i watched these 2 episodes together so i can't review separately, but so far i think it's the first time i feel the episode is actually going somewhere since the change of showrunner. i don't know if chibnall needs a longer runtime to produce a good story and so he's better at 2-parters, or if he just listened to complaints, but a lot of things i haven't liked about the writing under him seem to be not as bad or somewhat fixed here.
it's the first time we actually get to See this doctor i feel. the higher number of companions is a fun dynamic, but it felt like it'd resulted in them sucking what little characterisation was given to the tardis crew ("fam", i guess) with no leftovers for the doctor until spyfall. and for once, she isn't completely useless; the fam (yea i know) still seem somehow way more actually useful that she is, and she still resorts to her main strategy of "i'm going to find the bad guy, ask them questions and then just tell them i'll stop them until they're scared enough to stop. what do you mean do i have an actual actionable plan?", but she also did some deducting on her own rather than ask for all the answers, and had to figure out how to get herself out of situations, so i suppose points for that. probably, the return of the master helped give her something to reflect her character and identity off of. i don't know how i feel about this iteration of the master being *that*angry rather than amused, but i guess for now it's worked. (using the nazis and racism to trap him though? weird move). i liked the dynamic of the companions feeling that they are left in the dark by the doctor and know nothing about her and it makes sense, since even as an audience we know nothing about this iteration. one could argue it was intentional then to make her so little developed before these episodes, i'd just call it a nice save.
i feel like the aliens were quite an good enemy with an ok resolution. i think the first time we see them as light in australia worked quite well to make us fear them. during the previous season, i rarely could feel the stakes but i think here it felt a bit more tangential. i don't mind the goofiness, the spy film parody vibes in the first ep, though if the laser shoes were ok at first when they tried to make us believe they could take down and scare a bunch of men with guns that went to far past silly territory and into writing shortcut territory. liked to see yaz ryan & graham working and struggling as a team, liked the doctor going back in time and picking up companions there (is it just me i feel like we hadn't had an adventure in the past in a while?). i guess the separation and being with temporary,new company worked in her character's favour, allowing the doctor to be in control and show her capability. the master reveal i feel was rushed maybe? tbf i'd had it spoiled so i knew, but maybe the doctor could have slowly picked up that something was up without actually figuring it out right away, rather than have the master fully reveal himself after 1 suspicion.
all in all i suppose introducing some type of bigger arc finally other than stupid easy to trap tim shaw is making it easier to look forward to this season, and feel like something's actually at stake this time.
Review by ZoeBlockedParentSpoilers2023-08-21T08:03:01Z
i watched these 2 episodes together so i can't review separately, but so far i think it's the first time i feel the episode is actually going somewhere since the change of showrunner.
i don't know if chibnall needs a longer runtime to produce a good story and so he's better at 2-parters, or if he just listened to complaints, but a lot of things i haven't liked about the writing under him seem to be not as bad or somewhat fixed here.
it's the first time we actually get to See this doctor i feel. the higher number of companions is a fun dynamic, but it felt like it'd resulted in them sucking what little characterisation was given to the tardis crew ("fam", i guess) with no leftovers for the doctor until spyfall. and for once, she isn't completely useless; the fam (yea i know) still seem somehow way more actually useful that she is, and she still resorts to her main strategy of "i'm going to find the bad guy, ask them questions and then just tell them i'll stop them until they're scared enough to stop. what do you mean do i have an actual actionable plan?", but she also did some deducting on her own rather than ask for all the answers, and had to figure out how to get herself out of situations, so i suppose points for that.
probably, the return of the master helped give her something to reflect her character and identity off of. i don't know how i feel about this iteration of the master being *that*angry rather than amused, but i guess for now it's worked. (using the nazis and racism to trap him though? weird move).
i liked the dynamic of the companions feeling that they are left in the dark by the doctor and know nothing about her and it makes sense, since even as an audience we know nothing about this iteration. one could argue it was intentional then to make her so little developed before these episodes, i'd just call it a nice save.
i feel like the aliens were quite an good enemy with an ok resolution. i think the first time we see them as light in australia worked quite well to make us fear them. during the previous season, i rarely could feel the stakes but i think here it felt a bit more tangential.
i don't mind the goofiness, the spy film parody vibes in the first ep, though if the laser shoes were ok at first when they tried to make us believe they could take down and scare a bunch of men with guns that went to far past silly territory and into writing shortcut territory.
liked to see yaz ryan & graham working and struggling as a team, liked the doctor going back in time and picking up companions there (is it just me i feel like we hadn't had an adventure in the past in a while?). i guess the separation and being with temporary,new company worked in her character's favour, allowing the doctor to be in control and show her capability.
the master reveal i feel was rushed maybe? tbf i'd had it spoiled so i knew, but maybe the doctor could have slowly picked up that something was up without actually figuring it out right away, rather than have the master fully reveal himself after 1 suspicion.
all in all i suppose introducing some type of bigger arc finally other than stupid easy to trap tim shaw is making it easier to look forward to this season, and feel like something's actually at stake this time.