Culture on My Mind – Dragon Con Report 2024 #6: Dragon Con Wrestling

July 19, 2024July 10, 2024 Michael FalknerLeave a comment

Culture on My Mind
Dragon Con Report 2024 #6: Dragon Con Wrestling
July 19, 2024

One of the ways that I like to prep for Dragon Con is by listening to the Dragon Con Report podcast. Brought to you by the ESO Network, the podcast is a monthly discussion on all things Dragon Con that counts down to the big event over Labor Day weekend in Atlanta, Georgia.

The show is hosted by Michael Gordon, Jennifer Schleusner, and Channing Sherman, and it delivers news, notes, tips, and tricks for newbies and veterans alike. The Dragon Con Newbies community has a great relationship with the show and the network.

The sixth show of the 2024 season takes to the mat to discuss wrestling at Dragon Con. Scott, AJ and Mama Kim join the crew to discuss some of the history of DCW, its evolution, and what to expect this year.

Years ago, I was surprised to learn that Dragon Con hosts a wrestling show. Indulge yourself in this episode and learn all about the murder gymnasts of our favorite convention.

The show can be found in video form on YouTube and in audio on the official website and wherever fine podcasts are fed. The Dragon Con Report channels can be found on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. You can catch their shows live on those platforms or on demand on their website.

Culture on My Mind is inspired by the weekly Can’t Let It Go segment on the NPR Politics Podcast where each host brings one thing to the table that they just can’t stop thinking about.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

Culture on My Mind – xkcd’s Ten Thousand

July 17, 2024July 19, 2024 Michael FalknerLeave a comment

Culture on My Mind
xkcd’s Ten Thousand
July 17, 2024

This time, I have learning on my mind.

I love learning. I love sharing what I learn with others. I love seeing that moment on someone’s face when they learn something new. When a concept just clicks in their mind.

This is why some of the content on Creative Criticality starts with me saying “I wonder why…” and ends with me sharing what I found.

As xkcd said about ten thousand:

Culture on My Mind is inspired by the weekly Can’t Let It Go segment on the NPR Politics Podcast where each host brings one thing to the table that they just can’t stop thinking about.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

Culture on My Mind – Narrative Diversions (Spring 2024 Edition)

July 12, 2024July 10, 2024 Michael FalknerLeave a comment

Culture on My Mind
Narrative Diversions
(Spring 2024 Edition)
July 12, 2024

Narrative Diversions is a look at the various pop culture things I’ve been watching, reading, and playing over the last few months.

Movies

Damsel (2024) – PG-13 [Netflix]
Millie Bobby Brown headlines this fantasy adventure film that tries to turn the typical princess-in-distress on its head. You know, I give it points for effort. The effects and acting were decent, and Millie Bobby Brown carries the story fairly well for a spell. The basic idea is good, but the execution is bog-standard and drags down the pacing. In the end, this was just okay.

Mean Girls (2024) – PG-13
Not everyone likes musicals, and the trailers did not emphasize that this version is based on the Broadway musical instead of the 2004 film or the book Queen Bees and Wannabes. It was bait-and-switch, but it’s also basic marketing. At any rate, my wife and I loved the musical interpretation we saw in 2022, and this version was still fun. It’s a great update by the same team that made the original.

Irish Wish (2024) – TV-PG [Netflix]
This one was kind of painful. The cast, plot, and setting were fine – it was pretty standard fare for a low-budget rom-com – but Lindsay Lohan and Jane Seymour were definitely miscast.

In reverse order, Jane Seymour was wasted as a slapstick mother figure who can’t catch a break. An actress with her pedigree didn’t deserve a cameo role with embarrassing physical humor jokes. Meanwhile, Linsday Lohan wasn’t convincing in the lead role, coming across as one-dimensional and disinterested rather than likable. She really acted like she would have rather been anywhere else. Lohan’s wardrobe was amazing and the character’s arc was fun, but I wish she would have brought more to the role.

Interestingly, though, Ed Speelers showed more depth in the first ten minutes of this film than he experienced in the entire third season of Star Trek: Picard. Cheap shot? Maybe, but I liked him more in this role than in a franchise I grew up with.

If you have 90 minutes to kill and nothing more interesting to do, maybe consider doing your laundry. If that’s already done, maybe…?

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024) – PG-13
Frozen Empire is to Afterlife what Ghostbusters II was to the 1984 original. That’s not a dig or damning with faint praise because I like all of the movies under the Ghostbusters banner. (Yes, even the 2016 reboot, even though that one is the weakest of the set.)

The problem with this installment is it tries to do too much. I really like all of the ideas, but expanding the Ghostbusters corporate footprint, hunting Slimer, and alienating Phoebe was too much to cram into two hours. It made the finale (including Peck’s comeuppance) feel more like an afterthought than a major milestone.

That last plot point – alienating Phoebe – was the worst one. It didn’t make a lot of sense to me since Phoebe proved herself in Afterlife by literally saving the world. Unfortunately, this movie pits everyone against her simply because the mayor disagreed with Phoebe being on the team. It paints Callie in a bad light as a mother who doesn’t stand up for her daughter.

Otherwise, I enjoyed the film overall, including the cameos from the surviving original cast on the franchise’s 40th anniversary. Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis were definitely missed in this one. I’d also love to see this brand spinoff into different franchises worldwide or even into a multiverse (both of which were discussed as possibilities before the 2016 reboot).

Television

Star Wars: The Bad Batch – Season 3 [Disney+]
Since 2005, I have painted the clones who executed Order 66 as villains. Over time, continuity has shifted away from every clone killing Jedi because of a compulsory order or a biological inhibitor chip to some clones being able to resist or being immune. More importantly, The Bad Batch has added humanity back to the clones by making some regret what their actions have wrought upon the galaxy as the Empire comes to power. This concept, exploring these soldiers and the repercussions of warfare and compulsory murder, has been something I have wanted since The Clone Wars introduced the Bad Batch characters.

This final season explored that and elements of cloning leading into the Sequel Trilogy. I really like what they did with Omega and how the series ended.

I will miss the Bad Batch and this era of Star Wars storytelling under Dave Filoni. I’m sure we’ll see these characters in some form again.

Star Wars: Tales of the Empire [Disney+]
Following the style set by Tales of the Jedi, this anthology series provides backstory for two recent major characters. I was particularly interested in Barriss Offee’s story, which was left hanging at the end of The Clone Wars Season Five. This is definitely worth the watch and makes me wish that they produced more of these on a more regular basis.

Star Trek: Discovery – Season 5 [Paramount+]
The final season of this show that heralded Star Trek‘s return to the small screen was a mixture of ups and downs, but mostly ups. Despite being a Dungeons and Dragons-style quest adventure, this season did get Star Trek back to exploring the human condition. I liked the story overall and enjoyed how the series ended (even though it was a surprise for everyone involved), but I wonder why Moll had any sway over the faction that she led. I also missed seeing Detmer and Owosekun in the final episodes, which was a giant character hole in the story due to scheduling conflicts.

I’ll miss seeing Disco and I hope some of these characters get to guest in the upcoming Starfleet Academy series.

Doctor Who – Series 14 (Season 1) [Disney+/BBC]
No spoilers for the Timestamps Project, but I enjoyed this new set of adventures. It was fun and exciting, and I looked forward to watching each week. Unfortunately, I don’t think the season finale stuck the landing.

More to come when the Timestamps Project picks up again.

Station 19 – Season 7 [ABC via Hulu]
Grey’s Anatomy – Season 20 [ABC via Hulu]
My wife is a fan of these shows but I find a few of the characters interesting. I liked Station 19 a bit more than Grey’s, and the former came to a satisfying end with its series finale. I hope some of the characters bleed over (pun intended) to the latter show, though I wonder how much fuel that one has left in the tank. (Yes, I’m torturing the hell out of these mixed metaphors.)

Bridgerton – Season 3 [Netflix]
Keeping the Shondaland thread going, Bridgerton is an alternate Regency-era romance drama that leans into pop culture. If I believed in guilty pleasures, this would be one of mine because it’s light and fun to watch. Nicola Coughlan and Claudia Jessie stand out in a powerful cast who seem to love what they do. I’m looking forward to Season Four when it arrives in 2026 (or later).

