Spoilers Doctor Who 2024 (spoilers)

[Mallus]

You can't just handwave plot holes because "They weren't the focus."

How did Gregor Samsa turn into a giant bug?

The point of red herrings in a mystery plot is to draw the viewer's attention from the actual clues.

Was this a mystery?

 

[Vael]

I assumed there was a ticking clock. The device had been overloaded to 6 times its designed capacity and could only function once, certainly Rogue and The Doctor acted like they couldn't just leave the Chuldur there. Turn it off and engage 5 aliens with electro-death touch in melee sounds like a plan if you've got a Paladin in the party, but only a Rogue, Companion and Doctor?

Anyway, I was delighted to see Indira Varma and Jonathon Groff again. Solid chemistry between The Doctor and Rogue, and it's only slightly confusing all this Rogue discussion after the X-Men 97's solid first season.

 

[Necropolitan]

How did Gregor Samsa turn into a giant bug?

The Metamorphosis wasn't a science fiction mystery story, it was a metaphor for what it was like being a Jew facing rising antisemitism in Europe. The REASON Gregor Samsa became an enormous insect was because Franz Kafka saw Jews like him go from being perceived as German citizens to being seen as hateful vermin and a burden on society.

Comparing the two is incredibly offensive.

Doctor Who is a science fiction story that has a long history of explaining the monsters, and other people have already pointed out that this episode is an outlier:

The biggest threat in "Dot and Bubble" is the race of slug-like alien monsters that are eating the residents of Finetime. Previous eras of Doctor Who would have included a detailed breakdown of where the monsters came from, what made them tick, and what they were called. Instead, all I learned was that the creatures were artificially manufactured somehow and that Finetime isn't the first population to be decimated by them. It's not even revealed how long the Homeworld's population has been reduced to zero, which raises the question of when they last had direct communication with Finetime.

 

[Ryujin]

It was jarring to see The Doctor go from despair at the end of Dot and Bubble to happily partying in Rogue though. I realize it's a shorter season but it would have been good to let him have at least part of an episode to process those feelings.

I would think that it's supposed to be jarring. At the end of this episode we see him turn off visible grief like he threw a light switch. It's still there, but he has 1000+ years worth of experience at hiding it.

This Doctor strikes me as being the ultimate CG character. "I will save you, but it's got to be your choice."

 

[Necropolitan]

This Doctor strikes me as being the ultimate CG character. "I will save you, but it's got to be your choice."

100%.

The Doctor could have forced the Finetimers to accept his help but that's not the kind of person he is. He'll explain, beg, and plead, anything to convince them to let him save their lives, but he won't force them to accept his help.

 

[MarkB]

There was no time limit, they could turn off the trap, take out the Chuldur, and then toss them back in.

No, they couldn't. The Doctor made it clear that souping up the device to hold six people instead of one made it a one-shot gadget. If they didn't use it successfully the first time, there wouldn't be a second chance. And while they didn't specify a time limit to leave it running before pushing the button, I doubt it was very long.

 

[Necropolitan]

No, they couldn't. The Doctor made it clear that souping up the device to hold six people instead of one made it a one-shot gadget. If they didn't use it successfully the first time, there wouldn't be a second chance. And while they didn't specify a time limit to leave it running before pushing the button, I doubt it was very long.

They have a time machine with an incredible array of space-shifting powers as well. Using it to solve every problem would suck out the drama, but this is a situation where a clever TARDIS trick would have actually made sense.

The problem was entirely contrived and required the characters to make repeated bad choices.

 

[trappedslider]

 

[MrZeddaPiras]

I really enjoyed it.
Nice balance with the quirkiness.
Plus Rogue needs a spin off ( so he can meet Cleric, Ranger and the rest of the gang!!).

That bit got me thinking about characters named about random concepts from the rulebook. Like characters named Milestone Cantrip or Carousing Experience XD

I'm really enjoying the new season, after a few uninspired years. A couple of the episodes are like Black Mirror for schoolchildren.

 

[Guest 85555]

I haven't seen recent seasons so I can't say how good the writing is there, but for me good writing on Doctor Who is less about little holes like "why doesn't he just use the TARDIS" (which they usually pave over with made up BS anyways) and more about how engaging the story and characters are. The Girl in the Fireplace has a lot of little plot holes like that, and there are portions that feel like they could use better explanation, but it is still one of my favorite episodes because it is so engrossing every time I see it.