Doctor Who: Wish World (15x07)

I can't believe we're already so close to the end of this season...

Cons:

So, I did like this episode, but same complaint as last week about the Rani, and now the reveal of Omega or whatever. These are staged and presented as giant reveals, but I don't know them, ya know? I also think the bi-generation of the Rani is still pointless, it honestly would have been kind of fun and wild to have the little old lady be the one speechifying and dancing with the Doctor and reminiscing about how they may or may not once have been lovers. Why add another person into the mix? As far as I'm able to tell, it doesn't enhance the twist in any way.

This isn't a "con" so much as it is... a note, something to look out for: it was fun seeing Ruby in this episode for sure, but I wish that Belinda had had more to do. I'm hoping that somehow next week she'll have some big moments to shine, because I kind of wanted her and the Doctor to be united in their "doubts" stuff instead of her turning him in and then just apologizing for it immediately? It's a small thing, but I do want Belinda to have more agency here. 

Pros:

This was honestly a really good episode, much better than I was expecting with the kind of muddy A-plot setup we've gotten this season. It's not exactly a super original concept, this world where things seem idyllic at first glance but actually it's all a big trap - it's Orwellian, in fact, very basic stuff, but I loved a couple of the individual quirks of this. First, the idea that it all actually is Conrad's wish, and thus anybody who doesn't fit into the status quo is able to find more of a purchase in reality, on the fringes of things where Conrad isn't paying attention. I also like that Belinda and the Doctor are married, because the deep affection and admiration for each other is absolutely real, it's just the shape of that relationship that is wrong. It was so sweet, that moment towards the end when the Doctor reached for his "wife's" hand and said that he didn't have any doubts about her, even if he didn't quite know what all was going on.

I also liked how this worldview of Conrad's was explicitly a homophobic worldview, no bones about it. The moment when the Doctor is telling another man he's beautiful and then gets rebuffed for it was honestly chilling. The Doctor was legitimately afraid in that moment of rocking the boat, and it was disorienting and disturbing to see him like that, trying to keep his head down and not knowing what's going on! That moment, and Belinda running out into the woods to scream, were two excellent moments that showed how these strong and curious characters are constrained by this vision of order and peace as Conrad imagines it.

Ruby teaming up with people living on the outskirts, trying to solve the mystery, was great. Poor Ruby has already been through a couple different realities at this point, and she has spidey-senses for this kind of thing, it seems like. We didn't get a lot of progress with her but as the episode ends she's in prime position to find the Doctor as he plummets away from the Rani, so we'll have to see if they're able to connect up and figure shit out. I loved the tease of Ruby and the Doctor coming face to face when neither can quite remember the other.

I really loved the scene with Belinda and her family, and that creeping sense of wrongness as they realize they can't remember Poppy's birth. At first it seems as if this lapse is just part of the larger constructed sense of the world. But you've also got Poppy being a little contrarian, seeming to reject the premise of this world. And then the Doctor at the end, talking about how she's real... and what does it mean... this is a baby we last saw back in Gatwa's first season as the Doctor, in an episode that wasn't exactly my favorite, "Space Babies." I didn't recognize her at first! Extremely cute kid. This is a mystery I'm more intrigued by because it's within the scope of the show as I've actually seen it!

And I've been saving it for last: my heart grew three sizes to see Rogue appear on the screen, however briefly! He gives the Doctor the key warning that starts to snap him out of things, but since we know from the Rani that the doubts were part of the point, it's unclear what Rogue's motives were in warning him, if indeed he has any larger idea of what's going on! The fact that they got Groff to come do this small scene has me hoping fervently that he'll be back for a whole episode next season. I would be so, so happy. We got an "I love you" from Rogue, and the Doctor, even without his memories, says that he "really liked" the man on the TV... awwww!

I liked this episode, even though I don't like the twists coming from Classic Who just because I personally haven't seen any of it. This still compelled me just on the strengths of what was happening this season, though! Can't wait for the finale, although I'm sad it's over so soon!

8/10