Steven Moffat is a writer whose work I have very mixed opinions on; this is mainly because he often writes stories that are really good but also ones that miss the mark so much that it's painful to sit through - so you can imagine my trepidation when it came to seeing Boom; his first script since 2017 - would it be a masterpiece or flop so hard it'd be laughed at for all time?

Going in, my expectations were low. They were exceeded, but not by much.

This isn't Moffat's best script by any margin, but it's also not his worst. It sits comfortably in the middle, I think, in “meh” territory. As expected, it has Moffat's brand of snarky companion, death fakeout, walls of exposition and an ultimately rushed conclusion - he's predictable in that regard, but it's the new things he brings to the table this time that both tickle my funny bone and rub me the wrong way.

The criticism of religion-based warfare is completely justified - such a thing is never a good idea, especially if said belief system is corrupt in and of itself. Controversial subject matter? Sure. Bound to alienate some viewers? Absolutely. Moffat is well aware of the effect this storyline will have on viewers, but his way of handling the subject does bring up some valid points... it's just hilariously ironic to me that he has the Doctor become preachy about it.

Ruby is well-handled and has some great moments to shine. You can tell Millie Gibson is having a great time with this character and exploring how she reacts to any given situation. I'd argue Ruby is the most realistic depiction of a 21st-century companion since Bill and Moffat clearly understands how to write a character like this well. Some have noted similarities in her dialogue to Clara, and I wonder whether that was intentional or not. It's fun, though.

The love arc feels very haphazard and kinda thrown into the proceedings with little care or thought. The plot just stops so Mundy and the other soldier can awkwardly skirt around the fact that they clearly have the hots for each other. The fact that this subplot is what puts Ruby out of action as well is just irritating.

The attacks on capitalism, while just as valid as the religion-based arguments, took me out of the story a bit. I just felt like Boom was retreading Oxygen's tracks and had nothing different to say about capitalism that hadn't already been said there.

Susan Twist was fantastic as the villain and I'm really curious to see how and where she shows up again. In fact, all the supporting cast were just fun in general, particularly the dad. Speaking of, I can't help but think the story might've been called Kiss Kiss Bang Bang at some point given the dad continuously says “kiss kiss” throughout the proceedings.

I also kinda felt Boom should've been more of a Doctor-lite story given he's out of action for most of the proceedings via standing on the landmine. That being said, the marketing for 73 Yards seems to indicate that it'll be a Doctor-lite adventure so maybe having two back-to-back would be a bad idea, I dunno.

Is this story better than those that preceded it? No. Is it bad? Also no. It's good, but not the cream of the crop. And to all those who are praising this like the king has returned to make Doctor Who good again, remember we've got the rest of the season to go. There may be more episodes queued up that'll blow Boom out of the water. Don't bet the farm on this being the best episode of the season just yet.