Five hours left to finish up the epic review marathon started a year ago!
The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang
Show runner Steven Moffat described his intentions with this finale as being ‘big and mad’, and he certainly succeeded. The episodes revolve around the ‘Pandorica’, a legendary prison said to house the deadliest being in the universe. Naturally the Doctor objects to this prison being opened.
It all kicks off with River Song leaving a message for the Doctor to meet her in 102AD where she’s posing as Cleopatra. She delivers to him a painting by van Gogh, which depicts the TARDIS being destroyed in an explosion. Linking this image to the fabled Pandorica drives the Doctor to seek out the box underneath Stonehenge. Along with some of the Roman legionaries they find the machine, locked with every kind of lock ever devised. The presence of the Doctor causes the Pandorica to begin omitting a signal that draws all of the enemies of the Doctor to this location. When confronted by the combined forces of Daleks, Cybermen, Sontarans, Autons (posing as the Romans) and more the Doctor discovers that the Pandorica is intended for him, and he is locked inside.
Outside one of the Centurions is revealed to be the presumed erased Rory, recreated as an Auton. His programming briefly overrides his normal mind and he shoots Amy. River, meanwhile, become trapped on board the TARDIS whilst it begins to explode. After this cliff hanger we skip to the future where young Amelia lives in a world where the rest of the universe doesn’t exist.
Amelia follows a series of instructions to visit the National Museum, where the Pandorica is on display. When she touches it the doors open to reveal the adult Amy, alive and well. Over the course of the episode we see the Doctor, using River’s vortex manipulator, going back and forth in time to correct everything that lead them to this point. The only way for the matter to be resolved is for the Doctor to erase himself from the universe, but he does manage to include a loophole and crashes Amy and Rory’s wedding.
So very, very much happening in this double episode. With all the back and forth between time they needed to include a prop just to indicate what point we were looking at, giving birth to the now iconic fez. Try not to strain your brain trying to keep up, just know that it all makes sense by the end. Rory and Amy’s relationship is more firmly established than ever before when Rory elects to maintain a vigil over the Pandorica for 2000 years after Amy is sealed inside. River Song is also in good form, posing as Cleopatra and providing a but more action. Seeing all the enemies of the Doctor crowded together makes for a good visual but it doesn’t amount to much in the end.
An ambitiously large story for the end of the season, but one that leaves on a good note.
A Christmas Carol
This particular Christmas special is a bit more on the nose than usual. Often the Christmas setting is only loosely related to the main plot but this one rubs the holiday spirit in like a soothing cream on a rash. While Amy and Rory are on their honeymoon they become stranded on a ship about to crash through the orbit of a human occupied planet. The Doctor lands on the surface to find what is causing the problem and learns that his friends lives rest in the hands of Kazran Sardick (Michael Gough). Unfortunately Sardick is a right old Grinch who doesn’t hesitate to take people’s relatives as collateral when handing out loans.
The Doctor resolves to change Sardick’s tune by traveling into his past and helping him establish a relationship with one of the cryogenically frozen deposits, Abigail. In doing so he also discovers the reason for Sardick’s terrible attitude.
The visuals in this episode are interesting, especially as the planet’s unique atmosphere allows fish to swim through the air. Where the episode fails is by tying itself to closely to the source material. Over the course of the story things become more and more over-the-top until we get to the Doctor flying a shark-led carriage through the air. Quite far from being the best Christmas special, this one does become ponderous by the end.
The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon
Nothing like some iconic visuals to kick of the new season. Even before I began watching the series I was intrigued by the sight of this astronaut emerging from the water. Amy, Rory and River all receive identical letters from the Doctor inviting them to meet him at a set time and place in Nevada. They join together for a picnic, only for things to turn tragic when a 1960s era astronaut walks out of the lake and murders the Doctor. After holding a funeral pyre for him the companions return to town only to find the Doctor waiting for them. The one they had seen killed was a future version.
Trying to get to the bottom of things they drop in to visit Richard Nixon in the White House. Whilst here Amy encounters a tall, slender figure who resembles ‘The Scream’. As soon as she leaves the room, however, she immediately forgets about it. Upon further investigation the Doctor, Amy, Rory and River discover a series of tunnels that stretch across the length of the planet yet have remained undetected by the human race. The creature is one of the ‘Silence’, and they are responsible for this secret invasion. Because they cannot be remembered they have been present on Earth for decades.
Much like the finale to the previous season there is a lot going on in these two episodes. The astronaut is later seen to be small girl, although it is not evident that this is the person who later kills the Doctor. We also have the side plot about Amy possibly being pregnant, although this is also unresolved. The central plot of the episodes involves the Silence having taken over the world without anyone knowing. This is a highly imaginative villain and the way the Doctor deals with them is an imaginative solution.
When everything gets piled on top of each other in the interest of kick-starting the over-arching plots it gets confusing and distracting, and we wind up at the end of it with a lack of resolution. The Silence have been getting built up since the previous season and then they get muddled in with six other plots. Good concept, but the execution is lacking.
