Shapeshifting, timetravelling lesbian puddle ...uh

This episode felt phoned-in and I don’t think it was a good start to the season.

Bill was okay, but Nardole was a lot more interesting. I wish the writers didn’t treat him like the redheaded step-companion and gave him more focus, his dynamic with the Doctor is something different and interesting. At least Bill starts out with some decent characterization and isn’t some enigma gimmick like Clara started out as. But I’m tired of pretty girls from modern England. I really wanted her to be from the 80s like her outfit and intro short implied.

!SPOILERS!

As for the monster of the week… okay, Doctor Who is usually at it’s strongest when the monster isn’t necessarily evil, and things can be resolved peacefully. But they assumed it was dangerous way too quickly, and spent the majority of the “chase” standing around and BSing and robbing it of any sense of danger. The pacing of the episode was just awful. And the creature… made NO sense. Not a bit. Like, okay, a metamorphic liquid makes sense as a tool for a ship… but why would anyone make it have the ability to time travel? And even if they can make/program something that advanced, why wouldn’t they include a “return” code in case it got left behind somewhere? This thing was just the broken “knockoff” TARDIS from “The Lodger” blended with visual elements from the movie “The Ring.” It didn’t work for me.

And as much as I loved seeing Susan get acknowledged FINALLY, it just reminds me that the show STILL hasn’t addressed what happened to her during the Time War. And that is a question that I believe needs to be answered.