My Experience with Season 2 has been a rocky one. I cannot lie, the first Half of this season had two Episodes, which I really didn't like. One in the Well, which while it had plenty of great Elements, didn't click with me as much as I would hoped. And of course there was Lux, which while I really like had a few Things holding back. Ever since the Titles dropped, I was very thrilled and interested in this Episode. Frankly because I thought the Title was a bit, well.. dumb, but also because of its new Writer. The very first new one (without Co-Writer Credit from RTD) since Rogue.

So was this Episode, the certified Classic, that I was hoping for?

Not quite.

But it's very close and maybe on a Rewatch, I will bump my rating up. There are a few Things holding this one back, and one might even argue enough to really put it much down. I must admit Ratings are a bit of a weird Thing, I rarely think they truly represent my Thoughts on a Story compared to what I have written about a Story, so as always take my rating not too serious.

While there is a lot to like and even love here, there are also plenty of Things which I didn't love. The Music at times was a bit too loud, and the emphasis is on the 'a bit' Part, while I understood all the Dialogue, I wish the Music was a bit quieter to fully understand it. Maybe that's just a Me-Thing, but while I do really like Gold, I feel like his Scoring has been going a bit overboard in this Era. There are still plenty of great Uses of Music, but sometimes I wish the Volume of the Music was quieter. There are plenty of Moments, where this is the Case, but also enough for me to notice it and having an Issue with it.

I already read plenty of People talking about the pacing in negative Light, which I do get. I myself think the pacing is a bit off after a certain Moment (that being when we come to the Revelation where the Doctor knows Abby. I think around that Point was when I noticed the Pacing being a bit off. Then again I must admit with the Revival there are plenty of Episodes, some of which I really like, where I find there should have been more Time to flesh out Things. And fleshing out is a good Point to bring up, that too, I've seen mentioned quite a few times, while I do like what has been done with it, a Part of me cannot lie that more Time would have a great Difference here.

That all said, I still rate this Episode highly. While I do agree with plenty of Points against it, I cannot deny that for the very first Time in quite a while, I felt more intrigued by a Plot being unfolded in a televised Who Story in a while. And maybe just for that, I am a lot kinder to the Episode.

But let's come to the Positives of this Episode, shall we? While I sounded fairly negative for most of it, there is plenty here to genuinely love. For example, the nice short Cameo of the Fugitive Doctor. Would I have liked if it was longer? Yes. But this has been something I was begging Who to do for a while. A short Moment where we see a different Doctor in a Story without it becoming a full on Multi Doctor Story. Something, that I think the PROSE Big Finish Short Trips do very well, or other EU-Stories.

Ncuti really shines here. There is a lot that I love here and think this genuinely does a lot for 15. Him making friends with somebody when they were a Kid? Great stuff. Him talking about feeling safe at that Barber Shop? Excellent. In general, this might be one of my favorite Performance of his in the Role. As much as I do love his Way to go theatrical here, it's Moments where he calls the Barbers Claim to be false and burst into Laughter, that really do it for me.

And have I mentioned the Barber yet? While I am a bit puzzled with a certain few Things about this Character. His Performer Ariyon Bakare gives one of my favorite Performances of this season. He is so good in the Part, and I absolutely loved him here.

Visually, I really enjoyed what the Episode was going for! I also thought the directing was splendid here, some Close-Ups were just great!

Oh, and the Story itself (no pun intended)? Well as I said it could have done with a bit more fleshing out. Jumping straight to the End, we get another "Doctor overpowers Forces with his long Life". And while certainly an ending that doesn't appeal to me since its Overuse, I thought for this Story in particular it actually worked quite well. The Concept of telling Stories to feed an Engine suits this kind of Ending and makes it feel more earned than certain other Endings we have gotten over past Episodes. In general, the whole Idea is great, it feels perfect for a Show with so many Stories under its Belt. One as I said might argue those Ideas deserved a bit more Time, and I'd agree actually, but I thought what we got was a lot of fun and is just a very enjoyable ride throughout. There were also some clever Bits such as with 15's new Haircut being a Map, which I thought was a delightful bit. I will say I enjoyed the entire Side-Casts, even if I wish we have gotten more of them, they could have done with a few more Moments of fleshing out. Especially Omo, who was an enjoyable Presence but one that I wish we have gotten to know better. Shame that we haven't gotten all that much with Berlinda here, especially considering how little we got with her, but oh well.

Not to go on with my Rambles, I still want to highlight how much I enjoyed the Dialogue here, if anything, it was highly a Highlight of this Episode. I think you can really tell it was written by somebody new, which is exactly what I want from new Doctor Who. Writer Inua Ellams really delivered on that front, and I wouldn't mind seeing him write for the Show again!

While certainly flawed in many Aspects, I thought this one was still an excellent, enjoyable ride that really just brought me a splendid Time! I am very excited to see what Juno Dawson has in store for next Week, bring it on!