BWW Recap: Earth Becomes Overrun with Trees on This Week's DOCTOR WHO

On this week's episode of DOCTOR WHO, "In the Forest of the Night," London-and the world-is overrun with trees. Are they good trees or bad trees? Are they even trees at all or some alien creature that just look like trees? Keep reading to find out, but obviously, there are SPOILERS ahead, so beware!

A little girl named Maebh knocks on the TARDIS door and asks for The Doctor's help. Once inside, she tells him she is from Coal Hill, one of Clara and Danny's students. The Doctor is frustrated because the TARDIS won't take him to London, but instead is stuck in the middle of the forest. The little girl tells him they are in London, and she takes him outside and shows him that Trafalgar Square is in the forest. (Uh oh, what happened to London?)

Danny and Clara are chaperoning an overnight fieldtrip at the London Zoological Museum. They are finished with the fieldtrip and and they are leaving the museum, but when they get outside they see that London is covered in trees. We then find out that the whole world is covered in trees. Clara calls The Doctor and he tells her that Maebh is with him. Clara and Danny start bickering about the fact that she was on the phone with The Doctor. Clara reprimands Danny for losing Maebh. Danny, Clara, and the children decide to leave outside the museum to get the kids home. Danny takes charge and leads the group through the forest that is London.

The Doctor and Maebh are investigating the area to see if there are any readings, but since the trees are just wood the Sonic Screwdriver can't get any readings. Clara, Danny, and the kids make their way to the TARDIS. One of the students points out that how the trees don't have rings, and The Doctor pops up and says it's because these trees all grew in one day. He realizes that to grow all these trees in one day, you have to mess with the fabric of Time and be able to communicate with trees. Danny picks up a homework book that was in the TARDIS for some reason, and there are pictures of trees with an angry sun shooting lightning. The Doctor sees this and starts looking for Maebh, whose book it is. Clara tells him that Maebh has been on medication, and that she hears voices. The Doctor tells Clara and Danny that she can be the key to communicate with whatever did this.

Clara and The Doctor leave the TARDIS to go find Maebh, who is lost in the forest. Danny takes them out of the TARDIS to go find them and make sure Clara is ok. The Doctor finds Maebh's phone, and The Doctor thinks her phone is a trail. Maebh is running through the woods leaving more items for them to follow. On their way to fin her, they run into the government people who are trying to make pathways by burning the trees, but when they set fire to them, nothing happens. The Doctor points out that the trees are withholding oxygen, which stops fire. He questions why this is all happening now, and asks Clara how Maebh new how there would be a massive solar flare, as evidenced by her drawings. The Doctor thinks the trees want something, and that Maebh is the way to find out. At that moment, they hear wolves howling, and realize it's because the trees mangled the zoo's gate and The Doctor tells Clara to, "Stick to the path, Red Riding Hood," but she points out there is none. Yikes.

Maebh is still running through the forest, and she comes to a stop and behind her there are wolves, so she screams, which alerts The Doctor and Clara to her location. Maebh starts running away, and finds Clara and The Doctor. Once they are safe from the wolves, and the tiger that followed, The Doctor tries to ask Maebh what she knows. Maebh doesn't answer, but she keeps waving her arms in the air, and The Doctor asks her why she is doing it. She doesn't answer, but instead runs away. She ends up in front of a bright light, and The Doctor asks her who did this, and she says it was her. She keeps swatting in front of her face and The Doctor increases the gravity in front of her to see what it is, and it reveals firefly like creatures all around Maebh. Through Maebh, the trees speak and tell him that they are the life that prevails. and They tell him they didn't call the Doctor nor do they know who he is and that they have been here long before him and will be there long after him. The Doctor asks Maebh how she found him, and she tells The Doctor that she found him through a thought that she had that she thinks came from Clara.

The Doctor believes there is no way to stop the impending solar flare that will destroy Earth, and that even though they've seen earth's future many times, all of those futures are about to be erased. Clara tells The Doctor that even if he can't save the entire earth, not everybody has to die. So they head back to the TARDIS, but before The Doctor has everyone get inside so that they can go to safety, Clara stops him. She tells him that the kids belong on earth with their parents, and not on an asteroid far away. She also tells him that Danny will never leave the children. The Doctor says he can at least save her, and though she wants to live Clara tells him, "I don't want to be the last of my kind." Ouch. She tells him that for once she's saving him by making him go back to the TARDIS and escape. He tells her that it's his Earth, too, but Clara tells him to go and save the next world. The Doctor gets into the TARDIS and leaves.

Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor realizes it's a flame-proof forest and he goes back to Earth. He's chasing after Clara and the students telling them to come back. He brings them into the TARDIS and shows them the solar flare that's on it's way, but that the massive forest is pumping the atmosphere with oxygen so that it protects the Earth. He realizes he was wrong, that the trees aren't the enemy, but Earth's shield. Danny tells him that the government is sending in teams to chop down the trees. Maebh asks if she can be the one to tell people to stop harming the trees. The Doctor uses the TARDIS to transmit Maebh's message to not be scared and to leave the trees alone to all of the world's phones.

The Doctor and Clara go out to space to watch the solar flare, and they see how the trees harvest the solar fire and protect the Earth. We then see Missy watching the same thing from her computer screen, and she says, "Well that was surprising. I love surprises." (!!?!?) Back on Earth, all the trees disappear now that the Earth is protected from the flare. Disaster averted.

Well in tonight's episode, the children of Coal Hill steal the show. From constantly discussing Danny and Clara's romance, to not being phased by the TARDIS, the children made for a really enjoyable episode to watch. The story itself was also very interesting, especially since there were no villains or aliens, just trees trying to protect the Earth. It was a different concept, but a welcomed change. I don't think this is the end of Maebh, especially since she was connected to The Doctor through Clara, and that wasn't really explained. I wonder if there is more to come from her.

Mr. Danny Pink, what is your deal? Why did you not try hard to stay alive when you were a soldier? Why are you so threatened by The Doctor, and why do you feel the need to get angry with Clara for spending time with him. Relax, Danny. I honestly think there is going to be some twist involving him, because otherwise his character will just be a paranoid boyfriend type, and that would be disappointing.

Missy is back. And she loves surprises. And I still have no idea who or what she is. But, seeing as though next week's episode is the first part of the two-part finale, we will be getting our answers, so I am semi-ok with not having any kind of clue to what her deal is.

Speaking of the finale, the preview for it looks insane! From what it showed, it seems like Clara has either gone bad, or isn't Clara at all?? If she ends up being bad, I will be so shocked, but at the same time, it would definitely be the coolest twist on this show in a long time. Also, Cybermen are back! They have always been the most frightening Who Villains to me, since they essentially strip humans of their emotion in a pretty gruesome way.

Favorite Moments from the Episode:

The Doctor: "Do you think that's how spring begins? With a group message on Tree Facebook"

"Farewell to the Ice Age, welcome to the Tree Age."

Maebh looking like Little Red Riding Hood running through the forest with a red coat on and wolves chasing her.

"The forest is mankind's nightmare. "

"I am Doctor Idiot!"

The episode's title being an allusion to William Blake's The Tyger, and the subtle mention of it with the tiger that almost attacked them in the forest.

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Come back next week as I recap part-one of the DOCTOR WHO finale! Can you believe Season 8 is almost over?:( Also, feel free to leave your comments on this week's episode below! And to hold you over, here's the preview for the finale, just in case you want to watch it 10 more times like me!

Photos Courtesy of The Doctor Who Facebook Page and BBC America

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