S07E05 - The Angels Take Manhattan

Did you cry? Did you at least shed one tear for the rather terrifying farewell of the Ponds? Well it was definitely an emotional rollercoaster of an episode and, for Moffat’s very first ever companion-departure episode – not all set in an alternate or aborted timeline for once – applauds must go out to the Executive Producer! It goes to show, though, the importance of companions in this era of New Who as they literally have to be ripped away from the Doctor to get the Timelord to move on; like Rose and Donna of old.

But still, one must not dwell on the Ponds’ departure just yet, for indeed there is an entire episode to talk about and the Doctor’s most deadliest of foes to mention: The Weeping Angels! So yes, it was quickly proved the fan-favourite theory of the Statue of Liberty being an Angel (although to be fair, nearly everything WAS an Angel by then) but one has to wonder: what of the tourists? I would pity anyone inside her head for when she ‘woke’ or moved. Could it possibly be that in that Angel-dwelling time of New York, the time of Melody Malone, that the Statue was an Angel then but is no longer now; just a large metal – not stone – structure, pointing out the destination of the place it majests over?

Another thing to mention as the Angels came back in their most frightening of forms, was that they were no longer desperate murderers like presented in the fabulously written ‘The Time of Angels’ two-parter two years ago. Indeed one got a real fear of them from the off, the moment Rory walked passed that fountain and the feel of dread completely overcame. Of course, the momentary relief and hilarity of River’s appearance, as the aforementioned character of Melody Malone, really bought enlightenment to the heart; while the overwhelming, foreshadowed and constant threat of the Angels could easily bring the viewer back to the fear that Moffat once presented them with back in ‘Blink’. It goes to show, also, that if ‘Asylum’ five weeks ago failed to bring the fear back for the Daleks, Moffat definitely brought that fear back for the Angel here!

Sliding back a few pointers, the book Melody Malone, which at first seemed unimportant and slightly unneeded for the story, bar to present Amy with some rather stunningly geeky glasses, was a vision of complete perfection to complete the episode – proving a very clever and subtle explanation as to the extent of fixed and fluxed points in time; the Doctor urging Amy not to read ahead so as not to make it true while ripping the last page out so it doesn’t have to end. And then of course reading the chapter titles to find the last chapter and the emotional anger, the pure roar hatred towards what it may mean for the Doctor… well, Matt Smith’s acting was just absolutely superb for that.

Of course it was Rory’s fault from the very off, getting coffee’s for himself, Doctor and Amy, and must later lingering around his tombstone instead of simply walking towards the TARDIS, but we can’t blame the lovable bumbling hero, a man practically escaping his fate, for doing what he did. The Angels had marked Rory and it seems like you can never truly run away from them once you’ve been ‘Touched’. Then of course Rory never got to say goodbye to the Doctor or even his own daughter, jut zapped from time without even realising until it was too late; the Lone Centurion, a man who waited two thousand years and fought so many races gone in a second, without any chance…

But of course Who is, and always will be, about the female companion, which is why the goodbye focussed on Amy; not able to LOOK at her friend and daughter to say her farewell too, but at least able to say it. Karen was just absolutely superb in that moment, going with an epic explosion of Pond-ness as she always wanted, choosing Rory over life with the Doctor, as it should and would always be. It seems, of course, that back in the early 19th century, where the pair landed up, that Amy must have got a career as an author or similar, and one hopes Rory continued as a Super-Nurse, or even prospered as a doctor with his more advanced knowledge of medicine, but it seems we shall never truly find out as yet. But, more importantly: what about Brian? What about Amy’s mum and dad and aunt? Will they never know what happened of their children? One does hope that Melody went back and somehow explained it to them, considering she went to visit her parents a few more times to get the book published and whatnot but it seems a shame that, for the moment, we – the viewers – wont find out.

I cannot finish this without stating how superb New York was a location for, both this episode and for Who in general. The production team and actors themselves have been going on about how stunning the locational filming was and it just goes to show that real-location and green screen, even in this day and age, have nothing on each other, which is where the ‘Daleks in Manhattan’ two-parter a few years ago fell flat on its face. That and the use of Brit actors with Yank accent, but I’m not talking about that! No, the production team did a fantastic job of setting two different time zones in one location; the modern day New York glamour and an atmosphere full of life, and the old New York, full of strong Brooklyn accents, backstabbing gangsters and décor to match. Just pure brilliance.

And so there we have it. It struck me about twenty minutes after the episode concluding that from now until Christmas Saturday nights would be rather dull once more, with no more Who and nothing associated to or with it to air. So that is why we must look forward, hope for the announcement of the Christmas Special title soon, along with Jenna-Louise Coleman’s character’s name – whom Moffat has stated isn’t the Oswin Oswald to which we saw in the Asylum, although the Moff-ster has been known to bend the truth – and another adventure in the TARDIS. With the end of the 2012 series proper, that also means one certain thing: The 50th Anniversary year awaits!