#and the worst people will say that it was because of ncuti or some other culture war racist bollocks

[thenotoriousscuttlecliff]

I really am at a loss to explain Doctor Who's current ratings. From The Star Beast to The Church of Ruby Road they stayed consistent, with some of the best catch up numbers the show had seen in years, the fact they stayed high for TCORR showed that it wasn't just the Tennant factor, but the sudden drop for this season is a surprise, even the catch up has massive dropped, back to the level it was at the end of the Chibnall era. It's like 2023 was a blip and the gradual decline the show has been suffering for the last five years has got back on track.

[billpottsismygf]

73 Yards

I have slightly mixed feelings on this one, but what it did well it did brilliantly. The episode was beautifully shot with a fantastically creepy atmosphere throughout. The Welsh landscape, the close shots, the out of focus semper distans, the mystery of what was being said. Millie Gibson's performance throughout was stellar and this is the most invested I've felt in her character so far. I did miss Ncuti's presence somewhat, but it says a lot that she was able to carry the episode on her own and I do love when the format gets shaken up occasionally and we get a Doctor-lite episode.

I loved Kate's brief appearance and the way it sold the fact that this was a very serious situation. You think UNIT might be able to help here, but Ruby is once again left alone. The themes of abandonment in this one were incredibly potent and really tie into the themes of the series. Unsurprisingly, one of the most effective and upsetting parts of the episode was Ruby's mum also being affected by the mysterious woman. Her anguished screams for her mum were really quite harrowing, as was that awful comment about her birth mother not wanting her.

It also got far darker than I would expect in a Doctor Who episode. The far-right politician and the threat of nuclear war was plenty, but what was done to Marti was absolutely chilling, as was Ruby's apology for not doing anything. It gets away with it because it's all through implication, but that almost makes it more hard hitting. You don't always need to see the monster in action to know what it's doing. It also reminds me of my much younger self not picking up on the Master beating Lucy Saxon until I was a teenager.

The way time began to speed along was actually quite shocking to begin with - I actually gasped when we saw the 25th birthday cards - and it kept bringing to mind various other episodes where companions have been abandoned either in the real world or another timeline/reality, especially things like The Girl Who Waited, Turn Left, Forest of the Dead, The Lie of the Land, World Enough and Time etc. That things get undone at the end was again a little reminiscent of a few of them, but this is also where we come to my criticisms of the episode, because - while I loved the experience of watching it - the ending feels tacked on in a way that is very unsatisfying.

There were a number of things that just never get explained. For a minor example, why did the Doctor disappear? Disturbing the fairy circle released Mad Jack (I'll come onto him) and also made the Doctor disappear? And also made the TARDIS lock in a way that couldn't be opened with Ruby's key? I'm not as bothered by this as the below, but it feels messy and like an attempt to do a Turn Left without an actual reason for the Doctor to be gone.

A bigger gripe is Ruby being the following lady. That on its own would have been fine, but that combined with other elements just frustrates me. Mainly, if the following lady was Ruby, what is it she says to get people to run away? I don't mind things being left to the imagination - for instance, I quite like that we don't get an explanation for why she has to be 73 yards away; I can infer that that's got something to do with the fairy circle - but it appears that whatever she says specifically makes people think there's something horrifying about Ruby.

What could Old Ruby possibly say to that end and why would she? And why would the same thing make a Prime Minister resign? If we had never found out who she was, I would have been perfectly happy to infer that she was a force of some kind that drives people mad, but it's Ruby! Knowing who she is but not what she does or how or why she does it is the worst way round. I want to know neither or both, or possibly the latter but not the former, but this way round just frustrates me.

On that note, the friend I was watching with pointed out that, as she was dying, elderly Ruby had very short hair and suddenly has long hair when she becomes the semper distans lady. A small detail, perhaps, but one that further muddles the conclusion. Why did her hair change? Where did the coat come from? It's a different actress as well and, even at that distance, you can kind of tell. Did Old Ruby just end up embodying an existing spirit to do with the fairy circle? If so, I would have liked that to be a lot clearer. If not, why does she look so different?

