SPOILERS
Warning: ThisDoctor Whoreview contains spoilers.
Empire of Death is a solidly entertaining episode.
There are plenty of good scenes and one really great one.
Everyone gives it their all, especially the two leads.
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This might partly be down to that aforementioned iconic villain.
Death is about as final as it gets.
Its weirdly anti-climactic, in a way, though that in itself is interesting.
Thats not a bad thing.
Of course it has to be reversed.
It would be rubbish if it wasnt.
But it does contribute to the finales sense of going through the motions.
Sorry, but no matter how highly the Doctor values life, there is no ambiguity there.
Sutekh deliberately, gleefully slaughtered nearly everybody in the universe.
He has to go!
This is arguably the scene that really elevates the episode, and it showsRussell T Daviesat his best.
Rubys mother isnt some eldritch cosmic force, a mysterious being more powerful than Sutekh.
It all hangs together, though whether you find the various resolutions satisfying is another matter.
Ditto her choice of outfit.
To look at Series 14 as a whole, its been a pretty damn good series ofDoctor Who.
Even with the episodes that havent quite come together, there has been plenty to talk about.
Unfortunately, this blunts the impact of the finale.
But with Rubys arc, the breadcrumb approach is less successful.
Is the implication meant to be that Ruby has embraced travelling in the TARDIS because shes missing something?
If so, that hasnt really shown in her behaviour.
Of course, everybody does the work in Empire of Death to sell the emotions.
One silent, tearful close-up on Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibsons faces can fill in a lot of blanks.
Regardless, there are delights to be found here.
She also calls the Doctor that clever boy.Mrs Flood= Clara confirmed?
So, there we are.Doctor Whois back.Doctor Whonever went away.
The future is uncertain.
The future is bright.
See you at Christmas.
