The trailer for this episode didn't really give us a lot of clues as to what we'd be in for. I initially thought they had been caught up in some sort of scenario where robot guys hunted them down in a fatal game of tag. Was I on the money? No. But read on to find out what the hell DID happen.
While the Doctor's plan to take Amy and Rory on a nice holiday to one of his favourite destinations was a nice thought, he forgot to check the intergalactic googlemachine and instead landed them in a period of the planet's history where it's riddled with plague. Nice. It WOULD have just been a simple matter of getting back in the TARDIS and going somewhere else if Amy hadn't managed to screw it all up by getting herself caught in an alternate time stream. Sigh. Amy.
Because of the disease and general horribleness, the planet was now divided into two time streams. One in 'normal' time (where the Doctor and Rory were) and one in compressed time (where Amy was). I think the general idea was that the sick people only had a day to live once they got the plague, so they could be on the 'normal' stream and be able to watch their relatives and friends live out their whole lives on the compressed side. I think. It made much more sense while I was watching it. Anyway, the Doctor and Rory jump back in the TARDIS and try to pinpoint Amy's exact location only they totally stuff it up and when they find Amy again she's 38 years older. And also a ninja.
Amy is pretty pissed off at them, and then gets even more pissed off when she realises that they actually want to save past Amy, not current Amy. Which is fair enough. The Doctor tells Rory that there can't be two Amys, so he'll have to choose. Rory is sad about this. POOR RORY. On one hand, there's this poor woman who waited for him for 38 years who IS Amy but is now a much more hardened version, or there's the young sexy Amy with the nice legs. Dilemma.
The Good
More accessories than a Diva store
The coat is back! Hooorrraaaayyy! The fact that last week's episode was shown out of order (sort of) is a good enough excuse for the coat to disappear, but now it's back. The world is right.
And the new addition to the Eleventh Doctor fashion parade is...specs!
Doctor wears specs!
Rory wears specs! Amy wears specs later on, but I didn't save a screencap of that one, so you'll just have to take my word for it. And they're not new, but they were great...
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| 'Suspenders. Suspenders are cool. Bitches love suspenders.' |
This episode really reinforced my opinion that having Rory as the sole companion would be a Very Good Idea. Sure, the Doctor spends most of his time poking him with a metaphorical stick, and sure, he orders him around constantly, but when Rory and the Doctor team up, shit gets DONE. My dream is that one day something terrible happens to Amy (or she just leaves of her own will, whatEVER), and it will just be the dudes in the TARDIS, and it'll be more like the BRO-DIS and they'll travel around and have awesome bro adventures forever.
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| Wouldn't you totally want to have adventures through time & space with these guys?? |
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| Oh alright, maybe not. Derp. |
Honestly, can this Tom McRae person write the rest of the season? Or the rest of Doctor Who forever? He delivered us such a perfect piece of sci-fi drama that I think it will be very hard to top by any of the other writers. I'd go as far to say this is the best episode since the changing of the guard to Smith & Moffat. Yes, sure, it borrows elements from the season 2 episode 'The Girl in the Fireplace' (one of my all-time favourites), but it puts a completely different spin on things. And it delivered several 'take your breath away' moments which packed far more punch than anything else I've seen from seasons 5 and 6 (so far).
#1: Rory finds 'future Amy' and says 'I don't care that you got old. I care that we didn't grow old together'.
Ohhhhhh Rory. I did actually love the fact that Amy's character was forced to really show some LOVE towards Rory. Sure, they were married and she obviously loved him, but he'd always seemed a bit more like a handbag than an indispensable life partner.
#2: The moment where future Amy realises Rory has made his choice
Heartbreaking. He makes such an instinctive decision that she knows instantly she never even had a chance, even though she loves him just as much as any other version of Amy does. Uff.
#3: The moment that future Amy realises the Doctor is going to leave her behind
Betrayal. He had promised her that the TARDIS could sustain both Amys and that they could both live, but he was lying. I kind of like that we get a little glimpse of asshole Doctor again. He can't have lost ALL the crazy from the end of Ten, and I like seeing the coldness creep back in.
#4: The moment where Rory is forced to make his final and ultimate decision
Does he open the door and save her, or leave her out there so current Amy can live? This cap says it all really. He's horrified at being put in the position, but luckily future Amy is willing to admit defeat and makes the decision for him. Doesn't make the situation any less sad though.
The Bad
Nothing at freakin' all
No really, it was wonderful. I can't even think of a way this episode could have been handled better. After two great episodes from non-regulars, I'm not really looking to Moffat's episodes coming back. Oops.
The OMGWTF
I quite liked Amy
Well, sort of. Mostly. In a manner. I have made no secret of the fact that most of the time, I see Amy like this:
Her character is like a blank piece of paper that occasionally emits a shrill noise. So bland. But her other incarnations (Baby Pond & Future Pond) are wonderful! I loved future Amy and for most of the episode I was thinking 'Take the new one with you! She's resourceful (unlike Amy), can fight (unlike Amy), does things with purpose (unlike Amy) and she's a NINJA!' I did think for a long time that maybe Karen Gillan was just doing a crap job, but she was really great in this one, so it's clearly the fact the character has been written to be a total bore, and it's not her fault at all. I've gone from 'dislike' to 'seeing potential', so that's a win in anyone's books. The only real gripe I had with future Amy was that she was complaining about being left for 38 years. Uhhhh, Rory protected you when you were in the Pandorica for like 2000 years. AND risked his life to drag your sorry ass out of the fire when the museum burnt down. So back the hell OFF!
I don't think I need to say much in summary, I've already said it all! Such a great episode. Let's look forward to next week, shall we?
Ohhhhhh shit. The weeping angels are going to eat your face. There's other scary things in the trailer too, but WEEPING ANGELS, YOU GUYS. D:
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