Note: The following review contains spoilers for all aired episodes of Doctor Who, including the most recent, “The Pandorica Opens.”
Wibbly. Wobbly. Timey. Wimey. Really, what else can one say about the penultimate episode of this season of Doctor Who? Until we see the very final episode, it’s impossible to say with authority what exactly is going on, though there’s a certain amount that seems to be what Moffatt is implying so far. It seems that the Pandorica, this legendary, fairy-tale box that supposedly holds the greatest threat that the universe has ever known actually hasn’t begun to contain this danger until now. Of course, temporally speaking, it has happened already–just as we’ve seen the cracks in the universe throughout this series, before they’ve begun to form in this episode, and just as River and the Doctor’s relationship keeps playing out, out of order–because that’s time travel, kids. Like many other people, I guessed the Doctor would be inside the Pandorica. I, however, assumed it would be a future version of the Doctor, not that it would be this Doctor, nor that he wasn’t inside it yet. The other genius part of this twist, of course, is that all of the major villainous races that we’ve seen in the Whoniverse up to this point unite to save the universe and plan on doing so by capturing the Doctor, not for nefarious purposes, but because they believe him to be the Big Bad who will end it all.
Little do they know that the Doctor isn’t the only one who can fly the TARDIS, which seems as if it’s about to explode. But if the TARDIS explodes right now, with River Song inside it, how will she be there in the “future” to meet the Doctor? Or do the cracks forming now, seemingly at all points in history, override all of that? Another question: How exactly do the cracks work? Since we saw them appear at the end of The Beast Below and Victory of the Daleks, I would’ve thought that the people in those time periods, such as Churchill and Liz 10 should have been erased (and how thrilling it was to see them again), although what with the timey wimeyness of it all, it’s also completely possible that that will only happen now. It seems as if all of the times the Doctor visited this season are only going to be corrupted by the cracks once the TARDIS goes boom. Or given the name of next week’s episode, The Big Bang, bang. By the way, who or what is causing this to happen to the TARDIS?
There’s not much more I can say about this episode until I see its epic conclusion next week, except to praise a number of things:
- The absolutely ingenious teaser, which makes the entire season come together gloriously. While it is great to see Churchill, Ironside, Liz 10, and, naturally, River again, I am probably most excited by Vincent. His painting of the TARDIS exploding is particularly great, as it looks so very Van Gogh, blending his trademark swirls with an impressionistic depiction of the TARDIS, as it rips apart.
- The supremely creepy moment where the Cyberman head stalks and attacks Amy, its cables reaching out like tentacles, before joining with (most of) the rest of its body. A beautifully nightmarish moment.
- Robot Roman legionnaires? I love you, Doctor Who.
- River trying to get the Doctor to escape is an interesting indication that she might be on the Doctor’s side, after all. The last time we saw her, it seemed to be implied that she will murder him one day. Not that this necessarily precludes that.
- The reappearance of Rory, which at first seems as if it might be an indication that the cracks redistribute people across time, a la the Weeping Angels, but ultimately turns out to be because he is an illusion, crafted from Amy’s memories. Amy’s attempt to convince him that he is Rory because he has Rory’s memories, no matter what might have created him, is a gorgeous callback to what the Doctor and Amy told Professor Ironside in Victory of the Daleks, that he is a human despite his origins, because his memories and emotions make him so. Sadly, this doesn’t seem to have been quite enough to fully override this Rorybot’s programming.
- The Doctor’s delayed reaction to Rory’s return.
- Amy’s tears.
- Amy’s shocking death. River stuck in the about-to-explode TARDIS. The Doctor sealed up in the Pandorica. Omigod, is this for real?
- “Does it ever bother you, Amy, that your life doesn’t make any sense?”
This next week is going to be torture, I tell you. Torture.
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Great review of a completely excellent episode. The Doctor being seen as the enemy of everything, even the people he wants to save, was a wonderful twist. Seeing all the suns go supernova one by one leaves me wondering just how the hell the Doctor is going to survive this – no Tardis, no River, no universe and no Amy. Next week had better be a fantastic conclusion with all loose ends tied up or there will be a riot at White City (or, at least, BBC Wales), mark me.
Always a pleasure to read your reviews – it was a pretty mindblowing episode. I think I'm in agreement with you, in order to do that episode any justice, then it really has to be seen back to back to next weeks series finale (which will be 55 mins long instead of the usual 45). Talking of timing, I know there's a lot of plot to fit into the two episodes but I hope next week won't feel so rushed.
