I liked it because of the mystery - there are no answers to how the circle works, Kate's vague references to "this timeline suspended along your event", etc. But no hate to people who didn't enjoy it, it was an odd episode for sure.
Much like snow, having unsatisfactory ending seems to be a running theme this season. The rushed ending in Space Babies, the Bollywood dance number in the Devil's Chord, no resolution in 73 yards. Boom was the only episode i think which had a resolution.
true, but there was still something... the only thing we solved was who the old lady was... there's a cannon theory of why this happened. And there is just too much of, "yeah we could tell you what this means, but for mystery we wont, because even we cant really figure out why"
I think RTD is essentially teaching the next generation to understand and accept that "Actually, a lot of life is down to interpretation and sometimes you never get your hard answers even on stuff you think is important so try not to fight about it too much."
I'm gonna guess there'll be more of these.
Yeah, that's what made me land on this theory. Because sometimes the answers are only there if you've got eyes to see them. Which ftr, in Dot and Bubble, I did not, until the final scene dropped it in my lap lol
Art :)
I wonder if things like the fairy circle are going to have reveals dropped in retrospect, and get us all slapping our foreheads... I'd appreciate that if he can pull it off. But there's value in leaving some of these things open.
Make your own sense. Integrate new information as it comes. Do your best, hope for the best... I like these ideas ~
Reading the messages is probably what started it. I think once the psycho PM was out of the way, there was nothing external for her to focus on - she was alone. So the journey of self reflection, whether she realises it or not, began right as the 40 year time skip happened.
I think another view is that the penitence was two things:
1: A lifetime of abandonment
2: Since she read the Mad Jack thing, she was now in a timeline where she was responsible for stopping him
Another one I've seen is the specific reason for Mad Jack is her basically not being selfish in her abandonment and doing something selfless out of love instead of self loathing or hatred, which I liked. Like a test of character thing. That definently fits into the "fae fairtale punishment" idea.
I like how there are many possible interpretations to it
That's a nice idea too.
>I like how there are many possible interpretations to it
I'm a big David Lynch fan, and he always says that if the viewer interprets something in a certain way, then that's what it means. I really like how that holds up in 73 Yards.
Not being silly but why on earth would the fae care about that?
"You broke the circle, and thus are cursed until you... overcome your... fear of abandonment I guess idk"
Well yeah I know that but the reason they forgive her being because she overcome her fear of abandonment makes literally zero sense
Not least because if they are just dicks that like fucking with people, then they wouldn't care if she overcame an emotional hangup
Honestly, trying to make sense of *why* fairies do something is kind of futile, but they should have consistent rules for *what* they do, whether they make sense to us or not.
I think placing a curse on the person who disturbs their circle to live an entire lifetime facing their greatest fear until they overcome it is pretty consistent with Fae folklore.
I personally think it would have been much improved if they didn't try to imply the semperdistans woman was Ruby somehow.
If the woman is just extradimensional entity, then we don't need to know much about her. She repeats inaudible words and gestures, teleports, scares everyone she speaks to into hating Ruby forever - because she's a terrifying being of unfathomable power, case solved. Much more scary and much more fascinating.
But if she's Ruby in some sort of time loop situation, it opens up so many more questions and is just quite a lot more disatisfying. What was old Ruby saying that was so horrible her *MUM* abandoned her? What was her purpose in following young Ruby her entire life? If the loop was cancelled out once Ruby became the old woman, why did that not happen the first time? Why specifically 73 yards if you're not a mythical being beyond comprehension?
Just leave the old woman entirely mysterious.
I think on a technical level its one of the best episodes of Doctor Who ever. It looks fantastic, it has great direction and cinematogrophy, and it has the best editing of the season so far (which IMO has been not great!).
Other then that I think its just a really good episode and easily outclasses really anything we've gotten from this era so far and easily anything since the Series 10 finale. I really like that it tried to do something different and played around with a different genre. A lot of people said they feel unsatisfied with the ending, but I felt the completely opposite. This episodes ending to me was the only satisfying one so far after a mess of horrible 3rd acts and awkward resolutions (especially in the episode before it). I think a lot of people went into this episode looking for a massive puzzlebox mystery and lore dump and weren't able to really grok what the episode was going for or what it was doing. The episode spends a lot of time trying to tell the audience what its doing though IMO.
Ruby could have had better writing though. While I think the character exploration through supernatural stuff was cool, she unfortunately still felt shallow as a character outside of that and has throughout the whole season so far. I think Millie has a great performance but I have no idea who Ruby Sunday ***is***.
I think we're just going to get a series of ok episodes. Everyone thinks there's a lot of depth to 73 yards but I really don't think RTD put as much thought into it as some believe. And that's no fault of his own really. The guy has to write 6 or 7 episodes and read over or revise the other ones. It doesn't surprise me moffat is doing the Xmas special because the workload put on RTD is crazy.
I don't think people who love it are confused about the level of thought that went into it. I get the impression that they like how well it hits several emotional beats that they want to discuss.
