I don't believe it's possible to take a fundamentally broken story and save it in the final Act. At least, I feel like audiences have been burned with this promise a couple of times now (GOT, Star Wars)...and yet. I held out the hope that in 59 minutes, DW Flux could possibly complete the Hail Mary.
Alas, it does not. The fundamental issues of this series remain with this final episode. It's a convoluted, quick moving, ridiculous story where plot elements get picked up and dropped off. We have TONS of unanswered questions, confusing villains, lots of contrivances and conveniences. We get no moment to breathe or let anything sink in. Most of the dialog is Jodie talking to herself (literally) about absolute techno-pseudo science nonsense. The companions are completely useless for the majority of the story. Most of the plot lines sort of poof their way out of existence (Vinder had literally no point of being here). To fix this, we get a lot of exposition and characters "telling us" how problems are fixed or how characters are supposed to be.
A key example is how Dan's random museum friend is somehow capable of dealing with advanced aliens and literally COMES UP with the plan to save the universe. Now, Doctor Who is no stranger to empowering ordinary people to recognize the potential in themselves and do extraordinary things. But it's a little odd that this character we've only seen in brief moments is given this role in the story.
Another one is how it's essentially confirmed that the Lupari (who have been with us since the first episode), have been exterminated by the Sontarans. This huge plot development is LITERALLY given 10 seconds for the audience and characters to take in, before we move on. (By the way, I actually rewinded and counted)
This story is full of stuff like this; there's no build up, no drama or tension. We know some BS will get the Doctor out of this predictament, and how this happens isn't particularly interesting.
The show looks quite good at times; impressive, epic visuals sort of fool you into thinking you're watching something that deserves awe. But there's no substance to anything happening on screen.
I also have to mention...Whittaker is not a good Doctor. I'm sorry. She's made out to be this all powerful, God like being whom the entire universe revolves around, yet, there's nothing particularly interesting about her. She has no wisdom behind her eyes or anything that would warrant this grandiosity. She comes off as skittish, impatient, and self-absorbed at times. Yaz and Dan are barely there and we have to be told how "great" they are time and time again for us to register it.
I know there are a few specials left, but I don't see how Chibnall can save his run. Now that we all know it's going to be over and RTD is coming back, I suspect this era of Doctor Who will be the odd step child that no one really wants to talk about.
Alas, it does not. The fundamental issues of this series remain with this final episode. It's a convoluted, quick moving, ridiculous story where plot elements get picked up and dropped off. We have TONS of unanswered questions, confusing villains, lots of contrivances and conveniences. We get no moment to breathe or let anything sink in. Most of the dialog is Jodie talking to herself (literally) about absolute techno-pseudo science nonsense. The companions are completely useless for the majority of the story. Most of the plot lines sort of poof their way out of existence (Vinder had literally no point of being here). To fix this, we get a lot of exposition and characters "telling us" how problems are fixed or how characters are supposed to be.
A key example is how Dan's random museum friend is somehow capable of dealing with advanced aliens and literally COMES UP with the plan to save the universe. Now, Doctor Who is no stranger to empowering ordinary people to recognize the potential in themselves and do extraordinary things. But it's a little odd that this character we've only seen in brief moments is given this role in the story.
Another one is how it's essentially confirmed that the Lupari (who have been with us since the first episode), have been exterminated by the Sontarans. This huge plot development is LITERALLY given 10 seconds for the audience and characters to take in, before we move on. (By the way, I actually rewinded and counted)
This story is full of stuff like this; there's no build up, no drama or tension. We know some BS will get the Doctor out of this predictament, and how this happens isn't particularly interesting.
The show looks quite good at times; impressive, epic visuals sort of fool you into thinking you're watching something that deserves awe. But there's no substance to anything happening on screen.
I also have to mention...Whittaker is not a good Doctor. I'm sorry. She's made out to be this all powerful, God like being whom the entire universe revolves around, yet, there's nothing particularly interesting about her. She has no wisdom behind her eyes or anything that would warrant this grandiosity. She comes off as skittish, impatient, and self-absorbed at times. Yaz and Dan are barely there and we have to be told how "great" they are time and time again for us to register it.
I know there are a few specials left, but I don't see how Chibnall can save his run. Now that we all know it's going to be over and RTD is coming back, I suspect this era of Doctor Who will be the odd step child that no one really wants to talk about.