Usually,
whenever I finish a new season of Who,
I circle back in my Sunday Who Review write-ups to revisit the finale, or in
some cases the last few episodes, from a more spoilery perspective. With series 11, though, the season doesn’t
exactly culminate in the finale. As I
said in my episode review, there are a few arc-ish threads that tie up there,
but for the most part, it does just feel like another episode, so there’s no
particular need for me to go into it again.
Instead, I’m going to spend the next few weeks looking at the season as
a whole. Today, I’m looking at my
favorite bits (spoilers ahead.)
The Thirteenth Doctor
Expect
many more in-depth thoughts about Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteen in the coming
weeks/months/years, but regardless of what issues series 11 may have, I’m just
ecstatic about the Doctor. I went into
series 11 hopeful but worried, and along with Whittaker’s splendid,
wholehearted performance, the writing for her character put my fears to
rest. I said all along that, in order
for Thirteen to work, the show’s first job has to be to just let her be the Doctor, and for my money, it
accomplished that in spades.
More Social Awareness
I know
some online are complaining about the “SJW Doctor
Who” (what did they think the show was before?), but I appreciate the care
this season took particularly with its episodes set in the past, exploring
racism and xenophobia through historical lenses, as well as Ryan and Yaz’s own
experiences. The specificity of
experience here makes the show feel more welcoming to all. Additionally, I like that “The Demons of the Punjab”
takes us to a part of the world the show has never really explored before,
setting our heroes at the brink of a historical event that doesn’t get a lot of
attention in the western world.
That Spark
I know
that Who gets heavy sometimes, and
that’s fine, but I think the show is often at its best when it’s full of joy
and wonder, and this season offers up a good deal of that. Delightful humor, boundless enthusiasm, and
beautiful hope – that’s my Who, and
sometimes, when other genre stories sink into darkness and angst, I appreciate
finding some brightness here.
Villains with Motivations
I’ll go
more into the season’s baddies another day, but one thing I definitely
appreciate about this season is that, for the most part, we learn why the
villains are doing what they’re doing, and it’s usually a reason beyond “must
feed!” or “eeeeeevil!” I’ve said before
that I think the Moffat era wound up leaning a little too hard on
general-purpose monsters, and it’s nice to return to the question, “What do the
bad guys want?”
The Cast
Time and
time again, the Who casting
department impresses me, and that streak continues here. In addition to the utterly-winning Whittaker,
we get fine acting from Tosin Cole, Mandip Gill, and Bradley Walsh as the
companions, and the season has added to the show’s collection of terrific guest
stars, not least of which is of course Alan fricking Cumming as King James I.
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