I'm kind of with you both on this one (hi! jumping in on your conversation because of who I am as a person!).
My initial reaction to this one was mostly positive - I actually felt it had some of the strongest character stuff this season, in that all our Team Tardis actually got something to *do*. Not that I mind them being mostly passive witnesses to events once in a while, but I do feel like there's been a LOT of that this season, and combined with the fact there are so many of them, I've struggled more than usual to get a handle on people's personalities. Yas, in particular, I feel has been shortchanged and relegated to the background more than necessary - even in last week's mostly amazing ep, which was actually ABOUT her family. So I really enjoyed seeing her and Ryan being more proactive in this ep - it felt like DW as I am familiar with it, and that left me feeling happy when it was over.
I also loved the little continuity nods (the fez bit was GLORIOUS, as was the Unicorn & the Wasp mention), I enjoyed the Doctor getting to show some righteous anger, and then asking if it was a bit too bombastic (lol), I loved her hiding in a wall cabinet, bonding with Twirly, and her lovely face at the end when Yas asked to go and see Dan's daughter. I really enjoyed that the episode's plot was a bit more twisty than previous eps this season - it did have the same ultimate reveal that several eps this season have had (what you thought was the monster was not the monster!) but I really didn't see this one coming. And I liked that it did continue to examine social issues in the way this season has been very clear about doing.
BUT. I do super agree with Elisi that the ending was really off. It was made repeatedly clear during the ep that these jobs are NOT something humans should necessarily aspire to (Ryan's experiences, the kind of broken way Kira said 'work gives us purpose!' etc) and yet that was never questioned or examined by the Doctor. I was also expecting an ending along the lines of 'Introduction of Galactic Basic Income!' or 'Treat Workers Like People!' and it just...didn't happen. Not necessarily an ending where we SAW that being implemented, because I get that this is not where this season is going, but perhaps the Doctor doing or saying something to nudge things in the right direction. Like, I don't really have much hope that her 'treat people with respect' speech to the Manager Dude is really going to impact very much.
I guess this ties in with Elisi's recent meta about how Thirteen is now very much going for winning the little battles rather than the whole war - she dropped in, she helped out in a small way, and now she's off again without attempting to change the course of the whole society. But it's taking some getting used to.
It would be interesting, I think, to do a comparison of all the New Who Future-Human-Dystopia eps, to see what they are saying and how the Doctor reacts to them in their different regenerations. Elisi mentioned Bad Wolf, and this ep actually reminded ME a lot of The Long Game (poss because I've watched it recently) - which, as we know, the Doctor dramatically intervened in, thereby helping to *cause* the later Bad Wolf situation. But there's also things like New Earth / Gridlock and The Beast Below and other eps where we see humans, in space, in the future, embedded in their society and what they have made of their worlds, and how the Doctor reacts to the systemic injustices.
ANYWAY, that was a lot of rambling, sorry! I feel like I haven't done this at you both in a long time. Thank you for sharing your thoughts which made me have thoughts! <3
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My initial reaction to this one was mostly positive - I actually felt it had some of the strongest character stuff this season, in that all our Team Tardis actually got something to *do*. Not that I mind them being mostly passive witnesses to events once in a while, but I do feel like there's been a LOT of that this season, and combined with the fact there are so many of them, I've struggled more than usual to get a handle on people's personalities. Yas, in particular, I feel has been shortchanged and relegated to the background more than necessary - even in last week's mostly amazing ep, which was actually ABOUT her family. So I really enjoyed seeing her and Ryan being more proactive in this ep - it felt like DW as I am familiar with it, and that left me feeling happy when it was over.
I also loved the little continuity nods (the fez bit was GLORIOUS, as was the Unicorn & the Wasp mention), I enjoyed the Doctor getting to show some righteous anger, and then asking if it was a bit too bombastic (lol), I loved her hiding in a wall cabinet, bonding with Twirly, and her lovely face at the end when Yas asked to go and see Dan's daughter. I really enjoyed that the episode's plot was a bit more twisty than previous eps this season - it did have the same ultimate reveal that several eps this season have had (what you thought was the monster was not the monster!) but I really didn't see this one coming. And I liked that it did continue to examine social issues in the way this season has been very clear about doing.
BUT. I do super agree with Elisi that the ending was really off. It was made repeatedly clear during the ep that these jobs are NOT something humans should necessarily aspire to (Ryan's experiences, the kind of broken way Kira said 'work gives us purpose!' etc) and yet that was never questioned or examined by the Doctor. I was also expecting an ending along the lines of 'Introduction of Galactic Basic Income!' or 'Treat Workers Like People!' and it just...didn't happen. Not necessarily an ending where we SAW that being implemented, because I get that this is not where this season is going, but perhaps the Doctor doing or saying something to nudge things in the right direction. Like, I don't really have much hope that her 'treat people with respect' speech to the Manager Dude is really going to impact very much.
I guess this ties in with Elisi's recent meta about how Thirteen is now very much going for winning the little battles rather than the whole war - she dropped in, she helped out in a small way, and now she's off again without attempting to change the course of the whole society. But it's taking some getting used to.
It would be interesting, I think, to do a comparison of all the New Who Future-Human-Dystopia eps, to see what they are saying and how the Doctor reacts to them in their different regenerations. Elisi mentioned Bad Wolf, and this ep actually reminded ME a lot of The Long Game (poss because I've watched it recently) - which, as we know, the Doctor dramatically intervened in, thereby helping to *cause* the later Bad Wolf situation. But there's also things like New Earth / Gridlock and The Beast Below and other eps where we see humans, in space, in the future, embedded in their society and what they have made of their worlds, and how the Doctor reacts to the systemic injustices.
ANYWAY, that was a lot of rambling, sorry! I feel like I haven't done this at you both in a long time. Thank you for sharing your thoughts which made me have thoughts! <3