The Missy writers and performers continue to nail the balance between really quick-witted humor and really dark material. It's incredible that we get continually invested in the machinations of an objectively awful creature like Missy. Making the Monk a brain in a bag is the sort of inspired fun that works better in audio than anywhere else.

In the interviews that follow this episode, Goss talks about Michelle Gomez taking a script and running with it. You can hear that here in every line delivery, ever aside, every retort. What a gifted, dedicated actor that I hope we see more of in audio and on screen.

This episode also leans in. Yes, we have Missy plotting and the Monk suffering, but once it settles into its third act war games, nothing could be better than hearing how they one up each other. And we really hear it. The sound design here is brilliant — especially considering how many unique weapons and beings it has to depict.

This really, really dragged for me. Anything over an hour does tbh, and this story certainly didn't need it. It just kinda amounted to nothing, and I'm left quite disappointed in this opener tbh.