I Am Not Ready To Give up On Doctor Who

Last night me and my boys once more got out to the SIE Filmcenter for a special Doctor Who event sponsored by Denver Comic Con. We got to watch the season finale 'A Death in Heaven' on the big screen. The event was supposed to mirror the one they held for the season opener with a costume contest and trivia. For whatever reasons they did not get anything close to the same crowd. A big part of it was they just were not able to get word out about the event this time around.

My youngest was the only one to show up in costume, so he was given his pick of the prizes.

I went into this with the basic idea that this episode could either redeem what to me has been a weak season, or confirm my belief that it is time for a new show runner.

I now have no doubt that Steven Moffat needs to step down and let someone new take over.

'A Death in Heaven' left me more frustrated than anything else. There were gaps everywhere you turned. Story gaps, logic gaps and continuity gaps. Too many deaths of established characters that had nothing of substance behind them. We were given a hint that Osgood could be the Doctor's next companion, and then they kill her off in a manner that was void of impact. It felt like a whole bunch of ideas and cameos were thrown together in a pot, stirred a little and put out there with no concern as to how it all fit together.

The final did fit well into what we have seen all season  long. Most of the episodes have very much been story ideas we have already seen done and done better, in a more believable manner. I was hoping that there would be some point to all these feelings of flashback. I kept hoping to the very end that we would be given something to justify being bored all season long with nothing new.

I can only think of two good episodes for the whole season 'Listen' and 'Time Heist'. They were good, but nothing like the good episodes of past seasons. Then we got pure waste of episodes that made no sense like 'Kill the Moon' and 'In The Forest of the Night', where the Doctor serves no purpose at all in being there as he does nothing to actually influence the story. The events would have played out in the exact same manner without the Doctor being there. Both episodes were filled with bad science and bad logic along with extra storylines that were just a waste. In some ways though that was the common thread throughout the season. So many wasted, unneeded storylines that weakened the stories.

Clara had some great scenes at times, but for the most part was once more under used. Her best episodes are still the ones before she became the regular companion. Regretfully Clara will end up being one of the easier to forget companions of the new series. Considering that she started off as more of a plot point, you can tell that Moffat had no clear idea as to her character.

Of course the big question is what does one think of Capaldi's Doctor. Generally by the end of their first seasons the new Doctors have grown on me. Not this time. The season ended with a Doctor who I still have no idea about. At no point did it feel like they figured out just who this new version of the Doctor was. It never felt as if he stabilized into a cohesive character. We ended with a Doctor who I do not feel as if I know and am unable to form any actual opinion of. He had good and bad moments, yet I mostly remember him being pointlessly insulting at times that it just made him look like an a-hole.

Then they ended the finale with a hint into this year's Christmas special, and I was left with even more doubt about where the showing it going. We get to see Santa Clause enter the TARDIS... Yeah, that did not leave me feeling good about what is still to come.

I am going to keep up with the show still. I was loyal to Star Wars throughout the prequels, the dark times and am going to do the same for Doctor Who through this dark period, hoping that at some point the show will get better.