Says the guy who didn't like Gravity? 

It seems to me that whatever happens on screen can't get me excited this season. The only thing I retain from The Caretaker was Clara's character being all over the place and silly, unrealistic interactions. The pacing was better, but the plot wasn't even that interesting.

Am I growing tired of Doctor Who? Or is there indeed something really wrong with series 8? Even the Doctor doesn't feel right. Capaldi's capability is there, I can feel it, but the script is forbidding it to show. This is frustrating.

That's interesting, Tom. I had the opposite with Smith: I understood and enjoyed him about halfway through his first episode. But, I lost interest as the season progressed. I don't recall what, but there was something I really didn't enjoy about the Pandorica. Then, the impossible astronaut had a terrible resolution and I disliked River Song more over time (she reminds me of Miss Piggy now). I've enjoyed all of Tennant's run since "Smith and Jones" (my first 2005 episode). But, his earlier episodes are ruined for me by Rose.

I think I'm just hyper-critical of story shortcomings. If the basic story doesn't make sense to me (plot holes and contrivances), then I can't engage with the emotional story (if I'm thinking "that is BS" I can't also be thinking "aww, this is so precious"). I know Davies and Moffat let logic fall by the waysidein favor of an emotional story or a 'stylish' or 'cool' moment; But, I loved 'Silence in the Library'; So, I guess some stories are better than others.

PS: My wife is loving the Lego Movie Extended episode.

I'm with you on Doctor Who at least insofar as it has NEVER striven to be "hard" sci-fi. But there's a difference between being space fantasy and being scientifically retarded. They get a pass on lizards buried beneath the Earth, because in theory it COULD happen, even if I know it hasn't. The evil mannequins are robots. The TARDIS couldn't happen but has a plausible enough pseudoscience explanation and is a device invented by a hyper advanced alien race.

That's all fine. And honestly I'm fine with the idea of the moon as an egg. That's clever and it's VERY Doctor Who. But you can do that concept without breaking my brain. I'm not even a science nerd, not by any stretch, but when you consistently get every aspect of the science wrong, in an episode set in our OWN BACK YARD, it really pulls me out of it. You could have this story without giant spider-bacteria that spin webs. You could have it without the moon's mass changing. The havoc wreaked on Earth was only used as the impetus for the moon mission, which could easily have been done any number of other ways.

It's one thing to play fast and loose with the rules, it's another to consistently violate them at every turn, seemingly through lack of understanding. Almost everything to do with the setting and the technology in this episode was scientifically invalid, and in a show that's meant to foster a love of learning and exploration in children that's inexcusable.

As to your other points... I honestly fail to see what's wrong with what the Doctor did. He's right, it's our planet, it's our moon, it should be our decision to make. Clara volunteers to travel with him, she knows the kinds of situations she'll be faced with. This is the girl who plunged headfirst into the Doctor's time stream to save his life, after being told it would kill her. It's totally fair for the Doctor to leave this up to hear and the astronaut lady.

You could argue that he didn't need to abandon the scene to do that, but I think he did. If he had stuck around Clara would have known he was there to pick up the pieces at the last minute and she wouldn't have acted. Her blow-up came completely out of left field for me because I legitimately couldn't understand what the Doctor had done to slight her.

I think the parasitical spiders were a bit much. Sure, they could be parasites, and shaped like space spiders, but they obviously have no use for webs(as in catching smaller goes), as all they are supposed to do, is feed off the giant space dragon thingy.

I like the egg idea. No, I love it. It's just poorly executed. The mass of the moon could arguably shift if it was heavier, sure, but they also pick on the idea that the moon's been there for a hundred million years, but only in the recent 20 or so years has the creature matured enough. You could arguably say that the shift in mass was because the dragon was forming a new egg to replace the old, but the creature that flew out of the moon was nowhere near big enough to contain a moon sized egg, and it's also revealed that it dropped the egg off after it flew away. So it makes no sense.

As for Clara; yes please. Take her away. Now. I've never enjoyed her stay, but right now, it's time to leave. The doctor is fine. He's a bit moody and rude, but it's not as much Capaldi I have an issue with as it is Moffat.

In retrospect, I agree calling Clara a bitch is a bit much based solely on this episode, although I'm still not convinced her reaction was entirely justified. I'm also in the "Doctor Who is Fantasy with Sci-fi elements" camp, but they normally acknowledge their shitty science with technobabble or some other device, which they didn't really do here. That was my main problem with the "moon is an egg" idea.

And I also wasn't trying to come off as a dick, either, so sorry if that's the impression you got.