#i've been excited to get to this ep b/c it feels Very relevant in regards to the timeless children

[ssaalexblake]

I always find thirteen’s first meeting with the ux lady in stupidly named s11 finale that will henceforth be known as Ransk, the most gripping part of the episode? 

13 is Angry that this woman was just killed in front of her, is irritated because blue tooth fairy is still alive and causing trouble when she thought she was through with him, and now she’s here, and this lady is pointing a huge gun at her, and... 13 i the one slowly stalking this other person down. 

The power balance is so beautifully physically acted here, as is the way the dialogue is delivered, from line to line 13 goes from her usual chipper tone to deadpan sardonic, honestly she kind of reminds me how certain kind of assholes treat children whom they view as small and stupid and just there to deliver thinly veiled jibes at to feel superior. 

She is Angry. She is Angry like she was in witchfinders at Becka, except she’s not being held back by either Literally being tied up or having to fake that Graham’s in charge, and she’s Stalking up to this lady, who is by the way, still holding that huge ass killer gun, like a predator gets close to its prey before it strikes. 

It’s just. By all accounts 13 is absolutely on the back foot here, she does not know what is going on, she is being held at gun point, the complex they are in is full of killer robots, an old enemy is there  (who ok, she disdains, but he can still kill people), hell, even the Planet they are on is trying to attack their brain tissue just because they’re standing there, and yet she Still like, physically showing her neck in this performance. 

It’s so Arrogant to bare your throat in a dangerous situation and her head has that indignant jut upwards that slightly shows her throat. The power balance in this scene, Everything about it says that 13 should be on the back foot, but everything about Jodie’s performance Shows Thirteen is the farthest thing from being the one without the power here. 

She approaches and Demands. She judges and scowls. And to top it off, she finds out this lady is an ux and Totally Forgets everything else like it’s inconsequential and goes back to her excited bouncing mode!! I mean, if you’re holding somebody at gunpoint trying to get them to back off and suddenly they decide to entirely ignore the danger and be stupidly excited about something and jump towards you, what would You think? 

She’s being such a Jerk in this scene. Not even purposefully probably, aside from the verbal digs, but Such An Arrogant Jerk completely unintentionally. 

I actually think this interaction with the ux lady is the closest her interactions with another character gets to that of hers with the master’s??? Everything is so Loaded. She Hates what the ux are doing, thinks them naively stupid, is frustrated they won’t listen and will not stop their destruction, but she... Wants to like them because they’re cool and unique and an amazing species!!! It’s the tension mixed with an actual genuine desire to like this person. 

Except like, the Biggest difference is 13 is super burnt out with master bullshit and has, evidently, currently given up on the whole ‘stop being an evil bag and be nicer’ thing after the massive effort put into and then burnout over Missy, hell hath no fury like potentially immortal skin changing eldritch horror being doctor... With the Ux she’s still trying to get them to see the light, which is an interesting contrast in behaviour we see over and over with 13, she Does try to give people chances and give them space to be better, but when they Don’t... She is super extra ruthless, like a switch flips. 

Again, I think she took the perceived missy betrayal very personally and i think that might be Why she reacts to strongly to this type of thing to start with, i think it started there. Just ask the queen of the scorpion aliens, she found That doctor characteristic out herself. And evil tooth fairy. 

I just think her reaction to the master isn’t an isolated emotional response in her in terms of personality, except with Him the failure to act up to moral standards and take their last chance happened their last regenerations, we meet these two After 13 has already given the master their last chance at being better and come in Right at the ruthless combative stage, it’s not that she’s not willing to give This Master a chance, it’s that she sees the master as a whole, not as their separate regenerations and sees that they’ve already Had that chance, it’s kind of like how Missy said it didn’t matter to her which Doctor it was, they’re the same to Her.  They see each other as a whole, not as separate versions of each other. 

But, anyway, i Love how Jodie and this lady ux actress play off each other, the acting is So Good. And 13 really is Very pleased when the ux do see the light, take the chance, and she doesn’t appear to hold anything against them despite that they spent thousands of years doing horrible things in the service of a corrupt leader who was willing to portray themselves as something they were not to add to their power even though it turns out they had none of their own, they’d just stolen somebody else’s... 

wait.... that sounds familiar