REVIEW - Doctor Who: Flesh and Stone (5.5)

It's Monday, (or at least it was when I started this review, now it's Tuesday (In fact, according to the top of this blog post it's last Saturday! My Time Travel research must be going better than I thought (Or I made notes on Saturday and forgot to update the date of the blog. Never mind. ))) and it's time for....

DOCTOR WHO: FLESH AND STONE

In Which: The Doctor, Amy and River (along with cannon fodder and "Important Guest Star who will die dramatically mid-episode") continue to flee from the Angels, before getting rudely interrupted by the return of a different plot device...

What did I think?: I liked it. (Oh what a shocker, I hear you all say, well tough. If you wanted a negative review of Dr Who, look around the net, there's plenty you can find.) I thought it was much better than last weeks, and in fact it would bring up last weeks score if I re-reviewed it now, since a lot of last weeks episode was direct setup for things in this one.

The realisation that Amy had been infected by an angel was brilliant, and the effect of the angel in here eye was superb, although one thing is that the Doctor does seem to be quite happy to leave Amy alone in every episode... but nevertheless, it was good.

And then, in the biggest shock of Nu-Who in a long time, we got direct interaction with the series arc plot in episode 5! Rather than the RTD method of hints building up until episode 12/13, where it'd be revealed, Moffat's gone for allowing us to find out slightly more about the crack in this episode, and this reveal seems to have a significant effect on the Doctor's motivations, and also will now (I expect, although I don't know) form the basis for the rest of the series.

My biggest disappointment with this episode was, in many ways, the Angels. Because the rules for them seemed to bend depending on what was happening. Previously we've been told that if you stop looking at you they can move fast... so when Amy was in the forest and unable to look at them why were they still or moving slowly? And the whole "walk as if you can see" thing? Surely if they have a quantum-locked physiology, then it's nothing to do with whether they think they are being observed, but it's do with the actual act of observation? And if that's the case how come they didn't just kill her straightaway?

And also, why did they kill people anyway? Why didn't they just send them through time the way they used to?

AND, why, when Amy can't open her eyes for a second, does she open them for significantly longer than that? (And no, it wasn't for dramatic tension, it wasn't an 'extended second' where only a second passed for her and more for us - because she SPOKE while her eyes were open!) This annoyed me, because it could have so easily been dealt with - either by giving her 2 or 3 seconds left, or by literally having her open her eyes and then shut them again, before speaking!

But these are nit-picks. The killing of Father Octavian was brilliant, leaving the Doctor facing someone he already knew had died, and knowing there was nothing he could do. Which lead us to AngryDoctor! Who was quite scarily angry... Matt Smith has a dramatic range, and he likes to show it. Which suits me fine - the Doctor is not human, and that's showing now, much more than it did with David Tennant. (Don't get me wrong, I loved David Tennant's Doctor, but he was nowhere near the alien that Matt Smith is becoming). Also, when Amy was first counting down, and he was telling her to stop whining so he could think? Brilliant.

And then, after a few hints from River Song, we get to the ending. The one that caused certain areas of the internet (yes, I'm talking about you Gallifrey Base). The ending where Amy tried to bed the Doctor.

You know what? I liked it. There are arguments that it was out of character for Amy, to which I have one resounding defence.

BOLLOCKS!

(I apologise for my French. (And where does that saying come from anyway? Swear words aren't French...))

She's lusted after him since he arrived (the second time, when she was of a suitable age) and of course he's disturbed - for several reasons! Number One - He met her as a 7 year old girl, about a week ago (in his timeline), Number Two - He's an alien, she's a Human, Number Three - the age difference thing, Number Four - She's engaged!

There's currently a rumour doing the rounds that she is mind-controlled, or possessed, and that's why the Doctor was so jittery. I hope that's not true. We've finally got a different type of Dr/Companion relationship, and people are moaning???

Besides, the reason he is so jittery is because he's discovered that something that happens that day, probably involving Amy, is causing the cracks in time and space... that'd freak any man out.

If Dr Who was an American series, this episode would have been what they term the mid-season break, where they stop showing new episodes for weeks. It moved everything on, and added a sense of urgency to the series, which I loved.

And for a bonus point, who noticed the moment which is either a massive continuity flaw or a subtle hint for the future? Were there TWO Doctors in the forest? Because he lost his jacket (very obviously), then after he left Amy with River... when he came back at the end of that scene, telling Amy to remember? He was wearing his jacket... and had come from a slightly different direction.

Next time we saw him? No jacket. Makes you wonder.... maybe we're going to get a point where the Doctor is travelling back through his adventures in the finale?

The Good: Nearly everything. Even River Song didn't annoy me much at all.

The Bad: Apart from the Amy-eyes-open for way longer than a second? Probably just the fact the rules about the Angels seemed to shift and change slightly...

Conclusion - 9/10. One of the Best so far...