S2.8 - THE REALITY WAR

SEASON 2 - EPISODE 8 - THE REALITY WAR
The Marmite episode of the season.
Russell Davies has had some great ideas and concepts, in theory, some of
them have even shown a lot of potential, but every time he gets a chance
to actually bring those ideas to life, it just doesn’t work out.
Honestly, I think he’d be better off focusing on brainstorming concepts
and letting someone else handle the script writing. As this episode was
all over the place. The Reality War was brimming with ideas and "oh
look" moments but it was lacking in having any meat on the bone and it
had to rely on needless cameos, as well as a stunt casting regeneration
scene for it's talking points.
The Rani had the potential to be a fantastic villain for this season,
but her time was cut short, and her exit was just so underwhelming.
Plus, Omega's demise was equally anti-climactic. I really hope they find
a way to resurrect The Rani in the future and reveal that she survived
Omega somehow. It is a waste of Archie Panjabi's casting otherwise. What
was all that Mrs Flood fourth wall breaking stuff about too? Was she
talking to us the watching audience or is she part of a story and
talking to "the Boss" off-screen? Whoever he is.
The story arcs involving gods have also been disappointing, with these
supposedly powerful beings being taken down way too easily. The Toymaker
hinted that he altered the Doctor’s timeline, yet that plot point seems
to have been abandoned. It could have explained the whole bi-generation
aspect, but it went unexplored. And what's up with the Rani being a
bi-generative character? Ruby has these mysterious powers but isn’t
portrayed as particularly unique?
Then there’s the reveal that Poppy is the Doctor’s daughter, only for
that to be reversed without explanation. Belinda Chandra starts off as a
strong, interesting companion who really pushes the Doctor, initially so
focused on her work as a nurse, yet she ends up getting relegated to a
normal mum role. They ignore Belinda so much that they literally lock
her away in a box during the main conflict. What kind of writing choice
is that? We need real stakes, consequences, and some sensible character
growth.
Anita from the Christmas special also returned but she was relegated to
a door-stop in this episode. Anita also mentioned "the Boss" but that
was all we got. Another thread left hanging. I could ask so many
questions but it just doesn't feel like anything actually mattered and
there are no answers. Stuff happened because it did.
I've never seen so many insane things happen on a show and felt so numb
about it. This was the first regeneration where I felt almost nothing.
Not because I didn't love Ncuti but because it honestly feels like the
show entered a fugue state in the last 20 minutes, where it became so
confusing, incongruous, and slapdash that I started to detach.
Russell Davies wrote this episode himself, which explains a lot. I don't
know what medication he's on but he needs to read the label again. I
have to ask who is this stuff made for? When Russell Davies sits down to
write a Dr Who script who in his mind is his audience? Because I can't
figure it out. It's not aimed at 45 year old me, my wife or my teenage
children. When Russell Davies sits down and thinks of his audience I
have no choice but to think Dr Who today is written for the sole benefit
of Russell Davies. Nobody else. He doesn't seem to care that his jolly
wheezes are destroying the franchise. Plus, it feels like himself and
the producers just took the Disney route, built some flashy sets with
expensive CGI and expected that all those “OMG look who’s back” moments
would carry the entire series. Dr Who is not Deadpool.
If I was going to play the game the regular contributors play and give
this episode a rating out of ten, the best I could manage would be two.
There have been episodes of Dr Who that have made me excited, or angry,
or indifferent. The Reality War just made me tired.
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