Written by Chris Chibnall
Directed by Azhur Saleem
Tecteun (to the Doctor): "I'm the one who found you. I brought you to Gallifrey and raised you. I'm Tectuan. The woman who you used to call you mother."
After her introduction in The Timeless Children, I did wonder if Tectuan would resurface and after meeting the mysterious Awsok two weeks ago, some made the connection between the two. I did not, but I guess it should've been obvious. After all, she did give off the impression of a disapproving bad parent.
Following the cliffhanger from the previous episode, the Doctor found her transformation into a Weeping Angel quickly reversed as the Division took her into their possession. We learned a bit about them here. Most of it, not too shocking but finally some answers though. Yup, they're a bad bunch alright.
The Division's goal seems to involve interfering, so automatically going against the Time Lords own non interference stance. The Division also found the Doctor's morality to be problematic so not only did they wipe some of her memories, but also caused the Flux in an attempt to wipe her out and cover their own backsides.
We already knew Tecteun was an awful adoptive mother from last series, but here she seemed to take great pleasure in tearing the Doctor apart at every turn. Scrutinising the Doctor's morality, ability to create hope among people and of course, her relationship with her companions. Tecteun didn't hold back at all. She also had a fob watch with the Doctor's redacted memories and tried to use it as a means to get the Doctor to let the universe die as well as her friends. Then Swarm and Azure turned up and the former didn't waste time in taking Tecteun out of the equation.
With Tecteun being killed off a little too quickly, both Swarm and Azure stand in the way of the Doctor getting her memories back. They also had their own plan come into fruition as Earth's defence system were weakening throughout. Right now they have the upper hand with the Flux and the Doctor definitely seems to be a serious disadvantage without her friends.
Speaking of her friends, with the Weeping Angels putting Medderton back in it's place, time passed and Yaz, Dan and Jericho left the place. I have to admit, I enjoyed the trio's globetrotting adventures as they searched for clues, avoided the Grand Serpent's various assassination attempts on them. Oh, and they also teamed up with Joseph Williamson, who was revealed to be a lot more clued in than previous appearances gave the impression.
As for the Grand Serpent, he definitely did some time travel of his own - specifically as this episode also decided to be an origin story of sorts for UNIT. However he was more keen on killing leaders who got in his way, though his attempts to take out Kate Stewart fortunately failed. Kate's return was definitely welcomed but it was more of a lowkey affair, resulting in her going dark. On the plus side, it does look like she'll have a bigger role in the finale.
- Vinder got sent into Passenger and quickly formed an alliance with Diane. Likewise, Karvanista reclaimed Bel's ship and the two also found themselves having to work together.
- Nicholas Courtney's Brigadier had a voice cameo in this episode with the actor being credited for it as well. Osgood also got a mention as did The War Machines.
- Although it was long suspected, this episode finally confirmed that the Multiverse does exist within this show's universe.
- I absolutely loved the gossip loving Kumar. His scenes with Yaz, Dan and Jericho were brilliant. I also caught Yaz pining for the Doctor in a romantic way.
- The Grand Serpent was responsible for UNIT disbanding and his snake thing reminded me of Davros's right hand man from Series 9. He also brought the Sontarans to Earth.
- Chronology: Lots here - 1904 for Yaz/Dan/Jericho, 2017 for Kate as well as 1958/1967/1987/2017/2021 for Grand Serpent.
Survivors Of The Flux might not quite hit the same ground as the previous episode but as a lead into next week's finale, there was certainly a lot to enjoy here. At this point, I'm not shocked that Chibnall has doubled down on the Timeless Child arc, but perhaps the Multiverse might take it in a less predictable direction next week.
Rating: 8 out of 10
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