So, was last week the start of a trend? Or just a fluke? Let’s find out.

• Good, creepy cold open. I like it.
• Methinks that the Doctor is suspicious of Clara’s insistence that Danny’s cool with her traveling with  the Doctor.
• The Readings are Ishy: That can’t be good.
• It’s the Incredible Shrinking TARDIS! With apologies to Richard Matheson.*
• Speaking of shrinking; Clara’s right, the tiny TARDIS is cute.
• A short note on tech here: I really love the way that they’ve been showing more varied kinds of tech in the show lately, not just sonicing everything and calling it a day.
• I’m the Doctor: On the one hand, good for Clara showing initiative like that. On the other hand, I’m pretty sure that being the Doctor is a lot harder than it looks.
• An Inconvenient Call: Well, that wasn’t awkward at all!
• The Art and Skill of Lying: Well the Doctor would know, wouldn’t he?
• Taking Charge: Now this I find interesting; Clara is basically acting as an extension of the Doctor, which means that she feels the responsibility that the Doctor must feel for getting everyone out alive. And sometimes that means having to rhetorically smack a bitch. Which explains why the Doctor gets so pissy when people as the age old “Who put you in charge?” question.
• You know, when you start really thinking about the concept of two dimensional aliens, it’s really cool.
• Doing the “Thing”: So clever, you wonder why the Doctor didn’t think of it first.
• Also, the Doctor’s little dance, I can’t be the only one who thought it was kind of cute.
• Somehow I knew that ramming the train into the aliens wouldn’t do anything. So, yeah, Rigsy’s sacrifice wouldn’t have done anything. So, bonus points to Clara for stopping him.
• For some reason, I really like the idea of graffiti saving the world.
• Clara is a good Doctor: Yeah, more on that later.
• I am the Man Who Stops the Monsters: Oh snap, 2D aliens are going down!
• Sometimes the Wrong People Live: Ain’t that the truth.
• Goodness had Nothing to do With It: Here’s the thing, I don’t think that the Doctor likes the idea of anyone having to make the kind of decisions that he has to make all the time. So now imagine that the Doctor has seen his companion having to make those kinds of decisions twice now. The first time was by his own choice, still not sure what that was all about, and this latest time, he had no choice in the matter. Something tells me he’s trying to prepare Clara for something; I’m just not sure what yet. I’m kind of wondering though if this situation isn’t a lot like the Seventh Doctor preparing Ace for whatever he was preparing her for.
• I Chose Well: Oh, hello there “Clara is the answer to everything” sub-plot. I didn’t miss you at all.

This one was rather meh in my eyes. Not bad by any stretch of the imagination, but not really a stand-out episode either. There was some good character stuff for Clara and the Doctor, and once again the side characters were well done and interesting. But I know Doctor Who can be better than this, and that’s the most frustrating part of this series.

Next week will either feature tigers heavily, or William Blake. Not sure which. Also, more Danny. Five bucks says he finds out that Clara’s been lying to him.

*Google him.