Wish World is the seventh episode of the new season of Doctor Who. It stars Ncuti Gatwa as The Doctor and Varada Sethu as Belinda.
Spoilers ahead!!
General Thoughts on Wish World
One part of this episode I loved was how much it felt like the early episodes of WandaVision. The fifties sets and clothes with the underlying sinister vibes were perfect, especially with the implications about homophobia and how it fis with Conrad’s beliefs. I also liked that Conrad did actually return this season. Rogue’s cameo was really good and I like that he is what set’s off the Doctor’s doubt. I also hope that Susan returns in the next episode, but properly instead of a quick cameo.
However, this episode left me with a lot of questions about the baby, timelines, Poppy, and how the Doctor and Belinda even ended up being part of Wish World in the first place. As this is the first in a two part finale, I can’t accurately judge it without seeing the second episode.
The Rani and Mrs Flood
I still don’t like the dynamic between the Rani and Mrs Flood. I dislike how subservient Mrs Flood has become since the bigeneration and I can only hope that she will betray the Rani later on.
The Rani herself seems very similar to Missy. As she is known for being more experiment based, I hope that is why she’s trying to bring back Omega. I also hope that it’s for something interesting like bringing back the Time Lords, since Omega was part of the backstory of them existing (that may or may not conflict with the Timeless Child story line).
Disability and Ableism
Conrad not thinking about disabled people to even include them in his ideal world says a lot about his character. But more positively, it also gives the show a way to include more disabled actors, as well as bringing back Shirley. However, when Ruby finds them, they assume she’s able-bodied simply because she doesn’t ‘look’ disabled. While I don’t consider myself disabled and my health conditions aren’t severe enough to impact my every day life, they can massively disrupt my life. I can be affected for weeks, even though I don’t ‘look disabled’ but otherwise be capable.
Even though the viewers know that Ruby isn’t disabled, though she’s clearly dealing with some trauma, I feel like it couldn’t have been done better.
Overall Thoughts on Wish World
Overall, I thought that the episode was okay. It doesn’t seem particularly welcoming for new viewers who will probably have to Google who Omega is. After probably doing the same for the Rani and Susan last week, it seems a bit much. But, it has an interesting premise but leaves me with so many questions, I’m not sure the finale will answer them all in a satisfying way.
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Want to read another of my blog posts about Doctor Who? Check out my thoughts on the last episode, The Interstellar Song Contest here.