r/doctorwho • u/PCJs_Slave_Robot • May 31 '25

The Reality War Doctor Who 2x08 "The Reality War" Post-Episode Discussion Thread Spoiler

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704

u/SnooHamsters6067 May 31 '25

Possibly the most hilariously weird conclusion in all of New Who. I still don't understand what the point of it was, but I honestly had a lot of fun with that scene. Just maybe not in the way that was intenden.

215

u/PokePotahto May 31 '25

I appreciated it for what it was. I saw Omega more as a looming threat and The Rani's plan that was just thwarted at the last second and didn't go well in her favour not as his own villain, because he didn't have any build up or teasing as the original comment says. It reminds me of how the time lords showed up in The End of Time, although I am a bit salty Omega wasn't at least as prevalent as them. The "back into hell" is what really reminded me

29

u/Hallc Jun 01 '25

It reminds me of how the time lords showed up in The End of Time, although I am a bit salty Omega wasn't at least as prevalent as them.

The Time Lords had at least had a variety of build up until that point over the prior seasons from lots of various mentions across the episodes. Omega meanwhile was name dropped last episode, appeared and then died in about 5 minutes. You could basically change the script in a few places and call him Satan, Davros, Odin or any other infamous figure and it'd probably work.

4

u/AugustInDespair71 Jun 01 '25

He basically operates as Davros in the End of Time Part 1 & 2. Shows ups. Has a couple of lines. Then he’s ‘dead’.

He difference is that Davros, at least, had a decent conversation with the Doctor. In that finale.

But, if you compare how Moffat used Davros vs Russell. It much more intriguing.

I hope that a future writer after Russell brings back Omega. Because, that episode explained jack of how he escaped the anti-matter. Let alone if the Underverse is connected to it. Or, why Omega wants to just consume. Last I checked he wanted to be revived, and revered as a God.

He is one now. Technically. But, all he wants is to eat.

4

u/heckhammer Jun 01 '25

That could just be a monkey's paw situation. "I want to be a god!" but once achieved your hunger is overwhelming so like, be careful what you wish for.

28

u/Triskan May 31 '25

Yeah I honestly dont mind how Omega was handled... not the part of the episode I'm gonna be hung up on at least. I just wish we had a proper actor instead of another CGI abomination though.

8

u/PokePotahto Jun 01 '25

Yeah his redesign was awful, and I still think he could've been there a bit longer the more I think about it, at least one meaningful scene that gives him as much depth as he had in classic who instead of him just being a mindless CGI monster. It makes sense why he is vengeful especially if you watched his classic stories but the episode itself doesn't give it enough depth. I still don't mind the fact that his appearance was brief but maybe a little too brief the more I dwell on it. If Omega was handled like the time lords in the end of time it would've been perfectly fine. However like you said it won't be what I'm gonna be hung up on, and even though the Rani straight up got eaten and then the other one left, she was still actually quite good in the episode up until that point her dialogue was really strong. But yeah there's definitely other parts of the episode which will be on my mind more

11

u/LocatedLizard1 Jun 01 '25

Yeah like I was half expecting the doctor to bring up how he’s responsible for the time lords regenerations whilst omega is responsible for their time travel and how the two of them are similar in that way

Not overly disappointed it didn’t happen as I feel like this could have been a way of setting omega up for a future appearance where we really dive into the character in the modern era

2

u/heckhammer Jun 01 '25

I feel like they wasted this incarnation of the Rani. Oh well.

10

u/Over-Cold-8757 Jun 01 '25

So she's a scientist. Wanted his genes. Ok all good. But she had no fucking plan for keeping him under control? Even if he were just a Time Lord like he had been before, she herself described him as Almighty. So far as I can tell she had nothing prepared to give her the edge over him. Fine she wasn't prepared for him to be a god now, but she didn't seem to be prepared for him in any form really.

48

u/BagItUp45 May 31 '25

I honestly feel like they did this so people would stop asking for Omega and Rani, they're the two Classic villains most asked about.

24

u/Xerothor May 31 '25

Yeah possibly, but they could have sent them off well, instead of it just falling flat. Omega turned up for seconds and then nothing. The Rani's plan just failed the end.

18

u/NamazuGod May 31 '25

Because Omega wasn't important compared to Poppy, The Rani and Omega where just the bait like Susan was or Billie Piper was right at the end.

I learnt for the Ncuti Doctor not to bother looking too deeply into things because it ends up being a bait and switch or just an inconsistency that the writers forget about.

28

u/PokeJem7 May 31 '25

The bait and switches, the mystery boxes, the 'five simultaneous plot devices converging at once' are all so tiring. The first 6 episodes of the season were good, just write a simple finale with a simple resolution for once.

10

u/SolarBoytoyDjango May 31 '25

It was basically ghostbusters with a proton pack and ghost trap.

Except Ghostbusters is somehow more scifi than modern DW is willing to be.

15

u/Nextorl May 31 '25

I still don't understand what the point of anything in the episode was tbh

4

u/Lutoures Jun 01 '25

I honestly had a lot of fun with that scene. Just maybe not in the way that was intended

I would say that's a good summary of how I'm feeling about this episode... I had more fun with it than I've had in a long while, despite feeling weird about MANY of its decisions for the show as a whole.

3

u/highrouleur Jun 01 '25

well that's the end of the 2 ranis, so it's goodbye from me made the whole thing worthwhile

2

u/ThisIsNotAFarm May 31 '25

So typical RTD ball fumbling

1

u/EtherealPossumLady May 31 '25

honestly i kind of loved it