An Autist Reviews: The Timeless Children (NuWho Episode 12.10)

*This is an older review, it is not as detailed as my more modern reviews*

*All Reviews Are Spoiler-Free Aside From Any Spoiler Sections*

*This is a bare-bones/lite review made after only a single viewing. (Hence there not being any replay rating)*

The Master takes the Doctor to learn the truth about the Timelords and about the Timeless Child. Meanwhile, the lone cyberman and his new cyber warriors close in on the Doctor’s allies and also prepare to take Gallifrey. The lone cyberman has a dangerous weapon spoken of only in legends, and the Master is looking to use it. A dangerous truth is about to be unleashed, and within the matrix, nothing can be false… only hidden. Who is the timeless child? What about that Irish boy? And what awaits the Doctor once she knows the truth that drove the Master madder than ever before?

OH BOY, THIS IS GOING TO BE A CONTROVERSIAL ONE!

So… did Chibnall stick the landing? Yeah, I'd say so. I know a lot of people will hate this, but the good news is that that means even fewer *ssholes to be hate bombing the next series. So: the truth has been revealed. It was done really well. But not perfectly. The writing errors and mistakes topple over each other the entire time, but it’s easy to ignore. The twists and turns are great, but the ending was rather lackluster. The Doctor makes choices she shouldn’t have made, but they can easily be put aside. The companions are out of the way most of the episode, but when they are around they give some really good dialogue and some emotion-filled scenes. This episode was a feast for the eyes and ears though, I loved it. It was complicated, confusing, and it absolutely WILL p*ss off a TON of people. Oh, I would be lying if I said I was looking forward to the backlash… but oh boy do I also look forward to it. So: let’s leave this at the fact that you NEED to watch this awesome episode. It’s fun, it’s emotional, and it has so many interesting details and plot points!

The acting in such an emotion-filled episode needs to be grand, and thank the lord it is. The acting is great. There are plenty of less than stellar moments, but through the episode, everything is acted extremely well… plus Sacha as the Master is always solid gold. I mean platinum. F*ck it, Dalekanium! The Doctor is also great, although she does have some less than great moments as she acts against an unseen pain in the matrix, but I forgive it.

The effects here are grand. Let’s start with the worst: the vocal effects take a deep dive down into bad. It’s hard to understand so many voices and what’s being said just because of the effects on them. I don’t know what to say other than that, really. The music is lovely for all of it I can remember, so… yup. I don’t remember half of it and I’m still giving it an 8. The music is great. It hits all the right marks. The action scenes are great, the explosions are lovely and the lasers look beautiful. Often the effects are somewhat hokey, but there are so many great effects throughout this entire episode. There really are some bad effects, but SO many are good, so they balance out a lot. As for general special effects, there are the best teleport effects in the entire series thus far, and many other awesome effects. Sadly, I have to point out that the matrix is rather lackluster and that quite a few other effects are far from perfect. But like with the action effects, there are so many good effects that things balance out, except even more so here. As for the costuming: I can’t explain how f*cking great they are. I want to give this an 11/10 but sadly I can’t because I work on a scale of 1-10. But really, the costumes are the best I’ve ever seen.

All in all, the chaos this episode will cause will be glorious. The plot is great, even if Chibby Boy drops the ball writing it. The dialogue itself isn’t great, but it’s not bad, and the rest is pretty good with a few annoying issues. The twists are glorious, and I loved this episode SO much! It was great! The acting was glorious and thankfully so. Sometimes the actors mess up a line here and there, but if anything, Sacha makes up for ALL of those small mess-ups with his dedication to the insanity of the Master. The effects aren’t great. The action can seem a little hokey, and the matrix ain’t great among other issues. The music is grand even if I can remember most of it, and the costumes deserve an 11/10! Dear God, the second-generation cyber warriors are solid platinum. The vocal effects jump off a cliff into suck here, but they do well enough, I suppose, even if the effects make it hard to understand the lines. This is a great episode with many issues, but that hardly makes it bad. Chibby Boy sticks the landing with this series even if a great deal of people will hate this episode.

Now let’s be honest here. People hate Chibnall. And I’ve held off on saying my peace but I won’t anymore. Chibnall has changed Doctor Who forever. People hate him and love him, but you can’t ignore his vision. He may have made the show far more geared towards children, but he also added messages. Yes, even as a diehard libtard myself I find them often shoehorned in and annoying, but they will alter how the next generation behaves, and I can’t applaud that enough. As for those who think Chibby Boy hasn’t grown since last season or who think he’s gotten worse… how? It’s not what you like, boy oh f*cking boy does it have issues. Yes, he has completely rewritten continuity… but need I remind you of the BS that our last two showrunners did? One wrote out the timelords, the other wrote in 2 characters who have always been by the Doctors’ sides AND retconned the writing out of the timelords. I think Chibnall has grown, he’s far from the next John Nathan-Turner, he grows. He listens to criticism and grows. He went from too slow to too fast and I hope that next time he will get things perfectly. I thought he’d improve, I called that he would be better this time, and he was. He’s not perfect. His run is a massive change. And if you don’t like it, fine. I think it’s one of those things that you can just leave behind, but don’t ruin the fun for those who like it, and let the kids enjoy it at least. I think we can all learn something from this new era and the reaction it’s had… but let’s move on.

Cheers to the next series, Chibby Ol’ Boy! Cheers! You ain’t perfect, but you’re trying and d*mn are you doing a good job!

Cheers to all of you. Cheers. This has been a fun series, and I look forward to seeing all of you who don’t hate 13 for no good reason again next special and next series. I do love you all, even when I disagree with your viewpoints. That’s the thing. So long as we’re civil we can get along as reviewers.

I love you all. I love the 13th Doctor. And I can’t wait for next series.

Goodbye, all!

<3

Total - 9

Plot - 9
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Story - 8
Writing - 6
Enjoyment - 10
Twists - 10

Acting - 9
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MCs - 9
SCs - 9
BGs - 10

Effects - 8
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Music - 8
Vocals - 4
Special Effects - 8
Action - 7
Costumes - 10

Replay - NR
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Re-Enjoyment - NR
New Details - NR

-=- If you want to see more of my reviews, some of my craziness, my thoughts on stories I've experienced but not reviewed, and the important libtard things I share around because I'm a filthy liberal snowflake, check out my Instagram page @deadmainmanmax -=-