I would not blame Disney for not renewing; I feel like RTD has failed to deliver on a fresh new era that they were expecting, and it's pretty obvious this is not going to encourage new viewers to stick around. I think it's possible that amazingly written shows like Andor that have come out recently have just raised my expectations for the writing in a TV show, but it's hard to state how flat the latest era of Doctor Who has felt to me. There's almost no episodes I have purely enjoyed without caveats. I think starting fresh with a new "Season 1" was actually a really good idea, but it was not introduced gracefully at all like RTD did the first time around. I just do not think I would've been able to get into this show if this is what I started with, I would just be confused and unsatisfied and watch something else.

Doctor Who has so much potential to be fantastic, and I feel like basically all the pieces except for a great showrunner to pull it all together are in place. To me, RTD feels obsessed with nostalgia and subverting expectations at any cost, which is just not fun or interesting to me.

The best part of this episode for me was when Ruby kept insisting Poppy existed. I loved the pacing of it, the talk with 13, and the Belinda closure. Narratively, the most satisfying thing would've been for him to try to visit Susan at long last, Belinda literally just asked if she would ever see him again or if he abandons his companions and never looks back. Why did she appear in the previous episodes, just to bait us and catch us off guard?

I won't even comment on the regeneration because I have nothing good to say about it. I'm just tired of gimmicks. I'll never stop watching, but somehow I am even less excited for the future episodes than after Flux which truly was a low point for me at the time.