X-Men ’97 – Season 1 [Disney+]
This was amazing. Picking up where the original X-Men animated series left off, this ten-episode set was a ride. The animation styles have changed, but the Saturday morning feeling was still there.

Season Two is in production and Season Three is in development.

Fallout – Season 1 [Amazon Prime]
Equally amazing was this series, which struck me right out of the gate as a faithful adaptation that can stand alongside the games. It’s also easily accessible to newbies and non-gamers. It was fun to discuss episodes and theories with my wife as she experienced this universe with fresh eyes. Top to bottom, beginning to end, no notes.

Here’s hoping that Season Two comes soon.

Bofuri: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, so I’ll Max Out My Defense – Seasons 1-2 [Hulu]
This series was brought to our attention by family who share our love of role-playing games. This one is about a girl who wants to play a new virtual reality multiplayer online role-playing game, but she’s not keen to get hurt so she maximizes her defense stats at every turn. As a result, she breaks the game by playing it by her own rules. It’s hilarious and adorable, and well worth the time. This is coming from someone who has a hard time getting into anime.

FBI – Season 6 [CBS via Paramount+]
FBI: Most Wanted – Seasons 5 [CBS via Paramount+]
FBI: International – Seasons 2-3 [CBS via Paramount+]
After the Winter 2024 edition of Narrative Diversions, we finally caught up on this Dick Wolf (of the perennial Law & Order juggernaut) franchise. Again, standard procedural drama focused on police work. FBI and Most Wanted were the stronger of the three series since International felt aimless as Luke Kleintank telegraphed his departure. Notably, we were more worried about the dog (whose fate was left hanging at the end of Season Two and wasn’t resolved until the end of Season Three) than any of the human team members. We referred to the show as FBI: Tank Watch.

Meanwhile, Dylan McDermott’s character remains grumpy – we jokingly called his show FBI: Most Grumpy – and the supporting characters (especially Hana) carry the show.

FBI has been renewed though Season Nine (2027), Most Wanted through Season Six, and International through Season Four.

The Good Doctor – Season 7 [ABC via Hulu]
I wasn’t a fan of this series’s short, final season. The series was kind of controversial considering its depictions of autism, but I admired the heart and character interactions. The final season seemed to throw away Shaun’s character development to drive conflict. Asher Wolke’s tragic death and Antonia Thomas’s return (which felt like stunt-casting) pulled me all over the place and made me lose interest due to frustration. That said, I was invested in the finale, particularly in Richard Schiff’s story and the epilogue.

This show deserved better.

The Rookie – Season 6 [ABC via Hulu]
Season Six was fun but short. I liked where the storylines were going (though the international trip with some of the The Rookie: Feds cast was outrageous even by this show’s standards) but it was pretty obvious how the 2023 strikes hurt the season by cutting episodes.

Season Seven will be back to 18 episodes, and I’m looking forward to it.

Tracker – Season 1 [CBS via Paramount+]
We were drawn in by the premise of an independent survivalist and tracker who found missing people. I liked Justin Hartley since Smallville, but my wife recognized him from This is Us. His charisma drives the show, and I really enjoy the MacGyver and Magnum P.I. energy that it channels along with the unforgettable supporting cast. A second season is on its way.

Not Dead Yet – Season 2 [ABC via Hulu]
This season was definitely weaker than the first one, which focused more on Nell’s development and growth thanks to the supporting cast. This season pivoted to Lexi and her issues with rich daddy Duncan Rhodes, and I feel like it detracted from the show’s vision. This was emphasized by the reduced role of the ghosts in the show. It’s no wonder that viewership dropped and the show was cancelled.

Heartland – Season 16 [Netflix]
My wife loves horses so this wholesome show about a family and their ranch is right up her alley. I tend to work on this website while the episodes play, but it also reminds me of my childhood years spent on the local rodeo circuits. There’s not much more to say about a feel-good program that’s not overly preachy.

Designated Survivor – Season 3 [Netflix]
When Designated Survivor premiered in 2016, I was intrigued by the premise. What happens if a terrorist attack takes out the entire line of succession and most of Congress during the State of the Union? How does the country go on?

Season One was great, but Season Two was disappointing. When the show was cancelled on ABC and resurrected on Netflix, it took me five years to close the loop and finish the show. In the end, it was just okay. The family themes were simultaneously heartwarming and heartbreaking, and the discussions around various political issues were engaging. The downfall is the election itself, which tried to set the stage for a third-party victory against the two major parties. The problem is how it was predetermined by making one of the candidates incompetent and only ensuring Kirkman’s victory through broken integrity. Kirkman’s third-party underdog won in a two-party race mired by mudslinging and poor ethical choices.

He wouldn’t have won otherwise. It’s quite the indictment of our system, don’t you think?

Books

Star Trek: Typhon Pact – Brinkmanship – Una McCormack
Star Trek: The Fall – Revelation and Dust – David R. George III
Star Trek: The Fall – The Crimson Shadow – Una McCormack
Star Trek: The Fall – A Ceremony of Losses – David Mack
Star Trek: The Fall – The Poisoned Chalice – James Swallow
Star Trek: The Fall – Peaceable Kingdoms – Dayton Ward
Star Trek: The Next Generation – Takedown – John Jackson Miller
The Typhon Pact series wrapped up as I expected. Though Brinkmanship was a good novel and I enjoy this version of Ezri Dax, the series remained haphazard and unfocused without resolution.

The Fall took a bold step forward as a sequel series – effectively Typhon Pact, Part II – by holding a definite through-line of major tragedy and existential threat. It played on many fronts, from an alternate universe found in an orb vision to familiar worlds like Cardassia and Andor. I found the battle between opposing viewpoints intriguing and particularly poignant in light of modern events.

The Fall was a sword, focused and true.

Takedown picks up Admiral Riker’s story from The Fall in a decent mistaken identity/intentions story. Unfortunately, it strained belief as it used a familiar possession trope to move the plot. After decades of stories in the Star Trek universe, I find it hard to believe that none of these Starfleet officers immediately picked up on Riker’s sudden transformation.

Does no one read the mission logs?

Avengers Forever – Kurt Busiek, Roger Stern, Carlos Pacheco, Jesus Merino
I did not finish this book. I started it and was thoroughly lost, finally realizing that I didn’t have the background to understand the various colliding realities and storylines.

Stage

Shrek: The Musical – Broadway in Atlanta
This was a special addition to our season ticket package, and we expected the adored version that ran on Broadway in 2008. Unfortunately, this revival tour cut a lot of corners. The music and the acting were great, but the costumes and sets suffered. Our version of Donkey looked like the costume was a grey sweatsuit and hoodie from Walmart.

I want to see this musical again when the production has enough money to do it right. I’d also prefer an Equity version where the actors and crew are paid fairly for their work.

Six – Broadway in Atlanta
This was amazing. A rock concert telling the stories of Henry VIII’s wives was imaginative and fun, and the end message was a good one. I had a great time.

To Kill a Mockingbird – Broadway in Atlanta
I generally like Aaron Sorkin’s work, and To Kill a Mockingbird is special in my heart. The book was one of my formative works, a story through which I began to understand my country’s racist history, the inequities in its justice system, and the value in shades of gray. My fervent hope was that Sorkin wouldn’t mess things up. He did not – the stageplay was exquisite and powerful. It was the perfect way to end this Broadway in Atlanta season.

Games

None this quarter.

Next quarter, there will be a good number of titles to consider, including Star Trek: Prodigy, House of the Dragon, Resident Alien, and The Boys. We are also watching Star Wars: The Acolyte, which we are enjoying despite its flaws.

(Amusingly, that title lays bare the toxicity and media illiteracy of the extremists in Star Wars fandom. From review bombing the show and its episodes hours to days before their premieres to leaving negative reviews of unrelated titles that share the word “acolyte,” they’ve proven that (1) audience-driven review sites no longer have value, and (2) that their claims of wanting “better writing” and “better stories” that “respect the lore” are only code to mask their gauche beliefs.)

