Stop the Clock

Doom Coalition #4.4

Released: 7 March 2017

Listened: 12/16/21

This is what it all comes down to. Unlike Dark Eyes, this ending was planned from the beginning, and John Dorney is writing it this time, so how does it come out? Well, OK. It’s a more personality-based story, instead of relying on big explosions and techno-wizardry, with the Doctor trying to get help from the Eight, and Helen trying to connect with Caleera through the brainwashing she’s suffered her whole life. The thing about “ticking clock” master plans is that they’re pretty easy to disrupt, especially with a lot of moving parts. And with time travel, it gets even more wonky. A good chunk of the emotional development is centered on Helen, who’s feeling frustrated at being out of her depth and making mistakes. That’s not unusual for a companion, but in contrast with Liv, who’s from the future, has spent longer with the Doctor, and has more “battle-ready” skills and experience, Helen’s feeling kinda useless, which leads her to recklessness. There’s also a nicely creepy call-out to the Red Lady, because Dorney’s really fond of that one, and I don’t blame him. So it does wrap up pretty completely, with a solid link to the next series, but the master-plan-pile-up feels a little muddled, and not as clean as I would have liked.