Doctor Who series 8 - Dark Water (episode 11) [TV Review]

I know that this blog post is late. I was laid low with food poisoning, and that sucks. So I missed several updates but this one had to be done. I will not miss an episode of Doctor Who.

"Mind the bus. What bus? Splat." - Lister, Red Dwarf

This episode is a complete and total mishmash. There are dark parts, serious bits, great drama... and yet the end of the episode is an almost abject let down. Not completely but almost completely.

4 out of 5 stars

Say "no" again so I know you mean it.

I mean we have the Doctor revisit things like the Sleep patches (from Tennant's era, right?) or not, and temporal paradoxes.

However... when did the Tardis Key become the Ring of Power? Did I miss that? I mean, it is an obvious trope, so why not use it. But did I miss that somewhere in all the years of Doctor Who?

I assume that a lot of people caught the door symbol.
I thought it was rather obvious...

I mean this episode was really strong, really good right up until the end. The Doctor is amazing all the way through this one... again, right up until the end.

I love the massive city of the nethersphere. It's cool. Really cool. But... 

You know what?

SPOILERS!

Do not read one stitch more if you have yet to see the episode.

SPOILERS!

SPOILERS!

I'm not going to beat around the bush any longer.
Of all the options available for Missy to be, from an artificial intelligence (M.I.S.I.), to the Rani, to a new nefarious villain... bring back some other villainous character. Or even a non-villian... perhaps it could have been River, somehow messing with the Doctor. Anything, the possibilities were endless.

But no.   

Missy is the Master.
Damn it all.
I'm beginning to think that maybe Moffat needs to move on and let some fresh blood take over. He keeps circling around the same limited collection of villains. Daleks, Cybermen (oh, yeah they're back), and the Master. We need something new.

And still the episode in general was good. That's the sad part. He's becoming a hack, but still producing generally fun episodes. Doctor Who is about a time traveling mad man in a blue box, there should be no limitations... but Moffat has begun to seem limited.

We'll see how the last part of the finale turns out.

Previous reviews:
Previous Doctor Who Series 8 reviews:
- Episodes 1 & 2: Deep Breath & Into The Dalek.
- Episode 3: The Robots of Sherwood.
- Episode 4: Listen.
- Episode 5: Time Heist.
- Episode 6: The Caretaker.
- Episode 7: Kill the Moon.
- Episode 8: Mummy on the Orient Express.
- Episode 9: Flatline.
- Episode 10: In the Forest of the Night.