I’m still reading my way through Star Trek novels, this time starting with the Prey trilogy. I’m also two-thirds of the way through Superman Smashes the Klan and savoring it.

Otherwise, the list may be a little shorter since the summer quarter includes Dragon Con and I’ll need to prepare for the discussion panels.

Culture on My Mind is inspired by the weekly Can’t Let It Go segment on the NPR Politics Podcast where each host brings one thing to the table that they just can’t stop thinking about.

Narrative Diversions sources poster art from various places, including The Movie Database (TMDB), Memory Alpha, Memory Beta, TARDIS Wiki, and publisher, distributor, and reseller websites. TMDB’s contents are available with a non-exclusive license for personal and non-commercial use. Fandom wiki materials are available with a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported).

Many thanks to the fans who create and share their passion for entertainment and storytelling.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

Timestamp: Series Thirteen and Thirteenth Doctor Summary

July 3, 2024July 19, 2024 Michael FalknerLeave a comment

Jodie Whittaker’s final series was consistent but frustrating.

This batch of episodes encapsulated much of this era of Doctor Who, which struck me as more of a classic era tone with enhanced special effects. The budgets were lower relative to the rest of the revival era, and the stories tended to be more self-contained and pulpy. In Flux, a serialized event akin to the classic years, we even saw some classic-style monsters that looked more like latex and plaster than we’re used to.

Unfortunately, the budget constraints also led to convoluted writing. The Flux serial was announced in early 2021 with eight episodes, but we ended up with six parts instead. The other two became specials accompanying the feature-length finale. This reduction was attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it’s also no secret that Doctor Who was in danger of being cancelled again. Viewership didn’t stick around during the writing troubles and the obvious shift in production values. In short, the Doctor was in trouble.

Flux started well enough, but with convoluted plot threads and jumpy stories in the back half, it fell flat. This should have been a home run for Jodie Whittaker’s farewell tour, but it was bogged down by its weight. The three specials picked up some of the slack with clearer plots, back-to-basics characterization, and exciting adventures, but Flux was frustrating and confusing when all was said and done.

Overall, Series Thirteen comes in with a solid 4.0 score, buoyed by the specials and Village of the Angels. That ties with the classic Twelfth Season and Series Ten, and places this set in a tie for sixteenth among the forty-one seasons (so far) in the scope of the Timestamps Project. Despite my frustrations, that’s still good company. It’s also right in the middle between the other two series in the Whittaker era, which speaks to consistency of quality.

For what it’s worth, I did enjoy the rewatch, though this is not a set that I’d sit down and mainline if I had a day off.

Flux – Chapter One: The Halloween Apocalypse – 4
Flux – Chapter Two: War of the Sontarans – 5
Flux – Chapter Three: Once, Upon Time – 4
Flux – Chapter Four: Village of the Angels – 4
Flux – Chapter Five: Survivors of the Flux – 4
Flux – Chapter Six: The Vanquishers – 3
Eve of the Daleks – 2
Legend of the Sea Devils – 4
The Power of the Doctor – 4

Series Ten Average Rating: 4.0/5

Following tradition…

The First Doctor was a wise grandfather, the Second a sly jester, the Third a secret agent scientist, the Fourth an inquisitive idealist, the Fifth an honorable humanitarian, the Sixth a squandered cynic, the Seventh a curious schemer, the Eighth a classical romantic, the Ninth a hopeful healing veteran, the Tenth a bargaining humanitarian, the Eleventh an irascible runner, the Twelfth a principled warrior…

…and the Thirteenth Doctor is an excitable explorer.

She was the embodiment of acceptance of the post-Time War traumas in the early days, but she ended up falling into similar dour moods after the Timeless Child revelation. That comes coupled with the destruction of Gallifrey by the Master, literally dismantling everything her predecessors accomplished as the essence of her people was poured into one of their greatest enemies.

The trauma derailed her recovery.

This Doctor was intentionally distant and emotionally aloof, preferring fun and excitement over being cuddly. There were a lot of adventures taking place off-screen but alluded to by the companions. She was also considerate of the pain of leaving her companions behind, a character trait that prevented her from getting too close to Yaz. She cared in her own way.

I like the Thirteenth Doctor a lot, but I unlike previous incarnations, I feel that her score places her appropriately in the ranks. I loved her spirit and her embodiment of what it means to be the Doctor, and I will miss her. I just wish that her time had been better treated. She had so much more potential and so many more stories to tell.

Series Scores
Series 8 – 3.9
Series 9 – 4.1
Series 10 – 4.0

Thirteenth Doctor’s Weighted Average Rating: 4.00

Ranking (by score)
1 – Eighth (4.50)
2 – Tenth (4.34)
3 – Ninth (4.30)
4 – Eleventh (4.17)
5 – Third (4.00)
6 – Thirteenth (4.00)
7 – Twelfth (3.87)
8 – Second (3.67)
9 – Fourth (3.67)
10 – Seventh (3.54)
11 – First (3.41)
12 – Fifth (3.20)
13 – Sixth (2.73)
N/A – War (No score)
N/A – Fugitive (No score)

Ranking (by character)
1 – Tenth Doctor
2 – Second Doctor
3 – Ninth Doctor
4 – Eighth Doctor
5 – Third Doctor
6 – Fourth Doctor
7 – Thirteenth Doctor
8 – Fugitive Doctor
9 – Twelfth Doctor
10 – War Doctor
11 – Eleventh Doctor
12 – Seventh Doctor
13 – First Doctor
14 – Fifth Doctor
15 – Sixth Doctor

As I’ve mentioned before (and before, and before, and…), the top ten spaces on the character ranking are really, really, really close. I’m always tempted to simply rank them all as a first-place tie, but I find the real challenge to be actually thinking it through and placing them.

So, here we are: The Timestamps Project has effectively caught up with the continuing story of Doctor Who. To keep the spirit of this project alive, I’m taking a short break. First, this will allow the Sixtieth Anniversary and Series Fourteen (Season One) stories some time to breathe. Second, it will allow me some time to focus on other things.

No doubt, the Timestamps Project will return. After all, we have the return of David Tennant and the debut of Ncuti Gatwa to talk about, and my initial impression of those stories was that they were fun.

UP NEXT – Doctor Who: The Star Beast

The Timestamps Project is an adventure through the televised universe of Doctor Who, story by story, from the beginning of the franchise. For more reviews like this one, please visit the project’s page at Creative Criticality.

Timestamp #311: The Power of the Doctor

June 26, 2024July 19, 2024 Michael Falkner1 Comment

Regeneration, degeneration, and regeneration again.

The Cybermen attack a cosmic bullet train and Team TARDIS responds to the distress call. The train’s guards apparently kill the intruders, but these are the CyberMasters so they regenerate. The Doctor, Yaz, and Dan board the train using a metal ladder but the Cybermen send a team to the roof to counter them. The Doctor deactivates the magnetic field holding the Cybermen to the roof and they fly into the depths of space. Dan takes a blaster bolt to his spacesuit’s helmet but survives once the team enters the train.

The Cybermen are searching for cargo on the train. While Dan slows the train and Yaz tends to the wounded, the Doctor confronts the CyberMasters. They find the cargo is a young child and the CyberMasters escape with him.

Wait, are we trafficking people now?

In Siberia, 1916, a messenger arrives at Father Grigori Rasputin’s home with an urgent request. Tsarevich Alexei has taken ill and Rasputin has been summoned to the Winter Palace.

In London, 2022, Ace studies an empty wall in an art gallery. The curator insists that the missing painting has been taken for restoration, but Ace is not convinced. She calls Tegan, who is in Romania looking for missing seismologists, and notes that fifteen famous paintings have gone missing. Tegan is further confused by a Russian stacking doll containing a tiny Cyberman and a note from the Doctor.

Tegan hasn’t heard from the Doctor in four decades. Ace hasn’t heard from them in three decades.

The TARDIS arrives at the former site of Dan’s house in the modern day, and Dan announces that he’s leaving the TARDIS after his brush with death. The Doctor understands as she and Yaz say farewell. The Doctor returns to the TARDIS and receives a message from a renegade Dalek offering information about a plot to end humanity and a promise to help destroy the Dalek race. Yaz returns as the TARDIS locates the child from the train, leading them to 1916.