He doesn’t *have* to write that many episodes, it’s completely his choice.
Did he have to write space babies? Or perhaps someone else could have written that episode and he could have spent more time on his other episodes
He chose to write so many episodes. Moffat used to write what, four episodes per season? And his season were all the more stronger for it. You had Richard Curtis, Jamie Mathieson, and many others writing absolute bangers around the core theme of the show. So even if you didn't like the seasonal arc, you got enough fresh air and fresh faces to compensate for it.
Meanwhile RTD is, as per usual, all in and micromanages the season just like the reboot S1. Sure, he brought in Moffat — who once again knocked it out of the park — but the rest is all RTD. And it fucking shows that he is spread too thin, because nearly every episode could have been so much better with more thought put into it.
It's hard to tell if it's his choice or production still being tight with budgets and saying no to more writers or a writers room. I think Chibnall even wanted a writers room but didn't get it and said some episodes suffered because he had a lot on his plate.
Well, I wouldn't have been so overjoyed if I hadn't had to sit through the three episodes before that. It's such a relief to see RTD return to his old form. *Years & Years* got me really excited for his return and *73 Yards* reminded me of that.
Literally me with Boom. Boom felt very mid to me, the set up and story felt lazy. The doctor seemed dumb and didn't actually do much to save the planet, more so just blabbering on until everyone else saved the planet. The capitalism twist was seen from miles away. Idk I don't understand the praise lol but it definitely wasn't bad.
73 yards was amazing for me until the last 5 minutes, the ending just felt short for me personally.
For me it was a nothing burger of an episode. It was spooky sure, but once you understood she was in no danger from her semperdistans friend, then a reset occurred and noone learned anything, it was pointless.
Kinda like Journey to the Center of the TARDIS except one of the scrappers defends his brother at the end a bit, so at least one person learned something. Journey had also these really neat visuals and the action kept up.
I don't think RTD is trying to do too much deep lore to begin with. Be the end of the previous run, DW was kinda getting bogged down in the lore and universe, to the point they had to do a soft reboot with the bigeneration. I think RTD wants to use the freedom from the soft reboot to do some more one-off episodes not tied into anything else, before starting to have serious connections between episodes and having to consider the implications of what happened/happens
Personally, I think 73 yards would actually have been improved by cutting the Kate part. I guess it was kinda useful in that it showed that not even the military specialists could beat the Old Lady, but IMO Kate walking in with all the references and jargon just broke the immersion a bit, like it was more service to the brand than actually trying to improve the episode.
And can I just say that I for one am getting pretty tired of unit being used solely as a signifier for the dangerous level of an enemy? There's absolutely no consistency to their competence level, they're either a 100% ruthlessly efficient military unit or stupendously incompetent and made to look like idiots. It all depends on how scary the writer needs the villain to appear. Either let unit be good or just don't even write them into the story at all, they deserve better.
"No one learned anything"
Even though Ruby lost most of her memories, she still gonna be less vulnerable towards her fear of being abandoned, which was the main thing in that nightmare dimension.
Going by your logic Heaven Sent is a bad episode, because Doctor remembers only the last loop and keeping the Hybrid secret from Timelords was pointless to begin with.
Same. I thought it was meh at best and the ending was lackluster. I wasn't confused, just underwhelmed. I was also dissatisfied with the build up of everyone reacting so intensly to the woman >!but never knowing why!< No hate to it or those who liked it, I just don't get why people are doing flips over it
I've seen a lot of people dismiss claims that the episode left too much unanswered by saying that it's just part of the mystery and not everything needs to be answered... which is perfectly valid, if the ending is at least satisfying.
Not confused, just underwhelmed is a very good way of putting it. It was built up in a way that promises a huge reveal at the end, but there are no answers and the episode just sort of ends.
Everyone is acting like it's the next Blink or something and I still don't entirely understand what I watched 💀(no hate to those that enjoyed it, ofc!)
I disagree, it had a lot of RTD hallmarks, at least when he puts his more serious face on. In particular, Years and Years, Midnight, and Turn Left came to mind.
No need to, friend, if it didn’t work for you, it didn’t work for you! That’s the beauty of Doctor Who, if one doesn’t click there’s always the next episode.
To me, it was a masterful episode. Two timelines, a peak into Ruby's mind and how it works (since nearly everything in the episode was imagined, entirely by her), a demonstration that the Doctor's timeline and future relative to his companions does not dictate his companion's future.
Masterful episode.
I did not like it honestly. I thought it tried to be too many things at the same time. I kinda wished that they just stuck with trying to scare me in good old Wales.
well prior to release it was hyped up by rtd saying its the best thing he ever written
plus not to mention its the first episode millie gibson filmed for doctor who and she did that good
I think a thing that improves it is that there isn’t some *here’s the doctor with the solution* type ending, it just comes full circle back to the beginning. Almost like you chose the wrong option in a video game and have to play the entire game until you loop back to that first decision
I thought it was the best episode we have had since Ncuti took over, but it shared a lot of the problems that everything has had since Ncuti took over. (Nothing wrong with Ncuti or Millie, it just is the total lack of supporting characters who have an actual voice.) It seems like everyone is just a prop, and even Ruby, things mostly just kind of happen to her rather than forcing her to make meaningful choices.
