The Eleventh Doctor interrupts some Pizza, Booze, Telly in this incredibly polarising episode of NewWho
A giant demon statue that no one notices, a paradox hotel and an easily avoidable companion farewell.
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The angels are getting into the hotel business and have gotten their stony digits on a prime piece of real-estate where they time-loop unsuspecting passers-by, gumshoes and doctoral companions to satisfy their sinister hunger.
Cut to a lovely picnic in Central Park, where Amy, now a bespectacled crone, must live with the irony of her husband’s constantly youthful face, despite being him constantly slapped by his spouse, only leading to further pummelling.
Meanwhile, the 1200-year-old babyfaced God has a problem with his companions entering their thirties because there’s a little bit of Ten left in him and once a woman enters her fourth decade, she’s dead to him. Then Rory goes to get coffee, by way of 1938, and River Song has a time bracelet.
I had plans to ask snarky questions. What did the Doctor (and River, let’s be real) do to the angel in the cemetery in retaliation? Did they just let it go? Why did the Statue of Liberty picture in the elevator, bearing “the image of an angel” not “become an angel”?
However, after re-watching this episode, I just don’t have the heart to be snarky. The Doctor prettying himself up for River, River breaking her wrist, River helping the Doctor clean the outside of the TARDIS, and of course, most important….
The angst. Oh, Force, so much angst. The fall from the roof gave me chills, the cemetery scene at the end is amazing, and the afterward in the book… whew.
So while I don’t really think we needed to have angels be the Statue of Liberty and naked cherubs for this episode to work, I can’t bring myself to be too upset about them.
I just have one need for the Doctor: He has to go back to Brian Williams. The Doctor promised just last episode that he would bring his son home… and if the Doctor does not go tell him….
Poor sweet Brian will just wait for years and years and never see his son again and never, ever know why.
This episode is fantastic. It’s an excellent end point for this set of companions.
4.8 out of 5 feels. Because there are so, so many feels in this episode.
The Doctor returns to New York in the swansong of the Ponds, this is Angels Take Manhattan. Tissues ready? Let’s go!
I like the idea of any statue being a Weeping Angel. Heck, even Lady Liberty can be one. If any statue can be a Weeping Angel, why do the metal ones look like stone when they freeze? Anyways, the best part about this appearance of the Weeping Angels is the addition of the Cherub Weeping Angels. Those little guys are creepy and I would never want to run into them. That is 100% how you make the Weeping Angels even creepier!
Amy and Rory’s departure from the TARDIS is so heart-wrenching because just when you think the Angels are gone, one pops up and sends Rory back in time. Amy soon follows, and what we see here is a companion exit that hurt the Doctor so badly that he forced himself to retire! Now, companion exits hit the Doctor hard before. Susan and Jo’s departure are great examples of this. But this is possibly the saddest companion exit ever. Move over Rose, Amy and Rory take that spot now. I will say Amy and Rory stayed too long in the end, but at least they weren’t with this Doctor until the very end.
The Doctor is wonderful in this. You feel the emotion when Amy is zapped by the Angel and it just tugs at the heart strings so hard. I also enjoyed the appearance of River Song, too. Definitely a welcome addition to the cast here and very appropriate for her to be here.
The location shoot in New York City was definitely something that made this story stand out. I had the pleasure of going to New York a few years ago and the only thing I thought about as I trekked through Central Park was this episode. I couldn’t get that image of the baby angel stalking Rory by the fountain out of my head. It was kinda chilling standing there.
Possibly the most memorable episode from Series 7A, this serves well as an exit for Amy and Rory. I enjoyed it, but then it hurt. It really hurt. 3.5/5
Things I liked:
• Creepy Angel cherubs.
• Angel battery farm concept.
• Amy & Rory’s shock departure – just when we thought we had a happy ending.
Beefs:
• Fixed timelock thingy my arse. Is it that the Doctor can’t go to New York again for the entire duration of Rory’s and Amy’s life? If so, I call horseshit. They’ll still be alive during Rosa – why didn’t the Doctor rescue them then? Why couldn’t the Doctor have popped back a few days later? If it is just New York he can’t go to, could the Doctor get them to travel outside New York and rescue them? Why can River can go back with her crappy time vortex manipulator but the Doctor can’t with his superior Timelord tech? I think we can all agree that the Seventh Doctor would have found a way back. And then scolded Rory for being an imbecile. With a mere stare!
• Where the hell was Rory going to buy coffee? There are coffee stands all over Central Park!
• I know you have to suspend belief with this show, but the Statue of Liberty Angel is a stretch. I’ve seen Ghostbusters 2: there’s no way New Yorkers would have missed it! Given the Angels have ample regular troops, is Lady Liberty slight overkill?
• How does breaking your wrist escape the Angel’s grip? Why isn’t River still held by the Angel but with a broken wrist looking like an idiot.
• Who was 1930s Van Statten? Did he work for the Angels? I’m confused.
Summary: some good scares, nice concepts, a shock farewell, and, importantly, no boring cubes.
Rating: 3.1/5 scary-ass Angel cherubs giggling maniacally. More of them please.
Nothing in this made me sad because it was just rehashes of things we have already seen.
It heavily lessens the impact of the Pond’s departure when you realise the drama created is so beyond stupid and manufactured, and worst of all could’ve easily been skipped if Moffat just used the murderous Angels from his Series 5 romp. Because it kills off two of the Series’ better companions in the most stupid possible way, it has to be the single worst episode Moffat has ever written. (Amazingly, Love & Monsters, Fear Her, and Nightmare in Silver are somehow worse.)
0.9/5