The Doctor, Amy and Rory find themselves floating back and forth between two different worlds: one is set on the present day Tardis and the other is set five years in the future back on Earth with a happily married Amy and Rory awaiting the birth of their first child. Complicating matters is the appearance of the mysterious “Dream Lord” and his dangerous game for the trio. Together, they must decipher which world is real and quickly before one specific crisis on each claims their lives. And with opinions divided on how real each world feels, this isn’t going to be the easiest game ever.
Series Five continues to deliver the goods with expert storytelling and lots of adrenaline inducing excitement. And this weeks episode continued with those praises. “Amy’s Choice” was a terrific outing that presented us with a very unique scenario that makes for the best Doctor Who material. The jumping back and forth between worlds could have become tedious and annoying after a while but writer Simon Nye gives the story the balance needed to keep the story moving flawlessly from one point to the next without loosing any momentum. I think it was obvious to any viewer which world was the obvious choice, but then there was that slap in the face realization that everyone was wrong, even the viewer. Just goes to show that if you think you know this show real well, you haven’t seen anything yet.
I’ve been bragging about the story so far. What about our time traveling trio and the villain du jour? I have to give a quick cap on the Dream Lord. For a while, just watching him on screen tormenting our heroes I could help but think of Michael Caine’s famous quote from “The Dark Knight”, “Some men aren’t looking for anything logical, like money. They can’t be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn”. Up until the big reveal of his true identity, I figured the Dream Lord for the kind of guy who tormented just for amusement and interest rather than personal gain. But again, the big reveal at the end (which I will leave spoiler free for a change, you really should watch and see for yourself) threw me for a loop and gave it a bit more of a darker edge to the character. And hats off to Toby Jones, who was amazing in the role of the villain.
The title of the episode is the key to the story as a whole. Torn between The Doctor’s scientific analysis and Rory’s personal desires, Amy is the one who has to make the final call in this dangerous game. Maybe it was just me, but I was totally convinced the five years later world was the definite fake just because it seemed to perfect and quiet, something this show doesn’t do a lot of in terms of the latter and occasionally on the former. Rory wants the quiet life and The Doctor the louder, more exciting one. Both Matt Smith and Arthur Darvill were good with their performances and were very convincing playing the defense of their choices.
I kind of feel bad for Rory and Amy. Even when Amy realizes how much she really loves Rory and wants to be with him, I can’t help but feel that it is always going to be The Doctor she loves truly (like Rose with Mickey and The Tenth Doctor or, better example, Gwen Cooper with Rhys and Captain Jack Harkness on Torchwood). Still if Gwen could make it work with Rhys now that I think about it, it could work out with Rory. Plus, The Doctor seems to not want to belittle Rory, but do his best to keep Amy off of himself and more attached to her fiancé, which is a very good call in this case. Still, just as with last week, I don’t think this is the last we’ve heard of Amy’s romantic woes, not by a long shot.
“Amy’s Choice” was a fun episode from beginning to end and I can’t remember the last time I honestly bragged this much about an individual episode of Doctor Who (really not since I saw Series Three’s “The Shakespeare Code” for the first time , I should post a review for that now). Series Five is well past it’s half way mark and is doing an amazing job most people thought would be impossible to accomplish after David Tennant’s departure. This show is still as awesome as when it first came back on the air and this episode is plenty evidence of that.
Next Week-Drilling to the center of the Earth should be a straight shot down. Then why is something drilling upwards to the surface?
Rating-10/10
Series Five continues to deliver the goods with expert storytelling and lots of adrenaline inducing excitement. And this weeks episode continued with those praises. “Amy’s Choice” was a terrific outing that presented us with a very unique scenario that makes for the best Doctor Who material. The jumping back and forth between worlds could have become tedious and annoying after a while but writer Simon Nye gives the story the balance needed to keep the story moving flawlessly from one point to the next without loosing any momentum. I think it was obvious to any viewer which world was the obvious choice, but then there was that slap in the face realization that everyone was wrong, even the viewer. Just goes to show that if you think you know this show real well, you haven’t seen anything yet.
I’ve been bragging about the story so far. What about our time traveling trio and the villain du jour? I have to give a quick cap on the Dream Lord. For a while, just watching him on screen tormenting our heroes I could help but think of Michael Caine’s famous quote from “The Dark Knight”, “Some men aren’t looking for anything logical, like money. They can’t be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn”. Up until the big reveal of his true identity, I figured the Dream Lord for the kind of guy who tormented just for amusement and interest rather than personal gain. But again, the big reveal at the end (which I will leave spoiler free for a change, you really should watch and see for yourself) threw me for a loop and gave it a bit more of a darker edge to the character. And hats off to Toby Jones, who was amazing in the role of the villain.
The title of the episode is the key to the story as a whole. Torn between The Doctor’s scientific analysis and Rory’s personal desires, Amy is the one who has to make the final call in this dangerous game. Maybe it was just me, but I was totally convinced the five years later world was the definite fake just because it seemed to perfect and quiet, something this show doesn’t do a lot of in terms of the latter and occasionally on the former. Rory wants the quiet life and The Doctor the louder, more exciting one. Both Matt Smith and Arthur Darvill were good with their performances and were very convincing playing the defense of their choices.
I kind of feel bad for Rory and Amy. Even when Amy realizes how much she really loves Rory and wants to be with him, I can’t help but feel that it is always going to be The Doctor she loves truly (like Rose with Mickey and The Tenth Doctor or, better example, Gwen Cooper with Rhys and Captain Jack Harkness on Torchwood). Still if Gwen could make it work with Rhys now that I think about it, it could work out with Rory. Plus, The Doctor seems to not want to belittle Rory, but do his best to keep Amy off of himself and more attached to her fiancé, which is a very good call in this case. Still, just as with last week, I don’t think this is the last we’ve heard of Amy’s romantic woes, not by a long shot.
“Amy’s Choice” was a fun episode from beginning to end and I can’t remember the last time I honestly bragged this much about an individual episode of Doctor Who (really not since I saw Series Three’s “The Shakespeare Code” for the first time , I should post a review for that now). Series Five is well past it’s half way mark and is doing an amazing job most people thought would be impossible to accomplish after David Tennant’s departure. This show is still as awesome as when it first came back on the air and this episode is plenty evidence of that.
Next Week-Drilling to the center of the Earth should be a straight shot down. Then why is something drilling upwards to the surface?
Rating-10/10
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