There is also an extra planet in the solar system.

St. Petersburg, 1916: Rasputin confers with Tsarina Alexandra about her son’s hemophilia and the appearance of a second moon. Rasputin is really the Master; he hypnotizes the tsarina and Tsar Nicholas II, convincing the family to leave so the Master can control the palace.

The TARDIS materializes on the mysterious moon, revealing it to be a Cyber-converted planet. They spot another TARDIS in the distance, but it is corrupted, tethered to the planet, and is connected to the missing child. That child is really a Qurunx, a rare sentient energy being disguised as something that someone would want to protect. When Cybermen arrive, the Doctor and Yaz barely escape into the TARDIS before being summoned by Kate Stewart.

They fly to UNIT HQ and learn about the missing scientists and paintings. The Doctor is reunited with Ace and Tegan, and while Ace approves of the new face, Tegan holds a grudge. The team finds that each of the paintings has been defaced with the Master’s Rasputin face. The team also receives a message from the Master that he’s holding a conference in Naples, so the Doctor leaves with Yaz after touching each of her former companions. The touches are literally shocking.

The Naples conference reveals that the Master has killed the seismologists. His disguises and dealings are grandstanding to attract the Doctor’s attention. Today is the day that the Doctor is erased from existence forever. Despite the threat/promise, UNIT soldiers arrest the Master and force him into the TARDIS to be held under armed guard.

Adding a complication, Vinder arrives on the Cyber-planet in search of the Qurunx. Unfortunately, the wormhole destroys his ship and strands him on the planet.

The Master is taken to a high-security bunker. En route, he taunts Kate, Tegan, and Ace. Meanwhile, the Doctor takes off to find the renegade Dalek. Yaz expresses her frustration at being kept in the dark, but the Doctor admits she doesn’t understand how everything connects. The Doctor also taps Yaz with the same static effect.

The TARDIS arrives inside a volcano in Bolivia and the Doctor meets with the Dalek. Meanwhile, Yaz discovers a much larger group of Daleks operating heavy drilling machinery.

Ace and Tegan watch a CCTV feed of the Master’s cell, but he addresses them, revealing that he sent the miniature Cyberman and the note from the Doctor. The doll returns to normal size and disgorges several Cybermen and Ashad (mysteriously returned to life). Tegan and Ace take cover with firearms, but the gold bullets prove ineffective. The Cybermen have leveled up.

UNIT is under siege from the Cybermen. The Master is set free.

The Doctor is ambushed by the Daleks. The traitor was set up and the Doctor is forced into the traitor’s casing. Yaz rushes to the TARDIS and tries to pilot it as the Doctor is teleported to 1916. There, the Master gloats about the Master’s Dalek Plan, in which he plans to force her to regenerate using Gallifreyan technology meshed with the Cyber-planet’s power. He taunts her by dancing to Boney M’s Rasputin while the plan is set in motion.

Vinder contacts the TARDIS with his special communicator just as the Master opens a channel to taunt Yaz. Yaz locks on to the signal and lands in the Winter Palace, but she’s too late. The Master has regenerated into the Doctor, clothes and all. The Master-Doctor compels Yaz to follow as his companion while he steals the TARDIS.

Kate, Tegan, and Ace gear up to defend the building. Kate initiates a lockdown while Ace and Tegan run for the roof with parachutes. Ace also digs out her classic bomber jacket and metal bat. Ace escapes but Tegan refuses to jump and remains behind in the locked building.

As the Master-Doctor fights for control of the TARDIS, he outlines his plan to erupt every volcano at once, destroying humanity while turning the planet into a foundry for Cybermen and Daleks. Meanwhile, he will travel the universe and tarnish the name of the Doctor throughout time and space. He starts by ending a civil war by destroying both combatants, all the while clad in a distorted amalgam outfit of the Fourth, Fifth, Seventh, Tenth, and Thirteenth Doctor’s trademark clothes. Yaz pushes him out of the TARDIS and dematerializes, so the Master-Doctor awaits her return with a tune on the Second Doctor‘s recorder.

The Thirteenth Doctor awakens on an endless rocky vista. Near a telegraph pole, she meets a figure in Gallifreyan robes who morphs between the First, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Doctor‘s forms. The figure is the Guardian of the Edge, an overseer of the Edge of Existence where the Doctor passes upon regeneration. Since she hasn’t yet passed this milestone, the forced regeneration can be reversed, so she develops a plan.

Inside the TARDIS, Yaz encounters a holographic message from the Doctor. The shocking touches implanted emotional receptors in the companions so that this AI program could interact with them. Yaz outlines her plan to the AI, including rescuing Vinder. The hologram replies that they only have one chance to reverse the forced regeneration.

Tegan returns to Kate and explains that she needs to help stop the Cybermen. Kate reveals the only plan is to destroy the building and entomb the threat. Kate offers herself to the Cybermen with the promise of information, leaving Tegan to find the manual self-destruct activator.

Outside, Ace jumps off the building and is immediately shot at. Luckily, the TARDIS scoops her out of the sky. Ace approves of the new TARDIS and Yaz’s plan to drop her into the Bolivian volcano. Yaz retrieves the Master-Doctor and seemingly apologizes. Vinder hides nearby with his armed blaster.

As Tegan navigates UNIT HQ, her hologram activates as the Fifth Doctor. It wishes her good luck and promises that the Doctor never forgot her after she left the TARDIS. He offers her a “brave heart” and lets her continue her mission.

Inside the volcano, Ace meets the hologram as the Seventh Doctor. She’s ready to attack the Daleks with her new Nitro-999. The Doctor AI apologizes to Ace for how they parted ways. Ace is happy to make up with the Professor, who tells her that they’re more than good: “We’re ace!” She meets Graham O’Brien and the two hit it off immediately.

Ashad and the Cybermen find Kate hiding behind a laser shield. After a bit of stalling, she offers herself and her knowledge in exchange for the lives of her soldiers. The Cybermen accept. Meanwhile, Tegan descends an elevator shaft and is detected by Ashad.

The Master-Doctor returns to the Winter Palace and orders the Daleks to commence their plan. Volcanoes begin to erupt around the world, but Yaz distracts the Master-Doctor long enough to activate the AI. The Fugitive Doctor enters the room and traps the Cybermen in their own crossfire. Vinder and Yaz force the Master-Doctor into the regeneration chamber and harness the regeneration energy from the CyberMasters to degenerate the Time Lord.

The Thirteenth Doctor returns, astounded at her wardrobe and circumstances. She then gets to work. After changing clothes, she makes a plan for the volcanoes and the Cyber-planet. Meanwhile, Ace and Graham attack the Daleks and destroy the device with the Nitro-999. The Doctor arrives just in time to rescue her companions.

Ashad attempts to convert Kate into a Cyberman, but Tegan reverses the energy flow and disables the Cybermen. The two women sprint out of the building as it self-destructs, then join the Doctor the TARDIS as she pilots to the Cyber-planet. She quickly repairs Vinder’s ship and sends him home with love for the family. She then uses the TARDIS to jump-start the Master’s TARDIS, linking the two time capsules together so she can jump the Cyber-planet from 1916 to 2022. From there, she uses the power to freeze the erupting volcanoes into steel. With the planet saved, she frees the Qurunx and begins destroying the Cyber-planet.

The Rasputin form of the Master crawls from his pod and finds his way back to his TARDIS. As he dies after the trauma of forced degeneration, he shoots the Doctor with the Qurunx’s power. She is mortally wounded, but Yaz rushes to save her as the planet crumbles. The extended family gathers around as the Doctor passes out.

When the Doctor wakes up, she finds that Yaz has dropped everyone off in Croydon. The Cloister Bell rings and Doctor begins her regeneration. Despite wanting more time, she offers Yaz one final trip. They later eat ice cream while watching the Earth from the roof of the TARDIS. The Doctor eulogizes about the time they spent together because it was special. Instead of saying goodbye, the Doctor takes Yaz home and they share one last longing look. The Doctor leaves as Yaz reunites with Graham and Dan.

