Doctor Who (BBC/Disney+) (2023)

I did NOT love the ending. It was too corny and it felt unearned. And yet, even if I didn't love it, I prefer it to most Doctor Who endings. I don't feel the happiness and joy felt genuine. But this is a franchise that LOVES punishing the viewer, and that's never earned either. I would rather the show failed at making me happy than failed at making me feel genuine sadness. The intentions there are better.

I love the Doctor's friendship with Anita. I think she would have made a Good Companion in another life. But her actual value for Fifteen is her shocking normalcy and allowing him to live a regular life.

For the record, this wasn't the first time The Doctor has done that. Eleven did it twice. First in "The Lodger" when he became friends with Craig and Sophie, and again for centuries on Trenzalore in "The Time Of The Doctor". Of course the difference in both with this is Eleven was on a mission the entire time while Fifteen's whole deal was simply to wait and be human. Little different and I get why he loved Anita for it.

I also love that the Doctor really loves and appreciates Silurians. The Doctor used to only speak so favorably about humans, and I love that Silurians have gone up there for him too. That's great.

Fifteen flying off the handle at himself was a good moment.

I'll tell you my least favorite part of the episode. It was the Doctor's rant about the hotel room you pick saying more about you than your home. That is a stupid fucking thing to state and one of the worst things about the Doctor Who relaunch, be it Russell T Davies or Stephen Moffat's tenure, is they will often state a "bold truth" about human nature that is actually totally fucking stupid, and counter to every bit of reality. People almost NEVER pick their hotel rooms and just take what they get. The thing I hate about both Davies and Moffat is they think they are speaking for the human condition and revealing dark and deep truths, when they don't actually understand people at ALL. I resented Gene Roddenberry's tenure on Star Trek because of the positive "truths" he spoke about humanity that had no basis in reality. On the flipside Davies and Moffat talk about the dark side of humanity by making up stupid shit wholesale. I mean, Roddenberry's problem was he did that too, but as dumb as his ideas were, he at least had them for a positive reason. Davies and Moffat (and ESPECIALLY Davies) always feel this weird need to feed into nihilism of the sort that doesn't actually exist for real people. It's actually quite annoying. It's also why I'm unhappy both Davies and Moffat are back.

I love Ncuti Gatwa as Fifteen. He's a great Doctor. Like both David Tennant and Matt Smith I think he deserves better showrunners. The episode is sweet and treacly in its warm moments, but it doesn't feel especially truthful about them (or the bad moments) either. 3 stars.

I don't trust Russell T Davies. I did not enjoy that very much. One of the worst things about distrusting a creator in general is it's impossible to sit back and enjoy something at face value. Another showrunner killed that cat, I'd pause and be like, "Well, okay." Because it's Davies, and I know and understand his style, it's total cringe. Davies is all about getting negative reactions. He would have been a better showrunner for Game Of Thrones instead of Doctor Who.

On some level it's refreshing that Belinda is a Doctor skeptic and wants to go home. But Davies didn't do that because it's refreshing and unexplored territory. It's because he's an asshole and genuinely wanted to see Fifteen hurt by those words. Because... Dah-rammah!

Take the thing with Sasha. That had potential to be VERY interesting. One of the things I love about Fifteen is he's willing to put in the work of gaining trust and building friendships, even if it means he's staying for awhile. Learning about his and Sasha's friendship while Belinda is freaking out would have been super interesting. But Davies kills her off because... Dah-rammah! And because WE don't know her, it doesn't hurt us as much as it needs to. The Doctor weeps for her. Just seeing that is not remotely enough. If Davies thinks that's Dah-rammah, he might be right. But it's BAD drama. Davies is a bad showrunner (and probably a bad person) because he doesn't understand the difference because good drama and bad drama. He's like The Office's Michael Scott at improv. He pulls the gun every time because "Nobody can beat that!" Without understanding both television and fandom have this weird symbiosis and it should be a collaborative thing to make everything stronger. But Davies pulls out the gun and believes he's "won" improv. The fact that Davies is so bad at his job would bother me a LOT less if the Doctor Who fandom didn't insanely love him. When he was showrunner that last time, he did nothing but abuse the audience, and make us miserable just to "win at improv". I'm tired of this already. I've had enough of this shit.

I get the show has Disney money now, but the sets and visual effects are cartoonish and goofy. I don't demand realism in fiction. What fiction SHOULD strive for is consistency. The goofy space-age robots feel like an entirely different franchise. And it's not like Doctor Who was ever the most grounded show to begin with. But this is just ridiculous.

Ncuti Gatwa is my favorite Doctor since Matt Smith. I liked Jodie Whittaker fine, but outside of being female she didn't bring too much new to the role. Fifteen's empathy is very good character progression for a character that has been around over 60 years. I think the guy is pretty special and he deserved a better showrunner.

The fourth wall breaking with Mrs. Flood grates a tiny bit less each time because each time it's done, the less likely it's a knowing wink to the audience, and more likely a major plot point that will change everything. And I wish the unprecedented nature of this stuff on the relaunch would get me more excited for what that could possibly mean.

But I don't trust Davies.

