5x012 The Pandorica Opens (Grading/Discussion) SPOILERS!!

[The Wormhole]

An enjoyable episode. River is proving to be a fun if somewhat cruel character. I'll admit, cruel thought it may have been slipping explosives into that guy's drink was funny. As was him shouting at his lackey that he wanted the Vortex Manipulator off of the Time Agent's wrist.

Seeing all the cameos of characters from the season's previous episodes (Van Gogh, Churchill, Bracewell, Liz 10) was kind of cool.

Now for some nitpicks:
-If Rory was erased from the timeline, why did that picture of him and Amy in costumes still exist?
-When the TARDIS takes River off to modern day, we see it travelling through the blue tunnel. However, previously the blue tunnel mean travelling to the past. Honest mistake, or has the significance of the colours changed>
-Also, when River started up the TARDIS, she appears to have left the brakes on.
-Among the aliens gathered at the Pandorica, I thought I saw the Adherants of the Repeated Meme, standing right behind the Hoix. Thing is, the Adherants of the Repeated Meme weren't real, they were fabricated by Cassandra to carry out her agenda in End of the World.
-Again with the leading zero in the thread title?

 

[Nerys Myk]

-If Rory was erased from the timeline, why did that picture of him and Amy in costumes still exist?

The Doctor explains that, but I cant be bothered to find the quote. Something about left overs.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

-Again with the leading zero in the thread title?

You prefer, maybe, two leading zeros?

 

[Stevil2001]

-When the TARDIS takes River off to modern day, we see it travelling through the blue tunnel. However, previously the blue tunnel mean travelling to the past. Honest mistake, or has the significance of the colours changed>

This is the first time we've seen the TARDIS in flight in an actual episode (i.e., not the intro) since the Vortex changed, right? It could look like anything!

 

[David cgc]

-Among the aliens gathered at the Pandorica, I thought I saw the Adherants of the Repeated Meme, standing right behind the Hoix. Thing is, the Adherants of the Repeated Meme weren't real, they were fabricated by Cassandra to carry out her agenda in End of the World.

The could be like the Pilot Fish robots from the Christmas episodes, off-the-shelf robots available to anyone.

-When the TARDIS takes River off to modern day, we see it travelling through the blue tunnel. However, previously the blue tunnel mean travelling to the past. Honest mistake, or has the significance of the colours changed>

This is the first time we've seen the TARDIS in flight in an actual episode (i.e., not the intro) since the Vortex changed, right? It could look like anything!

Well, the intro does have a red version. I was so happy at actually seeing a shot of the TARDIS in flight after so long that I didn't even notice it was the wrong color at first. The same goof happens in the finale (unless the place the TARDIS was headed was in the past which would be... strange). Maybe they'll fix it on the DVD.

 

[1001001]

Just finished this episode (the poll is always closed by the time I watch!).

Anyway, I thought this was GREAT! FANTASTIC!

I have to admit I haven't quite been sold on this Doctor until this episode. I think he finally stepped up.

I can honestly say I knew it was a prison for the Doctor early on. Who else could it be?

I can't wait to see what they do with this.

 

[Worf2DS9]

A couple other thoughts:

- seeing the rotting skull inside the Cyberman's head was both cool and disturbing.

- i loved the music that began just after plastic-Rory shot Amy. I hope that ends up on the soundtrack (if we ever get one)

- What was the significance of River opening the TARDIS doors to rock at the end? Where was she?

- I know DW doesn't end a season on a cliffhanger like Trek did, but can you imagine if this had been the season finale? That would have been insanely cruel and even more mind-blowing than it already is!

 

[1001001]

- What was the significance of River opening the TARDIS doors to rock at the end? Where was she?

The other side of the cavern wall, where the Doctor pulled the TARDIS piece from?

 

[CaptainPipcard]

Favorite part was when the cyberman head tried to assimilate Amy Pond with nanoprobes ("You will be assimilated"), and th-*crack* SILENCE WILL FALL

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Is this the first time they used the word "assimilate"?

 

[The]

- What was the significance of River opening the TARDIS doors to rock at the end? Where was she?

The other side of the cavern wall, where the Doctor pulled the TARDIS piece from?

Ooh, that's smart! I like that.

I just assumed that either

(A) The TARDIS materialized inside the moon, thus given the location of the exploding TARDIS in the sky...

or

(B) The Doctor said the TARDIS shifted into "Safety Mode" or something, thus it locked down the console room into a time loop. So, it could very well just be that the TARDIS herself removed the connection from the inner-verse doorway to the outer-verse doorway, and placed a wall there to maintain this lock-down, and it had materialized right back at Amy's house...

or

(C) It's as you say, it's inside the Earth where The Doctor reached into the crack

Who knows!

 

[DAK]

-If Rory was erased from the timeline, why did that picture of him and Amy in costumes still exist?

The Doctor explains that, but I cant be bothered to find the quote. Something about left overs.

"People fall out of the world sometimes, but they always leave traces. Little things we can't quite account for ... faces in photographs, luggage, half eaten meals, rings. Nothing is ever forgotten, not completely. And if something can be remembered, it can come back."

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

More significantly, if it's as if "Rory never existed" it seems unlikely that any recordings the baddies made of Amy's memories - or Rory's - would have continued to exist.

Rory appears to be real to himself - he remembers Amy from his POV, not her's - so it seems he'd have been reconstructed from the memories of a companion who never existed.

Except, I suppose, that now everyone in the bloody DW rogue's gallery seem to be time travelers - and as long as Rory isn't one of their "personal memories" the non-rule rules apparently enable them to remember what never existed.

 

[Snaploud]

The cracks in time are rather odd in that they appear to wipe people from existence without seriously altering anything else. That's where Amy's life 'not making sense' comes into play (empty rooms, etc.).

I see the crack effects as more equivalent to perception filters than anything else.