Okay, so, Mad Jack. Who or what is Mad Jack? Is he a spirit of some kind that possesses Roger ap Gwilliam? Was he always Roger ap Gwilliam? Does Roger ap Gwilliam exist without him? If Roger ap Gwilliam does not exist without Mad Jack, how come the Doctor still mentions him? If Roger ap Gwilliam does exist without Mad Jack, what is changed by the Doctor stepping on the fairy circle?

In the version of the timeline we end up on (where the Doctor doesn't step in the fairy circle but Roger ap Gwilliam is still mentioned by him as a dangerous Prime Minister), here are a few possibilities and why they don't work for me:

Does he still become Prime Minister and get taken down another way? Perhaps, but it's not like Turn Left where we know the problems would have been stopped by the Doctor (who's not here). Without Ruby's infiltration and semper distans lady, what stops him? And why was that not able to stop him in the timeline we witnessed?

Is he less dangerous? The second time around of the opening conversation we don't get the line about the brink of nuclear war, though only because Ruby interrupts him to point out the woman, but maybe we can infer that this time he's a dangerous Prime Minister but not that dangerous? That seems quite weak and unclear, though, and seems to disregard the horror of the Marti stuff.

Does the timeline only change after the Doctor's comments about him being a dangerous Prime Minister? He does say that before stepping (or not stepping) in the fairy circle both times. I might be happy to assume that Roger ap Gwilliam never comes to power after that diverging moment has passed, except that things have already changed before the Doctor mentions him because Ruby says she's been to Wales three times. Maybe they've changed a bit but not enough until the moment she stops him from stepping on it, but that is not at all clear.

If it's any of these (or none of them), that's really confusing! It's just so messy and unclear. It would have been a simple fix, too! Keep everything the same and just add in a line as they're walking away at the end along the lines of "thank goodness he never got into power; people never found him that convincing". That would have clarified a) things have changed since a few seconds ago b) that Mad Jack is what allowed him to get to power and c) in this timeline, that won't happen and Ruby won't need to stop him.

Despite all my complaints, I did really love watching this episode. It's just so carelessly wrapped up, as if they didn't think about the implications of the otherwise very well told story. I'll be interested to rewatch it and see if my complaints bother me more or less on second viewing. I really want to love this episode because there were so many fantastic elements, but it just makes all the inconsistencies and loose threads and muddled logic particularly frustrating because they were only another draft or two away from being solved.

Misc small things

No theme tune! I feel robbed! Maybe it was meant to be part of the vibe that we're not in the usual timeline, but come on. It could easily have been slotted in when she left the TARDIS the first time or before she got to the pub!

Other episodes I thought of: Extremis with warning other versions of yourself; The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood with waving at future versions of yourself that disappear when things change; Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS with weird timelines and future selves and things being undone; Last Christmas with the companion becoming elderly; Turn Left for the vibes of "there's something on your back"; Under the Lake/Before the Flood with a silent message, since it looked like the woman was trying to sign things to Ruby; and The Sound of Drums/Last of the Timelords with the triple whammy of the companion having to 1) set off on their own to 2) take down a prime minister and 3) have time reverse.

It's also got a good old bootsrap paradox in it, which doesn't bother me in the way of the above complaints, but for the sake of completionism: How was Ruby warned about the future when that future hasn't happened? Would have loved Twelve to briefly pop his head in and explain it for us.

It's interesting that the snow stopped throughout this version of her life. It also seemed to snow while she was on her way to the pub.

Kate's comment about how "this timeline might be suspended along your event" was interesting and I wonder if it connects with the snow stopping.

For the first time I actually recognised Susan Twist when she appeared, but I'm not sure I would have done without Ruby realising she recognised her. I liked that! It felt very Boom Town and recognising Bad Wolf coming up again.

There was a little cameo from Mrs Flood.

[denimbex1986]

'In its 60-year history, Doctor Who has seen a number of wonderful companions go on incredible adventures with the Doctor. While many have left the TARDIS with their own fairytale endings in hand, others have not been quite so lucky. It’s hardly the worst way to end an adventure with the Doctor — as some paid the price with their lives — but there’s something especially tragic in the original ending of Donna Noble’s (Catherine Tate) time in the TARDIS. Once the most important woman in the universe, Donna Noble was left without a single memory of her time among the stars.

