Huh. I did not like this episode at all and don't get what it was trying to do.

So, in the end, what/who were we supposed to think was under Rupert's blanket? Another kid playing a prank?

I think so, Jon.

So, everyone is a mirror for the Doctor this season: the good Dalek, Robin Hood, Rupert Pink. I'm interested to see where that goes.

Another kid playing a prank?

A very confused kid.

I thought the episode was pretty good, with some great moments. My favorite bit might have been when Clara was under the young Doctor's bed and he starts to get up and she grabs his leg. In that short moment it felt like everything clicked into place.

So, in the end, what/who were we supposed to think was under Rupert's blanket? Another kid playing a prank?

That's one thing I can't work out. But I didn't have the sound up very loud, to avoid disturbing the sleeping boy, and may have missed something. Nonetheless, I finished the episode very confused as to what was supposed to be real and what wasn't.

I would be very disappointed if the blanket denizen was just another kid. That scene would lose a lot of its potency. (I'm quite ok with it being ambiguous, though. That feels like it best suits this episode.)

My favorite bit might have been when Clara was under the young Doctor's bed and he starts to get up and she grabs his leg. In that short moment it felt like everything clicked into place.

What I liked about that was that on this occasion, Clara was 'saving' the Doctor, not because she's this Impossible Girl whose sole point in the story is protecting his timeline, but simply because here's a scared little kid and who wouldn't?

In the io9 review (There's Not Much Point In Arguing About Moffat's Doctor Who Any More) they had a link to this interesting post:

Why Time Travel Stories Should Be Messy

To a lot of people, time travel stories are cool when they're clever — when all the pieces fit together at the end with a delightful "click." To me, though, time travel stories are cool when they're messy. Because life is messy, and stories in general are cooler when they're rough around the edges.

The last Who episode was an example the the "clever" type. "Blink" was a classic example. In episodes like these, events are in a loop--each event causes the next event, and the last causes the first. So at the end, Sally Sparrow causes everything to happen by giving the Doctor notes on what happened, which he then has to carry out to resolve the issue. What the author of the post doesn't like about these episodes is the characters don't have any agency.

Lots of classic time-travel stories are of the clever type. I'm not sure I agree with the author, but it's an interesting post.

Clara was 'saving' the Doctor, not because she's this Impossible Girl whose sole point in the story is protecting his timeline, but simply because here's a scared little kid and who wouldn't?

Yep, the AV Club review pointed that out too, which was nice because I had the former aspect in my head before that.

I liked not knowing what was under the blanket...though I and my watch-buddy commented that the blurry figure looked a bit like a small Santaran...all potato-y.

I felt the point was in the not knowing.

Clara has already been seen to show up everywhere in the Doctor's life, so why would his life on Gallifrey be any different?

simply because here's a scared little kid and who wouldn't?

This really resonated with me because her expression didn't look like 'oh crap, I'M the scary thing under the bed' but a realization that it could be seen that way and her real purpose was to be helpful.

I truly enjoyed the date banter/fail. So awkward and real...at least based on my own dating experience. And the Doctor's whimsical ramblings about three mirrors and eyes out to here and just turn your head, really charmed me.