***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.”

The following contains spoilers for tonight's episode

On tonight’s penultimate episode of this season of Doctor Who, “The Legend of Ruby Sunday,” the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Ruby (Millie Gibson) head to UNIT to try to find the truth of her past, as well as the identity of the mystery woman, Susan Triad (Susan Twist), who has appeared in every episode of the season. Opening a time window at UNIT, they recreate the Christmas Eve when the Doctor found Ruby from an old surveillance video, but there is something there that shouldn’t be. Can they figure out what truly happened and how it connects to Triad Technology before it’s too late?

This definitely once again felt like a classic, though more serious, episode of the series. Both Gatwa and Ncuti shined. I also appreciated that the Doctor once again jumped headfirst into danger, knowing that it was likely a trap, although it was also refreshing to see him learn that there can be consequences for that as well.

***The folowing contains spoilers for "Rogue"***

<br/ >On tonight’s all new episode of Doctor Who, “Rogue,” the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Ruby (Millie Gibson) travel to a Regency ball in 1813 in Bath where they encounter shape shifting bird-like aliens called Chuldurs who are killing guests at the party to take over their identities. While investigating, the Doctor discovers a bounty hunter who calls himself Rogue (Jonathan Groff), who thinks that the Doctor is one of them.

To me, this episode felt like a classic Doctor Who episode – finally! With the past two weeks being Doctor-lite, it was a great relief to get more of Gatwa. Surprisingly, however, we got less of his partnership with Ruby in this one, but it’s not to the detriment of the episode. The two still get plenty of scenes together later in the episode, and when they split up, it gives Ruby a chance to explore on her own. It’s is fun to watch her delight entering a Bridgerton-esque fantasy world and interacting with those of the era, her anachronisms making her stand out.

Meanwhile, the Doctor goes off to investigate on his own when he follows the sonar interference and runs into Rogue. Their banter really works as they seem evenly matched in wit. I absolutely loved the silly side of the Doctor in the scene with him continuing to turn on Kylie Minogue’s “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” in Rogue’s ship and lip syncing and moving to the beat. I was a little surprised to see a flirty Doctor, but I didn’t mind it; it was a cute scene, especially when he gets flustered that his psychic papers say “You’re hot.”

In tonight’s all-new episode of Doctor Who, “Dot and Bubble,” the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Ruby (Millie Gibson) try to save the residents of Finetime, who are happy chatting away in their “bubbles,” on social media. However, not everything is as perfect as it seems as giant slug-like creatures start eating the citizens. Can the Doctor and Ruby get them to step into the real world to escape before it’s too late?

This episode is once again Doctor-lite, but also doesn’t have much of Ruby either, focusing instead on Lindy Pepper-Bean (Callie Cooke). The duo are, as usual, fantastic for what we see of them, but I definitely would have liked more, especially in such a short season. That being said, Cooke does a great job of carrying the story. In fact, the majority of the story is focused on her face inside the bubble rather than even the environment, which was likely hard to pull off.

In tonight’s all-new episode of Doctor Who, “73 Yards,” the Doctor and Ruby arrive on the coast of Wales and discover a fairy circle, which the Doctor accidentally steps on, breaking it. Suddenly the Doctor disappears and Ruby is left alone – except for a mysterious older woman who follows her everywhere, but always at the distance of 73 yards.

“73 Yards” focused on Welsh folklore horror and is Doctor Who at its best. The funny thing is, the Doctor was nowhere to be seen for 99% of the episode, yet I loved it and was on the edge of my seat. Millie Gibson did a phenomenal job of keeping the viewer intrigued from start to finish. 

The episode was full of creepy atmosphere and really gave you a sense of foreboding every time Ruby would see the old woman following her. She was isolated without the Doctor with no one to help, because everyone who talked to the woman would after the fact avoid Ruby, never to see her again. Her mother abandoning her was the most heartbreaking, as was her stating at the end of the episode that she had been abandoned by everyone, because it was true.

I loved seeing Jemma Redgrave as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, as always. It gave a sense of relief in this case, someone Ruby could trust come to the rescue, until you realized she had her earpiece in and was therefore poisoned by the old woman’s words as well. All this just kept the feeling of the episode getting darker as years and decades passed for Ruby.

In tonight’s all-new episode of Doctor Who, titled “Boom,” landing on a planet at war, Kastarion 3, the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) steps on a landmine and must reign in his emotions and use his wit to save Ruby (Millie Gibson) and the planet, all without moving.

Tonight’s episode was written by previous showrunner Steven Moffat. Known for many classic episodes, I expected it to be be better than the previous two (and more serious), and I wasn’t disappointed on either front. This episode felt more like the series I love. Don’t get me wrong, I love the comedy too, but as I stated in last week’s review, at times I found the episodes to be a bit too silly. This episode had more emotional gravitas and was at times heartbreaking.

