Gd, what an incredible story! I haven't truly loved a story like this in a long time. It was everything Doctor Who should be - a little educational, telling a unique and deeply personal experience in a way that is accessible and relatable to a wide audience, and yet wholly and completely alien, too. And the Doctor - the Doctor, angry to kind, unforgiving to accepting, haunted by the past to hopeful for the future. What a range, and what an incredible performance - Ncuti really does capture everything the Doctor should be. There was also still some of that distrust from Belinda that makes her stand out as a companion, and really memorable one-off characters, too. The Story and the Engine - and, oh, what a story! 5/5 - spoilers from here on out.

The Barber's story was one that is incredibly familiar to many writers, inventors, and other creators - one of being overlooked, uncredited, having your work stolen, your name erased. Finally snapping and seeking revenge for that felt wholly justified, and the fact that he was then awoken to the terrible price that would be paid for this revenge, the harm that would be caused, and was able to change his mind without seeming unreasonable for what he was doing before? Absolute masterpiece. I am so so glad this wasn't just another Pantheon god who had to be destroyed or otherwise defeated - this was a person, a human, the place where all these gods really draw their power. We bring them to life. They come from us. They are simply manifestations of the core elements of humanity - and so they, too, are human. Were once human. And so they, too, can make mistakes and feel emotions and be forgiven - or, as in this case, not forgiven. But the choice is there, because this time, he was a person. That story mirroring the Doctor's - with the Timeless Child, credit for their abilities being stolen, with that coward hiding behind a no-name and seeking revenge - that entire speech, where the Barber was in the midst of an identity crisis, was everything we see from the Doctor, too. The Doctor was really confronting himself.

I am so, so glad it was Fugitive - seeing a part of her story spilling out so we could see it, so the Doctor could remember that taken part of their life, all thanks to the machinations of the 'villain'. Seeing the Doctor be the villain in someone else's story because they did what they thought was right, but didn't think about the consequences - sounds like someone else I know (looks intently at the Barber). First of all, hell yeah doomed yuri (that both parties refused - such an underappreciated form of relationship), but also, it specifically being Fugitive, that one story the Doctor can't remember, except inside those four walls, except when confronted with her victim to bring her story to life? The first Black Doctor, who was escaping herself. Her future self, forgiven, being saved by the woman she couldn't free. Abby giving the Doctor the route to freedom, when Abby's freedom was once denied by that very same person? Genuinely, perfect. Every choice that was made in this story has me applauding - it all just fits so well. Plus, gives us new mysteries to ponder... who was that little girl who Belinda saw?

Belinda, the one who doesn't fit in this world that the Doctor calls home. Belinda, who can't get home herself, made to be an outsider everywhere she goes... Belinda, the ordinary person who has the greatest story of them all. Belinda, whose story is still being told, right before our eyes... Does she have someone at home, waiting for her? Is she expendable? Does she only matter for herself? No one's daughter, sister, mother, wife - we care about her story because of who she is. Because she is a person (and also if we're being honest with ourselves, because she's the only one who's been able to resist becoming the Doctor's latest codependent pet project and that's absolutely fascinating like come on who is she who are you Belinda Chandra hmm Chandra I wonder where I've heard that be- )

ANYWAY. Coughs. Speaking of people waiting back home, the way my heart skipped a beat when Omo mentioned Blue - I am so glad I read the prequel story, because I think that really added something to this, already knowing Omo's story, already seeing where he came from and now finally getting to see where he went. But, the episode ended with his story just starting to be told, opening up an avenue to go read that story ourselves - and then see where he went next (this episode), and then go back to see the start of his story, ad infinitum!

I don't think I really have anything clever to say about this one. I just really, really loved it, and I'm really, really glad that this story was able to be told. And, especially that we got this story on our screens. It's not just important that it's part of Doctor Who - it's important that kids are going to be watching this at home and learn that we can change our own futures, we can learn from the past, and, most of all, that no matter who we are or what we've done, the most important thing we can do is still to tell stories.