Done Fluxin'
Well, there we have it: the finale of this whole Flux thing!
And, taken by itself, that was pretty cool. It actually had the vibe of a lot of Moffat's season-enders, which I generally tend to enjoy. Lots of crazy complicated stuff coming at you a little too fast, which might or might not make great logical sense if you stop to think about it very carefully, but which is entertaining and engaging enough that in the moment I don't necessarily care, so it ends up working.
Taken as a wrap-up to this whole season-long story, though, it's a lot less satisfying. Exactly how much sense that story does or doesn't make as a whole, I think I'd need a careful rewatch or two to evaluate, although I suspect that's not happening for me any time soon. It was mostly kind of fun, though, so that's good. But, yeah, I can't call it "satisfying," and that's only partially because we're clearly leaving a lot of things unresolved and open-ended that seem likely to be addressed in next year's specials.
First and foremost, the whole Ravagers storyline proved to be disappointing in the end, and even more so for me because I did think they were pretty cool in the beginning, and despite all the things I absolutely failed to trust Chibnall with, I apparently was trusting he had some cool revelation in mind for them. Azure does at least get a pretty good little speech to the Doctor here, as nihilistic omnicidal revenge-driven villain speeches go, but otherwise they turn out to be sheer plot devices, and their deaths are as arbitrary and unfulfilling as any Chibnall villain's ending. Ah, well.
On the plus side, though! Having two Doctors around for a while was a lot of fun, and the climactic Stuff Happening in Space scenes looked really cool and were genuinely pretty exciting. And the guest characters were all freaking fantastic. This may even be my favorite appearance by Kate, even if her part was fairly small. Bel and Vinder could have had more to do, but they were still likeable, and it was pleasant to see them reunited. Di was freaking marvelous, and I am still holding out hope for her and Dan, because I think they could both do way, way worse. And Jericho is The Freaking Best. I can't even be sad he's dead because that death scene was so utterly perfect and right for him. All the respect, sir. All of it. And a new entry high up on the list of All-Time Best Doctor Who guest characters. Not an easy thing to achieve, really, with nearly six decades of competition.
Other thoughts and stray observations:
Doctor Who really does not understand antimatter, but that's hardly new. At this point, it's practically a tradition. So I feel like I can't really complain about it.
OK, I have to say it. I haven't really been a Doctor/Yaz shipper. They're great and have chemistry and all, and I've been genuinely happy for people who do ship it that it's working for them so well, but, I dunno, I'm never entirely comfortable shipping the Doctor with a human companion. (Unless it's Sarah Jane.) But watching the two of them in this one... Geez, you almost can't not, can you? Which isn't, I hasten to add, a complaint! Just a thing I will accept now.
The scene with the Sontaran and the chocolate reminded me somewhat painfully of why I think the Sontarans are stupid, or rather why their stupid stupidity levels are stupid. But I did get a great big laugh out of the bit where they're offering an alliance to all other baddies... but not the Rutans, because the Rutans are still the worst. Which is actually even funnier in retrospect, because they were just going to betray everybody anyway, and the Rutans clearly aren't even good enough for that.
That Grand Serpent guy seemed totally extraneous and I'm genuinely not sure why he even had to be in this story at all. Or what exactly he was doing in it, for that matter.
No great revelation about Bel and Vinder's baby! I am relieved.
On one hand, I am glad the Doctor decided against restoring those memories because that's really, really not something I want the show to deal with, and would surely mean a change that I don't want to see in the Doctor. On the other, I do wonder how truly in-character it is, given that a desire to know things has always been one of the Doctor's major traits. On the third hand, it is, of course, now just sitting inside the TARDIS somewhere hanging metaphorically over all our heads, and I don't trust it.
And, of course, we are left with vague, ominous implications of Things to Come. All I can say is that I really, really, really hope that that line about the forces amassed against the Doctor "and their master" in fact features a big ol' capital M, or I'm going to be very disappointed.
And that's what I've got! Honestly, I was half expecting that come the final episode of this thing, I'd be screaming "Chibnall, NOOOOOOOOOOO!", and I don't currently seem to be doing that, so I guess it went at least reasonably well, my various complaints along the way notwithstanding.
This entry was originally posted at https://astrogirl.dreamwidth.org/1018507.html. Comment here or there, whichever you like.
