i actually really liked this! i think chibnall is trying to hit on very contemporary important messages, such as the rise of fascism worldwide again, and i think it's difficult to make it original and fun and exciting and children-oriented etc all at the same time, but we can see he is trying and he loves the show, and i think that counts. it's a different take, more focused on earth and human problems, less space analogies, less subtle, but i see no great harm in that. and this is a recurring theme for 13: going back to important moments in human history when evil won despite every effort, but this time she actually saves earth, it's the great thing about fantasy. i also feel like the companions so far haven't really connected emotionally with the doctor, and i thought that was part of what was going on, so when ryan decides to stay on earth, because it's his home, it made sense to me. i didn't like to see him go, even if in this episode he was already kinda out of it, ready to leave. and it was a shame to see graham go too, but i think it makes sense to him as character: family is the most important thing, and ryan is his family, not the doctor, because she was too busy being emotionally locked away from them, trying not to hurt or put them in danger, which for me is the 13's personality. she has to deal with a lot from her past right now, and the companions are very independent and for a long time don't seem to care about that. it felt rushed yaz's response to her being gone for ten months, but i think it's the kind of involvement she needed to make sense for her to keep on being a companion. i liked the daleks coming to earth and being all very on the nose: police = fascism. but i liked it better when the not-so-much-a-metaphor ended and the daleks started fighting each other. i loved every reference, which i think goes to show how much chibnall is himself a fan of the show, how much is willing to say to us: hey, i love it too, i love the mythology and the callbacks, but i'm more interested in doing something different, something that makes sense for me. and the doctor is all about change, so why not go to this with an open mind and heart? really excited for the next season. this year is already somewhat better than last one because in it there's doctor who new episodes
Review by agnesthehumanBlockedParent2021-01-24T20:49:32Z
i actually really liked this! i think chibnall is trying to hit on very contemporary important messages, such as the rise of fascism worldwide again, and i think it's difficult to make it original and fun and exciting and children-oriented etc all at the same time, but we can see he is trying and he loves the show, and i think that counts. it's a different take, more focused on earth and human problems, less space analogies, less subtle, but i see no great harm in that.
and this is a recurring theme for 13: going back to important moments in human history when evil won despite every effort, but this time she actually saves earth, it's the great thing about fantasy.
i also feel like the companions so far haven't really connected emotionally with the doctor, and i thought that was part of what was going on, so when ryan decides to stay on earth, because it's his home, it made sense to me. i didn't like to see him go, even if in this episode he was already kinda out of it, ready to leave. and it was a shame to see graham go too, but i think it makes sense to him as character: family is the most important thing, and ryan is his family, not the doctor, because she was too busy being emotionally locked away from them, trying not to hurt or put them in danger, which for me is the 13's personality. she has to deal with a lot from her past right now, and the companions are very independent and for a long time don't seem to care about that. it felt rushed yaz's response to her being gone for ten months, but i think it's the kind of involvement she needed to make sense for her to keep on being a companion.
i liked the daleks coming to earth and being all very on the nose: police = fascism. but i liked it better when the not-so-much-a-metaphor ended and the daleks started fighting each other. i loved every reference, which i think goes to show how much chibnall is himself a fan of the show, how much is willing to say to us: hey, i love it too, i love the mythology and the callbacks, but i'm more interested in doing something different, something that makes sense for me. and the doctor is all about change, so why not go to this with an open mind and heart? really excited for the next season. this year is already somewhat better than last one because in it there's doctor who new episodes