And those Cyber drone heads were a fun addition to Cyber-lore. Still, at least we get an army of beautifully redesigned Cybermen by the episode’s end. ![]() Just how is Ashad in charge of the Cybermen when he’s a faulty convert? Surely the other Cybers would either fully upgrade him or just kill him? And the Cyberium A.I., which is much discussed, doesn’t factor at all into the plot. Again, Chibnall appears to be saving it all for next time. He remains front and center in “Ascension,” but frustratingly his character is not deepened all that much. In some ways, you could say Chibnall did something similar with the two-part season opener “Spyfall,” but that first episode had the benefit of its high-concept spy pastiche premise.Īshad was a strong presence in last week’s outing, serving as a fascinating Frankenstein’s Monster of a Cyberman who was curiously full of emotion – rage and viciousness, you understand, not love and laughter. ![]() As the plot description above makes clear, “Ascension” is a very a simply plotted narrative which means the pace somewhat stops and starts. Here, showrunner and writer Chris Chibnall is arguably reserving too much for the finale which means this hour felt undercooked. The first half of a two-parter is difficult to nail as you have to deliver an entertaining ride while deliberately holding back all the best stuff until the second half. The Doctor and Ryan end up with elderly hermit Bo Sharmas, cosplaying Luke Skywalker in The Last Jedi, while Ryan, Yaz and assorted humans get trapped on a Cyberman carrier ship. The Time Lord and her team quickly befriend a band of survivors but are split apart. ![]() All this is to say that I had high hopes going into “Ascension of the Cybermen,” but unfortunately I found it rather underwhelming – though it was by no means a failure.įollowing on from last week’s “The Haunting of Villa Diodati,” which introduced Ashad the Lone Cyberman from the future, this episode kicks off with the TARDIS team arriving in said future – a dark period where both humanity and cyber-kind have almost wiped themselves out in a great war. The fact that the final story was a two-parter also added to the hype. Season 12 has sported much more serialized storytelling, however, dropping some major twists along the way that have promised a huge, shocking conclusion. Whatever you felt about Doctor Whoseason 11, you have to admit that “The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos” was a very weak finale, with the lack of story arc that year and lackluster plotting of the last episode meaning the run ended on a whimper rather than a bang.
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