning to the teachers and students, he says that this isn't the first time the Earth experienced an over-growing of its foliage; the trees in fact overgrow themselves to protect the Earth from solar storms of the past. Using the TARDIS, Maebh convinces the people of the Earth to stop cutting down the trees, and the solar storm reaches the Earth. The trees protect the Earth and the day is saved.
And then out of nowhere as the forest ebbs away and the Earth goes back to normal, Maebh is reunited with her sister. This would be an emotional moment if the setup wasn't so dull.
Final thoughts:
If it seems that I'm being short with this review, it's only because it's deliberate. I hardly have much to talk about this one because this episode was, in the end, boring. Now that I think about it, I mentioned that Robot of Sherwood was the worst episode? Well, I change that now. In the Forest of the Night is the worst episode of Series 8 so far. And again, it's not that the episode was bad or offensive, it was just...there. Not a whole lot comes from this episode, there aren't any major indicators that this episode could play into future ones. It was just filler.
But I can appreciate this episode for one thing: It was a breather and quiet episode before the Part 1 of the Series 8 finale, and hoooooooo boy. Judging from the preview of the first part of the finale, "Dark Water", we can quote the 11th Doctor and say that it's going to be a whopper.
My score: 2.6/5
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