The trio arrives in a meeting room with a support group of former companions. They admit that, since returning from their travels, they’ve never been able to talk about what they experienced. Graham, Dan, Ace, Tegan, and Kate are joined by Jo Jones, Mel Bush, and even Ian Chesterton. They swap stories and make friends. They’re going to be okay.

The Doctor lands on a seaside cliff and asks the TARDIS to look after the next Doctor while she takes in a final sunrise. She says a fond farewell to her current incarnation before welcoming the Fourteenth Doctor. In a burst of explosive energy, she regenerates.

Her body changes. Her clothes change. But instead of someone new, the Doctor’s new form is someone familiar.

The final adventure of the Thirteenth Doctor is an amazing one. It ties off the CyberMasters storyline (which still irritates me, so it’s still effective) and fulfills the prophecy from The Vanquishers. It’s chock full of connections and callbacks, which is standard for an anniversary special, and it’s (surprisingly) well-written.

The end of the CyberMasters is well-crafted, spending the regeneration energy the Master stole from Gallifrey to restore the child the Time Lords pillaged to achieve immortality. I still have hope for the restoration of Gallifrey, but this is poetic justice.

The Master’s plan is diabolical and brilliant. Attacking the people the Doctor loves and handing the planet over to their greatest enemies is one thing, but taking the Doctor’s form and discrediting them throughout time and space is next level.

I also like how the franchise keeps playing with regeneration. While forced regeneration was established in 1969, the modern era has experimented with a “vanity” half-regeneration, transfer of regeneration energy, extending lifetime limits, jump-starting regeneration, and tests of loyalty. The classic era also experimented with Romana trying out different bodies. Here we add the ability to reverse a regeneration, but only under special circumstances that require a large infusion of regeneration energy.

It is in that regeneration/degeneration cycle that we find a fascinating mindscape to represent the Doctor’s continual transitory nature. The Edge of Existence, guarded by the past incarnations, marks the Doctor’s own river Styx. In Greek mythology, the river Styx separated the living souls from the dead souls of the Underworld. The river was guarded by Charon, the boatman who ferried the dead across. Funeral rites included low-value coins with the corpse which would be paid to Charon, and those who couldn’t pay wandered the shores for a century before being allowed across. It is fitting that the essence of the Doctor serves as the Guardian of the Edge, ensuring that each incarnation is truly ready to move on after death.

I kind of want a Tales from the Edge anthology. Who greeted the First Doctor? Were the Second and Tenth Doctors ready to accept the end? How would the Watcher figure in? Why does the Eighth Doctor despise the Gallifreyan robes so much?

The final thing I really like is the companion support group. While I dislike Ryan’s absence (particularly since he was among the first companions in this era), I love the concept of former companions swapping stories and bonding over their adventures. I have often wondered what happened to companions when they returned to their normal lives, and now I wonder why this idea took so long to arrive.

That brings me to the big friction point I have with this regeneration.

On the one hand, it was a necessary evil. What should have been a triumphant era in Doctor Who‘s history was plagued by lower budgets and declining viewership driven by substandard writing and plotting. Episode orders were cut, including for the Flux event and the follow-on specials. The show was nearly cancelled (again). Bringing in the most popular Doctor and the most popular showrunner leading into the 60th anniversary was a brilliant marketing move. It was a necessary marketing move, designed to tell the skeptics that The Powers That Be were serious about the longevity of the franchise.

On the other hand, it gave the most toxic members of fandom exactly what they wanted. Since Jodie Whittaker was announced as the Thirteenth Doctor, social media, YouTube, and places like 4chan were flooded with complaints and doom-mongering: Missives about how a female Doctor ruined representation for male fans and emasculated the fan base; How the show was becoming “woke” and feminist; How the next Doctor should be David Tennant and the years since his departure should be “decanonized” and cast aside as a fever dream.

Yeah, the vocal toxic minority wanted to erase the Smith, Capaldi, and Whittaker eras. So when David Tennant appeared as the Fourteenth Doctor, it felt like Russell T. Davies was giving them exactly what they wanted. By burning away the Thirteenth Doctor’s face and clothing (which hadn’t been done since Hartnell’s regeneration) and replacing it with a copy of something twelve years past, it felt like RTD was erasing Whittaker’s legacy.

It took a while to come to terms with RTD’s assurance that he wasn’t doing that, but symbolically that’s how it looked, and it added a sour note to what is otherwise an amazing, fun, and fitting send-off for the Thirteenth Doctor.

Rating: 5/5 – “Fantastic!”

UP NEXT – Series Thirteen and Thirteenth Doctor Summary

Timestamp #310: Legend of the Sea Devils

June 19, 2024July 19, 2024 Michael Falkner1 Comment

A spell of swashbuckling with Sea Devils.

A coastal Chinese village is under assault. The year is 1807 and a pirate queen stalks through the village, intent on smashing the statue at the center. A man named Ying Wai confronts her, telling his son Ying Ki that destroying the statue will unleash something inconceivable. The pirate chips away at the statue and green energy pours from the cracks. The statue explodes, revealing a Sea Devil that kills Ying Wai.

The Doctor, Yaz, and Dan arrive on the beach. The Doctor and Yaz are in period-specific clothing, but for a visit four centuries off course. Dan, however, emerges from the TARDIS in a pantomime Western pirate outfit. Yaz has been having fun with him. The tone changes when the Doctor finds a localized geomagnetic disturbance, and the team follows screaming voices to the village.

The Doctor and the companions confront the Sea Devil as it rampages through the village, but it is rescued by a large airborne pirate ship. The villagers’ wounds are marked with hexo-toxic poison, and the Doctor meets Zheng Yi Sao, better known as Madame Ching, the pirate queen. She was seeking the lost treasure of Flor de la Mar when the Sea Devil attacked.

Speaking of the Sea Devil, he is the Chief of the group, and he summons the Hua-Shen sea monster to do his bidding. That critter snacks on an innocent fisherman for fun.

Madame Ching returns to her ship as Dan joins Ying Ki to sneak aboard. Meanwhile, the Doctor and Yaz try to track Dan as the latter learns about the Sea Devils. The Sea Devil ship has cloaked, so the Doctor decides to talk to Madame Ching. But first, she decides to travel to 1807 and find the lost treasure.

Dan and Ki are captured as stowaways. They’re shocked to find the ship empty aside from Madame Ching, and the pirate queen offers to spare them if they help her find the treasure. The Doctor and Yaz travel to 1533 and watch as captain Sin Ji-Hun forces his crew to jump overboard. The captain is soon joined by the Chief Sea Devil, for whom the captain has emptied his ship for the Sea Devil’s use. The Sea Devil betrays the captain, and the travelers run for the TARDIS as the ship begins to sink. The travelers move 274 years in the future and land on the ocean floor. In a spectacular view, the Doctor jokes about being a good date (which rattles Yaz) before noting the lack of a shipwreck.

The TARDIS is taken by the Hua-Shen as the ocean floor crumbles beneath it.

Madame Ching, Dan, and Ki try to navigate toward the treasure, but the compass and the stars keep moving inexplicably. Ching explains that her entire crew (including her two juvenile sons) have been captured and will be executed unless she returns with the treasure. They are attacked by Hua-Shen, which can throw cannonballs back when it is shot at.

Hua-Shen dropped the TARDIS at the Sea Devil base. The Doctor and Yaz confront the Chief Sea Devil. The Doctor babbles about the technology around them as she thinks, but the Chief calls her bluff. He reveals that Ji-Hun’s ship is their flying craft and that he needs a Keystone, so the Doctor offers it in exchange for a tour of his ride. The Keystone is a gem of extraordinary power and will lead the Chief to the treasure. The Chief has also kept Ji-Hun in stasis since betraying him, and the Doctor learns that the captain was trying to trick the Chief to save his crew and safeguard the Keystone.