And, taken by itself, that was pretty cool. It actually had the vibe of a lot of Moffat's season-enders, which I generally tend to enjoy. Lots of crazy complicated stuff coming at you a little too fast, which might or might not make great logical sense if you stop to think about it very carefully, but which is entertaining and engaging enough that in the moment I don't necessarily care, so it ends up working.
Taken as a wrap-up to this whole season-long story, though, it's a lot less satisfying. Exactly how much sense that story does or doesn't make as a whole, I think I'd need a careful rewatch or two to evaluate, although I suspect that's not happening for me any time soon. It was mostly kind of fun, though, so that's good. But, yeah, I can't call it "satisfying," and that's only partially because we're clearly leaving a lot of things unresolved and open-ended that seem likely to be addressed in next year's specials.
First and foremost, the whole Ravagers storyline proved to be disappointing in the end, and even more so for me because I did think they were pretty cool in the beginning, and despite all the things I absolutely failed to trust Chibnall with, I apparently was trusting he had some cool revelation in mind for them. Azure does at least get a pretty good little speech to the Doctor here, as nihilistic omnicidal revenge-driven villain speeches go, but otherwise they turn out to be sheer plot devices, and their deaths are as arbitrary and unfulfilling as any Chibnall villain's ending. Ah, well.
On the plus side, though! Having two Doctors around for a while was a lot of fun, and the climactic Stuff Happening in Space scenes looked really cool and were genuinely pretty exciting. And the guest characters were all freaking fantastic. This may even be my favorite appearance by Kate, even if her part was fairly small. Bel and Vinder could have had more to do, but they were still likeable, and it was pleasant to see them reunited. Di was freaking marvelous, and I am still holding out hope for her and Dan, because I think they could both do way, way worse. And Jericho is The Freaking Best. I can't even be sad he's dead because that death scene was so utterly perfect and right for him. All the respect, sir. All of it. And a new entry high up on the list of All-Time Best Doctor Who guest characters. Not an easy thing to achieve, really, with nearly six decades of competition.
Other thoughts and stray observations:
Doctor Who really does not understand antimatter, but that's hardly new. At this point, it's practically a tradition. So I feel like I can't really complain about it.
OK, I have to say it. I haven't really been a Doctor/Yaz shipper. They're great and have chemistry and all, and I've been genuinely happy for people who do ship it that it's working for them so well, but, I dunno, I'm never entirely comfortable shipping the Doctor with a human companion. (Unless it's Sarah Jane.) But watching the two of them in this one... Geez, you almost can't not, can you? Which isn't, I hasten to add, a complaint! Just a thing I will accept now.
The scene with the Sontaran and the chocolate reminded me somewhat painfully of why I think the Sontarans are stupid, or rather why their stupid stupidity levels are stupid. But I did get a great big laugh out of the bit where they're offering an alliance to all other baddies... but not the Rutans, because the Rutans are still the worst. Which is actually even funnier in retrospect, because they were just going to betray everybody anyway, and the Rutans clearly aren't even good enough for that.
That Grand Serpent guy seemed totally extraneous and I'm genuinely not sure why he even had to be in this story at all. Or what exactly he was doing in it, for that matter.
No great revelation about Bel and Vinder's baby! I am relieved.
On one hand, I am glad the Doctor decided against restoring those memories because that's really, really not something I want the show to deal with, and would surely mean a change that I don't want to see in the Doctor. On the other, I do wonder how truly in-character it is, given that a desire to know things has always been one of the Doctor's major traits. On the third hand, it is, of course, now just sitting inside the TARDIS somewhere hanging metaphorically over all our heads, and I don't trust it.
And, of course, we are left with vague, ominous implications of Things to Come. All I can say is that I really, really, really hope that that line about the forces amassed against the Doctor "and their master" in fact features a big ol' capital M, or I'm going to be very disappointed.
And that's what I've got! Honestly, I was half expecting that come the final episode of this thing, I'd be screaming "Chibnall, NOOOOOOOOOOO!", and I don't currently seem to be doing that, so I guess it went at least reasonably well, my various complaints along the way notwithstanding.
This entry was originally posted at https://astrogirl.dreamwidth.org/1018507.html. Comment here or there, whichever you like.