We’ve come to the close of this season of Doctor Who, which means that it’s time for Russell T. Davies to dive into the lingering mysteries of the season, hopefully offering explanations that make sense (and resonate on a deeper, character-driven level of storytelling). With part one of the two-part season finale, we get the answer to one question: Just who is that mysterious woman who has appeared in various forms throughout each of the episodes?
It turns out, despite a bunch of rumors swirling around the interwebs, she’s not anyone specific from The Doctor’s past. Not a relative – wife, daughter, granddaughter. Nope, she’s actually linked to the final boss of the season, the god of death himself, Sutekh. Which, I have to say, I absolutely didn’t see coming, mostly because it comes more or less out of nowhere to me. Sure, we’ve been playing around with the idea of minor “gods” making appearances and trying to outwit The Doctor throughout the season (really, all the way back to the Christmas Special with the Toymaker), so everyone expected some sort of god to make an appearance as the one pulling the strings for all of the past hi-jinks at the end of this story. But using an actual god of Egyptian mythology to do so? That’s a bit out of left field, if I’m being honest. At least it was until I did some googling to see Sutekh’s past links within Doctor Who. After that, boy, is this a complicated final boss for The Doctor to tackle.
If you’re like me and only came to Who when Davies launched the reboot back in 2005, you might also be wondering just who this god is and why The Doctor looked so darn scared at the reveal of his latest nemesis. While I suspect we’ll get a basic primer on him and his history with The Doctor next week, it is established in Who that even the Time Lords would be unable to stop Sutekh when he was at full strength and in possession of all his power. And he’s a master at manipulating time and space – and messing with the TARDIS as well. His goal? Well, the gift of death, as he told us at the close of the episode, ripping hope from the universe. This is a very dangerous foe. I just wish I hadn’t had to do some extra reading to understand the magnitude of the challenge The Doctor is now facing (and yes, some of that is on me, as I’ve never watched classic Who, but the structure of this reveal is such that we don’t know anything about the type of threat posed by the time the credits role, which isn’t necessarily the best writing structure).
So, we know who the final boss is. And he’s a baddie. But what about the mystery of Ruby’s own heritage? Well, we took steps to get closer to that particular reveal, but answers are still elusive there. The mysterious person that dropped Ruby off appeared to recognize the danger posed by Sutekh by pointing at the TARDIS, but considering Sutekh’s powers, that could have simply been him manipulating the image for his own benefit. So, we’re not any closer to figuring out the major mystery that is Ruby Sunday.
However, this episode did what it set out to do: It set-up the finale that will, presumably, work to answer those outstanding questions and bring some closure to this particular season-long arc. Was the set-up as seamless as it could have been? No, it wasn’t. I suspect casual fans of Doctor Who will be intrigued that The Doctor is facing off against death itself – and a very dangerous foe in that Sutekh is ready and willing to destroy the entire universe as a “gift.” And when it comes to Ruby’s identity, well, we’re still just as in the dark as before. Yes, it’s always a lovely surprise to get to spend time with returning favorites like Kate Lethbridge-Stewart (Jemma Richardson, who always elevates her material) and Mel (Bonnie Langford, doing solid work). And getting to see Rose Noble (Yasmin Finney) was a lovely surprise as well – although I can’t imagine Donna would be thrilled that The Doctor has once again placed her daughter in harm’s way.
Reviewing the first half of a two-parter is tricky in that many of the issues present in the first half are often solved with the reveals in the second. I suspect that will also be the case here – we’ll get a bit more on Sutekh, we’ll get something on Ruby’s past (even if it’s not a clear reveal, I suspect a huge clue will be dropped), and we’ll see how all of this ties together with the season as a whole. I just wish we’d gotten a touch more clarity on our final boss this time around.
-
Writing
-
Acting
-
Direction