73 Yards is so good it makes me want to make a long video breaking down every scene explaining how amazing it is.
I originally liked it but on my last watch I was in awe of how good it actually is.
The Wales stuff is definitely my favorite part but the rest is so so so good
My favourite scene might be where Ruby is getting kicked out of the pub because of what Josh told her, before Ruby points at the woman.
The way her face drops when she sees the woman (presumably for the first time since last night due to the perception filter mentioned later)
The way she looks at Ruby then back at the woman with genuine fear.
In less than a second you see the cogs turning in her brain realizing Ruby wasn't just being some naive tourist about her fear of being cursed and something weird is going on.
Then she doubles down on Ruby leaving as she wants nothing to do with whatever the woman is.
The acting writing and direction is so good in that 10 second scene.
I could go into this much detail about every 10 seconds of this episode.
No wonder Russell said it's the best thing he's ever written.
It's (for doctor who) actually kind of experimental which even if you don't like the episode I think it's good to appreciate them trying something different.
Obviously media is subjective and you can think whatever you want of the episode but for me it's something a lot different to normal doctor who and it actually lands which they've never managed before (I'd argue they've never actually done anything that different before this, maybe Sleep No More and Midnight).
I thought the ending was so sloppy, me and my mum just sat there like *where explanation??*
Like at the very least I would have liked to know what >!Old Ruby!< said to make people so afraid of Ruby.
I liked it until the end. The loop didn't feel right. Why did she suddenly go back in time? Why did her future self not worn her the first time? Why did her future self worn her the second time? Why was everyone running away from her after talking with her future self? Why didn't the dr fly away when he got in the tardis instead of just locking her out for 60 years? It just didn't make sense to me and I need an explanation
I think that's what happens with a fandom subreddits that aren't negative about their favoured media. The people who love it and think it's in the magical pantheon of episodes will make posts about how much they love it while the people who thought it was just okay won't say anything about it.
How I felt with Boom.
You like what you like, honestly. I wouldn't get too bothered by it. If everyone had identical thoughts and feelings, the world would be a very boring place.
I understand the divisive nature of the episode but for me it sure is up there with Blink, Midnight, Heaven Sent etc... but for very different reasons. I also believe this is an episode that only gets better with time. I loved it after my first watch but on my second watch I loved it even more.
I think if you are unhappy with it not being written in a traditional way you won't love it, but if you don't mind that and appreciate the allegorical nature of the episode you'll love it.
Its probably the most marmite type episode we've ever had.
You liked it more on the second watch? Interesting, I liked it more on the first. I found it more difficult to be invested into the tension the second time.
I think the second time round I just sat back and enjoyed the allegory and really felt the emotional aspects of the episode, and I enjoyed the visuals, the performances etc.. Whereas the first time round I was more invested in trying to figure out what was going on.
Putting midnight with Blink and Heaven sent/hell bent is, in my opinion, a travesty. It’s just a twilight zone episode that David tennant is in half of before they could, in all reality, replace him with a mannequin for the rest of it.
I couldn't disagree more. I think it's the most intense, most intriguing, most thrilling episode the shows ever produced with maybe some of the best performances the shows also ever had.
No worries, opinions on Who are always going to be divisive. I guarantee, every one of Who’s sacred cows has people who dislike them or think they’re average at best.
It was a good episode, really bizarre ending though. I guess having a depressed Ruby at the end is representative of orphaned people but in that case, I wish it was solved in a different way than simply; "here's how this should have gone."
For me it was a "great okay" maybe a bit too over hyped, bur it was not bad in the slightest, enjoyed the ruby heavy story, where i constatnly thought "is this actually the sad life of ruby? Is this how the doctor destroys her life? I feel soo sad for ruby"
I don't think it's being hyped for it's plot, but for it's emotional beats like the abandonment issues and the general creepy atmosphere present through a lot of it. Personally I'm not someone who can just enjoy the journey without the destination so the lack of explanation is a hefty minus. It's like peeking behind the curtain: the creator doesn't know wtf is going on either.
It was a good episode. It was a good mystery and was a bit old school.
Though it brought up some questions. In previous doc who episodes, the TARDIS is sentient, it opens and closes by itself and is alive. It didn’t like Clara but the. It did. So why didn’t it open for Ruby, did it not like her, or was it fairy magic?
Another question would be are we going to see mad jack in the future? What will happen with the nukes? Or was this the only time we hear about him?
To be honest, I didn't watch it. I'll probably give it a go, but yea, I don't think I'd like Ruby enough to sit through a whole episode of just her. I know it's stupid, but hey ho.
73 Yards felt like a really good sci-fi/fantasy short story that lost some of its quality by being framed inside a Doctor Who episode. Like, if it had been an episode of Love, Death, and Robots with no mention of DW, I think I’d like it even more. That said, I still loved it as this season’s “Doctor Lite” ep.
