Doctor Who Season 5, Part 2

(Many of these are a bit shorter, because I've already talked about them in previous posts)

Amy’s Choice is, again, an awesome story, and while the characterization is a bit better, it’s not perfect. Amy is caught in between two fake worlds: the Doctor’s and Rory’s. In the Doctor’s world, she is in the Tardis in terrible danger, but clearly having the time of her life. In Rory’s, she is pregnant living in a quiet village with her husband and his ponytail. Now, it’s obvious that Amy prefers the Doctor’s world, much to Rory’s distaste, because it’s not like she could ever have any sort of compromise (in the finale, perhaps?). Rory clearly thinks that just because Amy wants to have adventures she obviously doesn’t love him at all. Interestingly, in the end, Amy does choose both: Rory dies in his world, so she chooses the Doctor’s world where Rory is still alive.

Also, in an interesting twist, the villain of the piece turns out to be the Doctor’s dark side, and reveals a lot about the Doctor’s insecurities and self-loathing. The more I think about it, the more I sort of like it, because it hearkens back a bit to the darkness of the Tennant era.

The Hungry Earth: I actually like this one, though I’m not quite as enthusiastic about this two-parter as I was when they first aired. But the story is pretty good, even if nothing much happens in this first installment. Some good characters are introduced, like Tony and Nasreen, and some not so good, like Ambrose, whose only role is basically to be a bitch.

Cold Blood introduces two more bitches, Silurian warriors. I still like the story overall, though the politics of it may be ill-advised. Also, Rory is erased from time and space.

Vincent and the Doctor is definitely my favorite episode of the season, and possibly one of my all-time favorites. Despite a couple of weak moments and a lot of emotional manipulation, the chemistry between the characters and the acting just made this a joy to watch. The ending was bittersweet and just beautiful.

The Lodger: This is another great one. Amy is largely absent as she is trapped in a malfunctioning Tardis, and the Doctor investigates a mystery in an apartment building. The ep is basically just Matt Smith being adorable for 45 minutes, and is honestly the moment when I decided that I wholeheartedly embrace him as the Doctor.

The Pandorica Opens marks the returns of River Song and Rory and the death of Amy. Although it’s not really the return of Rory, because he’s really an Auton and a Roman Centurion (yeah, it’s confusing). Also it’s the return of almost all of the Doctor’s past foes, who blame him for the Crack and lock him in the Pandorica to stop the end of the world (?). Which leads us to…

The Big Bang: Again, it’s probably too confusing for its own good, but still a good solid episode. After an impossible bit of time travel, the Doctor is freed from the Pandorica, and Amy is put in because she is only “mostly dead” a la Westley in the Princess Bride. In a lovely bit, remembering his humanity causes Rory to retain his humanity (basically) and he guards Amy in the Pandorica for 2,000 years while the Crack continues to open and screw with Amy’s past life. Honestly, there are so many elements and ideas it’s easy to get bogged down, but if you go with it, it’s good fun.

So then the Doctor gets all “mostly dead” himself, boards the Pandorica, transports it to the Tardis, and sends the Tardis into the sun in order to stop the end of time and gets erased from history for his trouble. Whew....

So here’s the cool part: Amy lives her life over again, but this time she has parents and actually marries Rory (no idea if she’s any more enthusiastic about him this time around). On her wedding day, she remembers the Doctor, causing him to return to existence, thus completing the theme. Mr. and Mrs. Pond then fly away into time and space.

For one thing, I really like this episode because unlike every other season finale, this episode has a happy ending, which I think we were due for. This episode does raise many more questions than it answers. Some of which, hopefully, will be answered next season. The memory-as-creation theme is awesome, but did the stuff with the Crack and Pandorica actually happen because Amy remembered it? How does this effect the events of the entire season (most importantly, did the stuff with Van Gogh and the Lodger actually happen?)? Was the entire season a dream of sorts? What about previous Doctors? Were they erased from existence, too? Is the entire history of Doctor Who now rendered moot? Did Amy return them to existence (and other people’s memories) with her memory? How has Amy’s life changed now that her life has started over?

Also, as a side note, the memory theme is interesting in connection with Donna’s story. As per the end of the 4^th season, Donna is now half Timelord, but she’s not because she doesn’t remember it. If she remembered, it would be real and it would kill her.

Anyway, there is obviously lots to think about before the start of the next season. Hopefully, some of the above questions will be answered. And hopefully Matt Smith continues to be adorable!