#actually not 13 i dont think gatwa doctor would fangirl over space amazon

[moonlitlex]

tbh i think my biggest issue with the tv show in a tv show theory for dw this season is just that i'm simply never that invested in the doctor who mystery of the season and care far more about the quality of the individual episodes and/or two-parters. if it ends up paying off in a satisfying way, then that's a nice bonus (the stolen planets in season 4). if not, then oh well (season 7 ????).

but like that's it. a nice bonus. this is partly why i like season 9 the most because literally moffat doesn't even care about the hybrid thing he set up. it's all a scheme to do character work (the thing he is actually good at). it's played up a bit too much, but the point at the end of the day is the character work which is solid.

rtd has never really been great with payoffs either and i said this in another post. the entire appeal of every single one of his episodes that actually worked is all character work. the reason nine is so beloved is the character writing. the reason season one is so beloved is the character writing. that's the thing he's good at. even outside of doctor who, every single thing he's written that is critically acclaimed is highly character focused. it's the thing he's good at.

and instead of focusing on his characters, he is busy setting up the snowing and the songs and susan twist and all the other stuff that will surely be relevant soon in the finale or maybe in the next season.

and genuinely like regardless of how awesome the idea he has come up with is, we're going to go into this finale having extremely bare bones characters. the doctor was lucky enough to be the focal point of boom so at least he's got that, but what does ruby have? she's had some pretty run of the mill adventures. she's a run of the mill companion. but so far there's nothing that makes her unique. she's got lore, but that's just lore. it doesn't tell you much about ruby as a person. she is way too bland as a companion to be going into the season finale already. rtd1 companions and amy and bill didn't have this issue for their first season finales.

like. people haven't been coming to doctor who for 60 years because of it's high concept storytelling, because plenty of the storytelling is extremely questionable and stupid. people have been coming to doctor who for 60 years because they like the characters. people today who are younger than the 2005 revival are fans of characters who havent shown up on tv since the 60s. it's the characters that people get attached to, and the doctor and ruby just haven't gotten enough character writing yet. and what is the point of all of this pomp and circumstance if at the end of the day your characters are more archetypes than people. yeah, it's a nice idea if it's all part of the tv show in a tv show endgame, but at the end of the day we still have to deal with characters who are very bland compared to their earlier counterparts.