Empire of Death

After all the hype this story failed to land. While the return of Sutekh was an excellent choice and his the idea that he had never left the TARDIS was an excellent way to threaten the entire universe, this episode fell flat for the simple reason that everyone had plot armour.

Plot armour is generally only used on the main character, but in this episode like in the Flux episodes a degree of plot armour was applied to everyone.

There were no stakes.

There was no way they wouldn't either completely reverse it or save a good portion of people.

Doctor Who relies on a universe that is varied and populated. Universe ending plot lines are now a non-starter and after a while produce zero suspense.

Like 73 Yards, this episode has no significant consequences as the events were, to an extent overwritten.

Ruby's mystery ended up being utterly uninteresting, to the extent that while a major plot point of the episode, it only served as bait.

Personally I find that after Amy and Clara, mysteries surrounding companions are now uninteresting. Short of exceptional and intriguing writing, the companions should just be ordinary people given the chance to shine.

The story telling in Doctor Who has seriously declined. This story had no significant consequences and has yet again relied on wishful thinking (see Parting of the ways, Last of the Time Lords and Journeys End) to end a universe threatening event. It seems that Russell T Davies is only capable of writing inherently flawed universe ending finales.

These finales no longer satisfy and should be abandoned.

The second-half of the season finale begins with all the intensity of the excellent first half. It's chaotic and absorbing and things go from bad to worse to worse to OMG!

There's a solid explanation of Susan Triad, and some really clever ideas. Even the parts that don't make that much sense (that bit on the planet) are engaging.

The series continues with its theme of a guilt-ridden, PTSD Doctor, which I could do with a lot less of, and they punted on a mystery I was hoping they'd answer, but I wouldn't call either of those irredeemable.

But then there's the resolution to the mystery that's been building up all season and it's ... not good. I mean, conceptually I can see and appreciate what they're going for, and I feel that if they elaborated on that concept and gave it more context and history I might say, okay, I get that.

But then I guess they wouldn't have time for the incredibly annoying weepy-heartwarming nonsense that went on forever (by which I mean 10 or 15 minutes) at the end.

I wasn't disappointed enough by the worst of this episode to ignore how of it was genuinely fun , but the last part of the season 1 finale was undeniably a letdown.

1. Russell T Davies has literally lost the plot when it comes to writing engaging Dr. Who episodes and crafting an engaging arc to the season. 2. CGI can't save a lousy script. And 3. Disney has no idea what or who Dr. Who is, and they never will.

I give the actors their due for making the best out of bad material but at some point they should have pushed back against the drivel they were handed. After all do they really want to be known as the actors that killed the longest running show in television history?

If I could give the bigwigs some advice I'd say - fire Davies, regenerate the Doctor, and bury this season in a deep dark hole never to be seen again.

I want our Dr. Who back!

Started really strong, amped the stakes and then failed to deliver.

I really enjoyed the beginning of this episode, I could feel the tension and was excited to see how it would end. The ending unfortunately did not hit the mark for me. I am absolutely fine with the resolution to Ruby's mother, however, I think it was handled poorly. The acting between the cast was brilliant, the writing not so much. I was left with lots of questions that reddit cannot answer for me because it's far too early. The cliffhanger kind of bored me to say the least and felt unnecessary. I truly hope this isn't it for some of these plot lines and that they are touched on next season but I highly doubt that.

As always Ncuti and Millie are absolutely fantastic together. So the only person to blame really is myself for getting way too excited for this episode I will not make the same mistake again.

I'm deeply disappointed with this season of Doctor Who. It feels like the writers have shifted focus to cater to anyone but their core followers who have loved the show since the 2005 revival, and many even loved it before that.

One of the most jarring changes is how they've portrayed the Doctor. This season, the Doctor seemed to weep in every episode (at least four times in the finale), showing so much fear with each new story and even running away at times. That's not who the Doctor is and has been. Sure, he feels emotion and cries. Sure, he feels fear. But that has never been the focal point, showing the audience how much he is like us. This new humanization undermines the very essence of the Doctor, who we've come to admire for being a Time Lord with bravery, wit, and a unique, almost otherworldly perspective; a Lord of Time who faces his enemies without hesitation and who doesn't have time to constantly give in to his emotions and feelings.

I miss the confident, enigmatic Doctor who faces challenges head-on with a mix of intelligence and humor. These new changes in character make it feel like I'm watching any other human in a show rather than the Doctor. Ncuti Gatwa is clearly an excellent actor with great charismatic magnetism, but he's being made to portray a character that is so very human, just like me. There are hundreds of sci-fi shows featuring people just like me. That's not why we watch this show. There's a reason this show has lasted so long, and I think that's being forgotten or put on a shelf to collect dust.

It's disheartening that the season finale didn't leave me eagerly anticipating the next season. A strong, cliffhanger ending or enigmatic build is crucial for keeping viewers excited about what's next, but this season failed to deliver that. This season started with a great "save the cheerleader, save the world" vibe but, just like Heroes, it seems as if they didn't plan it all the way through and didn't deliver what they set out to achieve.

I truly hope the creators will listen to the broader fanbase and bring back the elements that make Doctor Who the iconic show we love. Return the show to its roots, its core, its formula that kept us on the edge of our seats each and every episode.