Episode Title: "Flesh and Stone"
Writer: Steven Moffat
Director: Adam Smith
Previously on "Doctor Who":
The Doctor (Matt Smith) and Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) were recruited by River Song (Alex Kingston) — a woman who may be the Doctor's wife in the future — to assist the military arm of the Church to hunt down one of the few remaining Weeping Angels. After a close encounter with the Angel, Amy began to display unusual physical symptoms and the delusion that she was turning to stone. Lured into the center of a death maze while searching for a crashed ship, the Doctor and his crew realize that they have been tricked and are surrounded on all sides by hundreds of Weeping Angels.
As the Angels move in for the kill, the Doctor reminds them that there is one thing they should never put in a trap — "me" — before he takes a gun and uses it to destroy a power cell on the crashed ship.
Story:
The Doctor and company escape from the trap by literally jumping up to the crashed ship, thanks to the Doctor's well placed shot to the gravity globe. Father Octavian (Iain Glen) and his clerics are narrowly able to hold off the Angels before they flee into the artificial forest. Meanwhile, Amy's physical condition deteriorates as an Angel devours her from within her mind.
However, the Doctor's problems magnify exponentially when the crack in time opens in the ship, threatening everyone with non-existence. While attempting to get his crew to safety, the Doctor discovers some unpleasant facts about River Song and learns that the day the universe cracked is coming up far too soon...
Breakdown:
Steven Moffat has only been the "Doctor Who" showrunner for five episodes now, but he's already delivered three instant classics. That's not a bad ratio.
And it slowly dawned on me while watching this episode that the Weeping Angels are the "Doctor Who" equivalent of the Borg. They are the first creation of the new series that can stand on the same level as the Cybermen and Daleks in the exact way that the Borg were immediately elevated to the same status as Klingons and Romulans in "Star Trek: The Next Generation." Let's hope that Moffat learns the lesson from "Star Trek" and doesn't overexpose the Angels (as the Borg were on "Star Trek Voyager").
But as for this episode, it was one of the most exciting "Doctor Who" shows in years. The opening shot of the Doctor and his friends on the spaceship hull was fantastic and the resulting sequence in the corridors of the ship was unbelievably creepy. In those scenes, the producers managed to recreate some of the intensity that we've only seen in films like "Aliens."
Since the beginning of the season, we've seen the crack in time from Amy's wall pop up in World War 2 and the spaceship Britain, but it's always been in the background... until now. In this episode, the subplot takes over the main story as the Doctor and Amy witness the tear in time grow to unimaginable lengths. Which begs the question, is the crack in time following Amy or is Amy the crack?
The sequence in the forest was also well done, but not as intense as the earlier scenes with the Angels. Although, the idea of "Treeborgs" was inspired and added an extra element of wonder.
Amy's subplot with the Angel in her mind wasn't as well developed as the other plotlines. It was never established exactly what would happen if the Angel were to take over her body. We were only told that Amy would die. It led to some terrific scenes later, when we see the stone Angels move for the first time while stalking her, but ultimately it didn't add much to the overall story.
However, there was also an extremely intriguing moment that may be revisited down the line. As the Doctor leaves Amy with the clerics, he is somewhat dismissive of her and he is missing his coat. Moments later, he reappears with his coat back on and he is much warmer towards Amy, while urging her to trust him. He also tells her to remember what he told her when she was seven. However, she seems mystified by his request.
Now, there was a brief scene in "The Eleventh Hour" that suggested that the Doctor did go back in time to see Amy as a child, which may mean she has no memory of that incident. At some point in the future, it seems likely that the Doctor will retrace his steps in time to help save the universe from this latest threat.
Matt Smith also displays fits of rage throughout the episode in ways that we haven't normally seen the Doctor react. It will be interesting to see if that remains a part of his character going forward.
While Father Octavian wasn't fully developed during his two episodes, his final speech to the Doctor while trapped by an Angel is very moving. When the Doctor tells him "I wish I had known you better," Octavian replies "I think sir, you have known me at my best." What a great way to go out...
River Song — honestly, I haven't been a huge fan of her storyline in "Doctor Who." But this episode did introduce several new angles to her history with the Doctor. Father Octavian tells the Doctor that she killed a man, but refuses to say who it was. River confirms his account and also declines to state anything other than she had killed "the best man [she] had ever known" — which many fans have taken to mean that she somehow causes the Doctor's death at some point in the future. It's possible that Moffat is already giving us hints as to how Matt Smith's tenure as the Doctor will end.
Amy Pond — Karen Gillan seems to be well suited as the Doctor's latest companion, although her attempted seduction of the Doctor at the end of the episode seemed a little out of left field. It was pretty funny though.
However, there's no doubt that the entire season will revolve around Amy, as the Doctor discovers where the crack in the universe began — on June 26, 2010, the date of Amy's wedding.
Next Time on "Doctor Who":
The Doctor takes Amy and Rory to Venice, where they encounter vampires, or worse...
Crave Online Rating: 9.5 out of 10
