#AND SACHAS HAPPY LITTLE GREMLIN FACE IN THE REFLECTION

[nnato]

[rassilon-imprimatur]

Loved The Power of the Doctor 10/10, frenetic and joyful insanity that then somehow becomes a soft spoken open-ending for the entire show (barring the Tennant of course), really happy. Love how peacefully Thirteen went out, loved how open-ended and unspoken Yaz’s departure was. Loved the returns, loved the wank. 10/10. Feels really weird to say goodbye to this era. 

Love so much of it is bookended by Dan’s departure? He quickly becomes an afterthought, but I dunno, his “see you later” of a goodbye after deciding to stop avoiding the stark hard work of the real world and “attack it,” it hangs over the whole thing right to he and Graham inviting Yaz to the therapy group. 

The Cyber-Masters call back to the Earthshock/Five Doctors David Banks Leader and Cyber-Lieutenant/Deputy. Vain, vengeful, melodramatic, emotional sneer coming through the voice. The Time Lord gore inside still hums and whines with stolen life. I was disappointed their converted planet wasn’t actually Gallifrey, but the idea is still there? The Master’s TARDIS’ core is now the planet’s core, the Qurunx battery enough to power a forced regeneration/TV Movie Body Swap, only be possible with the Eye of Harmony (movie) or “the secrets of Gallifrey” (this episode). Dead Time Lords steering a dead world, a new Mondas, reaching as far back as the Cybermen’s first episode. Ages ago, cloth-faced surgery ghouls, now ornate necrotic royalty. Their rotting castle, their rotting world, hanging over another vestige of imperialism about to violently fall (and for no other real narrative reason other than “Wouldn’t The Daleks and Cybermen All Look Fucking Cool In The Romanov Winter Palace?”). 

The Qurunx taking the form of the kid. “... shows us what we instinctively want to protect,” the Doctor says, not realizing she’s speaking mostly of herself. Timeless Child reflection. A mystery of the universe captured and exploited by empire. Etc etc. You know. 

The Rasputin plot is nonsense, and that’s the point. The Master is fucking pathetic in this, pitiful. Buzzing with the Cyberium, twitching with suicide, his I CANNOT STAND COMING FROM YOU from The Timeless Children rearing up as a childish schoolboy taunt of I’M GOING TO TURN YOU INTO ME. “But then, you were a rubbish schoolboy, too” Ruth later mocks him. Tegan and Ace won’t be phased, hurling insults back, standing their ground. In a take on the Doctor/Master where the Doctor has no time for him, no patience, all burnt bridges and belittling playing along, no one in the narrative hurts for him, aches for him. He’s a nasty little wet gremlin in this, truly the most mean-spirited possible take on the worst Ainley serials with all of s12′s miserable self-hate. Him dying as Rasputin was peak humiliation. “Don’t force me to go back to being me” and then dying in a Rasputin cosplay. I dunno. Very mean-spirited “we’re fucking done with you, dude,” I like it. 

Vinder’s so fucking hot. Sacha was so fucking cute in Jodie’s clothes, his short little Doctor haircut, the clip-on piercings, I couldn’t handle it. 

The traitor Dalek bringing up the funniest fanwank loophole to justify its inexplicable radicalization lmao. Kaleds, Daleks, who’s truly the impure race? “Did we never rewrite that constitution?” I got way too fucking excited at the quiet nod to Davros. The ease with which the traitor was caught and exploited makes we wonder how often this actually happens within the race? Especially when’s executed by the deeper, nastier, clean commanders while clearly being a magma damaged worker, a grunt. 

The TV Movie Body Swap™ verbatim, ho-lee shit, “Dress for the occasion” quip and everything. God. God. The War Games’ forced regeneration careening into it too. And then the Master Doctor, the Doctor Master, “Introducing Sacha Dhawan as the Doctor,” he just collapses under it? He’s even more sniveling and wet, piling on question marks and scarf and fanwank, blowing on Troughton’s recorder. 

GOD!!!!! G O D. The robes far more like the TV Movie, the apocalyptic crossroads with telephone wire, Eight and Seven bickering. Ugh. 

I’m so fucking glad I reconnected to the Davison era as hard as I did last year because Tegan and Five’s reunion HURT lmao. “Brave heart.” Loved how EU the implication of Seven and Ace “falling out” was? 

Ian and Jo killed me. I like to think the empty chair at the meeting was for Sarah Jane.