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 | Half Ridiculous, Half Imaginative |
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| By: | Doug, Pocono Summit, PA, USA |
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| Date: | Saturday 8 December 2007 |
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| Rating: |   7 |
Absolution is C'rizz's final story, in which he... leaves. As such, you knew it was going to involve some kind of twisted religion, and it does so.
I have mixed feelings about the story. The first disc is rather ridiculous, though imaginative, but the second disc brings things into more acceptable, understandable, and satisfying territory, and C'rizz's farewell is done quite nicely, making him more interesting, and making his departure a significant event.
Basically, C'rizz somehow has a collection of belongings he somehow brought from the Divergent Universe, though I don't recall ever hearing about these before, and didn't realize they ever had time for him to collect anything to take with him... Among them is an absolver - a reliquary from his home that contains the souls of those he has "saved." Eh... right. When it is accidently opened, the TARDIS does some extremely improbable things, which are actually rather interesting, and they all go to hell. Literally. That bit was rather incomprehensible to me, as the Doctor is talking about heaven and hell and purgatory, as if he has known about them being actual places for his entire life. Eh... right.
Okay, well, then we get to the beginning of disc 2, and we get the following summation of the story so far:
The Doctor: "So in summary, you live in a bubble in hell, protected from the inferno by an induction barrier but unable to escape because of that same barrier. Have I summed it up correctly?"
Cacothis: "With admirable clarity. Although I'm afraid there's more to it than that."
The Doctor: "There usually is."
And as we go on, we learn that long ago, there was a "botched dimensional experiment" that created the domain they've found themselves in. Cacothis and the others have come to feel that science betrayed them, so they've turned completely to religion to keep their lives together, as they've been "abandoned by time" and live in an unchanging stasis, in the midst of a horrific inferno.
Meanwhile, C'rizz has ended up on the other side of the barrier, and is undergoing a sort of "Jedi mind training" by Aboresh, and begins to develop extraordinary powers that are being brought to bear on the situation.
Though a bit inexplicable at times, Absolution is an imaginative story that is a good sendoff for C'rizz. It is nicely produced and mixed, and McGann is fantastic, especially on the second disc.
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| Eclectic and slighty confused |
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| By: | Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Friday 28 March 2008 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
This story is by no means bad at all, but it all feel rather confused in areas. There are plenty of great moments along the way though, which still make this a worthy big finish story, just not one of the very best thats all.
Is this supposed to all be C'rizz's fault or just the people's trapped in the absolver eh? I found it a little hard to get around the twists and turns in this story at times. Or is it all Charlie's fault? Sorry, but there is probably just a little too much going on at times. Or maybe it is just me.
The good moments are there though, for a start the tardis behaving erratically and the blood from the central column would have been gross if televised, and then theres C'rizz's goodbye to the good old Doc and Charlie.
I hate the "Charlie have a go at the doc for being alien again" routine. Man, this is getting to be an old and tired excuse now. The Doctor cares about everyone. He cant help it if he's a time lord for petes sake. A nice thing in future would be if all the tv and big finish stories didnt bring up this common as muck attitude and storyline into every story.
Absolution is a decent story on the whole though, with strong acting especially from Conrad Westmaas. So, good but not brilliant...
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| 2nd time around a bit better. |
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| By: | Andrew Shaw, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Wednesday 28 November 2012 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
I listened to part of this one night and just couldnt get into it I thought it was boring, but i must have been distracted or tired or something because i started again from the beginning and the 2nd time I thought this is quite good, (Spoiler) I thought when they mentioned C'rizz will sacrifice himself to save us, it would turn out alright as usual but had no idea this was his last and he did although not the way he was thought to go, and I agree with what another Reviewer says when Charlie gets on at the doctor about leaving and not caring at the end he's an alien and lost that many people he will react differently but she doesnt even give him a chance to explain, there was always hints in these stories of C'rizz being part of some serious religous practice and this comes to a head, I enjoyed the story and expected when they set his wife free she would do something to Aboresh (I think thats his name) and all the way through it mentions blame for certain events on different people, so unexpected ending for me as I dont like knowing to many hints of the plot just simple ones like The Cybermen are in or something, But thoroughly enjoyed, want to hear his next to find out what happens next, but I'm not jumping ahead I always listen to them by number in order unless I have some missing, which is coming up so I'll have to get buying more.
| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
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| Date: | Monday 23 August 2021 |
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| Rating: | 4 |
We always knew that C'rizz story had to end badly. Just how badly is another matter. What I mean is that he was given a really bad story for his exit. Of course, it all has to do with his impulse to "save" people by killing them so that they can then live on in his memories. Now, someone from across the universe has latched onto him and pulled him and the TARDIS there so that C'rizz can fulfill his destiny. It's all a confused muddle. Most of the story works by magic. Late in, there is some attempt at a kind of scientific explanation, but not much of one and it gets abandoned for more magic. Just how does Aboresh know anything about C'rizz, locked away as he is in his hell-dimension? C'rizz is from another universe. Our universe is big enough that there is just no way. The whole roaring armageddon like battle at the end comes down to a family squabble. So many things just do not make sense about this story it is hard to pin it down without giving away too much of the plot. Suffice it to say that whatever one thinks about C'rizz as a character and companion, he deserved a better sendoff than this.
