On Doctor Who's Finale, the Biggest Questions Have the Smallest Answers

Doctor Who is simply a amusement astir questions much than thing else—more than astir time, than astir space, than astir monsters, than astir moving up and down corridors to and distant from those monsters. It’s successful the name, a question truthful profound that the amusement has perpetually struggled to play with that precise essence of its core. So it makes consciousness that its latest season, thing of a relaunch for a caller age, brings it each location by weaving done answers to details near passim its season.

But successful doing so, “Empire of Death” posits different question to its assemblage that it itself struggles to answer: if a mystery’s not meant to beryllium a mystery, past wherefore marque it a enigma successful the archetypal place?

For the astir part, “Empire of Death” is simply a finale overmuch successful a akin mode to galore of Russell T Davies’ ain anterior big-event finales successful years past. It’s an occurrence that leans heavy connected affectional climaxes delivered impeccably, successful the anticipation that those highs and heartbreaks, those chills and thrills, volition distract you from the information the occurrence itself is an ambling, logistical authorities of perpetual disarray, ne'er rather managing to link the dots. Arguably, by starting with its biggest, boldest gambit—a gambit that astir apt should’ve climaxed the already precise bully ending to past week’s episode—in making Sutekh spell each Avengers: Infinity War and termination disconnected 95% of Doctor Who’s supporting cast, and the entirety of Earth, with a skeletonizing sandstorm of doom, overmuch of “Empire” loses its communicative thrust. That’s due to the fact that the 2nd everyone successful the universe but for the Doctor, Ruby, Mel, and Claire from Fleabag (Sian Clifford) is instantly dead, you cognize that there’s going to beryllium a mode backmost from each this by the extremity of the adjacent 45 minutes.

Image: BBC/Disney

Along the mode to getting backmost from each this then, we have, astatine last, the Doctor and Ruby enactment successful the unit cooker of having to walk immoderate clip with each other. Not successful their accustomed TARDIS, alas—Sutekh and his harbingers person that now, and Sutekh’s seemingly conscionable been invisibly clamped to the extracurricular of it for the past 50 years, exposed to the Time Vortex agelong capable to go an existent god. But instead, hastily thrust into the “Remembered” TARDIS created successful UNIT’s clip window—itself the communicative crux the Tales of the TARDIS omnibus has been built from—and successful determination we spot the Doctor and Ruby alike forced to face each the ways their adventures this acold person brought them to this point. Alone successful the universe, alongside Mel, arsenic stars statesman going retired 1 by one, it’s really a truly deft mode to get each these moments and ideas woven successful from past episodes to marque this finale consciousness similar a due headdress to the season. In doing so, it gives the Doctor and Ruby existent clip unneurotic that—yes, portion forced by the literal extremity of the universe—begins to marque the duo consciousness similar the portion the amusement has tried to archer you they are, alternatively than amusement you, for overmuch of the season. These scenes are arguably the moments “Empire” works best, letting Gatwa and Gibson’s electrical chemistry radiance ever brighter arsenic they hatch a program to past Sutekh’s endless chase.

Where that sends them, then, is—after a little interlude to inquire Claire from Fleabag for a spoon, successful a country that, overmuch similar the remainder of the episode, feels wholly retired of likelihood with everything astir it but is impeccably acted to affectional catharsis by Gatwa and Clifford—2046, due to the fact that if the beingness is ending, wherefore not get the reply to the large question the Doctor and Ruby person been wanting answered since they met? Again, not overmuch of this makes sense, similar however the operation of the UK has managed to persist aft Sutekh’s decease question has sandy-fied each surviving being successful existence, but it successful begins to furniture successful the different large constituent of “Empire of Death”: Ruby learning who her parent truly was. Perhaps that the reply truthful elemental a DNA registry hunt could find it was meant to premier america for what was to come, but considering we person to displacement from this moment—via mediocre Mel being killed by Sutekh and transformed into his harbinger—right to the large climax of the episode, we’re hardly fixed clip to beryllium with conscionable wherefore getting the sanction of Ruby’s ma was truthful casual successful the archetypal spot earlier we’re thrust into the large climactic finale of the episode. Which... involves dragging Sutekh connected a leash done the Time Vortex similar he’s a alternatively literal dog, due to the fact that helium is Death and the Doctor is Life, but due to the fact that Life is Death and Death is Life, the Doctor has to go Death to bring Life via Sutekh, who is besides Death, by sentencing him to decease by Time Vortex disintegration?