When Donna collided with the regeneration energy of the Doctor (David Tennant) her mind took on all the information in his brain, creating a human-time lord meta-crisis. To save her life, the Doctor wiped her mind of all her memories with him and everything that would send the meta-crisis into a cascading failure. Now, to quote the Doctor in "The End of Time," "If she ever remembers [him] her mind will burn, and she will die."

Doctor Who is on the cusp of a new era, with Ncuti Gatwa set to take over as the Fifteenth Doctor, but before he arrives, the face of Ten must deal with some unfinished business with his best friend. The series often bridges the time between new doctors and companions with a special episode, and this year’s specials fall upon the 60th anniversary of the franchise. Writer Russell T. Davies has returned as showrunner to celebrate the event with three special episodes that see David Tennant return as the Fourteenth Doctor as he’s set on a collision course with Donna Noble.

Donna Noble Made Ten a Better Person in 'Doctor Who'

The curse of the Doctor’s immortality means that he’s hardly a stranger to loss. After losing Rose (Billie Piper) to an alternate universe in “Doomsday” and later, when Martha (Freema Aygeman) chooses to walk away, he becomes understandably jaded. When Donna Noble suddenly appears in the TARDIS thanks to some wibbly wobbly space magic, the Doctor is forcibly reminded that with all that power, he needs someone to keep him grounded. And Donna, with her good heart and good intentions, is exactly the kind of person he wants to be.

From her very first (intentional) trip in the TARDIS, Donna immediately prioritizes saving people. When the Doctor and Donna end up at Pompeii, days before the volcanic eruption, Donna’s immediate goal is to evacuate the city and save everyone from the horrible fate she knows they’ll face when the volcano blows, timeline be damned. Over the course of the episode, Donna and the Doctor come to realize that they have to sacrifice the people of Pompeii in order to save the rest of the world. Even in the face of that devastating decision, Donna begs the Doctor, “Just save someone.” Later, when the Doctor regenerates into Twelve (Peter Capaldi), he chooses the face of the man they saved in “The Fires of Pompeii,” as a reminder of what Donna taught him. “I’m the Doctor, and I save people,” he says. She brings out the best in him even thousands of years later.

For the entirety of Series 4, Donna is constantly going out of her way to help people. She’s essential in liberating the Ood — an innocent race of alien creatures turned into slaves by future humans — rescuing the citizens of the library, and putting no less than 27 planets back in their rightful places in the galaxy. As the Doctor tells Donna's family after he’s wiped her memory:

“There are worlds out there, safe in the sky because of her. There are people living in the light and singing songs of Donna Noble, a thousand million lightyears away. They will never forget her, while she can never remember. And for one shining moment, she was the most important woman in the whole wide universe.”

'Doctor Who's Original Ending for Donna Noble Is Devastating

While it’s a blessing that Donna makes it out of Series 4 alive and with a standard happily ever after — she gets married, wins the lottery, and eventually has a beautiful daughter named Rose — the great tragedy of Donna being the only one to not know what she’s lost is heartbreaking. She’s saved the universe, not just her own planet, and she’s the “most important woman in the whole of creation,” but she can’t even remember having saved them all.

All Donna ever wanted to do was save people and see the galaxy, traveling in the TARDIS and making the universe a better place. When she realizes what the Doctor will have to do to save her life, she begs him not to damn her back to a life of being ordinary, a life where she’s always missing out on the things everyone else gets to enjoy. The real clincher for that scene in "Journey's End" is the way that Tennant and Tate play Donna’s final moments in the TARDIS. Tennant is devastating as it breaks the Doctor’s heart to have to take her memories away, but he’d do anything to keep her safe, even if it meant never seeing her again. And Tate imbues Donna with this innocence that makes the audience ache for what she’s losing.

Donna Noble Deserves to Know She's the Most Important Woman in the Universe

Over the course of her time with the Doctor, Donna found a confidence in herself that she didn’t have before. Sure, she was always loud and a little bit unapologetic, but before she saw the galaxy she was always the first person to disparage her own value. “I’m no one,” she’d say, not knowing the fate of the universe rests in her hands. While the Chekov's Gun of Donna's memories serves as a heartwrenching narrative device, that angst will only pay off in a satisfying way if the Doctor finds a way to save her from that fate once and for all. And well, he's the doctor, and he saves people. The impact Donna Noble had on the universe was unparalleled — and if the series wants to bring her back, the most important woman in the whole of creation deserves to know just how special she truly is.'

