He Who Moans Reviews: Doctor Who: Flux

Everything and the kitchen sink, and also the kitchen sink's friends and extended family
/ stubagful

[@sebastianesilva398]

My main criticism with Flux is that Chibnall and the rest clearly

[@drinnik]

Mary Seacole is such a good historical character for Doctor Who: a Jamaican widow opening a “hotel”’ in the middle of a war in the Ukraine. She was the best thing about that episode, but was criminally underused.

[@greghawkins59]

I'd love an episode where instead of the doctor stating the year, they walk past some locals who say something like "1850 is so gonna be my year"

[@cheese3277]

"doctor who flux is such an ingenious idea that never been don before" insert trial of the time lords right here

[@achromat666]

"It plays like a series of scenes, rather than a coherent narrative" is the crux of EVERYTHING Chibnall has done as showrunner of this show. Some interesting ideas here, lots of random characters all about, mix in some attempts at fan service and you get Chibnall Who. But it almost never equals a coherent story with a logical beginning middle and end. It's just a bunch of stuff that happens.

[@britanimations2002]

Just want it to be clear, the Daleks and Cybermen only fell into the trap for the soul reason that thee Sontarans owned the only possible defence against the Flux, so they would've been Fluxed if they didn't accept the Sontaran's proposal in the end.

[@ColHanko]

Petition to make “doctor who ducks” a thing

[@ealadubh4800]

Something's gone badly wrong when the heel-turn in The Five Doctors carries more weight and personal impact to the Doctor that we've actually seen than the one in Survivors Of The Flux does.

[@mudkipqueen920]

My biggest problem with the flux is that at the end, literally nothing gets fixed. Half the universe got deleted and it doesn't get repaired or even mentioned past the new years special.

[@chrispy3369]

Imagine if 13 was in Genesis of the Daleks. She would've connected those two piece of wire together without skipping a beat and genociding the entire Dalek race in less than 5 seconds. No "Do I have the Right?" just large scale genocide.

[@TAMThomasTAM]

The Doctor has been with Yaz her whole incarnation.

[@crpalstuck2966]

Series 11: Chris Chibnall attempting to make his version of the show be as accessible as possible to a wide audience and failing miserably due to writing

[@CallMeCrazyCallMePoor]

Looking back, the 13th Doctor's character arc was about not letting her past mistakes define her and trusting others. She was introduced as a rejuvinated, motivated doctor trying to project an optimistic disposition and throwing herself into conflict without explaining herself to her companions. Then she was given a reason to doubt herself, her hidden past, and tries to carry the burden alone.

[@MerelyAFan]

Really, Flux is Chibnall repeating the same problem of execution he had in Timeless Child; potentially interesting ideas aren't explored due to the pacing and overemphasis on having shocking reveals. Thus, the whole enterprise becomes the television equivalent of jangling keys in front of the audience (Sontarans! Weeping Angels! Fugitive Doctor!) so they don't think about what little answers they're actually getting or the actual lack of depth from the character drama.

[@EditedAF987]

The Grand Serpent being exiled reminded me of the scene from Phoenix Smith’s Doctor who parody fan films where the Doctor just resolves the plot by telling Razzilon that he’s banished, so Razzilon just casually leaves.

[@JAProductions494]

If the episode count was cut down due to COVID then I understand. What I don’t understand is why they kept all of the same plot points and just CRAMMED it all in 6 episodes. Would it really have been a loss to cut one of the plot lines to allow the series to flow better?

[@pious83]

To think, before this, I was quite looking forward to the return of serials to Doctor Who. A modern storyline akin to The Invasion or Genesis of the Daleks... Turns out Chibnall didn't know how to structure a serial, full stop.

[@RobTFilms]

It is super fucking weird that they introduce Dan as a companion, and he barely spends any time with The Doctor. I remember in the build up to Flux they were promoting Vinder as another new companion, and that they'd focus more on Yaz's mental health, both of which didn't even happen?

[@ealadubh4800]

I think the fact they used the Impact font for the captions - the default font for all memes ever - is the most telling thing about what The Halloween Apocalypse thinks of itself. LOOK LOOK LOOK AT THESE IMPORTANT AND IMPACTFUL THINGS THAT WE KNOW MAKE NO SENSE OUT OF CONTEXT BUT YOU'LL BE REFERENCING FOREVER.

[@KeplersDream]

Anyone remember the old game 'The Movies'? The AI generated movies that your studio produced consisted of random scenes cobbled together in ways that were head-scratchingly baffling and if there was any semblance of sense, it was purely accidental. Chibnall used it to write this mess.