Image: BBC/Disney

Anyway, halt asking questions and conscionable admit the acting, due to the fact that everything is fine! The beingness is back—maybe adjacent each of it, depending connected however acold Sutekh’s ctrl+z decision applies to civilizations mislaid earlier Sutekh’s storm, similar Gallifrey, oregon adjacent those destroyed by the Flux successful Jodie Whittaker’s tenure. Sutekh is gone, having done precise small since his large Thanos sand-snap astatine the commencement of the episode. It’s clip to inquire the close question, aft UNIT does their ain 2nd check: who is Ruby Sunday’s commencement mother, the infinitesimal we’ve each been waiting for each season, that’s been teased done magic snowfall and mysterious carolling, this peculiar pistillate of such enigma that nary 1 situation spot her face, clad successful ominous hooded cloaks that Christmas Eve? The pistillate truthful mysterious, that earlier Sutekh himself wiped retired the past of the full universe, adjacent helium had to effort and find retired who she was?

The answer, is nary one. Well, it’s Louise Miller (Faye McKeever), a caregiver who, 20 years agone astatine the property of 15, gave commencement and fled her abusive family’s home, not adjacent with clip to archer her fellow astir the child, and near her astatine the religion connected Ruby Road. And again, the affectional physique up astir this uncover is wonderful—especially the friction betwixt the Doctor and Ruby, some foundlings, erstwhile she has him instrumentality her to Louise, present surviving successful Coventry, arsenic the Doctor bitterly notes that she’s had years to look up her girl and ne'er has, conscionable arsenic helium successful crook was near abandoned to beryllium recovered by the Gallifreyans. And, arsenic Russell T Davies himself acknowledged successful the episode’s commentary track—in a bizarre clapback to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, of each things—there’s a powerfulness successful Ruby herself uncovering retired that determination is nary cosmic concealed to each this, but real, messy, incredibly mean humanity. She is not Ruby Palpatine, to get from Davies’ ain evident distaste for however his caller concern partners successful Disney handled Rey successful Star Wars: she’s Ruby Nobody. But again, this is what each of “Empire of Death” has been: compelling affectional work, delivered impeccably by its stars, built disconnected the backmost of a logical and communicative fallacy.

Image: BBC/Disney

Treating the mean quality of Ruby’s existent commencement parentage arsenic a perceived gotcha, aft a play of playing retired furniture aft furniture of value connected the reveal, lessens its impact, due to the fact that the lone crushed a “twist” exists successful the archetypal spot is due to the fact that Doctor Who has been making this accusation a expansive enigma and telling america arsenic such, alternatively than it being near for the assemblage to people wonder. So overmuch of Ruby’s improvement arsenic a quality has been built astir the enigma of her parent arsenic a crux, to the constituent that she herself hasn’t truly been capable to make until it was resolved. You can’t walk the full play yelling astatine the assemblage that This Is a Mystery, and then, successful the end, mock them for having treated it arsenic such. What was the constituent of making this a enigma if it doesn’t really interaction the characters similar one? What was really worthy dragging this retired crossed a full season, alternatively of dealing with it successful “The Church connected Ruby Road” and letting Ruby herself beryllium a quality defined beyond this mystery-that’s-not-a-mystery?

In a way, there’s a parallel to each this and the similarly catastrophic approach “Dot and Bubble” took to its last-scene uncover of Finetime’s existent nature: if you spell backmost and ticker this play of Doctor Who with the discourse of who Ruby’s parent truly is, abruptly truthful overmuch of what was structurally laid retired to get to that uncover doesn’t substance astatine all. Not due to the fact that the reply itself is unsatisfying, but due to the fact that each those moments were laid retired to archer you that determination was a value beyond Ruby’s ain quality arc to this uncover that were yet thing but reddish herrings. The structural enigma of “Dot and Bubble” was deliberately designed truthful that you’d ne'er conjecture that the existent twist of it each was achromatic supremacy. The structural enigma of “Empire of Death,” and of the play astatine large, is likewise deliberately designed truthful you’d ne'er conjecture its existent outcome. It’s conscionable that this clip it’s Rey Palpatine fix-it fic, of each things!

Image: BBC/Disney

But again, each that doesn’t substance now. “Empire of Death” sees Ruby bid farewell to her clip successful the TARDIS, choosing to research her beingness with her household present this not-so-grand enigma has been solved (even though we, the audience, already cognize she’s back successful immoderate capacity adjacent season), lone for Doctor Who to already beryllium mounting up its adjacent one, arsenic we chopped from the Sunday-Miller clan rejoicing successful togetherness to Mrs. Flood connected the roof, decked retired successful a fancy wintertime overgarment and umbrella arsenic she spouts promises of terrors to travel for the Doctor. The occupation is, wherefore should we attraction astir who Mrs. Flood is astatine this moment? We’ve conscionable had Doctor Who physique up 1 mystery, lone to archer america it wasn’t 1 astatine all. Will it beryllium the lawsuit with her? Will it really matter? It’s emblematic of a play that, astatine large, has struggled to fig retired what it wants to accidental successful this caller epoch of Doctor Who. If you can’t spot Doctor Who to reply a question, past what can you spot it to do?

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