Well, that was a little disappointing!
I may have sey my expectations too high after the travesty that was Chibnall's era, but RTD's return certainly misses the bar set by his first stint as showrunner.
One of the main issues I had, was the casting of Rose. I don't care that she is transgender, it has no impact on me at all and all representation is welcome in my eyes, however I feel like they could've at least hired someone younger? I find it hard to suspend my disbelief that Finney is supposed to be at most 14 years old, when she definitely looks her actual age (18 at the time of filming).
The plot of this episode was also quite cookie-cutter, it didn't feel like an RTD creation. The plot twist wasn't super unexpected and it was handled pretty regularly. It's also completely stupid that the "dagger drive" on the Meep's ship respects Human infrastructure, like why the hell is it only cracking through roads??? Is the floor below houses somehow indestructible??? And why or how the hell would it fix the roads if the process of refuelling is interrupted?
The revelation that Donna survived the metacrisis through her daughter was very cool, it was probably the best and easiest way to write that wall out, but the declaration that Rose was non-binary is just stupid. Trans still fits in a binary!!! I get that you can be both at the same time (if you really want to) but I don't believe that is what's happening in this case. Also, the doctor failing to understand that they could just "shake off the metacrisis" because he is male-presenting is so daft. He was literally a woman barely an hour before this scene takes place, and 13 constantly forgot that she wasn't a man demonstrating that Time Lords really don't have a thing for a clear gendered binary.
I may have sey my expectations too high after the travesty that was Chibnall's era, but RTD's return certainly misses the bar set by his first stint as showrunner.
One of the main issues I had, was the casting of Rose. I don't care that she is transgender, it has no impact on me at all and all representation is welcome in my eyes, however I feel like they could've at least hired someone younger? I find it hard to suspend my disbelief that Finney is supposed to be at most 14 years old, when she definitely looks her actual age (18 at the time of filming).
The plot of this episode was also quite cookie-cutter, it didn't feel like an RTD creation. The plot twist wasn't super unexpected and it was handled pretty regularly. It's also completely stupid that the "dagger drive" on the Meep's ship respects Human infrastructure, like why the hell is it only cracking through roads??? Is the floor below houses somehow indestructible??? And why or how the hell would it fix the roads if the process of refuelling is interrupted?
The revelation that Donna survived the metacrisis through her daughter was very cool, it was probably the best and easiest way to write that wall out, but the declaration that Rose was non-binary is just stupid. Trans still fits in a binary!!! I get that you can be both at the same time (if you really want to) but I don't believe that is what's happening in this case. Also, the doctor failing to understand that they could just "shake off the metacrisis" because he is male-presenting is so daft. He was literally a woman barely an hour before this scene takes place, and 13 constantly forgot that she wasn't a man demonstrating that Time Lords really don't have a thing for a clear gendered binary.