[secret-diary-of-an-fa]

Doctor Who: Space Babies and The Devil's Chord Review. Because Why the Fuck Not.

I was watching the BAFTAs the other day. No, that’s not quite right. Let me try again: the BAFTAs were happening in front of me on a TV at someone’s house and I was powerless to look away. It may be the first example I’ve ever seen of a circle-jerk being staged in the middle of a car-crash: a whole fucking hall-load of people congratulating themselves on having shat out another year’s worth of insipid, uninspired telly (sometimes about Issues with a capital I, often about nothing at fucking all) while the entirety of culture burns to a cinder around them. What a bunch of arseholes. The highlight was confused non-arsehole Timothy Spall looking like he’d wandered on-set from a parallel universe and giving a rambling, unrehearsed speech about nothing in particular, which went on uncomfortably long and which I sincerely hope annoyed the tits off everyone else present. Meanwhile, the special award for creepiest moment has to go to Floella Benjamin (she of Round Window frame- I mean fame) staring straight into the camera and declaring her undying and unconditional love for the viewer. Made my skin crawl a bit, if I’m honest, like maybe she had a really powerful pair of binoculars and she’d be watching me the next time I went for a poop, whispering sweet nothings into the night air. Meanwhile, conspicuous by its absence from this glittering orgy of beige content was Doctor Who, the show I’m actually here to review! Now that’s a seamless fucking segue, innit?

The first two episodes of Who (2024) aired back to back this Saturday and, as both a lifelong lover of good Who and an overprotective psychopath who’d happily kill anyone whose ever besmirched it with a bad episode, it falls to me to judge this double-bill outing. Since I’m neither a grovelling fuckwit in the access media nor a knee-jerk reactionary pillock, I might be the only person on the internet who’s prepared to give you a genuinely unbiased opinion based on the actual quality of what ended up on screen. Don’t think that means this review will be reasonable or genteel in its tone, though: I’m still a stone-cold cunt with impossibly high standards. So, without further ado, let’s dive in. I’ll take a very brief look at the individual episodes, then try and figure out what they say about the series overall and where it might be headed.

First off, Episode 1: Space Babies. It probably isn’t the worst episode in Doctor Who history, but with a monster made of snot and a supporting cast comprised of talking babies, it may be the most wilfully and determinedly stupid. It’s a bit like it was made on a dare- like someone said to showrunner Russel T. Davies “I bet you can’t get away with an episode about of a bunch of infants trapped on a spaceship with an evil sneeze” and he was drunk enough to reply “I’m Russel The Davies! I can do whatever I fucking like, except use my legs for walking right now!” There’s some enjoyable stuff here- mainly Ncuti Gatwa having to simultaneously act well, but also not act convincingly enough to scare the actual, real live toddlers they used on-set. Meanwhile, the monster is very, very obviously a rubber suit with wonky fingers whenever it’s not a dodgy CGI effect. I don’t mind, per say, since wobbling sets and crap costumes are part of the charm of Who, but it does beg the question: WHERE THE FUCK DID ALL THE MONEY DISNEY PUT INTO THE SHOW FUCKING GO?