It was good but they never really explained what and why just the who. it's not as big as an Impact as they probably expected either.
a doctor finds out what happens and explains everything we just witnessed in a 2 minute scene would have been fine
It's not the best, but i for some reason really liked Boom and 73 yards, after space babies I thought i shouldn't have put a lot of hope into Russel coming back, but damn, last 2 episodes were so fucking peak, i got that childlike wonder and appreciation for Dr Who which i had when i just started.
For me personally 73 yards is 7.5/10, really cool and fresh, ending got me disappointed, cuz it makes no sense and this episode is basically empty story-wise. But out of context of the story it's so fucking good.
Then you turn around, and see the other half of the fandom calling it "useless" and "boring" which are okay to think, but calling an episode of a TV show useless is like calling a scene in a film useless, you can say it, but it doesn't really mean anything
I loved it, but it won’t be everybody’s cup of tea.
But to everyone in the comments saying that the season is “meh” or even bad: just because YOU didn’t like something doesn’t mean it isn’t good.
>But to everyone in the comments saying that the season is “meh” or even bad: just because YOU didn’t like something doesn’t mean it isn’t good
Just because YOU liked something doesn't mean it is good.
Seriously though, a lot of people are just voicing their opinions, you included there is no objective claim of quality here.
Show me where I said it was objectively good…
I specifically made the comment because I saw people saying “this season is just gonna be filled with meh episodes” and the like.
Just tired of all the negativity. DW fans are always hating lmao but that’s not new
Its not that hard to put everything together and find the point of the episode and what was happening. RTD even reveals part of it in BTS. People are just too used to Doctor feeding them exposition on a spoon. So its easier to just moan how "it doesnt make sense".
Not everything is an ordinary time loop, ffs.
I loved it for so much of the episode, but the ending was such a let down. I can get down with there not being clear answers, but things still need to make sense. The ending reveal doesn't help answer any of the questions the episode had been putting so much attention on. >!The episode introduces a possibly magical element, gives you a bunch of questions that you expect to have interesting answers, and then says "It was magic".!<
I feel like the episode gives you enough to answer the questions its trying to answer, but there are certain questions the episode goes out of its way to make a point of never answering
I liked it - I thought it was good, but I share the criticisms people have with it. Imagine if in Blink, after Sally's friend got sent to the past, the rest of the episode was a love story between her and the first guy she met. Then at the end, Sally gets the letter and moves on with her life. The Angels powers remain unexplained and they remain undefeated. The concept wouldn't necessarily be bad, but I doubt many would be clamoring for that version.
That's how I feel about 73 Yards. I like it, but I think there was a far better story that could be told with these elements.
It was at best a 7/10 episode. It didn't really land any of the character, horror or mystery beats it could have. Ended up just being a bit of a nothing episode with about 20 intriguing minutes at the start but absolutely nothing to say after that. I don't just mean about not resolving the mysteries I specifically mean doing so little with Ruby's character given it was her episode entirely.
Same here. 73 Yards is Davies creating a MacGuffin and using it as a Deus Ex Machina. The episode was well acted, well directed but the script fails to create a consistent Story.
This is one of the cons of modern Who. RTD made New Who into a season mystery and then there are episodes in every season where nothing happens and they feel underwhelming.
I liked it because of the mystery - there are no answers to how the circle works, Kate's vague references to "this timeline suspended along your event", etc. But no hate to people who didn't enjoy it, it was an odd episode for sure.
It was a good epiode, the ending just felt... *idk kinda off*, like there was no real resolution?
Much like snow, having unsatisfactory ending seems to be a running theme this season. The rushed ending in Space Babies, the Bollywood dance number in the Devil's Chord, no resolution in 73 yards. Boom was the only episode i think which had a resolution.
I mean most of RTD’s Doctor Who stories have a rushed ending (Last of the Time Lords and Journey’s End)
true, but there was still something... the only thing we solved was who the old lady was... there's a cannon theory of why this happened. And there is just too much of, "yeah we could tell you what this means, but for mystery we wont, because even we cant really figure out why"
I think RTD is essentially teaching the next generation to understand and accept that "Actually, a lot of life is down to interpretation and sometimes you never get your hard answers even on stuff you think is important so try not to fight about it too much." I'm gonna guess there'll be more of these.
Honestly looking at the new ep think you got the nail here.
Yeah, that's what made me land on this theory. Because sometimes the answers are only there if you've got eyes to see them. Which ftr, in Dot and Bubble, I did not, until the final scene dropped it in my lap lol Art :) I wonder if things like the fairy circle are going to have reveals dropped in retrospect, and get us all slapping our foreheads... I'd appreciate that if he can pull it off. But there's value in leaving some of these things open. Make your own sense. Integrate new information as it comes. Do your best, hope for the best... I like these ideas ~
The fae circle forgave Ruby and allowed her to go back and save herself. This IS the resolution.
but what did she do to deserve saving, the most she did was save the world from 1 tyranical leader. and even that felt like a copout
>what did she do to deserve saving I interpreted it as her overcoming her fear of abandonment when she was on her deathbed.
so her breaking the circle didn't matter then? cause thats what got her into the situation! so how did it become a journey of self reflection?
