Episode Discussion: Doctor Who Season 14 Episodes 2 and 3
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0iaxOxMgh8pUmNs0DMk1xT
So I guess The Church on Ruby Road from December counts as episode one of season 14/1 because on the Disney+ app these are episodes two and three so whatever, let's just go with it. I've referred to the 15th Doctor as a kind of on ramp for people who wanted to get into the show but have been daunted by the long legacy of over 60 years of episodes. The first episode does a great job of onboarding the viewer about the essential lore and then moving onto the adventure of the week. I'd be curious about someone who hasn't watched Doctor Who and what they think of this but for someone who is admittedly a little lapsed in their fandom, I felt this was a good little moment to bring everyone up to speed before moving on.
The really interesting thing with these two episodes is that, when coupled with the news about Millie Gibson (Ruby)'s contract only being for one season, the narrative arc of this season feels pretty straight forward. It appears that the pantheon of these god-like characters who can control things like music or games will be overarching antagonists and Ruby will be somehow related to them. Giving The Doctor an antagonistic companion would be an interesting dynamic at the end of the season, would play into the "family you're born into vs. the family you choose" narrative that has been a favorite of writers in recent years, and we saw a DNA analysis of Ruby being done in the background of episode two.
Another interesting tidbit with this is that there is the strong potential that there is a literal writer as the bad guy of the season (since the physical embodiment of rules and the physical embodiment of music have appeared) and there is also the strong potential that The Doctor himself is one of these beings as The Timeless Child (it hasn't been retconned). This is all speculation based on three episodes but the overarching mystery is definitely something that is worth sticking around for.
