First of all, the episode looked absolutely gorgeous. I love the new cinematic look/the new cameras they are using for the show. There was also some awesome direction from Jamie Childs... many scenes just took my breath away.
Yes! Especially that shot at the beginning with Ryan, Graham, and Grace sitting on the hill. That was amazing.
I honestly wish [redacted] hadn't died!! That was definitely a surprise... I'm kind of sad we won't (presumably) get to see anymore of that character.
Speaking of deaths, this episode was actually quite dark! Like, not on the scale of Resurrection of the Daleks... but still, there were many casualties.
Same! I definitely thought we would be seeing more of them, they were probably one of the best characters in the episode.
And yeah, it wasn't just the amount of death in the episode, but the way they died. Like, wow, that was surprisingly dark for this show. I mean, complete with that snapping noise when the monster did that one thing. But, I kind of loved it, lol. The villain of the episode was delightfully disturbing. It felt somewhat like something from Torchwood. Actually, this might seem obvious given who the writer is but the tone of the whole episode felt a bit like a cross between Torchwood and Broadchurch, which I am totally on board with.
PS. WHY WASN'T KARL A COMPANION?????!!!! KARL SHOULD'VE BEEN A COMPANION!!!!! CHIBNALL BETTER MAKE KARL A COMPANION NEXT SERIES OR SOMETHING....!
Yes! I love Karl! I imagine he's probably just designed to be a one shot character, but i'd like it if he at least got a recurring role.
One thing I love about this episode is how Chibnall makes you feel for each character that dies. Which is not something that happens too often in the show. Most of the time the characters who die are nameless extras who are just there to scream and get killed. But, in this episode, he gave everyone a life and a family, distinctive traits. Even that one guy who worked at the crane place and was only on screen for about 10 seconds, we know that he's a grandpa, which makes it all the more depressing when he dies.
I also agree that The Doctor didn't seem quite as distinctive as the previous ones, but that might've been a deliberate choice by the writer to show that she's still the same person. But I do hope we'll start to see more of her quirks as the season (series?) goes on.
The new companions seem very fascinating, I'm particularly intrigued by Ryan and Graham's relationship - can't wait to see where they go with that. Yaz felt a bit... I don't know... I think we didn't get to see her character's true potential as the episode focused more on the other companions
I agree, Ryan and Graham were interesting, and I guess they have the benefit of already knowing each other very well. Yaz, yeah, she seemed promising in her first scene, so that's always good, but she didn't have much to do after that. But, again, hopefully the next episode we'll get to know her a little better.
Overall, my original rating for the episode was 7/10, but after a rewatch I give it an 8.