This was basically a set up episode, basically leading us into the finale, and while it was nice seeing the Doctor and the fam being proactive and actually going after the Cybermen, it felt incomplete. It was such a set up episode, that it didnt really feel much like a full episode on its own, which I guess means that how I feel about this episode will all depend on how next week and goes and what the pay off to this all is.
None of the survivor characters made a huge impression, except maybe the woman Graham was hanging out with, and the old gatekeeper guy. I did like seeing the Doctor get rather angry and yelling, in general this season has given her a lot more to do and allowed her to show a wider range of emotions, and her fear for the fam (and humanity at large) when it comes to Cybermen is a good show of character consistency, considering the Doctors various Cybermen related traumas. It really sells how big this threat is, and the Cybermen look really cool, and I like seeing the various types and models.
The most interesting parts to me were the Brendan scenes, mainly because I have no idea what the hell is going on. Is this all a simulation, and Brendan is the Timeless Child, and his adopted father and boss are Time Lords? Maybe this is how the Time Lords created regeneration, they used this kid to give him multiple lives, then "killed" him and started all over again until they got the process down? I've heard a lot of guesses that he is Ashad, but I think that this will get tied into the Galifry plot, maybe even tied into the humans fleeing to Galifry. Maybe the early Time Lords used the refuge humans to "improve" on themselves and thats the big terrible secret? Or something, I am probably wrong, but who knows?
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