January 2 and Doctor Who (That Rhymes!)

The tree is out in the trash...if you decorated.

The second day of the year always brings out the snark in me.

Where's Seacrest? Where's Carson Daly? Where are the all of the other "B" level entertainers?

It just plays into my common sense way of "any day can be a fresh start." Why does January 1 have to make or break a year?

Answer: it doesn't.

So we're back at it today. Life is back to "normal."

Thankfully.

*****
Last night was the final Doctor Who episode until 2020. Who knew that I would embrace this show like this?

A father, that's who. See, when you're not sure what you have in common with your son, you try different things to create a bond. My dad was never the sports fan that I was, but I knew he watched a little more (especially the Yankees) to keep in touch with me.

Same with his love on MTV. Yes, you read that correctly. It allowed my then over-50 father to stay somewhat "cool."

I came to love Doctor Who more than ever thanks to Sean. It's what you do when you're a dad.

As for the just-completed season, the overall review is "meh." Some stories have been average. A few have been quite good.

What has been extraordinary (something Sean and I agree on) is the performance and chemistry of the main cast, led by Jodie Whittaker as the thirteenth time lord. Sean was not a fan of the announcement when it was first made, not for the gender-driven reasons that people thought (and I took a load of crap for expressing his concerns), but because of his own knowledge of the role. I kept preaching that the writing would be so important, and Whittaker would then need to flourish.

She did better than that, in our opinion. She had the quirks, the sense of humor, the rapid-fire patter, and the "wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey" touches that The Doctor needs. The character eventually focused less on being "she," and more on simply being The Doctor.

While it was initially said that viewers wouldn't see the classic monsters and villains, as opposed to new ones like T'zim-Sha (whom The Doctor called "Tim Shaw" to humorous effect), it was a relief to see the return of the Dalek in the January 1 finale.

Side note: put the show back on Christmas night. Having a show on New Year's Day really didn't change the impact. The story could have easily been built into a Christmas arc, but what do I know?

The companions each brought a certain charm as well, but they haven't really been flushed out. Yas and Ryan (played by Mandip Gill and Tosin Cole) are both, at best, still thin. Graham (Bradley Walsh) has shown the most depth (I'm trying to give nothing away in the hope you'll watch for  yourself). This is a solid take on the companions (courtesy Vulture).

With the next batch of episodes not due until 2020, I look forward to seeing if showrunner Chris Chibnall takes the show in the right direction.

Well then, I didn't expect to dive into the Whovian universe, but there you are.

Allons-y.