***The following contains major spoilers for the season finale***

Tonight’s all-new episode of Doctor Who, “Empire of Death,” brought an end to the season, as well as the storylines surrounding both the mystery of Ruby (Millie Gibson)’s mother and the arrival of Sutekh, while also posing some new questions. In the episode, Sutekh revealed his plans, which was to turn everyone on every planet the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) ever visited to dust. It started out as a bit of a shock when first Kate (Jemma Redgrave) and everyone at UNIT, and then subsequently, Ruby’s family, as well as even Mrs. Flood (Anita Dobson) were killed. Eventually the whole planet was wiped out, leaving it up to the Doctor, Ruby, and Mel (Bonnie Langford) to find a way to bring them back. It all culminated when the Doctor realized that Sutekh wouldn’t kill them until he learned the secret of Ruby’s birth mother’s identity, which Ruby used to lure him close enough for them to hook him to the TARDIS and pull him into the time vortex, where the Doctor could use death to kill death and therefore bring back life.

First let me say, the beats of the episode and the way it was shot made it feel very exciting, and as always, Gatwa and Gibson were a treat. Bringing Mel into the mix to round out the trio made it even better.

The set of the Remembered TARDIS was extremely cool and one of my favorite parts of the episode. I absolutely loved how it was filled with memories from the series, like pieces of the Doctor’s old costumes, and many other little references for fans. There were even some other outright references to old episodes outside of it, with the Doctor saving the world with a spoon, as well as Mrs. Flood calling him a “Clever Boy.”

As for the storyline itself, to me, it was hit and miss. Certain things worked because they were explained decently well, such as the idea of how Sutekh created a Susan everywhere the Doctor landed in order to turn everyone there to dust – at all those moments in time. It was an interesting idea which of course made it so there had to be a way to reverse everything rather than just stop him since everyone was dead. 

That being said, a lot of the other explanations along the way did not make a whole lot of sense really, and it felt like a mess at times. I kind of liked the idea that the memory of a TARDIS created a TARDIS, because it made me think of how the image of a Weeping Angel contains a Weeping Angel, but they didn’t really explain how they controlled it, and it was confusing how the monitor was somehow actually the Time Window they previously opened. I did, however, really appreciate how they connected the story from 73 Yards and the idea of Prime Minister Roger ap Gwilliam being the one who made DNA testing compulsory and therefore it was the way they could figure out Ruby’s mother’s identity. (Also, for that matter, the explanation of how Sutekh hid in the 73 yard perception filter was appreciated).

It however also didn’t explain how the Doctor found someone on a random planet alive or really the connection to her losing her memory, since Sutekh didn’t actually take memories. It was explained sort of and very quickly glossed over. 

And while I did really like Ruby tricking Sutekh and smashing the screen and how they yanked him into the time vortex (which was how the Doctor defeated him the first time), the idea of death killing death cancelling out to create life was a completely weird conclusion, even if it was a really cool sequence.

Regardless, it did, however, lead to some really great emotional moments. I really appreciated the Doctor’s speech about Sutekh winning because he made the Doctor kill. That is one thing that the Doctor has always struggled with. He usually finds a way around outright destroying an enemy, but in this case he had no choice. The scene was beautifully acted by Gatwa and you could really see his pain.

Secondly, I really enjoyed the ending with Ruby finally finding her family – and ignoring the Doctor telling her not to go after her mother. Their subsequent goodbye was heartfelt and also a bit heartbreaking; however, it’s nice to see a companion leave the Doctor by choice. 

Overall, the final episode was a nice way to wrap up the season, and I was happy that there were also clues to where the next season will likely be headed and more questions to answer with Mrs. Flood cryptically breaking the fourth wall again. 

Whether you liked Russell T. Davies season or not, you can’t say it was boring, and he’s definitely done things differently this time around. I never knew what to expect, which is never a bad thing. I’m definitely excited for what’s to come.