Posting body note as a comment to avoid unnecessary detection. So, there it is, the end of the first season with a new Doctor! We witnessed the largest “polarity reversal” in all of (and across) existence. And what’s with the 4th wall breaking Mrs. Flood??

I still don’t understand WTF Ruby’s mother had to do with Sutekh. Why was knowing who she was important to the god of death?

I am kind of surprised that so many people noticed the racism metaphor in Dot and Bubble but no-one (including Russell I’m guessing) noticed the uncomfortable AIDS allegory in the last episode, especially with the first queer actor for the Doctor… “While you were having fun around the universe, everywhere and everyone you were with were infected and now they’re going to die”

Not entirely clear what The Doctor actually did to beat Sutekh. Sutekh has been attached to the TARDIS since the 70s, but dragging him behind the TARDIS again reverses his death-sand and sends him into the time vortex for real this time?

When Kate died in the first minute I was sad, then everyone else died, and all of the tension went out of the episode, because the stakes became too ridiculous to actually be worried about.

I don’t think the callback to 73 Yards did anything to improve that episode. All we got was a reference to Gwilliam, that didn’t need an episode of setup, and a confirmation that the perception filter of the TARDIS is 73 feet, which explains… nothing? About what happened in that episode.

Sutekh’s master plan was brought low because… He wanted to know who Ruby’s mum was? The God of Death who destroyed all life in the universe so he could sit in silence cared about who some pregnant teen was? Am I to believe that there was never any other moment in The Doctor’s travels that left Sutekh with an unanswered question? He didn’t show up when Bad Wolf kept cropping up? Or when there was a crack in Amy’s wall? But this rando human is enough to spring him into action?

I don’t know how I feel about the reveal of Ruby’s mum. I get the narrative reason for her to not be special, but it then raises so many questions. Such as why Ruby can make it snow, which is a phenomenon that was strange enough to give the Eldritch God of Music, Maestro, pause. Or why she pointed at the Doctor, because I don’t buy that she was ‘naming’ Ruby. She was alone on the street, saw a random guy, and pointed at a sign. None of which could possibly have influenced the people who found Ruby to name her in that way.

Also not a fan of The Doctor basically telling Ruby that her mother is a bad person who doesn’t deserve to know her, while taking Ruby to see her mother.

that she is departing the show already, but the character reason felt sincere and believable. Her arc was complete.

I do not give a damn about Mrs Flood anymore. There is only so much edging you can do with fourth wall breaks and sinister old ladies before you lose all sensation. No reveal is going to live up to the mystery that RTD seems to be trying to set up.

I didn’t think I had as many issues with this episode as I did until I started writing this. The season was a bit of a letdown, which is a shame because I love certain aspects of it so much. Gatwa is an amazing Doctor. I actually love that he is The Doctor who Cries. It shows a deep emotion that I appreciate from a character that has seen so much and could be jaded. Gibson’s stint as Ruby was perfect for the introduction to a new Doctor. I am disappointed that she is departing the show already, but the character reason felt sincere and believable. Her arc was complete.

Despite all of my complaining, I am still hopeful for future seasons to grow out of the first-season funk that a lot of Doctors have.

I feel bad for the memory TARDIS. It was the MVP and saved everyone, then I guess they just dumped it as soon as they got the proper one back.

It’ll probably end up getting its own Big Finish series or something though.

I feel a bit let down really 73 yards was completely overlooked as a story line and I’d say it was one of the most important of the series

A lot of my feelings got summed up here: basically, the episode had a lot of momentum and incoherence. Beyond that,

• Having just watched “Pyramids of Mars,” I’m puzzled Davis revived this villain, and that the impatient Sutekh acquired the patience to wait centuries (millennia?) to complete his plan.
• I love the Memory TARDIS!
• I thought 15 was supposed to be the “healed” doctor.
• Davies is playing with the idea of concepts, perception, memory and faith influencing reality; but the handwavy, cursory explanations for how it all works makes it impossible to anticipate events or solutions to the challenges thr Doctor faces, which limits how the viewer can interact with the story and how engaged I feel. (E.g. when the Doctor says “there’s nothing I can do” we just have to take him at his word, until it turns out all he had to do was leash Sutekh and drag him into the time vortex, and likely could have from the very start, given how Sutekh was restraining himself even before they discovered Ruby’s mother. So the show becomes less of a thought exercise, more of waiting for the Doctor and plot to strikefamiliar chords.)
• This isn’t Davies’ best work, but I’m hoping he’s getting back into his groove. Either way, I’m hyped for Moffat’s upcoming special!

This season was kind of a letdown for me. There were way too many cringe things.