The Monthly Adventures #101 - "Absolution" by Scott Alan Woodward

So, I liked Absolution. Like, quite a bit more than I expected to. I've liked generally panned audios in this range before (Minuet in Hell and The Twilight Kingdom for example) but I could acknowledge why both of them were so hated, Absolution was genuinely pretty good. If not for its objectively flawed script, I would've rated it even higher than a seven. I have a soft spot for stories brimming with cool concepts and ideas and Absolution is definitely that; it's a gothic spiral into the mind of a character I already consider to be an underrated gem.

Through the void, C'rizz is hearing voices. The wails of the damned, calling out for help, for C'rizz's help. The Eutermisian's sins are catching up with him, his mysterious religious artifact - his Absolver - has been opened. The TARDIS has broken down in a forbidden sector of space, and C'rizz finds the sources of these calls: Hell itself.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

I have a soft spot for C'rizz; I cannot express how tired I am of having happy go lucky, energetic 20-somethings from contemporary England board the TARDIS and do nothing but fawn over the Doctor and hand him test tubes; hell, even though she's grown on me, I don't particularly like Charley since she's exactly this but from Edwardian England rather than whenever the series is airing. I think this is why I liked C'rizz so much, I've always wanted a companion that brings some sort of animosity to the TARDIS as it brings out such interesting storylines and C'rizz - the murderous alien priest with the voices of his victims in his head - was exactly what I wanted and, with him being the centrepiece of this story, I enjoyed the character work. Quite a bit, in fact.

Besides that, this story is just one cool concept after another. The unique, gothic and Boschian landscapes of Utebbadon-Tarria, the psychic forces destroying the TARDIS, the time rotor filling with blood, Absolution is a treasure trove of cool visuals and great ideas that simply fails trying to tie everything together neatly. Besides C'rizz, the real unmissable character work takes place between Eight and Charley, their last conversation alone is written well enough to give this story an up.

But, despite my enjoyment of Absolution, I have to acknowledge its many, many shortcomings. I won't deny that this story was rushed, as it so obviously is. All these great ideas I just mentioned don't get explored as much as they need to and C'rizz is shockingly the weakest link in this story. I did enjoy where his character ends up but so much that was set up is missed out in order to fit it in this story as his character was clearly not planned out enough between writers across multiple audios. C'rizz's death itself is pretty rushed and feels tacked on, like the story originally didn't include it, and his character's way too inconsistent throughout, I'm never really sure what side he's on. Absolution's greatest sin is being missed potential, if things were run a little better behind the scenes, I'm sure this would be considered an all timer.

It's objectively a guilty pleasure, but I was pleasantly surprised by Absolution, the atmosphere and concept behind it were so rich and well conceived that it just hit a soft spot for me and I'm honestly sad the story couldn't work it out better. I've always liked C'rizz, but he definitely deserved better than what he got, even if what he got was already pretty alright.

7/10

Pros:
+ Filled with a macabre, gothic atmosphere that lends a truly unique feel to the story
+ Bursting with dark and disturbing neat sci-fi concepts
+ Full of beautiful imagery fully realised even on audio
+ Set in one of the most unique and enthralling settings I've seen on audio
+ The final confrontation between Eight and Charley is masterfully written and a perfect climax to their character arc together

Cons:
- Clearly rushed in production and not as fleshed out as it could be
- C'rizz has a shockingly small part to play in the story and his character is all over the place
- The climax feels rushed and underbaked, the siege on the Citadel is over pretty quickly
- C'rizz's death itself feels tacked on and underwhelming, missing the emotional backbone it needed.