Doctor Who: The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos (11x10)

This wasn't a bad episode, but it wasn't super great either. Kind of disappointing for a finale.

Cons:

Tim Shaw is back with a frankly confusing plan, and I wanted to care about this more than I did. Sure, it's tying back in to this Doctor's first adventure, and the way she met her companions. Obviously the stakes are very personal for Graham and Ryan, because Tim Shaw murdered Grace. That said, this was not some sort of epic personal show-down like I think the show wanted it to be. Also, while the stakes were personal for the guys, and while Tim Shaw made it personal with the Doctor by telling her it was all about revenge, Yaz once again got the short end of the stick in this adventure.

I feel like this episode had a ton of interesting ideas, and only a few of them really got explored. There were so many missed opportunities. I think the one that gets to me the most is that there's this setup where the energy of the planet is messing with people's minds and making them forget things. The Doctor and her friends all have these neural inhibitor things to help protect them from the effect. As the climax approaches, Yaz and the Doctor have to take their neural inhibitors off and give them to other people to help save the world. You would expect that this sacrifice would involve difficult challenges for Yaz and the Doctor, that they would start succumbing to the negative effects. But other than a few looks of pain, and the Doctor having a hard time coming up with a plan for a couple of seconds, nothing really happened. Their sacrifice didn't hurt them much at all, and they were able to stabilize themselves very quickly.

This is more a complaint about the season as a whole, not just this episode, but I felt it pretty strongly here, since this is supposed to be a finale. I want to feel more connected to these characters, especially Yaz and the Doctor. I want them to feel like the "fam" that the Doctor says they are. So far, the relationship between Graham and Ryan is the only one that captures that magic that Doctor Who is usually so good at. I really hope we get the same companions for a full season next year, as I want to like them and feel closer to them than I do. Especially Yaz.

Pros:

All that being said, this wasn't a bad episode at all. It was perfectly serviceable, and I'd probably be less harsh on it if it weren't a finale.

The strongest aspect of this episode was Graham, and I feel like I say that a lot. Early in the episode, when our heroes have discovered that the cause of the strife is Tim Shaw, Graham calmly pulls the Doctor aside and declares his intention to kill Tim Shaw if he is given the chance. The Doctor tries to send him back to the TARDIS, but Graham refuses. He knows this will cause an irreparable rift with the Doctor, but he has made his mind up. Obviously, Graham doesn't do it. He has the chance, he has Tim Shaw in his sights, but he doesn't pull the trigger. What I love about this, though, is that it isn't the Doctor who convinces him. It's Ryan. He tells Graham that he loves him, and that they're family, and that Grace would want Graham to be the better man. And Graham makes the right choice. The Doctor says that Graham is one of the strongest people she knows.

Although Yaz once again doesn't have nearly enough to do here, I did appreciate the material we got. There's a moment when the Doctor tries to send everyone away so she can do the most dangerous part alone, and Yaz refuses, saying that she'll stick with the Doctor no matter what. When Earth is threatened, Yaz is willing to put her personal safety on the line to protect it. I wish we got more of Yaz, but I do like her a lot.

I also like the way this episode ends, with the Doctor and her "fam" getting on the TARDIS to go who knows where. Each adventure adds something new to their stories, and they touch on the lives of those they meet along the way. I felt like this episode did a good job of showing the consequences, good and bad, of their various interactions.

At the end of the day, I'm still looking forward to the New Year's Special (in lieu of the usual Christmas Special) and I hope we get lots more of these characters next year.

7.5/10