The Chief Sea Devil is alerted by the Hua-Shen that the Keystone is on the surface, so he threatens the Doctor’s life before she forces the ship to surface. Yaz, the Doctor, and Ji-Hun swing over to Madame Ching’s ship as the Chief Sea Devil materializes on deck. Ki has had the Keystone all along, holding it as a family heirloom passed down from Ji-Hun’s trusted second-in-command. The Chief takes it and returns to his ship, forcing the Doctor and her team to follow.

The Doctor confronts the Chief, uncovering his plan to flip the planet’s magnetic poles and flood the planet. The Sea Devils want to reclaim the Earth. A swordfight ensues between the two crews and Ji-Hun kills the Chief, an act that upsets the Doctor. She submerges the ship and asks Dan to watch Ching and Ji-Hun while keeping the Sea Devils at bay. The Doctor and Yaz head to the control core and try to disarm the flooding mechanism.

Ji-Hun sends Ki and Ching to retrieve the treasure while Dan carves through the Sea Devils. Meanwhile, as the Doctor and Yaz work, the former confides (with mention of River Song) that if she was going to commit to anyone, it would be Yaz. But she cannot commit because time always runs out. As they start the process, Ji-Hun offers to sacrifice himself to stop the flooding mechanism. The rest of the team boards the TARDIS and ends up on Ching’s ship as the Sea Devil base is destroyed.

Madame Ching offers Ki a place on her crew as she takes the treasure to save the rest of them. The travelers take a well-deserved break, including a phone call to Diane to patch things up. Meanwhile, the Doctor and Yaz talk about their previous conversation. After what is essentially a “it’s not you, it’s me” discussion, the Doctor makes a simple wish behind a sad smile:

“I wish this would go on forever…”

While the Sea Devils’ return is welcome, this story primarily works as setup for Jodie Whittaker’s finale: The evolving dynamic between the Thirteenth Doctor and Yaz, the budding relationship between Dan and Diane, and the discussions of what happens to companions after the Doctor moves on… all of it sets the stage for the next adventure. Who knows if they’ll ever find that beach vacation.

That said, it’s a pleasure to see the Sea Devils again. They’ve been in two major stories since 1972 – The Sea Devils and Warriors of the Deep – and a few minor appearances including Frontier in Space, Dimensions in Time, The Eleventh Hour, and The Timeless Children. Much like the Sontarans in Flux, the costumes that nod to the classic era were fun.

The swashbuckling doesn’t come without a price as the heroes (especially Dan) are a bit bloodthirsty. The Doctor hangs the lampshade with her disapproval of the Chief’s death, but the Sea Devil body count is pretty high. It’s not the greatest look.

On the other hand, I like Ki’s change of heart from vengeance to gratitude as he realizes Madame Ching’s motivations. She offers him a family after his responsibility to guard the Sea Devil Chief is absolved, and that is precisely what he needs. It was great character development in the span of one episode.

This was the second Easter special in franchise history, joining Planet of the Dead in that elite rank. Much like its predecessor, it comes in the home stretch of its Doctor’s run, but it wasn’t nearly as popular. Regardless, it does pose a good stride toward the finish line as the Thirteenth Doctor prepares to say goodbye.

Rating: 4/5 – “Would you care for a jelly baby?”

UP NEXT – Doctor Who: The Power of the Doctor

Timestamp #309: Eve of the Daleks

June 12, 2024July 19, 2024 Michael Falkner2 Comments

A fun holiday murder romp!

It’s New Year’s Eve 2021 and Sarah is angry. She’s the owner of ELF Storage and her business partner Jeff has failed to show up once again. She’s also perplexed because regular customer Nick arrives and asks for a list of items that cannot be stored in his storage unit. Luckily, his Monopoly game does not fit this category.

Nick is kind of adorable if a little lovesick.

The Doctor and her team arrive in ELF’s basement, but they were aiming for the sentient beaches of San Munrohvar. They don’t get another shot because the TARDIS is rebooting to clear the Flux debris. In place of a party, they find a temporal disturbance.

That disturbance includes Daleks, which promptly exterminate poor Nick. The Doctor and her friends find his body while Sarah takes a call from her mother. The Dalek emerges behind her and opens fire. The travelers try to confront it but the Dalek exterminates them as well.

Press reset – Let’s do the time loop again!

Nick and Sarah do the routine but recognize that something is odd. The TARDIS crew do the same and try to stop Nick’s death but find nothing there because Nick has returned to the lobby to save Sarah. Sarah finds a force field surrounding the building, so she heads for Jeff’s storage unit to see if he’s hoarding any weapons.

Nick arrives in the lobby and is exterminated. Sarah finds that Jeff has stored his stuff across an entire floor rather than in one unit, but her frustration turns to fear when she is exterminated. Team TARDIS finds the forcefield and the dead bodies, and the Dalek informs them that a time malfunction has resulted in a repeat of the last few minutes. They are exterminated again.

Let’s do the time loop again! Except this time, it starts at 23:53, one minute later than the last cycle. Nick is already at his unit, Sarah sees the Dalek arrive on the CCTV, and Team TARDIS runs for Nick. Everyone collects on the first floor and seek refuge in Nick’s unit, which is full of items belonging to ex-girlfriends just in case they want it back. Unfortunately, there’s only one exit and the Dalek burns through it. The group agrees to meet on the fifth floor before they are exterminated.

Let’s do the time loop again! Starting at 23:54, Nick and Sarah decide to ignore the Doctor’s plan since they blame her for their predicament. They go the basement while Team TARDIS head for the fifth floor. After the Doctor detects a second Dalek signal, Dan splits off at the lobby as a distraction, which he does until he’s exterminated.

Nick and Sarah find the TARDIS and a second Dalek. Nick confesses that has an “embarrassing” crush on Sarah and comes in every New Year’s Eve because she’s guaranteed to be there since Jeff always lets her down. After the touching moment, Nick is exterminated, Sarah finds a door that is not shielded by the forcefield, and then Sarah is exterminated.

The Doctor and Yaz explore Jeff’s storage units and find a room full of dangerous weapons. The Dalek arrives and reveals that a squad was assigned to kill the Doctor for her role in destroying the Dalek war fleet using the Flux. They also learn that the TARDIS created the time loop. Both women are exterminated.

Let’s do the… well, you know. Starting at 23:55, Team TARDIS heads for the lobby and berates Sarah for breaking the agreement. Sarah tries to save Nick, thinking that since he dies at five minutes to midnight, he might not make it to the next loop. Nick survives by luring the Daleks into a trap where they kill each other. The Doctor finds him and they return to the lobby. The group make a plan to bounce their lifesigns around the building while they look for a way out, including asking Sarah’s mother to call ten seconds before midnight. The team is exterminated when three Daleks materialize in the lobby.

Resetting at 23:56, Sarah is immediately killed when the Daleks destroy the elevator. Nick is promptly killed when the power goes out and he is ambushed. The Doctor rushes into the darkness while Yaz and Dan discuss the former’s romantic feelings for the Doctor. The Daleks exterminate them and then hunt down the Doctor.

Resetting at 23:57, Team TARDIS finds Jeff’s stash of illegal fireworks. Yaz goes to the fifth floor while Dan tells the Doctor about Yaz’s feelings, pointing out that the Doctor pretends otherwise. Yaz retrieves Sarah and Nick and the Doctor explains that the next loop is a decoy to hide their true intentions. They are exterminated.

Resetting at 23:58, Sarah rushes to the 5th floor and calls her mother, telling her she loves her. When she emerges from the elevator, she is exterminated. Nick sets up a distraction with his stuff and is exterminated. Team TARDIS lounges in Nick’s storage unit apartment before being exterminated.

Resetting at 23:59, the team takes Nick’s hazardous materials to the basement. The Doctor sets up the trap while the humans run for the door. The Doctor joins them as Sarah’s mother calls, triggering the explosion when the Daleks shoot the phone. ELF Storage collapses in a brilliant fireworks display.

Having survived the Dalek trap, the Doctor, Yaz, and Dan find the rejuvenated TARDIS while crane operator Karl Wright films the fireworks show. Later on, Nick and Sarah embark on a trip around the world. As they start their new life together, the TARDIS arcs through the sky behind them.

All told, this was a fun story that acted like a coda to the Flux storyline. The TARDIS needs to recover and the team needs to come to terms with what they faced, and one of their enemies wants revenge.

