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

[wamdue]

Why could the rest of this series, not be this good, this was very impressive stuff, its just a shame this series, certainly the 2nd half has gone from average to dull.

Cant say I even noticed the Weevils on sceren, will have to watch again, look for some of the aliens ive seen pictures of.

Anyways the episode leaves us with not that many questions suprisingly, and most of the remaining questions are about River, and her roll in this (as is normal for River) actually I think next weeks episdoe will be more "River Who" than Doctor Who, which might be good, she is such an interesting character, I can believe she can carry an episode, she would be wasted as a standard companion.

Not sure about the Time Vortex Manipulator, seems odd him for to loose it off screen like that.

All said we really do not know that much about the finale, which is nice,

this episode also seems to answer the question, what if Amy met 790?

 

[Australis]

Watching now. Haven't read this yet.

The TEASER!!! WOW!!!

I'll get back to you shortly.

 

[Cyke101]

I thought it was a big pile of bullshit that the 100,000+ ships didn't blow the teeny tiny Doctor (and likely the planet) when they were all hovering above him.

... and then it turns out that they needed to trap him. It was all a ruse.

You've been PLAYED, Doctor! Brilliant.

 

[Reverend]

Well that was fun, about time someone shot Amy.
I also noted how they've learnt not to shoot the new hunchback Daleks from the side anymore and now they muok much more impressive...so long as they stay still. All the time shenanigans at the start were quite fun too. Moffat always does that stuff very well and I'm continually surprised how very few Who writers have thought to use time in this way.

I have to say though, as a local, there were a few bits where they were at Stonehenge where I had to switch my brain off. Not that it matters much, just stuff that only someone from around here or very familiar with the area would spot.

...So, who wants to bet that Amy is an Auton (or something) too? I mean it's pretty implicit that she's somehow linked to all this, no?

 

[Starkers]

Well that was bloody fantastic, and it was great that even though we'd been spoilered to death that the Doctor would end up inside the Pandorica there were still a whole heap of surprises here, even down to why he ended up inside the Pandorica. I'd assumed that the alliance just wanted him out of the way because he always thwarts their plans.

Shame to see Weevils and Silurians in there, guess it was to bulk out the crowd scenes!

Loving the mysterious voice inside the TARDIS I'm guessing it is in fact

Spoiler: hypothesis

the Doctor- in fact the one who went back to see Ameila and popped into visit Amy in the Angel two parter

Loved River in this, Alex Kingston really is channelling Jacqui Pearce and obviously loving it...and I have to say I love the cat burglar outfit!

Loved the little cameos and it really was nice to see us harking back to litle things that happened earlier. The robot Doctor from VotD? Nice forshadowing for robot Rory.

Loved the explanation for Rory showing up. And loving the Romans.

Unfortunately I have one nitpick. How was there a photo of Rory in Amy's bedroom when Rory had been erased from history? I'm hoping there's a reason for this and it isn't just poor plotting from Moffat.

On the whole though this was hugely enjoyable...

Of course so was the Stolen Earth and we all know how that ended! If the second part comes close to part one this might well be the best finale ever.

Loved the Doctor's little rant, Moffat all over that

 

[Bones2]

Who was controlling The Tardis, whose voice was it ? Who has played literally everyone in the Universe for a fool.

Who else?

Nick Briggs?

Rumour has it that it might be Omega (please, not more Timeys!) but it sounded a little like a less-modulated Davros to me.

The Omega rumour's been around since before the series started airing, so my money's on that. I'd hope it's not Davros, considering he was in the last series finale. And he works best when used sparingly.

Anyway, I thought it was great. 4 or 4.5 out of 5 (I know, but there's a few niggles). Of course, it's always the second part that makes it (remember how good The Stolen Earth seemed at the time), but considering how Moffat is vastly superior to RTD, I'm fairly confident he'll deliver a worthy conclusion. If he does, this'll probably be the best of the series for me, which is high praise considering how highly I rate The Beast Below.

 

[Lonemagpie]

Unfortunately I have one nitpick. How was there a photo of Rory in Amy's bedroom when Rory had been erased from history? I'm hoping there's a reason for this and it isn't just poor plotting from Moffat.

The Doctor said earlier in the episode that being erased occasionally left traces because the universe is so complex, and specifically mentioned faces in photographs as an example

 

[Starkers]

Unfortunately I have one nitpick. How was there a photo of Rory in Amy's bedroom when Rory had been erased from history? I'm hoping there's a reason for this and it isn't just poor plotting from Moffat.

The Doctor said earlier in the episode that being erased occasionally left traces because the universe is so complex, and specifically mentioned faces in photographs as an example

Thank goodness for that! I remember the mention about traces but obviously wasn't paying nearly enough attention.

Apologies SM, and I really am glad because the return of Rory was just brilliant, really unexpected and now he maybe gets to die again? Or possibly go on...an auton companion? Ooh...

 

[Cyke101]

Anyway, I thought it was great. 4 or 4.5 out of 5 (I know, but there's a few niggles).

...who are you and what have you done with Bones?



Just kidding, you're alright I haven't quite digested the episode yet for a proper review, but I'm curious as to the things you thought were negatives. It's not a perfect episode, but it's darn close.

 

[Australis]

Well, that was pretty damn good.