Next, Episode 2: The Devil’s Chord, which is mostly a vast improvement, though I do have some gripes. An entity calling themselves Maestro, created by the Celestial Toymaker, claws their way into the world via the mind of a musical genius (and the top of a grand piano) and begins stripping all melody from the universe, aiming to silence the Music of the Spheres itself and create a formal lament or dirge from the infinite sorrow: the ultimate artistic statement made using the ruins of a dead cosmos. On a purely conceptual level, it’s fantastically interesting, macabre and inventive. I also quite liked the Beatles cameos, since it takes place in the 60s, but they don’t really get a lot to do and it feels like an opportunity was missed to turn them into the emotional backbone of the episode. Surely Maestro should be a lot more interested in/hostile to these musical geniuses? Without her expressing the slightest inclination to single them out, there’s no sense of immediate physical threat, relegating all the menace to the conceptual level. There’s also not much reason for the Doctor to talk to them, so we’re deprived of the chance to see this new take on the character interacting with people other than companion Ruby Sunday and the odd talking baby (I really hope those aren’t going to be a recurring thing, by the way). Meanwhile, drag queen Jinkx Monsoon (who doesn’t seem to know that you don’t need a K if you’re going to add an X) does a passable job as Maestro. She’s got the over-the-top theatrics of a self-amusing supervillain down to a fine art, but she doesn’t quite have the presence to land her more serious lines. There’s no equivalent here to the spine-chilling “This is only a face, covering a vastness that will never cease” bit from the Tennant episode The Giggle. Which is a shame, because clearly Monsoon isn’t a bad actress, she’s just new at it and probably needed more coaching to land the heavy stuff.I do also have one other minor complaint: the musical number at the end isn’t good enough for an episode that’s all about music. They clearly wrote it especially for the show, but it’s just a bit rubbish and they could have just covered an infinitely more lyrically interesting Beatles song, couldn’t they? Fucking idiots. On the plus side, I really can’t emphasise enough how engaging the idea of the episode is. And we do get an amazing shot of London devastated by some kind of war in an alternate future, which was ace. Honestly, I know I sound like I’m complaining a lot about this episode, but it was actually a lot of fun. I just hope that the show hits its stride and preserves the good elements while evolving past the stuff that doesn’t work.

See, there’s a lot of positives here in the double-bill: there are interesting ideas and a fair amount of creative risk-taking, which- even when it doesn’t work- is evidence of a show willing to experiment and find what works. But there is also a huge, overarching problem that needs to be addressed before this latest Who reboot can hit its stride. Bluntly,if I had to describe this double-bill season opener using one word, I’d probably choose the word ‘rushed’. In both Space Babies and The Devil’s Chord, but especially the latter, the story zips manically from plot-point to set-piece and back again with very little breathing room in between. Jokes that ought to be set up early and then pay off later to create space and a sense of continuity just get told with mechanical, rapid-fire pacing and then forgotten (there’s a bit about changing the evolutionary history of the human race by stepping on a butterfly that flies past so quickly it’s barely worth a smirk). Characters who needed to be fleshed out just aren’t because there isn’t time to do that and also stage ridiculous musical number (as a result, there’s never much sense of threat. We know the show won’t kill off the Doctor or his companion, so the cannon-fodder who might die need to be well-characterised enough that we give a shit). Many of the effects look like they were thrown together in an afternoon because the production team decided to go for cheap-and-easy CGI over practical, tactile, more believable effects. Most egregiously of all, there’s even a certain obviousness to the way things look and function. Sometimes, it looks like the show designed its props and sets by going through a big catalogue of sci-fi and costume-drama tropes and places and then just picking out whatever matched best. Compared to the craftsmanship put into, say, WWII London in The Empty Child or the sprawling planetary library of Silence in the Library (both of which were realised on piss-poor budgets compared to current Who), it’s woefully disappointing.

Don’t get me wrong, Who is still worth a watch. Ncuti Gatwa’s a decent leading man, even if he hasn’t been given time to settle into the character thanks to the manic pacing of his adventures, and it’s obvious Russel T. Davies isn’t short of ideas, even if some of them are curate’s eggs of dubious quality. But if the show wants to get back to the height of its popularity, it needs to slow down and smell the roses a little. The production team need to be encouraged to do things the hard way, because it looks better. The plots need more talking and detailed character interaction to compliment the action and silliness. When something bombastic and over-the-top is happening, it needs to feel earned. Who people: start throwing in a few two-parters and de-emphasise the Disney money you’ve been given in favour of careful plotting. There’s something worth loving here, but it’s buried in quite a lot of bullshit at the moment. Get a shovel and dig it out.

EDIT: I would like to acknowledge that the thing about the Doctor being able to hear the show's incidental music is the fun kind of stupid and not the annoying kind.

