YMMV / Doctor Who S36 E6 "Extremis"

• Ass Pull: Apparently only 30-40 people work at CERN, they all decide that suicide is the best option upon finding out the world is a simulation, and they somehow have access to large quantities of (not particularly convincing-looking) dynamite.
• Broken Base: As a Darker and Edgier shift into the remainder of Series 10, this episode split the fanbase down the middle.
  • On one side, there were critics/fans who felt that Series 8-9 were too grim, broody, and "clever" and liked the simpler, straightforward storytelling and lack of Doctor angst in the first few Series 10 episodes. They were thus upset by yet another Moffat-era "puzzle box" story that came off as Filler since the Missy scenes just confirmed The Un-Twist and The Present Day scenes (aside from the Framing Device) were just a simulation, with the only plot development being the Doctor learning about the Monks' forthcoming invasion of Earth, making the whole thing the first part of a Two-Part Trilogy. To make matters worse, part two ("The Pyramid at the End of the World") didn't advance the "Monks Trilogy" that much further because it was entirely focused on the Monks getting humanity to consent to the invasion. The conquest and undoing weren't depicted until the conclusion "The Lie of the Land". And woe to those who didn't know in advance this was a three-part story to begin with and kept getting the rug pulled out from under them every time the denouement looked near. On the other side, those who felt that up to this point Series 10 was, while entertaining, lightweight compared to the previous two seasons of Twelfth Doctor adventures rejoiced to see the complexity and stakes raised and mood darkened with this episode. Not much of plot importance may have happened, but the exploration of the Doctor's morality via Two Lines, No Waiting was moving and compelling in and of itself.
  • A different broken base exists in the shipping fandom: River Song has a strong, though unseen, presence in this episode between the reveal that Nardole made a promise to her to look after the Twelfth Doctor, her diary coming back into Twelve's possession, and its contents reminding the Doctor of his best self in both the real and virtual worlds. Coming on top of the references to her in the 2016 Christmas Special and previous episodes of Series 10 (i.e. her picture on his desk), fans who prefer the Twelve/Clara Oswald ship were frustrated it was only referenced with the use of "Clara's Theme" in the denouement of "The Pilot" as Bill begged him not to mind wipe her and unintentionally reminded him of the climax of "Hell Bent". (There was a Deleted Scene in "The Pilot" in which he performed it onstage with a bar band as Bill and Heather first connected with each other.)
• Fanfic Fuel: The confirmation that it was indeed Missy in the Vault, the reason why she was in the Vault, and how long she must spend in the Vault was the stuff of Twelfth Doctor/Missy shippers' dreams!
• Like You Would Really Do It: For all the drama over whether the Doctor would actually execute the helpless Missy, was it really that surprising that he would choose not to, given that A) it would not reflect well on his morals B) she has Joker Immunity and C) the thing in the Vault was clearly alive? This one is so obvious that Moffat said in the "Inside Look: Extremis" mini-episode that of course this would never happen.
• Paranoia Fuel: Your entire world is an artificial construct created by hostile aliens, you yourself are artificial and the only thing you can do to spite them is to commit suicide.
• The Un-Twist: The resident of the Vault is Missy. Many people correctly guessed this based on clues in the previous few episodes; some even hoped they wouldn't be right because of how obvious it would be.