River Song was the best she's ever been. Hands down. And that's saying something. Cat burglar, Cleopatra, adventurer... wow. The bit in the cell with the guard saying "Your lipstick tricks don't work on me!" made me laugh.

I twigged fairly early what the Pandorica was for. The "goblin, trickster or warrior, a terrible nameless thing" speech sealed it for me.

This week's bat's arse suggestion - Amelia's aunt is River.

Interesting the Cybus Cybermen are there, and Amy's never seen them.

"You know how sometimes I have really brilliant ideas?!"
"Yeah!"
"Sorry!"
[runs out]
"Look at me! I'm a target!"


And why was that Cyberman not behaving like a Cyberman?

Seeing Rory was a huge surprise!

"I'm not exactly one to miss the obvious, Rory!"

Smith and Darvill have a real chemistry there, shame if he doesn't come back next year.

"Probably got himself duffed up by the locals. Never underestimate a Celt." Damn Scottish agenda again...

And then Rory turns out to be an Auton! And then shoot Amy!

Still no closer to understanding why Amy didn't know the events of SE/JE.

No trailer was a very good idea.

More thoughts later.

 

[Bones2]

Anyway, I thought it was great. 4 or 4.5 out of 5 (I know, but there's a few niggles).

...who are you and what have you done with Bones?



Just kidding, you're alright I haven't quite digested the episode yet for a proper review, but I'm curious as to the things you thought were negatives. It's not a perfect episode, but it's darn close.

Just a few nitpicks I noticed along the way. Nothing major, and I don't really remember them now. Certainly nothing on the level of an RTD episode where I can find something stupid in every scene. Why on earth the people keeping River prisoner would let her keep her hallucinogenic lipstick in her cell with her, especially as they knew she had it is about the worst one. And all these enemies coming together to save the universe from the Doctor is a little odd, considering the Daleks were bent on destroying reality last time. You'd have thought they'd hop in their voidship, leave for a while, and come back to realise there's not much reason for them to Dalek around any more now everyone else is gone.

But still, really good stuff overall. I hope these rumours of Moffat leaving after the next series are false; this has been my favourite series of new Who by quite a wide margin.

 

[SeerSGB]

Seen some bits and clips that are already out and about...can't wait for it to show up Itunes, looks fucking amazing. As for the voice in the TARDIS: I'm saying it's the TARDIS, it's when bat-shit.

 

[Australis]

The BBC would be crazy to let Moffatt go after one season, and I don't think he'd do it. I certainly hope not.

 

[DAK]

I thought it was a big pile of bullshit that the 100,000+ ships didn't blow the teeny tiny Doctor (and likely the planet) when they were all hovering above him.

... and then it turns out that they needed to trap him. It was all a ruse.

Actually, that's a good point I didn't think of - why go to all the trouble of building the Pandorica when just killing the Doctor (and making sure he doesn't regenerate) would ensure that he doesn't destroy the universe?

Anyway, I loved it! The Doctor's "Come and get me" speech had me laughing!

Why does the Doctor think Amy's life doesn't make sense? He already knew when he went back for her that night, so it was before Rory got erased from time. How would he know what her life was like if he hadn't been there for the past 14 years?

Anyone else notice some of the shots were flipped? It's hard not to notice when Matt Smith's hair is flopped to the wrong side. I've seen this other times this season too - someone in editing is being sloppy.

 

[Admiral_Young]

That was amazing...and yeah I'm thinking that the "Silence Will Fall" voice was the Tardis, it could also have been a version of the First Doctor's voice. I know I might get some flak for this and this might be WAY off but I'm starting to think that Davros's reality bomb actually DID go off. It wasn't designed to erase all of reality right then and there but like "All Good Things..." start in the future and make it's way back into the past. All of reality was cracking making it possible for the Alliance to come together. They kept saying that the Doctor was responsible for the collapse of the universe? Well what if he actually was? Or more importantly the Doctor Donna? She unplugged the device. I'm way off base here I know but it's something I can't get out of my head.

I thought the Doctor's speech to the Alliance ships was fantastic...and Arthur and Karen had great acting moments together. Alex was great as River and as I think wamdue (think I got it right this time) already pointed out we continue to have more questions raised than answered regarding River. Matt's desperate plea to his enemies made me tear up a bit...I loved his performance in this episode. I can't wait for next weekend's finale. What a ride so far. I loved the teaser and all the arc pieces coming together through time.

 

[Australis]

Here's a thought.

Time can be rewritten. River is in the TARDIS when it explodes.

River may be erased from time.

Wouldn't that be a kick in the head...

 

[Admiral_Young]

That's a possibility as well. Only that'd effect her appearance in "Silence in the Library"

 

[SeerSGB]

You know to tie up all the loose threads (get the Doc out of the box, save the universe, save Amy, etc.) part II is going to be a flat run of a episode.

 

[Australis]

That's a possibility as well. Only that'd effect her appearance in "Silence in the Library"

That's part of the whole time rewritten thing. Wibbly wobbly.

 

[Gepard]

That's a possibility as well. Only that'd effect her appearance in "Silence in the Library"

Her appearance in "Flesh and Stone" came after the events of this episode. Given her cheeky demeanor and her remembering meeting the Doctor when the Pandorica opened, one can assume it all turns out okay for her.