The Vanquishers
As the Doctor tries to figure out what’s going on, Azure and Swarm start to attack him. The Doctor is able to fend them off for a while, but eventually they manage to break through his defenses and take him down. In the end, the Doctor is left in a state of confusion and vulnerability.
Meanwhile, super Yaz manages to take out the impending Sontarans, courtesy of a quick grappling hook. This opens up a door which sends ripples of lightning out that just so happens to hit their probic vents. Righteo then. ..
Anyway, Kate shows up right as Yaz and the others jump through one of the tunnels which leads to the Doctor teleporting into their location too. There’s also a version of the Doctor with Karvinsta and also with Swarm too. With a very loose explanation (and not a very good one at that) all three different versions of this Doctor work together to thwart the threat of the Sontaran fleet, which rock up on Earth alongside the Grand Serpent. ..
Aboard Karvinsta’s ship, the Doctor flies full force into the Sontaran ship. However, the shields activate allowing her to freeze just prior to that, serving as bait with Karvanista while Bel gets to work saving the day. The thing is Karvanista used to be the Doctor’s companion once upon a time, but a poison injected in his brain means he’s unable to talk about it. ..
Dan confirms that Yaz was “brilliant” in her two year absence, but Kate Stewart has more pressing concerns to discuss.
The Sontarans have returned to raid the planet, and this time they appear to be enslaving the world. The only way to stop them is by finding their weakness - chocolate. ..
The Doctor and his team of psychic operatives show up at the exact corner shop that the Sontaran commander is at and it allows him to make a deal with the Commander in charge, Shallo. In exchange for their unlimited access to chocolate, the team agrees to give him access to psychic powers. With a cringe-inducing utterance of “choco-late” the plan looks set to go wrong.
The Doctor and his team of operatives are on a mission to destroy all spatial objects in 1901. However, they are joined by Jericho and Claire, who want to do the same thing. This team is very dangerous, and they are looking for a way to mass genocide all spatial objects.
The Doctor’s desire to allow life to prosper (unless they’re all displaced and threatening to mass around Earth of course. Intergalactic refugees are a big no no for this doctor.) Azure and Swarm intend to allow the flux to destroy everything, but in doing so with a constant destructive loop so they can watch it happen again and again.
Meanwhile, Karvanista learns that the entire Lupari fleet have been destroyed, jettisoned out into space in the wake of the Sontarans attacking. With Karvanista heartbroken, he remains dead-set on taking out the Sontarans and gaining revenge. At the same time, Vinder and Diane continue to work through their prison they’re stuck in as the scene cuts across to inside Passenger temporarily.
The Doctor is interrogated by two versions of her own self, both of which demand an explanation for why she’s there. Neither of the versions are willing to give one, and so the Doctor is left at the mercy of the Grand Serpent. Only, she’s stopped by other versions of herself, which both show up and turn the interrogation against this weird creature. That’s it, that’s all we get.
The Doctor and his team of doctors manage to psychically link with Vinder and Claire, and after splitting up the operation, they were able to bring them both onboard. After allowing the two different echoes of the Doctor to go in opposite directions, this allowed them to complete their mission successfully.
Bel and Vinder get their big reunion while Diane and Dan also get their reunion…for 3 seconds. For now, it’s time to work on the big final Flux event, which the Doctor and Kate Stewart both realize that the Sontarans are intending to use to their advantage. Specifically they intend to use the Lupari ships to shield them while bringing in the enemy fleets to fall to the Flux event.
The Doctor is horrified that a lowly soldier blew up all the Sontaran ships. Karvanista has been working with the Doctor and they double-cross the Sontarans, thwarting their shields, destroying the fleet and exchanging big high-fives as the Sontarans are obliterated. The Doctor even shows up to taunt them too. Mass genocide once more, and this time the doctor is watching it all take place!
With the end of the universe, the Doctor uses Passenger to serve as a conduit for the Flux, absorbing all the energy and saving everyone that’s left from total annihilation. ..
Meanwhile, the Doctor arrives on Atropos where Azure and Swarm “ascend” courtesy of the manifestation of Time. “Beware of the forces that mass against you and their master.” It says, teasing what’s to come next year during Chibnall’s final three specials. Soon after though, the Doctor is rejoined together and back aboard Karvanista’s ship.
Doctor: Goodbye, everyone. I hope you all find happiness in the future. ..
With the Flux destroyed, Azure and Swarm just gone and nothing really explained, Yaz, Dan and the Doctor head off for the final three specials before Chris Chibnall departs and Russel T Davies returns.
The Doctor holds a fob watch from her past that she decided to keep safe deep within the TARDIS.
The Episode Review
The conclusion of “The Angels Take Manhattan” was a dismal affair. The episode started off well enough with the stand-alone segments, but everything else was just not up to par. The Sontarans were particularly bad this time around, and the Weeping Angels were not much better. Overall, this was an unenjoyable episode to end an awful six-part series. ..
The good news is that, despite some glaring plot holes and a lack of cohesion, Episode 6 was still an entertaining watch. The bad news is that it’s clear that the writing team behind this project are struggling to keep up with the high expectations set by the previous films. ..
The Azure and Swarm plan is to destroy everything and everyone in revenge for the Division and Doctor thwarting them some time in the past. However, this is not all; even with none of our supporting characters in any sort of peril, they are destroyed in a matter of minutes when the final confrontation occurs. This is despite propping these guys up as massive villains, which makes them very dangerous.
This season, the Doctor has been neglecting his own morality again. The companions and supporting characters have been nothing but terrible.
This episode was a bit of a let-down. Dan started out quite promisingly, but quickly devolved into an underused comedy sidekick. Most of his lines were used to exude reinforcement for how amazing Yaz has been. Of course, she singlehandedly destroys the three Sontarans this episode and then goes on to play second-fiddle to the doctor. Or Doctors I should say. ..
This season has been a mess. There’s no point in trying to understand it, all of it is supposed to be nonsensical. Speaking of which, is the entire universe now completely ravaged after the Flux event?
This season has been a disappointment, with a lack of excitement and a sense of grandeur that was once present. The decision to have a longer Who story is a welcome one, but the pacing and characterisation are poor.
Diane, Claire, Dan, and Professor Jericho have been underused this season. The indifferent subplot involving Vinder and Bel is quickly solved and then never mentioned again. There’s not really any sort of big send-off either. After a whole chunk of this season was taken up with trying to bring them together, it’s all just over without much aplomb. ..
We have three more specials left with Chris Chibnall before Doctor Who may finally get back on track. And up next is a nice New Year’s Day special with Daleks. This will be a nice change of pace!
