[initial reactions] Doctor Who 11x10 - Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos

[grimorie]

This was an interesting one, I'm still mulling how I feel about it.

I think I'll list down my reactions in list form:

- I love the idea of the Ux! People whose faith drive/can create dimensional engineering (I think?), and then to have their faith corrupted by Tim Shaw was truly evil especially as he began using them as weapons.

Delph deserves better and hopefully from there he would get better.

• I love Mark Addy as Paltraki and his commitment to completing his mission because his people needed him to complete his mission. His was an act of faith and devotion too, but hampered by Ranskoor Av Kolos' hostile atmosphere messing with his mind.
• I love the Doctor and Graham's short discussion about what he'll do with Tim Shaw the moment he sees him again. His calmness sold it to me, and also his wavering. Because he's not a killer.
• Ryan is a better man, he may be clumsy, he may not know how to talk to kids, and his first instinct seems a bit pessimistic but when it gets down to it, Ryan holds Grace's values to heart.

• Yaz and her beautiful determination to protect Earth and her ride or die attitude towards the Doctor.

• The Doctor driving their teachers away because they are the toddler that constantly goes: 'But why? Why?'

• 'Yippee Kayay Robots!'

• 'If you kill him, you become him.' I wish we had more of this moment. The look in the Doctor's eyes saying this. She's been that several times and she's been finally renewed into a body that, think, she finally doesn't feel that way.

• 'It's a flexible creed.'
  I love Ryan calling the Doctor about her hypocrisy about her rules, about how she's okay with bombs, and the Doctor saying she only said that to set rules with Ryan, and then the most important bit: 'Also, don't quote me on that, my rules change all the time.'

This is a slippery slope for the Doctor, but again the Doctor seems to double down on not killing. Yaz asked Thirteen what she'd do if she sees Tim Shaw again, and Thirteen doesn't answer. - 'I would have destroyed all life. Planetary genocide.' And then the Doctor gets cold water splashed in her face. After this she seemed to double down that no one gets killed, like she's really resisting anything that could do with killing.

I wish they hung on that beat a little longer.

• The Doctor remote summons the TARDIS and made the TARDIS lights open by clapping. LOL. How long did the Doctor re-wire or talk the TARDIS into doing that?

• The CGI special effects with the planet weapon thing was AMAZING.

• The Doctor running as Tim Shaw monologued was also amazing!

• I also love the brief moment where Thirteen and Tim Shaw.

• Putting Tim Shaw into stasis in a locked shrine, that's going to come back to haunt them.

• Did... did the Doctor accidentally make themselves into a god for the Ux? I mean the look on their faces when the TARDIS appeared and then the way they went 'the will of the true Creator', I feel like the Doctor accidentally did that.

It feels like Chibnall is incrementally, and so slowly building the Doctor back up to that while making it apparent (to me) that Thirteen doesn't want any of that acclaim and is doing everything in her power to resist falling back into old tricks.

Okay now some nitpicks:

• With a title 'Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos' I was expecting epic, and the thing is, saving money by limiting the cast to an intimate few has been hurting them, I think. It works for intimate situations but for a battlefield, I would've expected more?

• Related to my last point in the positive section: I think Chibnall is committed to really pulling the Doctor into a more Second Doctor kind of place and then slowly build her back to it, if the New Year’s Special trailer is to be believed. But getting there is making me antsy, also Thirteen hampering herself and trying not to hand out final judgements… I really miss Thirteen’s barely suppressed anger in The Woman Who Fell to Earth.

Anyway, the sense I'm getting the epic season finale, especially after viewing the trailer for New Year's Day is reserved for the special.

• I woke-up to this news: A YEAR???? A YEAR?????? A YEAR BEFORE RETURN C'MON BBC! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME??

A WHOLE BLOODY YEAR!

Comments

[dhampyresa]

The Doctor driving their teachers away because they are the toddler that constantly goes: 'But why? Why?'
THE BEST

[grimorie]

Isn't it? It's so Doctor to do!

[wheatear]

I loved the idea of the planets caught in stasis. It was the first time this season I felt there were a couple of big exciting moments. I've been wanting Thirteen to get a big hero moment all season and I don't think it ever quite happened... maybe the New Year special?

[grimorie]

Same, I've been waiting for the same and I admit to frustration on my part about it. Like, I can see the bones of what would happen if Thirteen was allowed a hero moment.

I do hope the New Year's Special will rectify the finale, which judging by the trailer *feels* more finale like than the finale we got, if that makes sense?

[wheatear]

I think it does, yeah! Judging by the trailer I'm guessing it's going to be the Daleks so that automatically ups the stakes.

[grimorie]

Also, I didn't realize how unfinished Thirteen's look was until I saw her with a scarf, I like the director too, one of my gripes for majority of series 11, Jaime Childs directed it. He's good with intimate drama but give him big situations and big events-- he doesn't know how to pace it.