[officiallordvetinari]

Gonna collect some of my thoughts on recent Doctor Who announcements

I love Donna and I’m happy she’s coming back

I love 10 but I’m inclined to agree with people who say he’s being overused and treated as the most important Doctor to the detriment of other Doctors

On the other hand, 1 and 2 both returned for both the 10th and 20th anniversary specials, so maybe 10 coming back for both the 50th and the 60th isn’t the worst thing

Yasmin Finney is playing “another Rose”, but I’m not that worried that she’ll be overshadowed by Rose Tyler or anything. Whatever the connection ends up being, I think she’s gonna be her own character and we’re gonna love her

I think it would be really unfair to Ncuti for 10 to feature in 14′s debut episode. Both because he deserves to be the center of attention, and because he deserves to have the full runtime of the episode to tell his first story

That said, the fact that the announcement was so deliberately non-specific (“scenes that are due to air in 2023 to coincide with the show’s 60th anniversary celebrations”) makes me think it won’t be as simple as a single episode with both 14 and 10

I’ve heard speculation that there’ll be multiple episodes next year, which I think is a good idea

Some are saying that after 13′s death, we’ll get some form of story with Tennant and Tate before 14′s first real episode. That could be neat, and sounds like an interesting twist on the format, but also I worry it could overshadow the 13-to-14 regeneration unless it’s done just right. I’ll have to reserve judgement on this one

Another option, and the one I think I like better, is that 14 gets a proper debut episode(s) to himself, followed by the anniversary special proper where they can do all the nostalgia they want

Overall I think the worst-case scenario based on this news is that Davies’ 60th anniversary episode is kind of dumb, navel-gazy, and RTD1 focused (as arguably was Moffat’s 50th! and The Five Doctors is pretty self-indulgent too, let’s be honest), but not that his new era as a whole will be any of those things. He said he wouldn’t have come back if he didn’t have new ideas, and I believe him

[oceanivoxjoquainx]

Let's talk about Eric Effiong

Let's be honest Eric's storyline and characterization is one of the most appealing out of all the characters in Sex Education periodt. A true gay, fierce, Drag QUEEN and I feel like ranting about this amazing force of nature. (Spoilers. Duh.)

When I saw the trailer for Sex Education it didnt even hit me that Eric was gay until I read the synopsis. Was just like "Oh I wonder which one of these three mains are the gay one people keep talking about" even after I saw him in drag like a dumbass 😣😂. Personally im glad we've reached a point where gay guys aren't overly feminine and even the brightest colours won't differ a character from the rest (unless I'm just a blind bish and he was obviously gay from the trailer) ei 👏🏾 ther 👏🏾 way; his character was refreshing when I started watching the show. I immediately clicked with him and knew what every look he gave or hand gesture he did meant. Felt nice. When Adam pushed him into the locker for the first time and started with the heterohomoerotic bs I knew that Adam had a raging boner for Eric and was another internalized homophobic bully™ and wasn't really excited for what was to come but I knew it was coming and tbh I liked it in the end.

Eric and Otis' friendship is so pure. Like?!? Get me a straight supportive bestie lilke Otis? Ik they fought but even then Otis was respectful and kept his boundaries and let Eric go through the motions before immediately belting into an apology at the first chance he got. Their dancing scene?!? Iconic. The fact that Eric sees Otis' house as safe and another home?!? Iconic. Otis going drag with Eric to watch an LGBT+ movie as a TRADITION (meaning they've done it numerous times)?!?! Iconic. The fact that Otis was straight up ditching Eric and Eric STILL tolerated him and let him do his thing without too much pressure!?! The most iconic of them all. Just pure love and respect all around.

I am so proud of Erics growth over the course of the season starting from a naive and scared gay doormat to facing homophia and getting beat up by those assholes on his birthday no less to losing his best friend and becoming depressed to channeling that anger into defending himself when people tried him to getting his sparkle back and coming back more fierce that ever before.

Speaking of him getting his sparkle back lets talk about that and why that scene is so important. A random guy asked Eric for directions and Eric noticed his nails were polished and the guy was wearing earrings and he was a big ole black dude. He was like Eric. When Eric noticed that the guy was out, loud, glamorous and proud he immediately switched back into the bright colourful and wonderfully gay Eric we all know and love.

THIS IS WHY REPRESENTATION MATTERS!!!!

It shows people that its okay to be who they actually are and inspires those who are lost to find or return to their true selves. Representation isn't just some offhand thing to throw on a character last minute. And even if you can relate to other characters who arent like you, it is always an amazing feeling to have a character that IS like you. It turned Eric from a popularity seeking doormat into a hurricane with 6 inch heels who was ready to straight up beat down a bully he's had for 4 years. It even inspired him to go back to church and rejoin a community that he closed off. That's exactly how it feels to have someone successful in the media and your life to look up to. Eric only interacted with that man for a few minutes but those few minutes changed his life for the better. So that's a lovely reminder for all who love to bash representation.