That got rave reviews from critics and fans. It left me a bit cold though. 2 1/2 stars.

The thing about Russell T Davies is he is absolutely 100% capable of doing A Good One. The fact that he so often DELIBERATELY chooses the opposite is why I get so mad. And it IS a deliberate thing on his end. If he wasn't capable of this, he'd be easier to dismiss. The fact that he CAN do this when he chooses to, makes the fact that he usually chooses not to all the more infuriating.

Here's a bold opinion: If you dislike Ncuti Gatwa's version of the Doctor, you're probably an idiot. He is without a doubt one of the most lovable Doctors ever, right up there with Four and Eleven. I myself have issues with this era of the run (due mostly to Davies) but absolutely NONE of the shit Gatwa is getting is remotely deserved.

With Jodie Whittaker, I liked her a lot, but she was a little bit harder to defend. Because as far as Doctor personas go, she played it incredibly safe. She was likable, and kind, and sort of lacking the mystery and edge the best Doctors have. Fifteen works for me because he's evolved enough to suggest that he's working THROUGH those dark edges. For Thirteen it never seemed so much of a struggle. She was chill, and kind of bland, and typical Doctor. Fifteen is not just more well-rounded. But his personality type is more unique among the different Doctors.

While I am defending Whittaker, do you know what OTHER recent Doctor was kind and decent and played it safe? Matt Smith's beloved Eleventh Doctor! I have a hard time reconciling why so many people love Eleven but can't stand Thirteen. Especially because as far as Doctors go, the more popular ones echo previous ones (Smith had a LOT of David Tennant in him). I wonder what the difference and actual objection is there. I truly wonder. Hmmm.

And again, if you hate Fifteen, it's probably for toxic, racist reasons, and my judgment of you probably being stupid stands.

Let's talk about the episode. The fourth Wall is broken in all but actual reality, and Mrs. Flood's appearance adds even more mystery to that. The visual effects are outright amazing, and whatever else you can say about Davies, his Pantheon of Gods are truly good adversaries. What's interesting is Fifteen must defeat them all in different ways. For Lux, he "beats" him by giving him actual Godhood and what he wants. The Pantheon is so great because they are the first villains truly more powerful than the Doctor, and he has to outthink them every time.

I love the Doctor Who superfans are granted existence at the end. I'm guessing this means they'll be back.

For the record, how do you know the superfans are bullshit? Their claiming to have seen every episode! Absolutely NOBODY their ages has seen every episode! The Lost Episodes make that an impossibility. The BBC Archives are still putting Lost Episodes' audio to animation, but they haven't gotten to everything YET. Nobody their ages (or mine, for that matter) have seen "Every episode". Davies himself knows this, and it was probably a deliberate thing to hint the reality wasn't real.

Has Davies seen every episode? How old is he? I think it might be possible.

Everybody loves "Blink". Really, that's not remotely MY favorite episode, but it's a unique episode in that I have absolutely no negative notes about it. I love other episodes more than it, but it's the only episode that I think can truly be considered "perfect". Even episodes I love more, I still have things to bitch about.

While we are on a Pantheon wishlist, I wanna see the Trickster from The Sarah-Jane Adventures this season. Hell, have guest appearances from the supporting cast of that show and get updates on how Luke, Clyde, and Rani's lives are going after Sarah-Jane Smith! And if Skye was TRULY designed to be the Trickster's daughter, there's your hook for the episode! Bring back K-9 too!

Also, we were teased Susan Foreman last season. Good time to bring her back. Her actress is still alive, but super old, so the show shouldn't wait TOO much longer for this.

The May 24th thing is not just hinted the end of the world is coming, but the end of the series too. I don't precisely object to that (especially because that sort of set-up says Davies sees it coming) and it WOULD kind of be refreshing to get a legit series finale before the show goes into mothballs for a few years (but hopefully not decades). The Original Series was simply canceled unceremoniously leaving us all hanging on The Cartmel Masterplan (which was never meant to be). I think it would be interesting that if BBC canceled the show, they gave Davies enough of a warning to go all out.

For the record, Whittaker's last episode went all out. Don't see why Gatwa's shouldn't be allowed to either.

Segregation is explored here, and this is why it's SO tricky to do history episodes with a Black Doctor. I'm not sure the Doctor's forgiving nature of the time period is remotely reasonable (Davies IS a white writer, and this could simply be a symptom of that) but I think if Gatwa really had a problem with it, he'd say so. I think it's likelier both actor and showrunner agree Time Lords' perspective about humanity is not something easy to understand or grasp.

I will say I'm glad the betrayal was another fiction, but Davies sucks because he made it so believable it could happen. And since it didn't, it's racial trauma for no reason. If the betrayal was real, that would be dark, but legit drama. Because it's a fake-out from Lux, it feels like it's treating a serious subject a little cheaply. Story of Davies' life.

I think this was an amazing episode. I don't expect Davies to stick the landing in the finale (if he does it will literally be for the first time ever) but as long as we get the occasional episode like this this season, I'll truthfully probably be pretty happy anyways. Unlike cartoon characters who come to life, I don't demand the moon. 5 stars.