PLOTLINE
The Doctor is recruited by Father Octavian to track the last of the Angels through the terrifying Maze Of The Dead. Meanwhile, the mysterious River Song re-enters the Doctor's life - but can he trust her?
EPISODE REVIEW
With TIME OF ANGELS it was all about set-up: as part two, FLESH AND STONE, opens, we finally understand what the Doctors instruction to "Jump!" meant. Older viewers probably winced a little, remembering that ancient cop-out of the Victorian penny dreadful: "With one bound, he was free". The pursuit goes on through the bowels of the wrecked ship, BYZANTIUM, ending with a stand-off in the main flight-deck.
Moffat's writing is a study in form (pace) over content. This contrasts with his use of the Angels in BLINK which was about the people caught up in the story. Here, we have the conclusion of an extended chase, as the Doctor and his colleagues are besieged by the Angels on one hand and the catastrophic potential of the crack in space/time on the other. The Doctor's ultimate solution to both problems is neat but worryingly easy:
The Doctor: It would take every single one of [the Angels] to amount to me!
Despite the rush to tell this story, remember that we are dealing with a talent as rounded as Stephen Moffat, and so there are a lot of details to enjoy. The 'cyber-forest'; the combat in total darkness lit by flashes of gunfire; Angel Bob; the Angel grabbing the Doctor by the back of his collar; Amy, eyes closed, negotiating her way through the forest (and the Angels, on realising that Amy cannot see them, slowly creaking into motion); Father Octavian's poignant death ("You have known me at my best"); "'course you're scared, you're dying, shut up!"; "Angel, incoming!"; and "If I always told you the truth, I wouldn't have to ask you to trust me". Additionally, note the relish with which he says, "Time can be rewritten/unwritten..."
Furthermore, River is revealed as a murderer working for her pardon by consorting with Father Octavian to secure the assistance of the Doctor and this promises to be one of the big mysteries of SERIES 5: who did she kill and why? My guess, based on her passing comments (and Father Octavian's "She killed a man - a good man - a hero to many") is that she has to kill the Doctor at some point.
Naturally, the second big mystery that viewers will encounter again is the source of the "crack in space/time" which appears to centrically focus on a certain Amy Pond. Given that Amy has no recollection of the Daleks (STOLEN EARTH) and the fact that the world has not documented the arrival of a giant CyberKing in Victorian London (THE NEXT DOCTOR), the Doctor realises that the crack's capacity to eradicate events from time is clearly an established fact rather than oncoming threat. He determines that the date of the explosion which caused the crack is 26 June 2010: Amy's wedding day. This, all being well in the telly schedules, is also the date of broadcast of the last episode of SERIES 5. Tantalising this episode is "rumoured" to be titled, BIG BANG.
The best bit is the coda when Amy asks the Doctor to take her home and she makes a pass at him after showing him her wedding dress! The moment is about sex and romance ("It made me think about who I want") and has got to rank as one of the best cliff-hangers in the history of the show because it feels so plausible.
|