Sunday, February 14, 2021

Season 15: Episodes 14-15 (Season Finale!)

Episode 14: The Shadow of Death

Lady Penelope reluctantly travels to Gallifrey to bring the estranged Narvin home and discuss the War Lords situation with the Powers That Be… But what should have been a brief (if begrudging) diplomatic visit soon turns into something far more sinister. The shadow of death is hanging over the Time Lords… and the Rani seems to have taken complete control!

Episode 15: Memento Mori


The shadow of death hangs over Gallifrey… As the recently returned Narvin and the members of the Omega Lodge carry out a coup, Penelope uncovers the hidden power behind the Rani’s political intrigue and morphic manipulations – in the person of the (alternate) Master himself, who has once again managed to cheat death. Can the Time Lady beat him at his own game?

 

It was a great two-part finale, with quite a few moments of intense emotion…  Its theme obviously highlighted the season title (“Regenerations”), with a Master-controlled Rani having managed to rob the Time Lords’ remaining regenerations, suddenly putting them face to face with the spectre of their own mortality and bringing Gallifreyan society to a state of angst-fueled paralysis.

 

This season finale also allowed us to tie up several ongoing narrative threads regarding the relationships between the Time Lords of Gallifrey and the Time Lords of Avalon, including Lady Penelope’s outspoken hostility toward Gallifrey, Susan’s ambivalent loyalties and the Doctor’s own status as an eternal renegade…

 

It ended with a “liberated” Gallifrey, thanks to the efforts of Penelope (who will probably never come back to the place...), a nicely plotted coup by Narvin and the Doctor’s own scientific triumph – yes, he did manage to “reverse the polarity” on the Rani’s infernal device and restore the stolen lives of (most of) his former compatriots, before declining the Council’s offer of rulership and flying back to Avalon with Penelope.


THE END - for now!  See you in a few months for Season 16!