In The Forest Of The Night (2014) Review

How come Courtney got two episodes and not this sweet kid?

NOTE: This is my original review of this episode that I made on GateWorld Forum in 2014.

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In The Forest Of The Night is a bitter disappointment, since it started so well off with a great mystery and direction, only to sink into cheesiness and generic plots.

PLOT

Random new aliens make a giant forest cover the Earth to use them as a shield against the solar flare. Who the heck reads this and thinks: "Yeah, that totally works!"

I refuse to accept that this can just happen and go away. Human forgetfulness only goes so far. Besides, did anyone really think the world was gonna end?

CHARACTERS

Clara is officially the most despicable character ever put on anything, ever. When the world ends and there's a chance to save a group of children, her reaction is: "No, let's get them to their mums... and death."
And why is it that in every serious-as-hell situation, her reaction is "meh, let's make jokes about others making jokes in situations like these."
She is a hypocrite, a whiner, a drama queen and a goddarn thorn in my viewing experience! And the kids of Coal "Nobody has an IQ over 10" Hill aren't much better. And the random return of Annabelle was random. 

Someone, give Peter Capaldi a decent script. Somebody! This is worser than Series 2! I'd rather watch Love And Monsters than sit through most of Series 8 again.
And speaking of Capaldi, I loved his interactions with the little girl, a little gem in an otherwise ridiculous episode.

NOTES

*The Doctor may be 2000 years old, but he constantly makes guesses based on no evidence that inevitably work out. It's just stupid. "Oh, oh, oh, but what if the trees are programmed? Yes, they have roots so obviously that means root code." is pretty much becoming a Twelfth Doctor meme.

*Why does Clara embarrass the Doctor in front of the kids all the time? So childish.

*How did they lose the little kid to begin with?

*Kids having sleepovers in museums? Is that a thing?

*What happened to Ruby's "I'm actually clever" subplot? Also, ginger girl=Ruby?

*How exactly are solar flare-protected trees threatened by anything humans could cook up?

*And did anyone seriously listen to that kid?

CONCLUSION

*sobs* I just wanted a good episode!!