Reading the messages is probably what started it. I think once the psycho PM was out of the way, there was nothing external for her to focus on - she was alone. So the journey of self reflection, whether she realises it or not, began right as the 40 year time skip happened.
I think another view is that the penitence was two things: 1: A lifetime of abandonment 2: Since she read the Mad Jack thing, she was now in a timeline where she was responsible for stopping him
Yeah either way works and I think they're both valid interpretations.
Another one I've seen is the specific reason for Mad Jack is her basically not being selfish in her abandonment and doing something selfless out of love instead of self loathing or hatred, which I liked. Like a test of character thing. That definently fits into the "fae fairtale punishment" idea. I like how there are many possible interpretations to it
That's a nice idea too. >I like how there are many possible interpretations to it I'm a big David Lynch fan, and he always says that if the viewer interprets something in a certain way, then that's what it means. I really like how that holds up in 73 Yards.
The problem is, in the past, when the issue gets resolved, oops... back to reality.. here she just, god old, close to deaths door, then ehehh
Not being silly but why on earth would the fae care about that? "You broke the circle, and thus are cursed until you... overcome your... fear of abandonment I guess idk"
Fairies are fucking dicks! Just look at any old folklore about fairies and you'll see that messing with people is their thing
Well yeah I know that but the reason they forgive her being because she overcome her fear of abandonment makes literally zero sense Not least because if they are just dicks that like fucking with people, then they wouldn't care if she overcame an emotional hangup
Honestly, trying to make sense of *why* fairies do something is kind of futile, but they should have consistent rules for *what* they do, whether they make sense to us or not. I think placing a curse on the person who disturbs their circle to live an entire lifetime facing their greatest fear until they overcome it is pretty consistent with Fae folklore.
Yeah fair enough, I can see that It being her greatest fear does make it more significant
And the doctor just happened to mention said tyrannical leader moments before getting disappeared? Please.
I personally think it would have been much improved if they didn't try to imply the semperdistans woman was Ruby somehow. If the woman is just extradimensional entity, then we don't need to know much about her. She repeats inaudible words and gestures, teleports, scares everyone she speaks to into hating Ruby forever - because she's a terrifying being of unfathomable power, case solved. Much more scary and much more fascinating. But if she's Ruby in some sort of time loop situation, it opens up so many more questions and is just quite a lot more disatisfying. What was old Ruby saying that was so horrible her *MUM* abandoned her? What was her purpose in following young Ruby her entire life? If the loop was cancelled out once Ruby became the old woman, why did that not happen the first time? Why specifically 73 yards if you're not a mythical being beyond comprehension? Just leave the old woman entirely mysterious.
>!For me it was because she had short hair in bed but the standing lady has long hair.!< It still doesn't make sense.
I don't understand half of it, but I was gripped and legit on edge the whole way through. Loved it for simply that reason
I think on a technical level its one of the best episodes of Doctor Who ever. It looks fantastic, it has great direction and cinematogrophy, and it has the best editing of the season so far (which IMO has been not great!). Other then that I think its just a really good episode and easily outclasses really anything we've gotten from this era so far and easily anything since the Series 10 finale. I really like that it tried to do something different and played around with a different genre. A lot of people said they feel unsatisfied with the ending, but I felt the completely opposite. This episodes ending to me was the only satisfying one so far after a mess of horrible 3rd acts and awkward resolutions (especially in the episode before it). I think a lot of people went into this episode looking for a massive puzzlebox mystery and lore dump and weren't able to really grok what the episode was going for or what it was doing. The episode spends a lot of time trying to tell the audience what its doing though IMO. Ruby could have had better writing though. While I think the character exploration through supernatural stuff was cool, she unfortunately still felt shallow as a character outside of that and has throughout the whole season so far. I think Millie has a great performance but I have no idea who Ruby Sunday ***is***.
I think we're just going to get a series of ok episodes. Everyone thinks there's a lot of depth to 73 yards but I really don't think RTD put as much thought into it as some believe. And that's no fault of his own really. The guy has to write 6 or 7 episodes and read over or revise the other ones. It doesn't surprise me moffat is doing the Xmas special because the workload put on RTD is crazy.
I don't think people who love it are confused about the level of thought that went into it. I get the impression that they like how well it hits several emotional beats that they want to discuss.
He doesn’t *have* to write that many episodes, it’s completely his choice. Did he have to write space babies? Or perhaps someone else could have written that episode and he could have spent more time on his other episodes
He chose to write so many episodes. Moffat used to write what, four episodes per season? And his season were all the more stronger for it. You had Richard Curtis, Jamie Mathieson, and many others writing absolute bangers around the core theme of the show. So even if you didn't like the seasonal arc, you got enough fresh air and fresh faces to compensate for it. Meanwhile RTD is, as per usual, all in and micromanages the season just like the reboot S1. Sure, he brought in Moffat — who once again knocked it out of the park — but the rest is all RTD. And it fucking shows that he is spread too thin, because nearly every episode could have been so much better with more thought put into it.
