Well, I think I'm going to stop posting in this thread after this, because I thought this week was mostly rubbish again and I don't want to be "that guy" crapping on something everyone else loves.
I guess my parting thoughts on the season so far, then, would be this:
0. Along with previously existing and long-building issues (see a few posts above)...
1. They haven't established Capaldi as the Doctor, through no fault of Capaldi's. He's different, cool. Every regeneration is, that's great. Show us some commonality. I don't think they have, or if they have, it hasn't been enough.
2. This has made the rest of the show rely on Clara, a character written so horribly (again, I don't fault the acting) I know nothing about her nor do I care about her. And I know I'm supposed to know something about her, but her backstory is so scattered, confused, and poorly connected I honestly just shocked myself when I remembered she's
also the leaf girl. It's like she's different people
(WHICH SHE CLEARLY CAN BE SO WHY DIDN'T THEY JUST DO THAT? )I think, at this point, I'll need a showrunner change to like it again. That makes me nervous - I dislike most fans who call for Moffat's head. It's like calling for the manager to be fired in most sports - widely considered the least intelligent form of sports commentary. You don't like something? Fire the guy in charge instead of understanding the problem. However, in this specific instance, I think the way to fix what I personally perceive as the "problem" is truly to have a different showrunner.