Once again, Gatwa was phenomenal as the Doctor, and I liked seeing him rushing headfirst into danger rather than being too scared and hanging back like in the previous two episodes. Of course, it may have been the wrong move to do so, but it often is. Fans also got to see a more vulnerable side to the Doctor in the episode as well, which I appreciated. Gibson was also really enjoyable to watch. Once again I feel a bit of Clara (Jenna Coleman) in her and love that she doesn’t just follow what the Doctor says, and she risked her life to save him. The two of them continue to have fantastic chemistry on screen. 

Tonight was the long-awaited premiere of Doctor Who on Disney Plus, and fans got not one, but two episodes.

In “Space Babies,” the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) end up at an abandoned Baby Farm on a space station. The twist is that the government closed the station but outlawed stopping the birthing machine, so instead they abandoned the babies as well. Before the Doctor and Ruby can rescue them, they discover a literal bogeyman.

In “The Devil’s Chord,” the Doctor and Ruby go to the past to meet the Beetles but don’t find what they expect when they discover the Maestro is stealing all the music of the world and changing history.

I was super excited going into the premiere tonight especially with it being Russell T. Davies now, and I really wanted to like it, but honestly, I was a bit let down. Don’t get me wrong, there were parts about the episode that were brilliant and I loved, but other parts fell a bit short. It was kind of a mixed bag.

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

I've been a fan of this series for a good, long while, and a writer for longer than that. I became a Richonner almost instantly in season three. It was a ship I didn't actually believe would come to fruition. Each year at SDCC in Hall H, I began to subtly inquire about this pair that electrified our screens. By season six, Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne (Danai Gurira) had consummated their relationship. For they and their family unit had been canon since season four. 

Fast forward to both Rick and Michonne's respective departures from the flagship series of The Walking Dead, a long drought, and then... 

The light. 

Gimple, Gurira, and Lincoln got together during that down time and worked out how the future for the Grimes would look. This evolved from features to a (now) limited series of six episodes. But more than that, they gave their fans damn near everything. The finale was no different.

If you've never seen a stitch of The Walking Dead or aren't caught up to how Rick (Andrew Lincoln) or Michonne (Danai Gurira) departed the series, then here is a brief rundown before you dive into this new spinoff series The Ones Who Live:

After being blown off a bridge, Rick is literally taken from his home, his family, and lost for years. Then Michonne discovers he's still alive, and goes off to find him. This new tale is a search for love, for destiny. The Queen sets out to find her lost and fallen King, and bring him back. 

This, gentle readers, is indeed an epic love story, a modern, apocalyptic spin on a fairy tale. It will answer the question: can true love conquer and prevail? 

The musical score of this series, I feel, is the best The Walking Dead-verse has had to offer to date. The writing is both right, quick-paced, all while offering an intimate view of these characters and their new journey forward. Thematic and dark with smatterings of sunshine, it not only broadens the universe, but is of a caliber that could have meant itself to films. In short, this is cinema.

One of the things I loathe about reviews and online chatter are spoilers. I don’t know what other reviewers will say about what they saw, but I am gonna do my damndest to leave this spoiler free. More than that, what occurs in the first ten minutes, as a fan, as a Richonne shipper, as a Rick Grimes fan, left a hitch in my throat, a sting in my eye. Beauty, pain and sorrow. And I believe that you, audience members, deserve to experience that unfiltered. Untainted.

***The following review is full of spoilers, so please watch the episode first***

The 60th anniversary trio of Doctor Who specials came to a close today, with part three, “The Giggle.” The episode opens in Soho in 1925 when a man visits a toy emporium and meets the owner (Neil Patrick Harris) and buys a ventriloquist dummy named Stooky Bill for his boss, real-life inventor John Logie Baird, who uses it as the world’s first televised image. Meanwhile back in London in the present, the Doctor (David Tennant) and Donna (Catherine Tate) are still in the middle of the chaos, the owner of the toy store in the background, when they are escorted by Kate and UNIT back to headquarters. It turns out, every human on the planet has had their brain waves altered and believes they are unequivocally right, and eventually go mad and turn violent trying to convince others. Eventually they discover that the signal effecting the planet is coming from a giggle, embedded along with the image of Stooky Bill in every screen. Shirley (Ruth Madeley) traces the image back to 1925, and the Doctor and Donna are off to find out how to stop it. The Doctor quickly realizes that the man in the toy emporium is his old nemesis the Toymaker, who he beat long ago. The Doctor must play the Toymaker’s game. Unfortunately he loses, but since he won in the past, he challenges him to the best out of three, and the Toymaker cannot refuse, however, he takes the third round back to 2023. The resulting battle will decide the fate of the planet.