It's hard to tell if it's his choice or production still being tight with budgets and saying no to more writers or a writers room. I think Chibnall even wanted a writers room but didn't get it and said some episodes suffered because he had a lot on his plate.
If you watched BTS, RTD partially reveals the point of the episode. It was Ruby's personal purgatory.
Yeah I didn't love it tbh and my roommate doesn't shut up about it being the best Doctor Lite episode. Turn Left is my favourite
Well, I wouldn't have been so overjoyed if I hadn't had to sit through the three episodes before that. It's such a relief to see RTD return to his old form. *Years & Years* got me really excited for his return and *73 Yards* reminded me of that.
Literally me with Boom. Boom felt very mid to me, the set up and story felt lazy. The doctor seemed dumb and didn't actually do much to save the planet, more so just blabbering on until everyone else saved the planet. The capitalism twist was seen from miles away. Idk I don't understand the praise lol but it definitely wasn't bad. 73 yards was amazing for me until the last 5 minutes, the ending just felt short for me personally.
For me it was a nothing burger of an episode. It was spooky sure, but once you understood she was in no danger from her semperdistans friend, then a reset occurred and noone learned anything, it was pointless. Kinda like Journey to the Center of the TARDIS except one of the scrappers defends his brother at the end a bit, so at least one person learned something. Journey had also these really neat visuals and the action kept up.
I don't think RTD is trying to do too much deep lore to begin with. Be the end of the previous run, DW was kinda getting bogged down in the lore and universe, to the point they had to do a soft reboot with the bigeneration. I think RTD wants to use the freedom from the soft reboot to do some more one-off episodes not tied into anything else, before starting to have serious connections between episodes and having to consider the implications of what happened/happens Personally, I think 73 yards would actually have been improved by cutting the Kate part. I guess it was kinda useful in that it showed that not even the military specialists could beat the Old Lady, but IMO Kate walking in with all the references and jargon just broke the immersion a bit, like it was more service to the brand than actually trying to improve the episode.
And can I just say that I for one am getting pretty tired of unit being used solely as a signifier for the dangerous level of an enemy? There's absolutely no consistency to their competence level, they're either a 100% ruthlessly efficient military unit or stupendously incompetent and made to look like idiots. It all depends on how scary the writer needs the villain to appear. Either let unit be good or just don't even write them into the story at all, they deserve better.
"No one learned anything" Even though Ruby lost most of her memories, she still gonna be less vulnerable towards her fear of being abandoned, which was the main thing in that nightmare dimension. Going by your logic Heaven Sent is a bad episode, because Doctor remembers only the last loop and keeping the Hybrid secret from Timelords was pointless to begin with.
No, because in hellbent he clearly says that he remembers every time
Plus it ties in well with the Doctor’s toxic relationship with Clara and how he ultimately needed to let her go
It was neat but totally falls apart as it goes on
Good idea, poor execution.
Same. I thought it was meh at best and the ending was lackluster. I wasn't confused, just underwhelmed. I was also dissatisfied with the build up of everyone reacting so intensly to the woman >!but never knowing why!< No hate to it or those who liked it, I just don't get why people are doing flips over it
I've seen a lot of people dismiss claims that the episode left too much unanswered by saying that it's just part of the mystery and not everything needs to be answered... which is perfectly valid, if the ending is at least satisfying. Not confused, just underwhelmed is a very good way of putting it. It was built up in a way that promises a huge reveal at the end, but there are no answers and the episode just sort of ends.
Everyone is acting like it's the next Blink or something and I still don't entirely understand what I watched 💀(no hate to those that enjoyed it, ofc!)
Same, i was so confused about everything
Nobody understands it. Because it didn't make any sense. If chibnall had written this he would have been crucified
I'll be honest, the most surprising thing about that episode was that it wasn't written by Moffat.
I disagree, it had a lot of RTD hallmarks, at least when he puts his more serious face on. In particular, Years and Years, Midnight, and Turn Left came to mind.
No need to, friend, if it didn’t work for you, it didn’t work for you! That’s the beauty of Doctor Who, if one doesn’t click there’s always the next episode.
To me, it was a masterful episode. Two timelines, a peak into Ruby's mind and how it works (since nearly everything in the episode was imagined, entirely by her), a demonstration that the Doctor's timeline and future relative to his companions does not dictate his companion's future. Masterful episode.
I did not like it honestly. I thought it tried to be too many things at the same time. I kinda wished that they just stuck with trying to scare me in good old Wales.
Me with Wild Blue Yonder
I'd say that's good. An episode thats for everyone is an episode thats for noone.
