Season finale time! Color me impressed: they had a lot of balls in the air here, but I feel like they stuck the landing. While some resolutions are a little over-hasty and there are dangling threads, this is, on the whole, an entertaining wrap-up to quite a successful (shortened) season. As usual for Who season finales, we’ll talk around the big stuff and save the spoilers for the next few weeks—I’m guessing there will be enough to last us until the New Year’s special, which is right around the corner.
As Swarm and Azure prepare for the “final Flux event,” the remaining big baddies of the universe converge, with the Earth caught in the crossfire. The Doctor, Yaz and Dan, and the friends they’ve acquired along the way have their work cut out for them trying to prevent the end of all things.
Cut Stefan-style pitch: this episode has everything! Passenger forms. Sontarans. Psychic torture. Doors that open across the universe. The Doctor being forced to spread herself even thinner than usual. A mad house of hidden memories. And a showdown over Time itself!
It’s jam-packed and action-packed, but it still finds time for enjoyable one-liners and meaningful character moments. While all our heroes have something to contribute here (even Dan gets a little something more to do,) I’m especially impressed at how well-used all the arc-only characters are. Everyone has a point and a purpose, everyone is crucial to the resolution. Honestly, this episode juggles its large cast better than the companion-apalooza in “Journey’s End,” and that was with characters who’d all been regular fixtures on the show. But this short season was more than enough time to get to know Karvanista, Vinder, Bel, Diane, Claire, Professor Jericho, and Joseph Williamson. Obviously, we’ve spent more time with some than others, but every last one of them makes a great showing here.
Well, it only took most of the season, but I finally got my wish of seeing the Doctor, Yaz, and Dan in a proper adventure together. Amid all the other moving parts around them, I appreciated seeing the Doctor with her companions again. “Do you have any idea what she’s talking about?” Dan asks as the Doctor spouts mile-a-minute technobabble. “Not a clue,” Yaz replies, utterly contented. “Normal service resumed.” The Doctor/Yaz scenes are lovely – although, if it’s not the show’s intention for them to feel shippy, someone might want to point that out to Chibnall – and I like seeing Dan find his mojo a bit more after a season where he’s largely been running to keep up. Fun interactions and bravery in the face of danger abound.
A lot more to
talk about later, but for now, I’ll just say this: this season took some big
swings, and most of them paid off. Chibnall’s run of the show has often, to me,
been marked by a sense of playing it safe, staying within a comfortable
wheelhouse that’s been less ambitious than that of his predecessors. But here,
he pulled out all the stops and delivered something exciting, fun, heartfelt,
and rootable. Not everything here makes complete sense, and I’m sure aspects of
it will fall apart as I think on it longer, but this has been a season where I’ve
been anticipating the latest episode every week, which hasn’t always been the
case for me with Chibnall. I look forward to spending time breaking down some
of my more spoilery thoughts while I wait for New Year’s!
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