What an absolute mess this has made.  I was quite enjoying Season Two, at least up until a certain point.  We were having some very fun episodes, the mystery around Belinda was intriguing enough without ever getting too intrusive, and I was ready to optimistically hope for something a little more thoughtful in a finale with The Reality War after The Empire of Death was such a disappointment last season.

Sadly, though, in a lot of ways The Reality War isn't much better.  I'm hesitant to join in with the chorus of people decrying this as the worst finale ever.  That simply isn't true.  It has some very thoughtful, interesting, and intriguing moments.  That part where only Ruby can remember Poppy was genuinely haunting.  It left me thinking a lot about loss, grief, and the nature of memories.  There's something very interesting and cool in a story desperately trying to break out.  The moments with Jodie's return and Ncuti's regeneration were great - bittersweet in that both moments kind of feel like they represent missed opportunities for both of these Doctors, but entertaining moments just the same.

I can't defend the frankly embarrassing way the Rani and Omega were handled.  Even setting aside all the precedent and weight of the franchise imposing some reasonable degree of expectation on some level of quality control on these characters - if you had never heard of any of these stories before this would still be a tremendously disappointing take on any kind of villain.  Omega looks like a terrible CGI monster, is barely in the story, and brushes away Rani's character like the pointless distraction she always was this season.

It sucks.  As much as I can see the potential of the Reality War, as much as I feel this might be the best depiction of the 13th Doctor to date, and as much as I weirdly think the Conrad content was thoughtful and kind of well-written here - none of these things can make up for The Reality War stumbling on even the most basic beats of its own plot.  It's embarrassing, and could very well be what kills modern Who for good.  I don't want that to happen, but gosh is it hard to generate enthusiasm for this franchise when it puts out content like this.