Doctor Who: The Angels Take Manhattan

[lizbee]

Note: this post contains a lot of animated gifs.



I kind of need to express my feelings through the medium of a gif parade. One moment.





(FACT! When I hit Tumblr's "crying gif" tag, the first six entries were all reactions to this episode!)





SO, YES. I HAVE SOME FEELINGS. THERE HAS BEEN SOME UGLY CRYING. AND NOT JUST BECAUSE iVIEW LOST ITS CONNECTION FOR 30 SECONDS RIGHT AS AMY WAS ADVANCING TOWARDS THE FINAL ANGEL.

Basically, I was afraid of an ending like "Doomsday" or "Journey's End", something that basically said, "Hey, remember everything that made this character likable and interesting? Yeah, forget that. We've mind-wiped it and dumped it on a beach with a homicidal clone-Doctor, and you're going to like it, fandom."

This wasn't that. This felt like a natural end to Amy and Rory's story: a timey-wimey happily ever after where Amy willingly walks away from the Doctor because she's finally found something more important. (Remember those times Rory felt like he held second place in Amy's affections? IT'S OKAY, RORY, IT'S REALLY OKAY.)

A really horrible ending would have been for Rory to be unreachable, and Amy to have demanded to be taken home to Leadworth so she can live in her blue-doored house and MOURN FOREVER. This was a happy, bittersweet ending. Amy and Rory can be together, and have amazing adventures in twentieth century New York, and ... well, okay, there's WWII about to happen, but they're better off in America than Great Britain. (Someone should write fic about Amy and Rory's grandparents getting anonymous care packages from America containing nylons and lipstick and chocolate and general rationing-avoiding things!)

And, I noted, River, with her vortex manipulator, can still visit them. She just can't bring the Doctor, or take them with her. (I presume that Amy and Rory themselves are paradoxes now, so it would destroy New York if the Doctor, say, turned up in 1942 and took them home then. And in theory he could visit, but I think it's better for him to make a clean break, and not burden the next companion with "Amy would know what to do" type shenanigans. Hopefully his time with River will help him move on a bit.

OMG RIVER AND THE DOCTOR. How can people say he's not into her? When he's checking his breath and straightening his bow tie, slicking his hair and giving up a bit of his life to heal River's arm. The only other time we've seen him do that is for the TARDIS in "Rise of the Cybermen" or whatever it was! THAT'S HOW MUCH HE LOVES HER!

I just read the transcript of Amy's afterword, and now I'm all teary again. STUPID SHOW.

"Only you could fancy a character in a book." IF ONLY YOU KNEW, AMY, IF ONLY YOU KNEW.

Comments

[such_heights]

I'VE REALLY ONLY JUST STOPPED CRYING. OH GOD.

But yes, Amy going out on her own terms, complete with ending narration, was just what I was hoping for. I mean, mostly I was hoping for the Ponds to NEVER EVER LEAVE, but you know.

[lizbee]

I knew it would probably be okay when it didn't start out with, "This is the story of how I died."

I'm just so glad that Amy got to make the choice, and she's not waiting anymore, and she's still going to have a mad, amazing adventure.

[nonelvis]

Hey, remember everything that made this character likable and interesting? Yeah, forget that. We've mind-wiped it and dumped it on a beach with a homicidal clone-Doctor, and you're going to like it, fandom."

Have you already forgotten that RTD didn't write this episode?

It's on here in seven minutes. FETCHING KLEENEX.

[lizbee]

I DON'T LIKE TO GET COMPLACENT. What if the same writing-improving alien that's taken up residence in Chibnall's head turns Moffat's brain into mush?

[nonelvis]

D: DON'T FRIGHTEN ME LIKE THAT, LIZ!

[lizbee]

LOW EXPECTATIONS MEANS YOU CAN NEVER BE DISAPPOINTED.

EXCEPT BY "LAST OF THE TIME LORDS", BECAUSE HOLY SHIT.

[nonelvis]

... on the other hand, "sweet sparkly Tinkerbell Jeebus" makes a remarkably good epithet.

[copracat]

Thank you for that analysis, which reconciles me a little. I enjoyed it as an adventure and loved Rory's relative disdain of death, but felt overly and clumsily manipulated by the OMG EMO. Possibly because I disagree so profoundly with the New Who premise that women have to choose between the Doctor and their lives. That's just. People can have two best friends. Even women.

But yes, thank you. I missed that.

[kerravonsen]

This was a happy, bittersweet ending.

Agreed.
I do hope River visits them quite a bit. She's a good girl.

Is this the first time River has called Amy "mother"? Whether it is or not, it certainly is a rare thing, and it shocked me. In a good way.

[melyanna]

She called Amy "Mother" at the end of last season, when the two of them were sitting in the back yard and River explained what happened to the Doctor. But she hasn't called her that very often.

[calapine]

I DON'T LIKE IT MAKING ME CRY. BUT IT WAS V V GOOD AND OH PONDS.

[tree_and_leaf]

See, I now have visions of Rory volunteering for the RAF anyway - but if he did, he must have survived, so it's OK...

[nineveh_uk]

Now you've given me visions of him volunteering as a nurse, and having to stop himself creating paradoxes by inventing medical treatments too soon.

[tree_and_leaf]

That sounds like a good reason not to volunteer as a nurse, but that wouldn't necessarily stop Rory... Though - were there male nurses in the forties?

[lizbee]

I've been wondering the same thing, and haven't had a chance to research yet.

But if not, I imagine that Rory would probably do quite well in the medical schools of the era.

[tree_and_leaf]

Yes, that's a good point, especially if you take into account not just the time difference, but also the fact that nursing now requires a degree, which it didn't then.

[lizbee]

Professor Wikipedia claims that by 1930, fewer than 1% of nurses in America were men, whereas they had been in the majority for the 19th century. For one thing, nursing paid too little to support a family.

[skywaterblue]

All good points, and I've always liked the idea of Nurse Rory graduating up to 'Doctor' Rory. I could see Rory doing quite well as an old-timey family physician who makes housecalls.

[blithespirit]

I LOVE THIS WHOLE POST.

[drakyndra]

This was a happy, bittersweet ending. Amy and Rory can be together, and have amazing adventures in twentieth century New York, and ... well, okay, there's WWII about to happen, but they're better off in America than Great Britain.

We don't actually know for certain they were sent back to 1938 again, since it was a different Angel away from the whole hotel scheme - just that they both lived another 50-odd years and then died before 2012. It could be basically any time prior to the early 50s.

But yes, I shall stay with you guys here with the opinions that are reasonable. (On the other hand, checking out comments I disagree with has given me some insight into opinions I find utterly alien - apparently Moffat fails as a writer because he doesn't have enough plots about aliens invading and trying to destroy the Earth.)