Doctor Who (2024) Season Finale Review – “Empire Of Death” – A Mediocre Death Kneel

One of the biggest problems that I’ve had with this new season of Doctor Who isn’t The Doctor, his companion, or even some of the mysteries that have been left in the various episodes; it’s that this season/series can’t seem to get beyond a certain level of mediocre. Not to mention, back-to-back episodes I felt were just plain bad and the worst stories I had seen from the show in my time. As my Doctor Who Season Finale Review will reveal to you all, that “mediocre-ness” didn’t stop. If anything, it just grew a bit bigger.

To recap, the end of the last episode saw a returning villain in Sutekh, and he’s got a bone to pick with not just The Doctor but all of life in the universe! Sure enough, he begins his rampage through his various “angels” and pretty much wipes out all life in the universe…because of how he was connected to The Doctor. To me, this was one of the best parts of the episode, as it highlighted “The Pyramids of Mars” ending from the Baker era and revealed that Sutekh has been on the Tardis the whole time, slowly growing as the “two” went throughout time and space. To that end, he would project an “angel” throughout every planet The Doctor visited so that they could ALL spread his “death dust” and help wipe out life. Logic issues aside, that’s pretty cool. And evil.

After all, within the span of the first few opening scenes, the entire universe outside of a few people had been wiped out. Sure, it was inevitable that it got reversed (more on that later), but seeing a villain truly win was enticing for a time. The keywords here… for a time… because as the episode moved on, it was clear that they were just going to make things happen, just in ways that defy logic, sense, and many other things.

Case in point, one of the biggest detractions from this episode was how The Doctor acted in key scenes. For example, while I loved his remorseful screams when he recounted how many times he’s had to watch the Earth die, and even the universe, it was so odd to see him say, “There’s nothing I can do.” He rebooted the universe at one point and stopped half the universe from certain annihilation just two series ago! Then, during another key scene with Ruby trying to meet her mother, he tried to convince her NOT to do that. Say what, now? After all that Ruby went through to find her mother, he’s trying to STOP her from seeing her. That doesn’t make sense.

Sadly, “that doesn’t make sense” filled my mind throughout the episode post-universal genocide. For example, in the scene where The Doctor meets the unnamed woman…we get no context WHY he’s on THAT planet, why SHE lived, or why that spoon (a reference to Capaldi’s Doctor, no doubt) was “so important” to that woman. Plus, they made it clear that the universe had been wiped out…and yet this woman was carrying on, only to die AFTER she gave The Doctor that gift. Plus, The Doctor specifically said that “metal was gone,” which is why he needed the spoon from the woman, and yet, in the NEXT scene, they got to a place that’s FULL of metal! So what the heck was that all about? The scene was meant to be important, but it felt like an odd interlude for me.

Which, sadly, brings us to Ruby. While she performed incredibly once again, especially when she met her mother, the ending to her “mystery” made NO SENSE in SO MANY WAYS! First and foremost, we find out that her mother…was just an ordinary woman. That’s it. She had no powers. Ruby wasn’t a god in some form or had used the Tardis (like Rose and Clara before her) to bend time in a way to help save the day…she was, emphatically, normal.

The Doctor’s explanation for how the mother “wrapped the universe around her” via the mystery of her identity, which blinded Sutekh, is all kinds of crazy and illogical. After all, how can you wrap the universe around yourself when only a handful of people know about her in any form? Before the last episode, the only people looking for her were Ruby, The Doctor, Ruby’s adoptive mother, and that small group during the goblins episode that looked into her. That’s not a lot of people to write a legend! The Doctor claimed that just like with other legends and mythologies, people grew her tale, but that’s not how it works! Plus, by that token, there are other people that Sutekh wouldn’t have been able to see throughout time and space. Not to mention, since her mother was still alive, she was killed by the dust!

Not to mention, the logic of her being “normal” is blown away by the circumstances of her leaving Ruby at the church. Why was she cloaked like that if she was just a scared 15-year-old? Remember, she left Ruby in 2004, not the 1800s! Also, they claimed that she pointed at the Ruby Road sign to name Ruby…but no one was around to see her, and The Doctor (who was there) didn’t name her! So that whole finger-point would’ve gone unnoticed by anyone at the church!

Oh, and let’s not forget that in the future, a freaking robot couldn’t find out who Ruby’s mother was, nor could The Maestro take the music within her because of the “memory” that was within her…so how did all of that happen if Ruby was “totally human” and her mother was just a normal woman? Are you seeing the gaps here?

Sadly, I’m not done with the logic breaks in my Doctor Who Season Finale Review. While our dear Sutekh was imposing, he was defeated with laughable ease! They tied a rope to him and dragged him through the timestream. That’s it. That’s all. They even tried to make a big deal of The Doctor “becoming a monster” and letting the god of death die…when…as I noted previously…The Doctor has killed many times before. And, once again, they ended the scene without showing the true “trauma” of him going through “what he had done.” Doctor Who Doctor Who Doctor Who Doctor Who 

Furthermore, Sutekh said it was the “perfect trap” to use the idea of The Doctor’s granddaughter being alive to lure him to where he needed to be…but that doesn’t make sense. First off, he came “into the Tardis” during the Baker era, LONG after Susan had left. Plus, based on the Tennant run in season 10, Susan was with the other Time Lords before he trapped them once again, but he never mentioned that it might have been Susan. Given ALL the other people that The Doctor had met RECENTLY, it would’ve been easier to lure him into a trap using them. Heck, use Donna or her daughter Rose! They were easy targets that were a lot less contrived.

That was arguably the biggest problem with “Empire of Death.” The plot was already a foregone conclusion due to everything dying, and then they kind of just rushed to the ending without much consideration for all that came before. And that was added onto by the STILL mysterious “Ms. Flood,” who is apparently a god herself, and teases the “horrifying end” to The Doctor…even though we KNOW that’s not going to happen! So, who is she? And how could she be “so powerful” to end The Doctor, but couldn’t even defend herself against Death?

Now, I will give credit to the ending of Ruby’s story…more or less. Ruby finally getting her mother in her life was nice, and the scene where they reunited was beautifully acted, as was Ruby’s “whole family” coming together. I do feel her “departure” from the Tardis was a bit rushed (and once again didn’t show the immediate aftermath of The Doctor dealing with this latest loss,) but I do understand WHY The Doctor let her go. After all, unlike SO MANY companions, he left Ruby in a better place than when she first met him. When was the last companion you could say that with? Doctor Who

In the end, while my Doctor Who reviews were rather grim at times, I did like parts of this episode, and it did feel “season finale worthy.” The problem was that it rushed through key parts, made light of others, and was head-shakingly illogical at other times. I don’t hate the episode, but I’ve seen better finales from Doctor Who than this. Better luck next time.