Under normal circumstances I could have started writing about the most recent season of Doctor Who in detail while it was ongoing, and then filled in final details following the last episode.
No such luck.
Disclaimer: I liked this season the most out of all three under this team, and actually enjoyed it objectively. I thought it felt like Doctor Who. But once I thought of that post title, I couldn't not use it.
Each episode presented pieces of a larger and larger puzzle with a couple of them having very little focus on telling a complete story in that single episode. It took until the end to be clear which bits were pieces of this season's puzzle, and which were Timeless Child puzzle bits. It was nice to see Jodie Whittaker finally get some "The Doctor" moments, in and around the confusion about her origins and what was occurring. At times, it continued to follow the Broadchurch model of the reactions to multiple twists and reveals taking precedence over the character.
The one full exception to this was the phenomenal "Village of the Angels," proving, just like her outstanding "Haunting of Villa Diodati" did last season, that Maxine Alderton should be writing a boatload more Doctor Who.
"War of the Sontarans" was another that told a full story. It having more to do with the conclusion helped as well.
However, The Flux tied up in the "Vanquishers" finale with a more satisfying resolution than Broadchurch seasons tended to, and increased the number of those "I'm The Doctor" speech moments most impressively.
The whole season I was watching along and thinking: "I'm enjoying the experience, I like the characters and the various aliens and enemies showing up, however, the level of confusion being sowed prevents me from having a full opinion until it is finished."
I'm all about confusion stories. The Illuminatus Trilogy is one of my favorite reading experiences. I'm a huge fan of the directors cut of Dark City.
However, for that level of "what the heck is it" mystery to work, the resolution has to be satisfying enough that on subsequent visits to that universe, the entire path is filled with "A-Ha" moments of deeper understanding. It more or less did that. At least it clarified which confusing bits were for now, and which should be filed away for later.
Now that "The Flux" is finished, I can view the season as a whole, by listing them one at a time, because I have issues-
Chapter 1- "The Halloween Apocalypse"
Good action amidst the expected set up. Dan was a lot of fun and easily likeable. Jodie is still a fantastic Doctor, performing well above the material given her in the past. Yaz is a decent companion, while not a favorite, I've got no major complaints. She does have some Rose-ish self-focus issues about her. I won't be crushed when she leaves, but I'm not begging for her to go. The dog was a hoot and remained so throughout the season.
Chapter 2- "War of the Sontarans"
Gotta love Sontarans! Some bits of confusing set up, but we did get a full story out of this go around. It built up the team, and the Sontaran redesign harkened back to their origins.
Chapter 3 - "Once, Upon Time"
A weird and confusing outing, but on purpose. I respect that. The end of the series did define what was part of this season, and what were crumbs for the overall arc to be addressed in the specials.
Chapter 4- "Village of the Angels"
Up there with great Nu-Doctor Who episodes. The Doctor got some awesome moments. It drove the overall arc, but still gave us a wonderful, complete story, with fantastic moments for the TARDIS team and great new characters.
Chapter 5- "Survivors of the Flux"
All set up again, building mythology at the expense of current story and character. This included reminding us of set up from last season that wasn't resolved. The Doctor, as she so often has been in a total disservice to how great Jodie can do in the role, spent most of the episode standing there listening to exposition and looking confused. Honestly, the weakest part of the whole series was the focus on Timeless Child stuff, particularly here and in Chapter 3. The overlapping mystery took away from the main storyline. The Flux may have been better as an old school six parter with twenty-five minute segments and no references to the "BIG story." Then again, they were really weaved together tightly for some parts its hard to tell. Maybe it will make more sense once the Specials are done. I was quite concerned after this one that there would be no way to resolve the five chapters of set up in one single chapter. Still- Brigadier voice cameo, and Kate came back, woo hoo!
Chapter 6- "The Vanquishers"
How do we get the Doctor to resolve everything that was set up, which is far too much for one main character? Split her in three...and include a couple "The Three Doctors" references along the way.
Nice!
Where it didn't fully explain the confusing bits, it at least pointed out which parts were part of the larger mysteries still going on, and resolved the rest. The Sontarans got an awesome showing, ranking them as a top alien foe race along with Daleks and Cybermen, yet keeping them funny. A couple of reveals were cooler than the standard shock value we've been getting. (Time is a sentient being...who knew?)
Kate continued her awesomeness and better be back full time to rebuild UNIT, that is all.
The mystery of the nice young couple running through the universe was...they were a nice young couple running through the universe. Sometimes that's all you need. The creepy snake guy was really their villain, not the Doctor's. That storyline reminded me of Classic Who, where you met people before the Doctor arrived and they got help from everyone's favorite Time Lord.
Swarm and Azure were cool and creepy looking folks who fought the Doctor in the unremembered past, and were used by Time, the real big bad of Flux. Maybe Time will be a new Black Guardian type?
There was one individual tragic loss, but it definitely fell into the "he had a good death" category. (And they probably couldn't afford to bring him back regularly.) That coupled with the loss of a chunk of the universe, all of Karavanista's people, and fleets of three main enemies brought the usual Chibnall bittersweetness to the ending.
Then again, there was a lot of "Logopolis" in The Flux. In that story: a chunk of the universe was wiped out, the mysterious watcher pulled Adric and Nyssa out of time and space, the Doctor talked to himself, Tegan lost the Aunt that raised her, Nyssa (who already lost her parents) lost her whole solar system...
In other words, Doctor Who.
And yes, as I've referenced repeatedly, we got several true "I am the Doctor" moments where her enemies saw how dangerous it was to come up against her, proving much of the bluster and "no plan" moments hid a grand strategist.
After this increase in quality, while I'm thrilled to see what Russel T Davies brings on his return, I'm sorry there will be only three more specials with this team, and I've got some hope for decent resolutions. I'd have liked to see some journeys with only The Doctor and Dan, in a Doctor/ Donna travelling mates kind of way.
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