Back tracking to Eric's dull colourless period after the attack and his fight with Otis. It was saddening to see one of the brightest characters go dull and even the school felt it. He turned from a guy who rarely stood up for himself and what he wanted into the sass master he reserved only for his friends. All of his built up anger was released causing him to explode on Mr Hendricks (who is adorable tbh and just trying to do his best) and Anwar (I was proud of that punch you go glenn co co) and he even sounded off on his dad who he's usually passive aggressive to at worst. Just goes to show that the happiest faces can harbor the biggest pains and can snap. Moral of the story? Protect the happy few.

Eric also has a great family. Like that obviously know Erics gay and wears dresses because its all right there in his room which his parents enter at their leisure and while it seems that they're a bit homophobic its revealed that they (Erics dad at least) just wants Eric to be safe as he's already a target for being black and apart of an immigant family. He accepts Eric for who he is and what he does he just doesnt want anyone else to give him shit for it and if that's not one of the sweetest things in this world idek what is. Eric and his dad was probably one of my favorite dynamics in the show and watching his dad slowly fully accept that his son was strong and able to stand for himself he was able to become stronger too. This dynamic is important because I never see any gay black characters have a close relationship with their fathers and it was very heartwarming to watch.

Now onto Erics love life. He has a crush on the highschools other only gay guy Anwar who's the typical mean sassy gay we've all come to expect in highschool dramas. Otis saying that Eric doesnt have to have a crush on the only other openly gay guy at school was such a mood as its commonly shown that any gays in close proximity should get together. When Eric punched him I internally went "Finally!" Because all those jeers were becoming annoying. I'm glad Anwar got to come out to his mum over it though. And straight up told the audience that Eric didn't like feminine guys (alluding to him and Adams eventual clean up scene as of we didn't see it coming already).

Moving on to Adam tho, like I said we all been knew that this

was indeed coming and even though I hate the bully x bullied trope I still ended up liking it and hoping that Adam would change. The building up to that kiss was long awaited from episode 1 straight through to 8 with all the longing looks that Adam kept side glancing Eric with and the face cupping and the growls and the lingering touches. I just kept going sthdjksksbslaldbd when one of those moments happened followed shortly after with disgust because gays falling for their abuser is washed up but then immediately going back to jajaklamabsldkd because im shipping trash so 🤷🏿. Eric stepping to Adam in at the ball was one of the most iconic scenes of the show (along with the "Its My Vagina" scene) and the exchange between him and Adam gave be actual chills. The tension was THICCCC. Erics OUTFIT to the ball gave me chills 😭😭 dude came to slay and had everyone at that school proper shook and I honestly could NOT be more proud. I was hoping Adam would become a better person over the course of the season but nope so hopefully they cover all the issues that Adam has in season 2 and properly give him a redeption arc cuz he's still a trashy pos he's just a disaster bi on top of it. (Adam immediately going to suck Eric off is confidence I can only dream of achieving 💀💀) The lab scene was also cute but made me mad because how could Adam look scared, confident and still be a douchebag all in the span of a few seconds was beyond me. A+ acting on Connor Swindells part. I can see why Adam would have to stay in the closet and keep their... relationship?? a secret because it seems like Headmaster Groff would be a homophobic piece of shit and would add to the ever growing list of things Adam did wrong. Even so it doesn't excuse the fact that Adam is in fact a bully and Eric deserves much better. Was sad seeing Adam being driven off from Eric in the end tho. Eric thought that Adam didn't want to see him at all and was probably heartbroken and probably thinks Adam left because of him (my poor baby 😭😭). I feel bad for Adam too because he was just starting to express himself and was at the beginning of a redemption arc when he was just wisked away from the boy he's loved for what seems to be a very long time. I just want my boys to be happy and non toxic and I wish their relationship and them all the best in Season 2.

Eric Effiong is my favorite character in the show and I really want to thank Ncuti Gatwa for portraying him so well and for the shows writers who gave him a very fleshed out character with an amazing storyline and conclusion. His growth was incredible and his strength is immeasurable. I'm 100% certain that he will be a character the community remembers for years to come. Patiently now waiting on what's to come in Season 2 💙🙌🏾.