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« on: November 30, 2023, 12:32:42 pm »
Yea, I was discussing this with a friend recently. He was greatly upset with this episode. Which, on further reflection, I am too.
He had a particular issue with the same things as me (binary binary binary non-binary, male-presenting time lord not understanding, gender-neutral villains, 'my pronoun is the definite article' 'I do that too!' etc.) but is hopeful that this is tied to the character of Rose, who will be a one-off addition to the show.
It is my estimation that Rose is intended to be a Wilf replacement, and will serve to dispense sagacious gender-based commentary throughout the episodes (hopefully not the season). But we'll see.
I thiiiiink a large part of my issue is all the callbacks, which were often linked to the meta-crisis. Rose's name, Donna's behaviour etc. There was room for a plot here which focused on exploring how this was happening, and why, in a fun way. Instead they focused on exploring gender, and in so doing made all the callbacks feel... cheap, and without weight in the story. On reflection, this is why the use of 'Rose' felt so tacky to me on first watching.
In short, I was expecting a well-written piece in the style of previous episodes. Not one which threw cheap callbacks at us (I include the casting decisions here) while ignoring the thematic and plot-driving potential of them.
I'd hoped for an emotionally engaging piece sometime in Dr. Who's immediate future; something which the Whittaker era completely lacked (based on my admittedly skip-heavy viewing). But the possibility of a new Vincent van Gogh, Don't Blink, or Madame Pompadour episode is steadily distancing itself.