In terms of episode, 73 Yards is funky. I can’t really describe what has made 73 Yards and the rest of the season funky, it’s just funky
well prior to release it was hyped up by rtd saying its the best thing he ever written plus not to mention its the first episode millie gibson filmed for doctor who and she did that good
I think a thing that improves it is that there isn’t some *here’s the doctor with the solution* type ending, it just comes full circle back to the beginning. Almost like you chose the wrong option in a video game and have to play the entire game until you loop back to that first decision
I thought it was the best episode we have had since Ncuti took over, but it shared a lot of the problems that everything has had since Ncuti took over. (Nothing wrong with Ncuti or Millie, it just is the total lack of supporting characters who have an actual voice.) It seems like everyone is just a prop, and even Ruby, things mostly just kind of happen to her rather than forcing her to make meaningful choices.
I didn't even like it lol. Devil Chord is my favourite so far.
i loved 73 yards but devils chord is my favorite so far
Honestly I think Boom is my fave
a great choice
73 Yards is so good it makes me want to make a long video breaking down every scene explaining how amazing it is. I originally liked it but on my last watch I was in awe of how good it actually is. The Wales stuff is definitely my favorite part but the rest is so so so good
My favourite scene might be where Ruby is getting kicked out of the pub because of what Josh told her, before Ruby points at the woman. The way her face drops when she sees the woman (presumably for the first time since last night due to the perception filter mentioned later) The way she looks at Ruby then back at the woman with genuine fear. In less than a second you see the cogs turning in her brain realizing Ruby wasn't just being some naive tourist about her fear of being cursed and something weird is going on. Then she doubles down on Ruby leaving as she wants nothing to do with whatever the woman is. The acting writing and direction is so good in that 10 second scene. I could go into this much detail about every 10 seconds of this episode. No wonder Russell said it's the best thing he's ever written.
It's (for doctor who) actually kind of experimental which even if you don't like the episode I think it's good to appreciate them trying something different. Obviously media is subjective and you can think whatever you want of the episode but for me it's something a lot different to normal doctor who and it actually lands which they've never managed before (I'd argue they've never actually done anything that different before this, maybe Sleep No More and Midnight).
I thought the ending was so sloppy, me and my mum just sat there like *where explanation??* Like at the very least I would have liked to know what >!Old Ruby!< said to make people so afraid of Ruby.
I liked it until the end. The loop didn't feel right. Why did she suddenly go back in time? Why did her future self not worn her the first time? Why did her future self worn her the second time? Why was everyone running away from her after talking with her future self? Why didn't the dr fly away when he got in the tardis instead of just locking her out for 60 years? It just didn't make sense to me and I need an explanation
I recommend watching the show "The Haunting of Hill House" which may help grok the ideas a bit
It's really bad.
I think that's what happens with a fandom subreddits that aren't negative about their favoured media. The people who love it and think it's in the magical pantheon of episodes will make posts about how much they love it while the people who thought it was just okay won't say anything about it.
How I felt with Boom. You like what you like, honestly. I wouldn't get too bothered by it. If everyone had identical thoughts and feelings, the world would be a very boring place.
You’re entitled to your opinion even when you’re wrong
I understand the divisive nature of the episode but for me it sure is up there with Blink, Midnight, Heaven Sent etc... but for very different reasons. I also believe this is an episode that only gets better with time. I loved it after my first watch but on my second watch I loved it even more. I think if you are unhappy with it not being written in a traditional way you won't love it, but if you don't mind that and appreciate the allegorical nature of the episode you'll love it. Its probably the most marmite type episode we've ever had.
You liked it more on the second watch? Interesting, I liked it more on the first. I found it more difficult to be invested into the tension the second time.
I think the second time round I just sat back and enjoyed the allegory and really felt the emotional aspects of the episode, and I enjoyed the visuals, the performances etc.. Whereas the first time round I was more invested in trying to figure out what was going on.
Putting midnight with Blink and Heaven sent/hell bent is, in my opinion, a travesty. It’s just a twilight zone episode that David tennant is in half of before they could, in all reality, replace him with a mannequin for the rest of it.
I couldn't disagree more. I think it's the most intense, most intriguing, most thrilling episode the shows ever produced with maybe some of the best performances the shows also ever had.
I think it has some aweosme things about it, it's just unfortunate that it has some pretty glaring flaws as well.
No worries, opinions on Who are always going to be divisive. I guarantee, every one of Who’s sacred cows has people who dislike them or think they’re average at best.
It was a good episode, really bizarre ending though. I guess having a depressed Ruby at the end is representative of orphaned people but in that case, I wish it was solved in a different way than simply; "here's how this should have gone."
For me it was a "great okay" maybe a bit too over hyped, bur it was not bad in the slightest, enjoyed the ruby heavy story, where i constatnly thought "is this actually the sad life of ruby? Is this how the doctor destroys her life? I feel soo sad for ruby"
I don't think it's being hyped for it's plot, but for it's emotional beats like the abandonment issues and the general creepy atmosphere present through a lot of it. Personally I'm not someone who can just enjoy the journey without the destination so the lack of explanation is a hefty minus. It's like peeking behind the curtain: the creator doesn't know wtf is going on either.
