For an episode that owes a lot of it's success to the message it's trying to convey, it's infuriating that an entirely separate message that slips through the cracks is what absolutely ruins it for me, because hardly anyone has managed to look past the extremely heavy-handed message in the forefront, to see a really ugly one lurking in the background in plain view. Don't get me wrong, the message at the forefront is one the world sorely needs, and it makes me happy that this episode is doing so well because they dared to say it with their whole chest, it's the message it's tied to like a ball on a string that I find absolutely repugnant. I'm, of course, talking about this episode being sickeningly pro-military.

This episode has many moments that explicitly tell you that UNIT, a *military* organization of which the show has previously been critical in the past, are unquestionably the good guys. The main character of the episode is even a part of it, and to criticize them is to put the people that they bravely protect on a daily basis, in jeopardy. This is why, according to the episode, Conrad is a dangerous, foolish, practically MAGA-level delusional scumbag who will bring ruin to the world with the disinformation he's propagating about things he can't even begin to fathom.

This comes at a time where an anti-military argument is sorely needed in the world. Disney have streaming rights to Doctor Who, and they've made it painfully clear their stance on the Israel genocide, and the last thing we need is to see an episode that shares their view on certain military organizations that have at least once in their history tried to commit genocide (See Doctor Who and the Silurians) getting absolute rave reviews. This is why, despite the fact that I'll freely admit that when i watched it, on a base entertainment level, in a switch-your-brain-off-and-watch kind of way, i was captivated by every second, i just can't look past the extremely problematic message that I only recognized when looking back on it with analytical brain.

P.S. For these reasons, for the love of Christ, can we please stop suggesting that Pete McTighe should be the next showrunner, or is likely to be the next showrunner. We really don't want to be willing that into existence, because you know RTD is likely to be listening.