Review: Doctor Who, Series 10, Episode 12: The Doctor Falls (Into Another Awful Finale)

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

After watching the finale of Doctor Who, Season 10, I felt compelled to write something about it. Steven Moffat’s finales have seen diminishing returns since he took over as showrunner seven years ago. After a cracking Season 5, the finale ‘Big Bang’ was a major disappointment. Things never improved from there. Moffat fell in love with his own mythology. He didn’t appear to care much about story or logic. Just watch ‘The Doctor Falls’ for a depiction of everything wrong with Moffat’s reign as Doctor Who showrunner.

Review: Doctor Who, Series 9, Episode 12: Hell Bent (On Irritating Me!)

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

“Nothing’s sad ‘til it’s over…then it is”

Is it just me, or does Steven Moffat have little consistency in the realm of quality? Last week’s ‘Heaven Sent’ was superlative and left scope for a great finale to a very good Series 9. The Doctor had found Gallifrey…what was going to happen next? What actually happened only concerned Gallifrey for the first quarter of the episode, and even then as something of an afterthought. It was secondary to the main thrust of the episode (SPOILER ALERT!): a farewell to Clara! Wait, haven’t we already said farewell to her? Yes, we have, and a fitting farewell at that. But her second farewell came at the expense of a finale. As the credits rolled, I shrugged my shoulders and thought the whole charade was pointless.

Humans, Series 1, Episode 8 Finale

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

“How did you find us?”

So, here we are, the finale of Humans, Series 1! While it didn’t end with a whimper, it didn’t end with a bang, either. It was a perfectly satisfactory ending to the series, but never quite rose to the occasion. There were rarely moments of pure tension, even when the story demanded it. Everything moved a little too quickly for a series that has been founded on a slow build up. Characters turned up at the most convenient times. The back drop of the protest against synths was just that; a back drop that was never fully explored to its potential, and was forgotten about in the closing moments of the episode. However, in a sense, it bound the themes of the series together. It had some great moments, but the whole was lesser than the sum of its parts.

Review: Agents of SHIELD, Season 2, Episode 22 S.O.S Part 2 (A Fitting Finale?)

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

“You’re a family man”

So, we come to the second part of the finale for Season 2 of Agents of SHIELD. This was the culmination of the vast improvements that Agents of SHIELD has gone through over Season 2. Unlike the finale of Season 1, where I couldn’t give two hoots about the story of the characters, I could not wait to find out what happened after the cliffhangers of the finale’s first part. In many ways, it was a fitting finale, with only a few stumbles on the way to delivering a brilliant end to Season 2.

Review: Agents of SHIELD, Season 2, Episode 21: S.O.S (Don’t Save Me from SHIELD!)

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

“Why would you let them do this to us?”

Channel 4 decided to show the two-parter finale of Agents of SHIELD separately, so we have to wait until next week for the final episode! And after the event of the first part, I am eager to see how Season 2 ends. Like I mentioned last week, Agents of SHIELD has become more than an entertaining televisual diversion. It has become must-watch TV. Episode 21 was not an exception. It delivered thrills and spills in equal measure, with action and dialogue at a season peak. My only worry is that the second part will not measure up… 

Review: Gotham, Season 1, Episode 22: All Happy Families Are Alike (I’d Rather Watch The Sopranos!)

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

“A brand new day”

Last week’s ‘Gotham’ left us with the average cliffhanger of mafia warfare starting in Gotham between Maroni and Falcone. Regardless of comic books fans knowing who would win, there was still little suspense about the outcome. Who cares who wins? Both characters are as unappealing (not in a “good” sense!) as each other. But we don’t see any of the mafia warfare. We fast forward to Falcone being on the receiving end of a grenade launcher and being imprisoned in a hospital room. Of course, the writers felt the need to include almost every character in the finale, so what we get is a bunch of scenes that serve only to show us characters. Fish Mooney reappears and Selina Kyle teams up with her. Barbara goes for psychotherapy with Leigh. Kris Kringle and The Riddler share a scene together. As usual, it all adds up to an episode full of empty plots and even emptier characters…