Face the Raven

Four word review: contrived and emotionally false.

It's amazing how an episode like Under the Lake can fit in so much, then there's an episode of the same length where nothing happened at all.

The single goal of fiction is to convince you that characters are real, and then make you care about them. I didn't care about Riggsy. I don't care about Me. I didn't even care about Clara, because I could feel the author manouvering them into place. Example: The shadow lock can be moved from person to person! But only once! And there was a deal with the shadows which means Riggsy would have been fine but Clara can't be, because we can't make a new deal. For reasons.

I can feel the author making it up as they go along. It's lazy plotting, and I don't accept it. The Doctor can say "There's something very wrong here...!" but I don't care unless I can feel it.

So many good ideas in here. The tattoo was creepy and cool. The street which looks like you expect it to, and of course a London hidden street would appear Victorian to people - even if the set was lousy. I liked mentioning Jane Austen again. I loved the scene of glasses over London.

But the whole thing lacked momentum, weight, depth.

Just go shuffle those pieces around so they're in the right place for the finale.

Other thoughts
"Infinite life, finite memory" - that's a lovely line of dialogue. That whole conversation where Clara is trying to grapple with a person who has entirely forgot their meeting, but knows they had one, was charming. The bit where Me pointedly assures Clara she is under her personal protection is less good. Oooooh! Foreshadowing!!!

"The Doctor is no longer here and you are stuck with me" - the one part of this whole episode which I believed. #valeyard

Also, the first time any Doctor has ever attempted to threaten someone with his huge reputation and I've believed it.

I think Masie Williams has been very cleverly cast in this role. We all know her as Arya, who is a little girl, even as we know that the actress is much older. That strangeness and double-seeing over her age works really well to suggest an ageless creature.