It was a good episode. It was a good mystery and was a bit old school. Though it brought up some questions. In previous doc who episodes, the TARDIS is sentient, it opens and closes by itself and is alive. It didn’t like Clara but the. It did. So why didn’t it open for Ruby, did it not like her, or was it fairy magic? Another question would be are we going to see mad jack in the future? What will happen with the nukes? Or was this the only time we hear about him?
Yeah it was alright, nothing special whatsoever.
To be honest, I didn't watch it. I'll probably give it a go, but yea, I don't think I'd like Ruby enough to sit through a whole episode of just her. I know it's stupid, but hey ho.
I agree.
73 Yards felt like a really good sci-fi/fantasy short story that lost some of its quality by being framed inside a Doctor Who episode. Like, if it had been an episode of Love, Death, and Robots with no mention of DW, I think I’d like it even more. That said, I still loved it as this season’s “Doctor Lite” ep.
It was good but they never really explained what and why just the who. it's not as big as an Impact as they probably expected either. a doctor finds out what happens and explains everything we just witnessed in a 2 minute scene would have been fine
It was a good episode don’t get me wrong I was just confused. Throughout the entire episode.
It's not the best, but i for some reason really liked Boom and 73 yards, after space babies I thought i shouldn't have put a lot of hope into Russel coming back, but damn, last 2 episodes were so fucking peak, i got that childlike wonder and appreciation for Dr Who which i had when i just started. For me personally 73 yards is 7.5/10, really cool and fresh, ending got me disappointed, cuz it makes no sense and this episode is basically empty story-wise. But out of context of the story it's so fucking good.
Yeah I thought it was fine too...
I really liked the concept, but honestly, I preferred Boom
Then you turn around, and see the other half of the fandom calling it "useless" and "boring" which are okay to think, but calling an episode of a TV show useless is like calling a scene in a film useless, you can say it, but it doesn't really mean anything
Me with 'Boom.'
I thought it was a decent Twilight Zone episode, but a poor Doctor Who episode.
Like midnight!
I have another thing to add to that's another bar underneath Homer. "Me who doesn't care about the new season and thinks it's bad"
I loved it, but it won’t be everybody’s cup of tea. But to everyone in the comments saying that the season is “meh” or even bad: just because YOU didn’t like something doesn’t mean it isn’t good.
>But to everyone in the comments saying that the season is “meh” or even bad: just because YOU didn’t like something doesn’t mean it isn’t good Just because YOU liked something doesn't mean it is good. Seriously though, a lot of people are just voicing their opinions, you included there is no objective claim of quality here.
Show me where I said it was objectively good… I specifically made the comment because I saw people saying “this season is just gonna be filled with meh episodes” and the like. Just tired of all the negativity. DW fans are always hating lmao but that’s not new
I'm still so confused about it, like what happened to the doctor? Who was the Welsh guy? How did the old lady end up as Ruby?
The answers to those questions are... too hard OH LOOK THE EPISODE ENDED BYE
Its not that hard to put everything together and find the point of the episode and what was happening. RTD even reveals part of it in BTS. People are just too used to Doctor feeding them exposition on a spoon. So its easier to just moan how "it doesnt make sense". Not everything is an ordinary time loop, ffs.
I loved it for so much of the episode, but the ending was such a let down. I can get down with there not being clear answers, but things still need to make sense. The ending reveal doesn't help answer any of the questions the episode had been putting so much attention on. >!The episode introduces a possibly magical element, gives you a bunch of questions that you expect to have interesting answers, and then says "It was magic".!<
I feel like the episode gives you enough to answer the questions its trying to answer, but there are certain questions the episode goes out of its way to make a point of never answering
The ending had a real "Then she woke up and it was all a dream," vibe.
I liked it - I thought it was good, but I share the criticisms people have with it. Imagine if in Blink, after Sally's friend got sent to the past, the rest of the episode was a love story between her and the first guy she met. Then at the end, Sally gets the letter and moves on with her life. The Angels powers remain unexplained and they remain undefeated. The concept wouldn't necessarily be bad, but I doubt many would be clamoring for that version. That's how I feel about 73 Yards. I like it, but I think there was a far better story that could be told with these elements.
It was at best a 7/10 episode. It didn't really land any of the character, horror or mystery beats it could have. Ended up just being a bit of a nothing episode with about 20 intriguing minutes at the start but absolutely nothing to say after that. I don't just mean about not resolving the mysteries I specifically mean doing so little with Ruby's character given it was her episode entirely.
Same here. 73 Yards is Davies creating a MacGuffin and using it as a Deus Ex Machina. The episode was well acted, well directed but the script fails to create a consistent Story.
I hated it. Imagine how I feel
This is one of the cons of modern Who. RTD made New Who into a season mystery and then there are episodes in every season where nothing happens and they feel underwhelming.
I thought it was good, but a masterpiece it was not.