You’ve hit on, what I think, is the fundamental flaw of this era, which is bigeneration. I remember reading the original leaks and thinking “this reads like the worst fan-fiction” and then watching The Giggle, that creeping feeling of dread just inching in as things began to come true. That feeling has been replicated a fair few times in the past couple of years (although I should say I enjoyed most of the episodes in spite of, and perhaps more because of the fact that I had read the leaks.)
I don’t want to go the full 2000 here because I think there’s at least a decent blog post, but bigeneration, despite what we’re being told now about it (that being a desperate attempt for Gallifreyan biology to replicate - very cool idea, absolute bobbins from a narrative mechanical sense) is the original sin of this era. Because even though the reasons for it were practical, regeneration still emerged as the purest ethos of the show. It is literally the only reason it has lasted for so long. To so many fans it has come to represent change, rebirth, healing, letting go, growing, so many different things. In my darkest times, I look to Planet of the Spiders, The Power of the Doctor, even Twice Upon a Time. I look to the moments of regeneration for strength and hope because it’s always taught me, change can make you better. And change is always possible.
Bigeneration doesn’t necessarily stamp all over that idea - it’s fundamentally too powerful, and even if I hate The Giggle, Tom will always fall. The Watcher will always embrace him, transmogrifying into Peter Davison in the cobwebs. The moments are always prepared for. But the run through 14 and 15 stops being about change. It always now, will be about how the specter of your past, maybe a better past, maybe not, depends who you ask, that will be there. As much of a ploy for reproduction as it can be read as, we don’t know where 14 is. We’re told that he changed so much he could become 15, and yes, this Doctor tells people he loves them. But his words do not match his actions. He is callous with Ruby. The untwisting of the show itself gave us Belinda and then reverted her to a shell for The Doctor’s story to be told to us within. And all the time, we are assured, yes, he got better. Because I said he did, and because I bigenerated him. He healed. Again. He tells people he loves them now!
Except if you’ve been watching the show carefully, The Doctor has always told us how much he loves us. There is love in his eyes when he looks on Barbara Wright, on Vicki, on Jamie and Zoe, on Jo Grant - how can you tell us he has never loved properly when 10’s entire tenure is modelled on the ending of The Green Death, the most blatantly heartbroken The Doctor has ever been?
) - I appreciate some people really enjoyed it (and I can see in your other post you have a big reason for doing so, so fair enough), but it’s probably one of my all-time least favourite episodes of the show 