*The following review contains spoilers - do not read unless you've seen the episode or don't care about having it ruined for you*
So this is how it ends. Say what you like about the recent series of Doctor Who, but the chemistry between Matt Smith's Doctor and Karen Gillan's Amy Pond has always been phenomenal. The Rose Tyler to Smith's Doctor, Amy Pond has kept the Doctor grounded. Though she often borders on the annoying, the addition of her über loveable boyfriend/husband, Rory (Arthur Darvill) to the team made the leading trio an entertaining force to be reckoned with. But nothing lasts.
Although this is only the fifth episode of series 7, it's also the last until Christmas. Due to commitments to Sherlock, show-runner Steven Moffat and key-writer Mark Gatiss were unable to make a full series of Doctor Who this year; I love Doctor Who and all, but if it means we get series 3 of Sherlock (the best show on TV) soon, then fine by me.
Following the kinda-cheesy, kinda-awesome Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, and last week's great premised, but far too short, The Power of Three, The Angels Take Manhattan had the large task of ending the series on a bang. And it did just that.
The Angels Take Manhattan sends the Doctor and co. back to thirties New York, and reintroduces the terrifying Weeping Angels, and the charismatic River Song (Alex Kingston), to the mix, after Rory gets himself nabbed by the Angels and sent back in time. The Doctor and Amy, armed with a book from the future, recounting the events - but with the caveat that they can't read ahead, lest they seal themselves a horrific fate - set out to find the absent Mr. Pond. It soon transpires that the book was written by River, who, once again in at the deep end, helps the team in looking for her father. They track Rory down to a hotel, that it turns out is maintained by the Angels, seeking to trap their victims. When they find Rory, they find with him an elder version, dying. In an attempt to prevent Rory from being trapped in the hotel, waiting to die again, Amy and her husband jump off the roof of the building (with none of the grace of Sherlock) to create a paradox. They're then returned to a modern day graveyard, safe and sound. However, Rory inadvertently spies his own grave, sealing his fate in time, and a Weeping Angels gets him, and sends him back to the 30s to die; with the TARDIS unable to return to the time safely, Amy, unwilling to let her husband die alone, sacrifices herself to the stone beast. The Doctor, devastated, reads a previously discarded afterword from River's book, written by Amy, providing the companion's poignant goodbye.
If the above summary confused you, you're not the only one. The Angels Take Manhattan was gripping and had an intense, powerful story, but it didn't always make perfect sense. River's timeline was supposedly moving away from the Doctor's, yet both her and he seem to recognise each other fully. But, the best Doctor Who episodes rarely make sense.
Tonight's episode had the advantage of everyone knowing that this was the final curtain for Gillan and Darvill's Amy and Rory, so the tension factor was ramped up to Breaking Bad levels. The question, though, going in, was: is this going to be a happy ending? And that depends entirely on your point of view. Love meant that Amy and Rory die together, but also means that the Doctor is devastatingly alone, again, and that River loses her parents. It was certainly a powerful ending.
Because that was undoubtedly the brightest point of tonight's episode, the acting. Smith tends to the cheesy, but more than has the needed gusto for emotional performances when required (as displayed equally well in The Power of Three last week). Karen Gillan was a powerhouse too, showing her feisty charms and fierce loyalty one more time, as she finally has to choose between the Doctor and Rory. And my God, you'll cry. Oh how you'll cry.
But, damn, I hate the weeping angels. Those things terrify me. I can only imagine this is how people felt watching the Daleks with classic Doctor Who.
For me, tonight's episode was on par with A Town Called Mercy, with both just trailing slightly behind the fantastic series opener, Asylum of the Daleks. There were still cheesy tendencies, but it delivered when it counted, and series 7 of Doctor Who, has been far sharper than 6.
Although tonight isn't the end of Matt Smith's Doctor, it is the end of the road for the Ponds. It's time for the Doctor to get a new companion, and that's going to be Jenna-Louise Coleman. Coleman's best known for her roles in Emmerdale and Waterloo Road, as well as recent roles in ITV's Titanic mini-series and even in Captain America: The First Avenger. Her character, Oswin Oswald confusingly appeared in this series opener, Asylum of the Daleks, before (again, *spoilers*) inexplicably being revealed to be a Dalek and having the planet she's on explode... well, since when did Doctor Who make sense? The character's due to reappear in the role of companion in this year's Christmas Special.
I've been consistently torn on the Matt Smith-series of Doctor Who, I'm definitely not for the show's gradual descent into kids show cheesiness, and am definitely of the belief that it should be more like Torchwood, and less like The Sarah Jane Adventures. With David Tennant (yes, this is another Tennant-praise bit) and Russell T. Davies's Doctor Who, the weird and extraordinary was presented in such a way that it seemed natural, so it was awe-inspiring, here, the weird and the extraordinary is... well, weird. That said, I am a huge fan of Steven Moffat, and Matt Smith's acting chops can't be questioned (just see tonight's episode for proof), and the show does well for what it sets out to accomplish: mildly thought-provoking sci-fi fare for the whole family.
Goodbye Ponds, we will miss you. Roll on the Christmas special!
8.5/10
Retrospective Doctor Who series 7 ratings:
Asylum of the Daleks - 9/10
Dinosaurs on a Spaceship - 8/10
A Town Called Mercy - 8.5/10
The Power of Three - 7.5/10
The Angels Take Manhattan - 8.5/10
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