I just finished watching this. Wow. What. Who :D I am delightfully between utterly confused (which would have been bad) and bored (which may have been even worse), on the edge of my seat, and trying to figure out what is going on.
I have many theories, but don't want to post them here, because I'm not committed to any of them and because they will turn out to be wrong, just to spite me :) Oh, how I wish I had a time machine to jump conveniently to 26.06.2010! Or do I?
Ive just watched the first episode of series 5 again, and at the end we can see parts of all episodes, except one moment i dont remember:
http://uppix.net/c/7/5/57b61ecf027ee2e8f7c1aa3cc6…
Could it be in the final episode ?
@Elsiko That's the ending of The time of angels.
I'm in awe with this episode, and was so since the very beginning, or at least when Churchill appeared and it became clear that many "older" characters were to appear.
Great review of a great episode! A wise choice to abstain from reviewing the whole story until next week, but then again, the cliffhanger is so succinctly final that it could wrap up the story itself (in, admittedly, the worst way possible.)
Rusty, take a memo; when you do a finale and want to throw in everything and the kitchen sink, THIS is how you do it. I absolutely ADORE how Moffat pulled all these strings together; strings that I never even realised existed! Hell, he pulled a string out of the FIRST EPISODE. As in 'Rose'. The idea that the one enemy who managed to take a psychic snapshot of Amy's life, concoct a plan, and lead the Doctor straight into the Pandorica was the very first one we saw in the new series; it… it just blows my mind that Moffat could have created that connection.
This entire episode kept me guessing, and I don't think the rest of the people in my dorm appreciated that I spent 50 minutes shouting those guesses. At first it was so obvious; I "knew" the future-Doctor would be in the Pandorica. Every species "who ever hated you [Doctor]"? Well duh, of course they'd want to keep him inside it! Well it's technically true, they want to keep him in it now. And the fact that all of those races view the Doctor as the most evil thing in creation; that just blew my mind all over again.
Of course it happened again when we saw the ENTIRE UNIVERSE DIE.
P.S: Good thing I watched this during the day; that Cyberhead freaked the hell out of me.
Oh my wow, I completely didn't make that connection about the psychic snapshot. So much information flying at me so quickly that I totally missed that. That is absolutely brilliant!
All I can say about this episode is "Amazing". I enjoyed how they brought in everything from this season at the beginning, and great to see Rory back. Never crossed my mind that the Doctor would be in the Pandorica, so that was a nice twist. Near the end of the episode, it had a very Lost-y feeling, with the dramatic music and no dialog while they showed each character's plight.
I really can't wait until next week. (At least I also have other things to distract me in the mean time, like waiting for my iPhone 4 and the Futurama premiere).
I'm still waiting to have the relevance of Episode 1's duck pond explained. Remember the: "Why is it a duck pond if it doesn't have any ducks?" exchange? Well, it isn't, of course; without ducks, it's just "A Pond" (as in Amy Pond). Too literal to be a coincidence, methinks, and – with the story returning to Amy's house this week – I've become even more convinced that that apparently throwaway line will yet turn out to have some significance!
Great review! I thought about the possibility that the Dr. might be in there, what with all the shouting about the Tardis blowing up. Seems like he might be at the center of that disaster. I didn't figure on this being the moment when he was put in the box, though. Great twist. I'm loving this season of Dr. Who. It's got great music and wonderful hooks throughout.
Ravenlaw
Awesome, DAJB! I completely missed that pun. That's brilliant. Will definitely keep it in mind next week.
Great review! With that final scene, my tears fell. I completely agree with the points you mentioned, I love Doctor Who.
My theory, Amy isnt real either.
It's pulling story threads and thematic threads – good pick up on the psychic snapshot, Dylan. Also, Amy talking with Auton Rory is a callback to Victory of the Daleks when they talk the robot professor out of exploding – still doesn't make VotD a good episode, though!
I really need to see the last episode to really review this, but it's pulled the season together quite well, even if some of the in-between episodes have been a bit spotty.
@DAJB
I think they explained the duck pond thing tonight, indirectly. Especially if you take the "A Pond" pun literally.
The cracks have stolen her life. Thus "A Pond" has had all her ducks stolen from her.
Torture is right, but exquisite torture. ;-P