New Episode Reaction: The Bells of Saint John SPOILERS

I may be in the US, but I watched the premier with the UK.
And I have to say, I thought it would be a lot better.
The episode gets 2 1/2 stars.
That is not to say that it was bad and you are all not in for a treat, but for a premier episode, it was very lacking. Spoilers below.

My main problem with it was that I never really felt that there was a lot at risk. As a "premier", there needed to be more risk. Not only because we want it, but because  people are more likely to watch an series they don't already watch at a "premier" point.
Sure, Clara's life was at risk, but let's be honest: she's already died twice and I'm now not quite worried about her death, because I assume that she'll just come back.
It was way too easy for the Doctor to get in to the Shard. I'm not saying a know a way to have done the whole thing better, but all in all I think most of it comes from the episode being surprisingly short.
I would have liked to see more action and less of the "I'm the Doctor!" "Doctor who?" mishegash between Clara and the Doctor.
The appearance of UNIT at the end of the episode could be very indicative of the next seven episodes. Where there is UNIT, there tends to be more trouble, and more guns. (As an American youth, I really like that Doctor Who has very little firepower compared to a lot of every other drama, especially the sci-fis on television.) The episode did succeed in setting the stage for the rest of the season. The Greater Intelligence The Snowmen has been established as something that will be a recurring "character" that will lead to the over-arching plot's climax.
It was, though nice to see the refrence to Amy Pond, as the author of  "Summer Falls."

ps. In case you missed the reference, "the bells of St. John" was a reference to the phone in the TARDIS (in the door, beneath the "Pull to Open" plaque) says "Saint John Ambulance"

Next week's episode "The Rings of Akhaten", will air on the BBC at 6:15p GMT, which is 2:15p ET and can be viewed streaming here.