Doctor Who 2019NYS "Resolution" / YMMV

Character Rerailment: Thirteen is more like the previous Doctors in this episode, with an intensity and a seriousness that was almost absent during Series 11, while still keeping her own characterization.
Epileptic Trees: After the trailer's publication, a large number of viewers were convinced that "Resolution" was only half of the proper title, to be revealed in full as "Resolution of the Daleks" upon airing to avoid spoiling the true villain. This would have harked back to the 1980s trilogy of stories whose titles all followed the formula "R__ of the Daleks", and, while the title of the episode was indeed simply "Resolution", the next New Year's Special "Revolution of the Daleks" did follow the formula.^note
Fanfic Fuel: What are Kate Stewart and Osgood doing with UNIT suspended?
Growing the Beard: "Resolution" is seen as the point where Chibnall and co. finally pulled it out of the bag and delivered a tense, high-stakes episode worthy of being a proper series finale, while at the same time finding ways to make a tired villain intimidating again.
Harsher in Hindsight: After the episode aired, the real GCHQ posted a tweet claiming they'd cleaned up the mess caused by the Dalek attack. Two years later, "Revolution of the Daleks" reveals that the clean-up had the Dalek's remains being stolen by shady figures who then went on to inadvertently revive the recon Dalek and allow it to create an army.
I Knew It!: Despite the advertising going to considerable lengths (until Christmas Day, anyway^note) in avoiding the revelation of who or what "the most dangerous creature in the universe" was, that description was enough for many to figure out just who the Doctor was talking about.
Iron Woobie: Lin gets the Puppeteer Parasite treatment from an extremely hostile Dalek for quite a while over the course of the episode, but still manages to be Fighting from the Inside for much of the time, and even successfully escapes its (rather literal) clutches once it shows a moment of weakness. And this is after she is introduced in the midst of a Relationship Upgrade with Mitch when the episode begins.
Les Yay: Downplayed, but there are a couple of instances between Yaz and the Doctor. At the beginning of the episode, when the gang is watching the cosmic fireworks, Yaz is on her knees in front of the Doctor, with the Doctor's hand on her shoulder. The second one comes when the Doctor realises what the DNA sample she collected from the sewers is from and Yaz is alerted to the severity of the situation by the Doctor's body language alone.
Yaz: [slowly, with concern] "Doctor. I don't like it when you go quiet."
Narm: The Dalek’s laugh was genuinely incredibly creepy — until the Doctor proceeded to point out it was a laugh. However...
Narm Charm: By playing into both the Daleks' inhumanity and storied history, the Evil Laugh may just work for some viewers.
Nightmare Fuel:
- As if the Daleks weren't terrifying enough before, we learn there's a breed of them with Mind Control. It also carries missiles in the lower part of its casing and can creepily, disturbingly laugh.
- The Dalek gloating to Lin over her Puppeteer Parasite status is impressively disturbing.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
- A Dalek invasion would've been a perfect opportunity to bring back Kate Stewart, Osgood, and UNIT — instead the Doctor and the audience find out that UNIT's fallen victim to government bureaucracy.
- The opening of the episode had quite the unique premise; a Dalek that has no casing, no weaponry, and is being hunted by the Doctor, and has to rely on human allies to survive. Even the premise of controlling a human, giving them augmented abilities could have been a very unique take on the Daleks, especially if that human had bad intentions or a deep-seated hatred for something/ someone, where they could use the Dalek to their advantage, and very good episode focusing on morality and how power (the Dalek) can corrupt anyone. However, the Dalek simply views humans as hosts — a means to an end to rejuvenate the Dalek race, and no such morality quandary is brought up.
- Nothing happens with the modern-day guardians of the other two Dalek pieces after they're shown reacting to the Dalek's return.
Win Back the Crowd: Following a series where the episodes written by the showrunner were generally thought to be some of the weakest in the New Who era, Chibnall managed to win back some lost faith by doing something thought to be impossible at this point — making the Daleks scary again for a new audience, something both "Dalek" and "Remembrance of the Daleks" were also praised with achieving.

YMMV / Doctor Who 2019NYS "Resolution"

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