It’s another episode that reaffirms for me that this is shaping up to be the best season of Doctor Who since it returned to screens 20 years ago. The timeliness of this episode, the relevance of it showing now, is astounding. Germany, Canada, and Australia have all recently rejected the cries and lies of right-wing politics and personalities. The U.S. is foundering under the strain of an incompetent evil built on lies. And boy, does this episode understand all of that, even though it was produced almost a year ago.

Most seasons since that return in 2005 have featured a “Doctor-lite” episode to allow the Doctor’s actor (or actress) to be the focus at other points in the season. This is a Doctor-lite episode; and like all such episodes, the minimal presence of the Doctor is felt keenly by the other characters. In this case, Ruby Sunday and UNIT must face a man trying to bring down Earth’s protectors with self-serving lies about crisis actors and the disabled cheating the government. This is now my favorite Doctor-lite episode, even more than Donna Noble’s tense and terrifying “Turn Left” from the 2005 Series 4.

This episode is a gut punch to former companion Ruby Sunday, as the man she is dating and falling for turns out to be a young, British version of Alex Jones and Joe Rogan. He uses her to get views for his podcast. He gaslights her, telling her everything she says about the Doctor and fighting a god, and all the other brilliant things she did with the Doctor last season are naught but lies. He seeks only to raise his star, regardless of the cost doing so has for others.

And when the Doctor does appear, he brings with him words of rebuke and reality for the young podcaster. He tells Conrad that he is “special in all the wrong ways.” Conrad uses his gift for telling compelling stories and persuading others to his point of view to serve himself. There are some subtle themes at play here about abuse of power and service to others. And when Conrad rejects the Doctor’s reality, the Doctor sadly tells him that his efforts are in vain. Conrad will die alone at the age of 49, forgotten in his prison cell.

That should be the end, but there’s the curious tie-in with the Mrs. Flood subplot. She comes to Conrad and indicates that she will set him free. What I find most interesting about this part of the plot is that Mrs. Flood only comes to Conrad and sets him free when he rejects the Doctor. There’s been some speculation on the Internet, primarily because of “Lux,” that the Doctor’s reality is not the real reality and that he may discover for himself that he is just a fictional creation. It’s a fascinating fan theory, but it’s not one I wish to indulge.

I used to try to guess what the writers had planned for the Doctor, and I just – I couldn’t keep up. I stopped hypothesizing and started living a little more in the moment. So, we will see what the second half of the season has in store for the Doctor and Belinda Chandra. And maybe even for Ruby, UNIT, and Conrad.

As the Doctor says, “Beautiful.”