'Doctor Who' Finale "The Reality War" Shakes Up the Franchise All Over Again

Russell T. Davies wraps up the second (and possibly final) season of Doctor Who on Disney+ with an hour that goes for broke in every respect. "The Reality War" is an epic spectacle of the sort that Davies has always loved as a showrunner — a finale that brings fan-favorite characters together for a final stand against the potential end of the world and sees the universe saved by the power of love and friendship. We've seen this before in various forms; however, for the most part, the emotional beats work, even if the plot is held together by little more than spit and a prayer. 

A bonkers hour that features everything from the (ridiculously easy) defeat of a classic foe to a surprise regeneration for star Ncuti Gatwa, "The Reality War" has well, everything. Virtually every character from Gatwa's run (even Nicola Coughlan in a roundabout way) makes an appearance as the story tears through plot points at breakneck speed, meaning that most of its reveals and twists are more underwhelming than they should be. 

(The return of Omega kind of sucks, and we should say so.) 

As the second half of last week's "Wish World," the series tries to make the existence of Poppy, suddenly reimagined as Fifteen and Belinda's child, the emotional linchpin around which everything turns, via extended exposition, which Davies lives for. Unfortunately, it doesn't work for the simple reason that it's crazy to have a farewell hour so focused on the Doctor's ability to procreate (not even his legacy, his literal children) and never, not once, say the name Susan. (Especially when we've been seeing visions of her for two weeks!)

The Poppy stuff is affecting, only because Gatwa sells the magic and impossibility of her existence so hard, and that Fifteen ultimately faces his regeneration with joy and hope for her sake is moving stuff. However, it's doubtful that this is how any of us thought this particular era of the show would end, and it's okay to be upset and disappointed about that fact. 

The actual plot of this episode is as bonkers as any Davies finale. "The Reality War" is crammed full with about a half dozen major subplots, most of which speed past with little to no time to breathe. Thanks to a sudden assist from "Joy to the World's" Anita, now a manager at the Time Hotel from the Christmas special, the Doctor escapes the collapsing bone palace, reclaims his identity, and manages to convince everyone in UNIT Tower that they're living in a false reality. 

What follows is a nonstop burst of events: Kate Stewart uses implanted chips to wake up all the UNIT agents out in the field; Ruby, Mel, and Shirley all regain their memories. Donna's daughter Rose is restored, while the Rani proceeds to monologue about her evil plan. 

(It involves retrieving Omega to use his DNA to rebuild Gallifrey and the Time Lord race. Once again, literally zero people suggest someone perhaps calling Rose's Uncle Fourteen, also a TIME LORD, at any point during all this for some reason!!) 

Anyway, the Rani manages to bring Omega back from the Underverse, a comically giant stone monster-type entity that bears no resemblance to a Time Lord, who proceeds to literally eat her, wrapping up the story of the Rani's return with disturbing and disappointing speed. Mrs. Flood, now the only Rani, peaces out immediately, as the Doctor uses the Vindicator to drive Omega back into Hell. Belinda spends most of this final battle locked in a specially constructed cell outside reality with Poppy, in the hopes that she'll still exist when it's all over, and the UNIT team gets to shoot a variety of lasers at the giant bone beasts. 

On the plus side, this hour is fully Ruby Sunday's time to shine. From choosing to treat Conrad with the kindness he never showed her, to fixing the broken reality not once but twice, her dogged determination and self-confidence do nothing so much as illustrate how far she's come. Millie Gibson felt more like the primary companion of the whole finale. While I love that endlessly for Ruby, who has come so fully into her own over these two seasons, the fact that Belinda's journey fizzled out so badly is extremely frustrating. 

Even if you couldn't quite keep up with all the timey-wimey madness that followed — Was Poppy real? Is Poppy the Doctor's child? Did Belinda somehow have a child the entire time of her journey in the TARDIS? (Maybe all three?)— the emotional heft of its solution still hits hard. That the Doctor was willing to sacrifice himself to ensure the existence of a universe where Poppy lives is fairly gut-wrenching stuff. Particularly in that, in doing so, he's lost the daughter he was so excited to have. (In the new reality, Poppy is solely Belinda's daughter, and the reason she was so convinced she had to get home by May 24th. (That was when her mother, who was babysitting the child, had to leave.) 

