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| Amy and the Pandorica: More closely linked than you might think. |
2 episodes: The Pandorica Opens, The Big Bang. Approx. 102 minutes. Written by: Steven Moffat. Directed by: Toby Haynes. Produced by: Peter Bennett.
THE PLOT
The Doctor receives a message across time and space, which leads him to Stonehenge during the time of the Roman occupation. River Song (Alex Kingston) is there waiting for him, to give him the last piece of the message: a painting by Vincent van Gogh (Tony Curran), showing the TARDIS exploding. The painting's title? The Pandorica Opens.
The Pandorica is a legend, a myth about a timeless prison constructed to contain the deadliest warrior in the universe. The Doctor doesn't believe it exists. But it's there, beneath Stonehenge, and it's opening. The Doctor is not the only one drawn to it. Daleks, Sontarans, Draconians, Cybermen, and more, all hoping for the prize: the sheer power the Pandorica contains within. If the Doctor can keep the box from opening, then they will all go.
But there's one thing the Doctor hasn't planned for. Something he's overlooking. Something all too obvious...
CHARACTERS
The Doctor: Matt Smith's performance is stunning. He has the energy that Tennant had, but he also has a core sadness that he maintains even in the Doctor's most manic moments. For someone so young, it's startling how successfully he sells being ancient. He's the youngest actor ever to have played the role... yet I never question him in the part, not the Doctor's authority nor his age. His best scene (of several very good scenes) comes late in the serial, when he's talking to the child Amelia about a story for her to remember. It may be the most emotional scene in the entire new series, and Smith sells it fantastically.
Amy: The holes in Amy's life form a big part of this story. Rory, the fiance who never was and the sadness she did not feel but which Van Gogh could still see. The house, with all of its far too many rooms for just Amy and her aunt. Amy might have ended up seeming more like a plot construct than a character but for Karen Gillan, whose performance matches Smith's for sheer vitality. Her energy makes Amy feel like a real person, because of the amount of life she puts into her.
Rory: Yes, this story brings him back - in a way that makes sense, within the confines of both story and season, and yet again reinforces the theme of perception. Rory both is and is not Rory Williams, depending on how he is perceived and how he perceives himself. His devotion to Amy achieves genuinely heroic proportions here, and by the end he has definitely outgrown the "Gooseberry" label the Dream Lord tagged him with.
River Song: Alex Kingston's third appearance is her best so far. She still knows more about the Doctor than he does himself, but it's clear that not all of her knowledge is of things that will turn out well. She remains very smart, and quite ruthless. Her confrontation with the Dalek in Part 2 is noteworthy, in that the Dalek turns out not to be the scary one in the scene.
THOUGHTS
"Okay, kid. This is where it gets complicated..."
The teaser to Episode 1 is dazzling, a sort of chain across time and space, all to get a message to the Doctor. Rather than provide just a recap, Episode 2 has another teaser - one even more startling than the first. Steven Moffat, who has played games with structural conventions from as early as Press Gang, seems to be announcing with the openings of both episodes that he is at it again.
This is Doctor Who: The Movie, with loads of action and fantastic effects. But it never loses control of itself. The energy never flags, but this doesn't come at the expense of coherence. The story is complex, but easy to follow while watching it. Not everything is resolved, but that's not because of sloppy writing. Instead of leaving questions unanswered and hoping we don't notice, Moffat's story actively calls attention to its own unanswered questions.
It's all very cleverly plotted-out. There are some exhilerating moments - the two teasers, the Doctor's speech at Stonehenge, his final "Geronimo!" at the climax. But these pieces propel the narrative, rather than the narrative being a clothesline on which to hang the set pieces. Things set up as early as The Eleventh Hour are paid off, and the season as a whole comes together magnificently. In a season that's been generally very strong - the strongest since the series came back, I'd say - writer/executive producer Steven Moffat pulled off the rare trick of truly saving the best for last.
Rating: 10/10.
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