I too was wondering if it was Tharil. And what the hell, Doctor?

Keeping it real and grounded is the not so secret of how ALL good writing works, but yes, it was particularly effecting here. Your heart aches when Ashildr tells him to shut up abut her problems and help people already.

Plus: Exclamation Points!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! =^-^=

Recently I was also thinking about the derth of historical eps. The only one in NuWho I can think of off the top of my head was The Pompeii ep. IIRC it was part of the concept of the original show: time travel as a story device to educate kids about history.

Just stared watching….only 5 minutes in..and already compelling. The Doctor's look as "Me" explains her perspective:
"My God…that's what I sound like!"
=^-^=

Fair enough.

Yeh, that one's down Drama. I think they want it private so when she discovers it's Ray saying "help me i'm really tiny and stuck in the phone", it can be A Moment.

Many consider this a modern misuse, but usage of the phrase started in 16th century and one could argue Crane is no less prone to a mistake from the 18th century than we are in the 21st.

Agreed. Crane annoyance with historical inaccuracy is understandable, but this isn't a Time Traveller test; it's a test of what modern American's understand of the past. Many things that "really happened" aren't going to be in it…like a certain Headless Horseman. The writers need to dial back playing this for…

I'm clearly in the minority. I enjoyed Hawley. But I also think the show will be fine without him.

In the case of Marsters you're probably right, but would that have been a bad thing? Keanu is a bit typecast too, but completely wrong for John. Keanu does brooding—one of John's charms is he makes a point of snapping himself out of that mindset. Based on typecasting Keanu made as much sense for the part as…

Ah, you said "David Boreanaz". Maybe I'll make some time. OTOH just discovered "Heroes" is back.

Yeh, well, a nine-hundred year old Time Lord might be justified in that type of confidence. Provided he doesn't flake out. =^-^=

But that's not making a specific promise you might not be able to keep. With a child.

It was very good, except for the "I promise everything will be better" bit. I wish to fukk writers would stop already with that trope. It's bad enough directed at adults, but irresponsible with children.
And ask yourself when have you ever, when reassuring someone in a traumatic situation, PROMISED them everything…

Never watched Bones, skimmed the wiki entry and doesn't look like a bad show. But a crossover? Why?

Yeh, not to mention dad was clearly not given any sound advice about how his kid might be processing trauma, even if the monster wasn't real.

Ah, another one of Pandora's monsters, I see.

That would work, but I don't buy that's the writer's intention.

That one was definitely down to the writing. No excuse for it. Other options: "Let the mood take you." even "seize this moment" would work. They may sound florid, but that's juts because romance novels have monopolized dated discourse.