Episode Discussion | Doctor Who | 1x08 "Empire of Death"
Episode Discussion | Doctor Who | 1x08 "Empire of Death"
Logline
The Doctor has lost, his ageless enemy reigns supreme, and a shadow is falling over creation. Nothing can stop the devastation … except, perhaps, one woman.
Written by: Russell T Davies
Directed by: Jamie Donoughue
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That was an almost stereotypical RTD finale - a strong emotional core, with a resolution that threatens to go off the rails entirely.
The actual resolution of the Sutekh part was probably the weakest aspect, for me. The Doctor...threw him into the time vortex again, but this time it's permanent, I guess precisely because he'd done it once before. Okay, fine, I guess.
The stuff with Ruby's mother resolved more nicely, even if I'm not sure the actual events on Ruby Road hold together all that well. The idea of someone being important simply because people believed her to be important is a nice sentiment, and Louise's ordinariness makes Ruby a kind of anti-Clara (I really like Clara, but I still think this is a good thing).
Mrs. Flood still doesn't seem evil to me.
…threw him into the time vortex again, but this time it’s permanent, I guess precisely because he’d done it once before. Okay, fine, I guess.
It's not terribly satisfying outcome, admittedly. I mean, it was fun to watch in the moment, sure, but it's not exactly a clever resolution... 🤷
Yeah, I think it works well enough, even if it's not super compelling.
I feel like they need something to tie it all together and my theory/head cannon is that Mrs. Flood is a DC's Mojo-like God tier character. Flood is aware of her viewers, hence the wall breaking. It's not that Ruby's mother was important to Ruby or the doctor that made her important to Sutek, that's the misdirect, she is important to us the multi-reality audience of Mrs. Flood presents Dr. Who. She's in control, scripting events, seeding mystery and events. The doctor will have to beat fate, beat the writers, to get out of next season alive.
Oh boy, Mrs. Flood...
At this point, she has to be a Time Lord, right? She knows what a TARDIS is (though crucially, she didn't recognize the Doctor's TARDIS until she actually saw it dematerialize, and she also didn't recognize the Doctor himself), and in last week's episode she exactly mirrored the Doctor's line about Time Lords regenerating to "hide themselves away".
The fourth-wall breaking stuff is interesting, but I feel like she's got to be a Time Lord, possibly one we haven't met before.
Honestly who knows, she's been tossing misdirects all over, like calling the doctor "clever boy" like Clara used to, or that Susan haircut or like you said in mirroring things the doctor has said.
She also said the "clever boy" thing while essentially wearing Clara's Face the Raven outfit, then ends the episode in Romana's coat. She's definitely trolling the Doctor/us but who knows why. I'd be fine with any reveal as long as it's not the Master - I would be perfectly happy for him to stay in that gold tooth forever.
Yea, who took that tooth anyway? Flood maybe? That would be much better than her being the Master.
If she's a Mojo like character, I can buy her snatching him up to use him later "for ratings" or something.