Ten incarnations of Doctor Who will participate tonight (Thursday, April 23) in a fundraiser for the National Health Services. The actors will gather (virtually, I assume) to send a message of support.
Update (thanks Lex!):
Enjoy The Big Night if you’re in England, or otherwise able to get access to BBC.
The two-part conclusion of this season feels like old-time Doctor Who, but it also retcons a good deal of what we know, and raises questions that, presumably, will be the focus of the next season. Certainly, they didn’t answer them in this one.
We do, however, get to meet the Doctor’s mother, and we encounter a new mystery in the form of this Irish lad named Brendan.
It’s a light week, and it is getting lighter as The Doctor ends her season when she takes on the Cybermen. On Better Call Saul, Jimmy’s business enters new territory, our post! Black Lightning goes it alone again as the only show on this week from his Disappearing Compatriots. Our Good Doctor Shaun also ventures into unknown territory with a new mystery disease. Riverdale gets an Alice Copper documentary. Picard works with Soji to let her figure out what she is. Also, if you didn’t rush through it, Altered Carbon’s second season is still out there.
[All synopses (and titles) from Trakt.tv below the cut, except when there really aren’t any. (If a show’s synopsis is a spoiler to you, do not click More…)]
This season’s penultimate episode delivers a fairly solid story, makes effective use of location filming, provides clues to the latest destruction of Gallifrey, and introduces a mystery that will obviously be central to the conclusion: Who is Brendan? If nothing else, we have a Doctor Who episode that, for the most part, should please viewers both traditional and new.
We’ll post a proper review next week, after Part Two airs. Meanwhile, here’s a place to offer opinions, ask questions, and explain your timeless theories about Brendan’s identity.
The week seems severely front loaded, with most of the shows appearing this week, but there is still a surprise on Thursday. Before that, we travel time as Doctor Who races to the future to deal with the effects of the information given out at the end of last week. In calmer settings across the pond, the midwives deal with being homeless and drug addiction. Bet you didn’t see that coming, huh? Then, our Doggedly Caped heroes hit with new villains for Batwoman and Supergirl taking a look back for her 100th episode. Black Lightning (who does not have a cape) returns to Freeland to fight the epic battle, still without his new heroic friends in his new earth. The Flash has some more monkey business with Grodd, and the Legends shout Khan. The Good Doctor autopsies last week’s breakup. The Riverdale teens play the I Know What You Did Last Summer game. On Star Trek: Picard, Jean-Luc has to confront his time as a Borg again. That’s all that’s visible on my weekly schedule, which leaves the rest of the weekend to binge Altered Carbon season 2, this time with Falcon taking over the lead role.
[All synopses (and titles) from Trakt.tv below the cut, except when there really aren’t any. (If a show’s synopsis is a spoiler to you, do not click More…)]
After a couple of episodes that kicked the audience in the teeth with THE MESSAGE, Doctor Who serves up one of the season’s best episodes. It begins like a thrill ride, creepy and fun. The second half turns darker and more overtly thematic, but it feels like Doctor Who.
After the love hangover of last week, The Doctor takes us deep into historic literature, while Trixie works with a mother who can’t see how much help the Midwives are being. The DC shows switch up a bit, while Batwoman has a crisis of sisters, Supergirl continues the visit from Season One Winn, while the Flash brings us an Elongated Man episode, and the Legends try to work Zari back into the show. The Good Doctor keeps pitting his two girlfriends against each other, and our favorite retired Star Fleet admiral, with help from an attractive ex-Borg, visit the exciting site of Freecloud.
[All synopses (and titles) from Trakt.tv below the cut, except when there really aren’t any. (If a show’s synopsis is a spoiler to you, do not click More…)]
I’m a little late to this week’s review—and a little surprised by the intensity of the negative response it has received in some quarters. The episode has an extended PSA-leaning epilogue that feels decidedly out of place, and it’s more than a little confusing, but it’s also one of the more interesting episodes of this season.
This week features many lovely episodes, as it encompasses 💕Valentines Day💗! Life is a dream for The Doctor, while the Midwives deal with outdated (even then) birthing practices. Here my Domestic Continent, The Flash has to deal with an old enemy, but not Cupid for some reason, while the Legends end up in an 80s slasher flick, and Black Lightning chases down his Valentine. The Good Doctor deals with the horrible specter of social media, and the Riverdale “teens” come to terms with the fact that this is season four and they can’t really pretend to be in highschool after this season. Jean Luc Picard gets directed by Number One (Johnathan Frakes, not his dog.)
[All synopses (and titles) from Trakt.tv below the cut, except when there really aren’t any. (If a show’s synopsis is a spoiler to you, do not click More…)]
This week’s episode sets up an excellent, globe-spanning mystery. Some viewers might find the solution to be a bit plastic.