None of this makes a lick of sense. What's worse, it all rewrites Belinda's story in uncomfortable ways, essentially binding her to motherhood in a move that doesn't feel entirely natural for the character we've just spent a full season watching. All complaining aside, Gatwa's regeneration is pretty perfect. Given the internet scuttlebutt that insisted the ending of this season had to be reshot earlier this year, it seems likely that Fifteen's regeneration perhaps wasn't always meant to take place at this particular moment. If that's true, and Davies and friends had to cobble this all together last minute? They deserve a gold star because this hit just the right balance of bittersweet emotion.

Gatwa's regeneration gets helped along by a very special guest: Thirteenth Doctor Jodie Whittaker. There's something so unexpectedly perfect about seeing Whittaker and Gatwa share the screen, two actors who have been such groundbreaking forces behind pushing Doctor Who to be its best and most inclusive self. Like much else about this hour, the fact that Thirteen is pulled out of her timeline to help him calculate time vortex energy doesn't make any sense, but (also like much of the rest of this episode), it's lovely all the same. Their brief interaction is full of perfect tiny moments (the Tennant shade! the Yaz shout-out!), and Thirteen's reminder that Fifteen can't face regeneration in fear is surprisingly moving. 

(Not for nothing, Whittaker remains such a great Doctor, and her brief appearance here is just another reminder of how poorly she was served by so many of Thirteen's stories.) 

It's genuinely heartbreaking to say goodbye to Gatwa's Doctor, who has felt so refreshingly different in so many ways from his predecessors. It's difficult not to think that this is all happening too soon. Fifteen's sacrifice is noble, of course, but you can hardly argue that he's completed some sort of necessary arc that's led up to this moment. (The Susan hints felt as though it was maybe leading to some sort of reckoning about his family, but ultimately didn't go anywhere.) Christopher Eccleston's regeneration was also largely about the Doctor saving one life, but it also marked the culmination of a season-long emotional journey for that incarnation. Here, it's hard not to feel like regeneration came out of nowhere, and with little preparation for the audience. 

(I suspect there are behind-the-scenes reasons for this, and that Disney's refusal to commit to a third season until after the second aired may have played a role in Gatwa's decision to bow out. If that's true, it really sucks.)

Then there's the Billie Piper of it all. Having Gatwa regenerate into a former companion seems mad, as much of an obvious PR ploy as bringing David Tennant back for another run as the Doctor was a few years ago. (Though, I'll freely admit I was wrong about that.)  

It seems evident that Piper's involvement is meant to do a few things: Get normies talking about the show again in a way they really haven't since the last time Tennant came back. (The speculation is going to be nonstop.) Provide a bridge to whoever they cast as the Sixteenth Doctor, once the BBC and Disney decide whether they're breaking up after The War Between the Land and the Sea airs later this year. It feels very unlikely they'd cast a New Doctor without a new series order in hand, and while the BBC will almost certainly renew the show no matter what Disney does, their hands may very well be tied until the Mouse makes up their mind. 

But despite appearances, there's also almost equally zero chance that Piper is actually playing any version of the Doctor. 

"The Reality War's" end credits very specifically do not introduce "Billie Piper as the Doctor", a flourish every other actor who has played the Time Lord has gotten, including John Hurt (The War Doctor), Jo Martin (The Fugitive Doctor), and Tennant during his second go-round (The Fourteenth Doctor). This means that, while the episode's final moment suggests the Doctor is now wearing Rose Tyler's face, it's probably a red herring. The question then becomes, is Piper back as the Bad Wolf, the Moment, or something altogether new? This episode didn't address the Susan-sized elephant in the room; that twist may also be somehow in play. 

(My money's on Bad Wolf, for the record.) 

All in all, it's a strange ending to a remarkably strong season, full of equal parts warmth and uncertainty, an emotional goodbye to an actor none of us were ready to lose yet that somehow still left us with plenty of unanswered questions. (Susan? Rogue?) Now, Whovians everywhere face a hiatus of indeterminate length and an unexpected (outlandish) mystery, with no idea who the next Doctor will be. They'd better at least let Kate and Ibrahaim kiss on the Sea Devils show, is all I'm saying.

Doctor Who Seasons 1 and 2 are now streaming on Disney+.