The fact that the Dalek squad was dispatched indicates that something of the Dalek fleet survived the Sontaran strategy, and that makes sense since the Doctor’s enemies (and their Master) will be her end. It seems the destruction wrought by the Flux will be a matter of plot convenience going forward.

We get some hints of lore – Dalek assassins figured heavily into The Chase, and the use of sonic screwdrivers on concrete was a small part of The Doctor Dances – but otherwise, this one is light, quirky, adorable, and fun.

Rating: 5/5 – “Fantastic!”

UP NEXT – Doctor Who: Legend of the Sea Devils

Timestamp #308: Flux – The Vanquishers

June 5, 2024July 19, 2024 Michael Falkner4 Comments

The end of a story with little resolution.

Picking up immediately at the cliffhanger from Chapter Five, the Doctor dodges Swarm’s attempt to disintegrate her and rescues the Ood to find a way out. The Doctor nearly escapes from the Void, but is lured back by Swarm and Azure as they hold the Doctor’s fob watch. Swarm touches the Doctor as the Ood finds a way home for her, forcing her to materialize on Karvanista’s ship where a pitched battle is underway. Unfortunately, the Doctor is phasing.

Meanwhile, Yaz, Dan, Jericho, and Williamson are under Sontaran assault in the tunnels under Liverpool. Yaz lassos the door labeled “Death Rays” – a sort-of Chekhov’s gun hung upon the mantle in Chapter Five – and kills the invaders. The team rushes through the tunnels, trying various doors that transcend time, before entering one labeled December 5, 2021. The team finds Kate Stewart and the TARDIS as she leads a human resistance against the Sontarans.

The Doctor appears in the modern-day tunnels and meets the team (with a hug for Yaz) before bouncing back to the Division station. Swarm and Azure are pleased with their inadvertent results as the Doctor flashes to Karvanista’s ship and flies into Stenck’s command ship with Karvanista and Bel.

Sontaran Commander Stenck calls on the Cybermen and Daleks to join his assault on Earth. Stenck and the Grand Serpent defeat the Doctor’s assault as she offers Bel the chance at a covert mission. As the Doctor flashes back to Division, Azure opens the fob watch but the Doctor refuses to absorb the memories. Swarm begins shredding the memories, which inflicts pain on the Doctor.

Flashing to Liverpool, the Doctor investigates the tunnels and learns about Williamson’s and Stewart’s efforts. The group decides to send undercover operatives into the Sontaran ships, exploiting a weakness thanks to the invaders’ fascination with corner shops. It turns out that Sontarans are obsessed with sugar, and the Doctor bargains with Commander Shallo to trade chocolate for an operative. The team travels to 1967, picks up Claire, and enlists her psychic abilities for 2021.

The Doctor flashes to the Sontaran command ship in 2021 where she’s in a cage with Karvanista. She asks him about his time in Division, but he cannot talk about it due to a device in his brain that will kill him if he discloses his secrets. She flashes back to Division where Azure restores her to consciousness. Azure and Swarm plan to move the final Flux event from Earth to the planet Time, releasing the physical embodiment of Time and using it to replay the universe’s destruction in an endless loop, forcing the Doctor to witness it for eternity as revenge for their incarceration.

Flashing to the Sontaran ship, the Doctor meets Stenck and the Grand Serpent. Stenck reveals that they killed all of the Lupari, leaving Karvanista as the last of his kind. The commander takes the Doctor for interrogation as Karvanista howls in sorrow for his people.

Taking a detour to the Passenger form, Diane and Vinder search through endless landscapes and realize they are alone in their vast prison. Everyone else was used as energy but Diane was determined to be insignificant. Diane reveals she’s been busy exploring the bioform’s systems and defenses, and they use her knowledge to escape to the real world.

Jericho and Claire are taken to Stenck’s ship and tasked with determining the time and place of the final Flux event. The psychic work is intrusive and painful. Meanwhile, the Grand Serpent interrogates the Doctor about Kate Stewart’s location. She taunts the Grand Serpent and he tries to kill her with his serpents, but because the Doctor is split across three locations, the effort fails. The Liverpool Doctor fragment arrives in the TARDIS with Dan and Yaz, incapacitates the Grand Serpent, and rescues the Sontaran Doctor fragment. They also rescue Karvanista and Bel and make contact with the psychic agents.

In the TARDIS, the Doctor fragments witness the Sontaran message to the Daleks and Cybermen, then make telepathic contact with the third fragment and learn how the Flux is made of antimatter. Meanwhile, Claire finds the data about the final Flux event and Stenck recalls his troops. The Grand Serpent uses artron energy readings to find Kate Stewart.

The Doctors receive messages from Vinder and Kate, and they decide to split up to tackle each problem. Vinder and Diane are pulled back into the Passenger form, the tunnel doors fluctuate due to Flux effects, and Williamson returns home while he has time. The Doctor pilots the TARDIS inside the Passenger form and rescues the prisoners, resulting in a reunion between couples Vinder and Bel and Dan and Diane.

The Doctor also figures out that the Sontaran peace treaty is a trick: They plan to use the Dalek and Cyberman fleets to counteract the Flux event, leaving the universe as the Sontaran playground. The Doctor hatches a plan to save the universe as her Division fragment is taken to Time by Swarm as a sacrifice.

Claire escapes using a transmat ring, but Jericho is stuck on the Sontaran ship. The Dalek and Cyberman fleets are destroyed by the Flux, but the Sontarans are left outside the Lupari shell when Karvanista reprograms the fleet. The Doctor tries to save Jericho, but he’s unable to escape as the Sontaran fleet is consumed. Finally, Diane summons the Passenger form which traps the rest of the Flux.

Last stop is Atropos. The physical form of Time manifests as Swarm and reveals that the Flux has been defeated. Time consumes Swarm and Azure for their failure, then takes the Doctor’s form as the Time Lord retrieves her fob watch. Time teases the end of the Thirteenth Doctor at the hand of the forces that mass against her and their Master, then restores the Doctor by combining her fragments. Now in the TARDIS, the Doctor sets course to take everyone home.

In the tunnels, the Grand Serpent confronts Vinder and Kate Stewart but ends up stranded on a tiny asteroid forever. Vinder and Bel decide to travel with Karvanista, and Claire remains in 2021 with Kate as the Doctor expresses her hope of seeing both of them again.

Sometime later, Dan returns to the museum where he meets up with Diane again. Diane turns down his offer for a drink as she processes the adventure she just experienced. The Doctor and Yaz offer him a spot on the TARDIS. As Dan settles in, the Doctor finally apologizes for her secrecy. Yaz leaves to help Dan navigate the TARDIS, leaving the Doctor to hide her fob watch in the TARDIS console.

She instructs the time capsule to keep it safe and only give it back when she really asks for it.

This frantic episode shares Chapter Five‘s issue with a fast pace that doesn’t offer much room to breathe. Thankfully, it slows down near the end, offering some space leading into the disappointing ending. Why is it disappointing? I don’t like the Doctor running from knowledge.

So much of Doctor Who concerns a quest for learning and doing good in the universe, yet this epic story ends with the Doctor running away from her own history. The answers are right there, yet she hides them instead of facing them.

If I had three words to tell her, they would be “Brave heart, Doctor.”

The other disappointing part of the finale is the lack of resolution. Multi-part stories and episodic seasons should have an overall resolution, but this one leaves the universe in a state of flux (pun intended) with immeasurable destruction wrought throughout. We have no idea how much of the universe is left standing, let alone how much of the local solar system. The whole thing is just passed off as the new status quo with hardly a mention.

Say it with me, now: Chris Chibnall has a problem with endings. It’s been apparent since he started, and even though I thought it might be better with long-form narratives, this proves that it’s not. I like the Planet of the Ood and Planet of the Dead-style warnings for the Thirteenth Doctor’s impending regeneration. They’re just cryptic enough to make you wonder what’s coming, but it’s only a lonely spark in what should have been a lovely fireworks show.

