Contributor: Bronzethumb
Written by Steven Moffat
Directed by Nick Hurran
This episode has been much-anticipated, and for many reasons. It’s the last “Doctor Who” we’ll get before Christmas, it marks the return of the Weeping Angels, and it’s been long-touted as Amy and Rory’s tear-jerking departure from the series. That’s a lot of pressure, and it would be so easy for Steven Moffat to crack beneath it — but he doesn’t. “The Angels Take Manhattan” isn’t perfect and doesn’t live up to some of Moffat’s own high standards, but it’s an emotional, tense and involving finale.
The Doctor, Amy and Rory are visiting present-day New York, but something’s amiss in the city that never sleeps. People are disappearing and turning up in different times, and in the year 1938 a rich collector is hiring private detectives to investigate mysterious moving statues. Pretty soon, the TARDIS crew wind up smack in the middle of a hardboiled mystery and have to stay alive long enough to free Manhattan from the grip of the Weeping Angels.
As plots go, it’s typical Moffat, loaded with time travel complexities and fun puzzles. But at times it goes into RTD territory, hitting the pause button on the A-story to focus on the characters; it’s wonderful for the drama, but a little frustrating when the threats are so immediate. There’s some disconnect between the main functions of the episode — telling a good Weeping Angels story and giving the Ponds a good farewell — and at times, it winds up putting a tiny pin in the tension or the emotion or a scene.
As for the Weeping Angels, it’s wonderful to have them back. There was no chance of Moffat using another monster for this story: the plot mechanics are built around the Angels, which keeps the episode from feeling plug-and-play like a lot of RTD finales. And the Angels are still capable of some good scares, both by attacking people and in moments of still malevolence. There are also some new Angel forms, but don’t count on getting a solid explanation why: they make for striking images, but not so much for sensible plot developments.
The crux of the episode is saying goodbye to the Ponds, and Moffat has done a great job of tying together Amy and Rory’s origins, their development, even the little running gags. He pulls a “Shutter Island”, making the audience forget what they were so sure of five minutes ago using fake-outs and surprises and twists, but most of all by using the real emotional attachment viewers have developed towards these characters. We care about Amy and Rory. The way they’re put through the wringer, and the heartbreakingly brilliant performances from Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill, are captivating.
None of this covers the equally brilliant performance of Matt Smith, or seeing more of the evolving Doctor/River dynamic (by the way, River shows up), or the stunning production values. It’s a huge episode, emotional, tense and involving, not perfect but so typical of Moffat’s run in all the best ways. “The Angels in Manhattan” feels like the culmination of an era, so it’s just as well we’re waiting until Christmas for the next episode because we need some time to digest everything. Farewell, Ponds — you’ll be missed, but by goodness, you went out with a bang.
Score: 9/10