The most important moment in this whole story, and arguably the entire Who canon, is so beautifully underplayed that I only caught it the second time I watched.

I didn’t see this one as lacking plot... well, I suppose it did... but what it lacked in plot, it still made up for in story, if you get what I’m saying?

I think it was a pretty decent episode of Doctor Who, and a pretty good Christmas episode, but a brilliant sendoff/regeneration episode.

Thin on plot, yes. Very thin. And you’re right that the SFX seemed unusually rough, aside from the WWI scenes. Full of characterization and measured fan service (did you even mention…

Also according to rumours this may be the last episode with a score by Murray Gold.

The smile on Capaldi’s face when he sees Clara. Just, perfect.

Hooray! The Keyboard Geniuses ‘Year In Review’ is always one of my favorite features. Thanks for keeping it going, even with all of the changes to the AV Club in 2017. And thanks, of course, for all of the extraordinary work y’all do writing these articles for us to consume :)

Man there’s an entire system I’m ashamed I haven’t played yet because let’s be honest, The Switch is the real heir to the Gamecube’s throne. I want a Switch so bad but I still have a giant backlog of games for PS4 and that’s not including the amazing games I don’t even own yet!

Oh goodness, how could I forget that I finished Persona 5?!?!? As with most Persona games, it dragged in the middle, but I think it really came together in the end. The clarifying of the theme as ‘control’ put the social links in a perspective that finally clicked, as ‘rebellion’ was kind of a messy fit for me. It…

Ha, fun. In all seriousness though, I have the opposite problem with games. I think we’ve reached a saturation point where gaming looks too realistic and it’s adversely affecting the final product. This endless march towards creating a mirror universe that looks so real has led to the collapse of so many studios. Two…

#1 slept on game this year is Prey. I’m serious! And I say that for the love of it, and of you, gentle reader, for it could double its purported PC sales numbers and still be considered a commercial disappointment. It’s gonna be the Alpha Protocol of 2017.

But you can’t make a star wars movie and just toss in some mysterious and all powerful evil force man and never even ONCE allude to where this guy came from.

I loved this reveal. Of all the gripes people have about The Last Jedi, this is the one I most disagree with. Honestly, how could anything else have been satisfying?

Ok, do we really need shit-stirring headlines acting like there’s some kind of war between Abrams and Johnson? Especially since they’re both on record as working on Rey’s backstory together.

That’s a wonderful point and really focuses on the Robinhoodness of the whole situation.

The one plan in the movie that comes off without a hitch is Luke’s intergalactic kabuki.

I’m honestly very curious what the plan is with Hux from here. Besides the scene you’ve pointed out, the last we see of him in the movie is just that shot of him watching Kylo with a look of suspicion. Besides his own issues with how unstable the guy is, I honestly don’t think he’s completely bought the ‘Rey murdered…

General Hux was like two seconds away from shooting Kylo Ren when he found him in the throne room, so the conflict between those two could still come to a head.

A few points of note:

The Force Awakens was very indebted to the idea that “this is a Star Wars movie, these are the things you do with a Star Wars movie”—bad guy with a mask that alters his voice, desert planet, etc. The Last Jedi was more willing to follow the characters down rabbit holes, even if it didn’t match how Star Wars is…

Yeah, I was actually pretty much with the admiral even before the final reveal and turn with her character (and holy crap does she get maybe the best final act in all of Star Wars). She’s trying to hold things together in the face of annihilation. She doesn’t have to explain herself to Poe, who is her subordinate.…