Concerning the Lupari, I like the drama created by the Sontaran genocide of Karvanista’s people, but it would have been more emotionally involved had we seen it instead of being told about it. Karvanista’s mourning howls are heartbreaking but somewhat hollow. It is fitting, however, that Vinder and Bel become his new family in the end.

I had similar thoughts about the TARDIS materializing inside the Passenger form. It just happens and the story moves on. No discussion aside from a one-liner about how the TARDIS doesn’t like it, and no tie-in to the TARDIS’s currently warped and/or broken state. Is that even still a thing at this point, or did that magically get resolved?

Flux was a ride, but it could have been more.

Rating: 3/5 – “Reverse the polarity of the neutron flow.”

UP NEXT – Doctor Who: Eve of the Daleks

Culture on My Mind – Dragon Con Report 2024 #5: Adventures in AmericasMart

May 31, 2024May 29, 2024 Michael FalknerLeave a comment

Culture on My Mind
Dragon Con Report 2024 #5: Adventures in AmericasMart
May 31, 2024

The fifth show of the 2024 season gets a taste of the AmericasMart experience from the perspective of the creatives in the Comics and Pop Artist Alley on the 4th Floor. Mike Gordon has been setting up shop there for years, and he joins forces with artist & writer Greg Burnham to discuss their experiences as a vendor at the convention.

Culture on My Mind is inspired by the weekly Can’t Let It Go segment on the NPR Politics Podcast where each host brings one thing to the table that they just can’t stop thinking about.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

Timestamp #307: Flux – Survivors of the Flux

May 29, 2024July 19, 2024 Michael Falkner4 Comments

Three twisting threads make one convoluted episode.

The Doctor’s Story

The Doctor, now in the form of a Weeping Angel, learns she is being transported somewhere and that her friends are stranded in time. The Angels deliver the Doctor to a space station built around a large cherry tree. She is returned to her normal form by an Ood and meets Awsok. The space station is Division headquarters.

The Doctor tries to interrogate Awsok for answers about Division. She learns that Awsok is the current leader and that Division spans innumerable species across time and space. In fact, it has outgrown the original goal of ensuring Gallifrey’s safety by guiding events in time (which contradicts the edicts of the Time Lords). The Doctor demands to know why she could not find evidence of Division in the universe and learns that they are not within the universe at all. The station is bridging the void between two universes.

Awsok explains how Universe One (the Doctor’s home universe) is being destroyed in an attempt to stop the Doctor. Anything that survives will be transplanted into Universe Two where Division will start over. Awsok reveals herself to be Tecteun, the woman who discovered (and experimented on) the Timeless Child. Tecteun confirms the Master’s story about the Timeless Child, which infuriates the Doctor.

The Doctor tries to reason with the Ood assistant to stop Tecteun. It eventually shows her a map of the universe, which is much smaller than it should be due to the Flux and houses Earth at its center. The Doctor is distracted by the whispers of a biodata module in the form of a fob watch. The Doctor’s lost memories are kept within and Tecteun offers an ultimatum: Return to Universe One and watch it fall or re-join Division and reclaim her memories in Universe Two.

The Doctor promises to stop Tecteun, but they are interrupted by Swarm and Azure who have used a psycho-temporal bridge powered by the energy of survivors to teleport aboard. They kill Tecteun and set their sights on the Doctor.

The Companions’ Story

Yaz, Dan, and Professor Jericho are raiding an ancient temple in 1904 Mexico after surviving in the early 20th century for three years. They find a mystical offering pot that they need to decode. They take it to Constantinople to decode it, then escape an assassination attempt. They avoid another attempt on a cruise liner and learn that the assassins have a snake tattoo. Yaz watches a glitched hologram of the Doctor while Dan and Jericho throw the assassin’s body overboard. Dan consoles Yaz, promising they’ll see the Doctor again.

Jumping to Nepal 1904, Yaz, Dan, and Jericho seek the legendary seer Kumar. The man is light-hearted and teases the trio. He gives them a message to “fetch your dog,” and the team travels to the Great Wall of China. There they paint a message: “KARVANISTA! DAN IS HERE – 1904, FETCH YOUR HUMAN!”

Karvanista gets the message but does not have time travel capability.

Yaz, Dan, and Jericho return to the cruise liner and encounter Joseph Williamson. The man vanishes, prompting the team to return to Liverpool and investigate the tunnels. After six and half hours, the team finds Williamson (who is long since dead by 1904), and the man is overjoyed to find others who understand the threats to time and space.

In Liverpool 1904, Williamson reveals his headquarters and the dozen doorways he has explored. He has been building defenses and mapping the various worlds and times, but his explanation is interrupted by a knocking at one of the doors.

In Earth orbit, 2021, the Lupari shield over Earth has a hole since one ship never responded to the Species Recall. That ship is the one Bel is flying across the universe, and Karvanista takes remote control of it to restore the shield. As a result, she barely misses Vinder on a monolith where Swarm and Azure have gathered survivors. Those survivors are disintegrated and fed to a series of beacons. Vinder is captured by a Passenger form and meets Diane. Together, they plan their escape.

UNIT’s Story

In 1958 England, the Grand Serpent poses as a man named Prentis. He discusses the formation of a United Nations-funded task force with another man named Farquhar. In 1967, General Farquhar leads Prentis through Ministry of Defence UNIT headquarters. They discuss Corporal Lethbridge-Stewart and the TARDIS, the latter of which was found in the remains of Medderton. Farquhar tests an alien detection device and is puzzled by Prentis’s results. The Grand Serpent kills the general with a spiked snake creature.

England 1987 finds the Grand Serpent holding a retirement dinner for Millington, the Chair of the UNIT Oversight Committee. Prentis wants the job, but Millington refuses so the Grand Serpent kills him.

In 2017 London, the Grand Serpent informs Kate Stewart that UNIT’s operations are being shuttered. Kate has been digging into the Grand Serpent’s history and understands who he truly is. She’s protected herself with a psychic manifest shield and promises to call in the Twelfth Doctor if he doesn’t stop. When she returns home, her house is bombed, so she calls Osgood and goes into hiding.

Bel’s ship is returned to Earth but the confrontation with Karvanista is cut short by an attack by the Sontarans. The Grand Serpent has lowered Earth’s defenses so the Sontaran fleet can take their revenge. A fleet of Sontaran ships, led by Commander Stenck, arrives and begins its assault on the Lupari shield.

Yes, this story is as big a mess as it seems. It pulls the viewer from place to place, time to time, and story to story without allowing much room to think or process. Even trying to unravel the tangle of timestreams was a challenge.

It’s indicative of just how convoluted the Flux story was. This is a shame considering how much better the overall concept is for this miniseries – a concept sabotaged by chaotic and confusing writing.

There is a lot to like here, including a bit of history for UNIT and an explanation of where they’ve been during the Chibnall era. I like the idea that UNIT may have been inadvertently influenced by the Grand Serpent over the years, but the goal isn’t clear. What is his vendetta against Earth? Does he just want chaos sown by the Sontarans?

The Grand Serpent also reminds me of the Mara, which headlined both Kinda and Snakedance. It’s a missed opportunity to tie those classic stories to this one.

I’m a big fan of exploring the repercussions of the Timeless Child revelation, and the return of Tecteun presented a huge opportunity. Unfortunately, it is wasted by killing her in the final minute of the episode and by using her for scant few minutes in the meantime. Does she care about the slaughter of her people, or does she think everything will be okay by taking over the Shobogans of Universe Two and using her DNA to create the new Time Lords?

This episode marks Nicholas Courtney’s first credit on Doctor Who proper since Battlefield, and it’s due to a line by the Brigadier that was lifted from Terror of the Autons. In the overall franchise, not counting Cyber-Brig, we last saw him in Enemy of the Bane.

Finally, I do like how the companions drove much of the plot. They aren’t just cooling their heels and waiting for the Doctor to save them, and I appreciate that about them.

All of these positives can’t really overcome the chaos in this episode, which presumably comes from trying to cram this immense story into six episodes during a global pandemic and period of reduced funding.

Rating: 3/5 – “Reverse the polarity of the neutron flow.”

UP NEXT – Doctor Who: Flux – The Vanquishers

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: