World of Who: Extremis, Pyramid at the End of the World, and Lie of the Land

This was the first three part story the show has had since it's return in 2005 though when the series was only 22 minutes, a three part story is generous. There was a great deal of brilliance to the first two episodes but I felt the third one was lacking after the first few bits. Again we are going to use the same method we did for the last episode. Ultimately I liked the story as a whole but the last part really felt weak.

The Doctor I think was great for the most part in these three episodes. If Capaldi had to remind me of any Doctor it would be either 3rd or 6th Doctors. He spends the first two episodes blind and it honestly is great for him as he gets to bring the Sonic Shades back and they have a purpose. Capaldi's Doctor shows a lot vulnerability in a more subtle way than his past three incarnations had. It is never the big things like losing someone he loves or his past that push him so much as the idea that he could fail. He doesn't want anyone to know he's blind because it will give his enemies and edge and two it will make people worry about him when he needs to worry about them, it's a great way to show how dedicated he is to protecting the people of Earth. It is also nice to see the Doctor face an alien threat he once again doesn't know and again an enemy that requires him to think it through. The Doctor's intelligence I think is great here. His memories which explained that it was Missy in the vault I felt really did lead up to something good as it shows how dedicated he is to doing something to help his oldest living friend.

Not gonna lie, I'm crushing on Bill quite a bit and these three episodes I think did her a lot of good. She really is in a lot of ways a spiritual successor to Rose Tyler and even Clara to an extent. I do like how she tries to have a life outside of the Doctor, making traveling not the only part of her life. This was something Moffat tried to do with Clara but it never really payed off. Clara's felt forced where with Bill it feels much more natural as it doesn't appear AFTER half a season of Clara as a mystery. If there is some big mystery to Bill it doesn't take precedence over her character. In the first episode Bill is played up more as an observer whereas in episodes two and three she alternates center stage with the Doctor. She spends more time wondering about what secret the Doctor is keeping and when she finds out that he's blind she is the one who grants the Monks control of the planet by giving him his sight back. The next episode is really good for Bill honestly until the Doctor reveals that he's been faking supporting the Monks. She picks up later in when she stops the Monks by implanting images on her mother. Her meet up with Missy I think was great because it showed that she was willing to die to save the world from the Monks. In Bill we see a lot of what people look for in a companion, the best of humanity, all the strengths and weaknesses all into one.

It is nice to see Missy back as the Master and I wasn't sure which version of the Master would be in the vault until Extremis. Gomez turned out a great performance, putting a take on the Master we didn't really see until the End of Time, a sort of tired and even sad version of the Moriarty to the Doctor's Sherlock. Whatever near death moment she underwent and whatever she is feeling in her solitary confinement seems to at least give the indication that she does regret the numerous beings she has killed. She seems to have only slightly changed in that she is still willing to kill people as she says that you have to kill whoever gave the Monks consent to stop their ability to broadcast in people's brains. With the news of John Simm returning, I wonder if Missy regenerates into Ivana to then become John Simm's Master?

The Monks I would say worked as a more upped version of the Silence. They work in secret and don't rule the planet in the same conventional way like the Daleks, Cybermen, and the Zygons. Instead they study a planet and then wait for a situation they can manipulate to get the planet to consent control honestly and they use that person to send the mind control broadcast. It's a great idea but there isn't a lot to make them stand out as great villains or enemies outside of this story which I think falls apart around the third episode.  

The biggest weakness of this story was the third part. This wasn't because of the ending but because the Doctor was never in any real danger nor was he any great threat to Bill and the planet, he was just pretending and as great as the fake regeneration scene was, it feels like a poorly handled tease. Nardole gave a great performance in the first episode but never really did anything else. Was this story great? It was all right but the last third left me wanting. It reminded me a little of Secret Empire with the Monks being Steve Rogers and HYDRA in how they are given power out of trust and Steve slowly inserts HYDRA control.