32.10: The Girl Who Waited

[Lenny]

Amy's trapped in a quarantine facility for victims of an alien plague. Can Rory save her?

---

So this weeks episode sees Amy trapped in a time stream in a quarantine facility whilst the Doctor and Rory try to save her. I missed the first minute or so waiting for the Freeview box to turn on, so I don't know the context of the visit, but I assume we can safely call the episode filler, seeing as none of it related to the main arc (we didn't even see the screen showing the day the Doctor dies!), and for filler I think it's one of the bets episodes we've seen! Better even than the best ones in the first half of the series.

The episode provides some very nice characterisation for both Amy and Rory, as well as sowing the seeds for their final departure - both companions can't believe the Doctor lied when he said he'd save both versions of Amy, and Rory is also angry that the Doctor can't seem to control time. The episode also acts as a nice counterpoint to Rory the Centurion, who waited a mite longer than Ninja Amy.

I was going to mention something else about themes I'm noticing, but I've forgotten what it was...

Oh, yes! Once again, the Doctor lied to force a hand and made it very clear after the events had transpired that he lied.

We saw the theme of death, with one or more of our intrepid adventurers in danger: the first episode of this second half saw the Doctor dying, with Amy and Rory in danger from the antibodies. In the second episode, Amy was turned into a murdering doll, and in this third episode, the Doctor is at risk from the one day plague whilst Amy has to go into hiding from robots trying to give her a kindness.

It's also worth noting that every episode this half sees something happen to Amy - robot Amy, doll Amy and now Ninja Amy.

---

Whilst I'm here, next week looks like another very surreal episode that features objects with positive connotations given a negative twist (the trailer showed a clown and a ventriloquist doll. There might have been more things, but I wasn't paying a great deal of attention). I'm not sure if that itself is a theme, but having seen murderous dolls who simply want to play and robots that kill through kindness, it just doesn't seem to be coincidence.

And another thing! Fairy tales, nursery rhymes and myth and legend. Last week fortold the Doctor's demise with a children's rhyme. Next week we'll find a room for the Doctor in a hotel that is inhabited by a minotaur.

 

[Adasunshine]

I loved this episode, very moving, well, it was for me. Cried on two occasions. Amy and Rory are very well written.

"I'm giving you my days..." heart wrenching stuff.

I thought the concept was brilliant, great characterisation of Amy, was strange to see her hate the Doctor, not sure the Doctor liked that much either. The TARDIS throwing a bit of a tantrum over the two Amy thing was also interesting for me.

... and yet ANOTHER thing that can kill the Doctor, no regeneration... the one day plague, it seems we're finding out an awful lot about the various things that can render our Doctor no more.

Lots to think about, really looking forward to next weeks episode too.

xx

 

[Tillane]

Okay, so...probably my favourite ep of the series thus far. Yes, the conceit of having the two streams at the start was a bit far-fetched, but once past that the story was engaging, enjoyable and touching. Really liked the idea of having two Amys - and the bit with them speaking in synch, which was a nice little nod back to Midnight - and thought older Amy's (can't call her Old Amy - she'd still have only been mid-50s...) rant at the Doctor was spot-on.

One does have to wonder, at the end of all this, how either she or Rory could trust the Doc again or contemplate travelling with him any more. If not for little Melody being out there, surely they'd get off now? And yes, two eps in a row without any reference to the hunt for Melody. Wonder if this was supposed to be shown earlier in the series, too?

Actually, a thought. In "A Good Man Goes To War", River got all melodramatic and speechy and told Rory that the Doctor would "rise higher than ever before and then fall so much further." I wonder if this heralds the start of his fall...

Nah. Probably not.

Slight niggles. Is Amy smart enough to make her own sonic, or hack the Interface, even given thirty years? Not entirely sure I buy that. Also, why are the handbots so dumb? If they can scan for bacteria, why can't they spot the fact that Amy and Rory only have one heart and are therefore a) not in any danger of catching the plague, and b) presumably not a threat, either? Not completely convincing for me, and I'm sure that kind of inconsistency could have been sorted with maybe one or two lines.

Never mind. Still a very good ep, and I'm looking forward to next week.

 

[Adasunshine]

Slight niggles. Is Amy smart enough to make her own sonic, or hack the Interface, even given thirty years? Not entirely sure I buy that. Also, why are the handbots so dumb? If they can scan for bacteria, why can't they spot the fact that Amy and Rory only have one heart and are therefore a) not in any danger of catching the plague, and b) presumably not a threat, either? Not completely convincing for me, and I'm sure that kind of inconsistency could have been sorted with maybe one or two lines.

This was covered when Older Amy told Rory that she had to ask the Interface the questions in a roundabout way to get the answers she needed eventually leading to her understanding how the Interface worked and hacking it to do her bidding. It probably took years but then the one thing she had was time.

As for the sonic screwdriver, the Interface would have known how to make one of those.

As to the Handbots, they were probably only programmed for one thing. Bots usually are, Amy even references that she had to re-programme the one she called Rory once it was disarmed. This suggests that they were made to carry out only limited functions which would make sense.

xx

 

[Tillane]

This was covered when Older Amy told Rory that she had to ask the Interface the questions in a roundabout way to get the answers she needed eventually leading to her understanding how the Interface worked and hacking it to do her bidding. It probably took years but then the one thing she had was time.

Yeah, possibly. I just think there's a big jump from being tricksy and re-programming what is presumably a very sophisticated bit of software.

As for the sonic screwdriver, the Interface would have known how to make one of those.

Only if it knew what one was and how it was made, which assumes it was programmed with that knowledge. Plausible, I suppose, but I wouldn't have thought it over-likely.

As to the Handbots, they were probably only programmed for one thing. Bots usually are, Amy even references that she had to re-programme the one she called Rory once it was disarmed. This suggests that they were made to carry out only limited functions which would make sense.

Yeah, I'll buy that. It just seems odd that they can scan for bacteria (and not just for the one-day plague, clearly), but not programmed to notice which "unauthorised bacteria" are harmful and which aren't.

Still, like I said, they're only slight niggles and didn't really hinder my enjoyment of the ep.

 

[Moonbat]

I did enjoy the episode, but I wasn't sure why older Amy hated the Dr so much.
Surely the companions know that they put themselves at risk when travelling with the Dr, but they alwasy seem to think he is infallible, and although almost every week they are in some sort of life or death situation it seems that when something does go wrong they blame the Dr, the man that saves them almost everytime they do get almost killed.
I is interesting that we are seeing the Dr not be able to save everyone easily, although it makes for a more interesting and tense episode I think we all knew that the Dr would save younger Amy without too much fuss.

Interesting that Amy called her sonic thing a probe, and even said that's what it is, only the silly Dr calls it a screwdriver, but she relented at the end and admitted it was a screwdriver, but I think we all know now that it is, in fact, a probe!

If this was an episode that should have been earlier in the season, then why wasn't it. I'm a bit annoyed that they seem to be travelling around without thinking/worrying about Melody or the Dr's death, just ignoring the story arc is bugging me, why not show the episodes in the order they were written to be shown!!! Rather frustrating, if this wasn't such a family forum I'd be swearing right now!

Oh, I did like the 'kill you will kindness' line.

 

[PTeppic]

I did enjoy the episode, but I wasn't sure why older Amy hated the Dr so much.

I believe Yoda summed beautifully it up in SW:Ep1:TPM, but will rephrase it:

Amy's impatience would lead to frustration, then resentment before, finally, anger.

How long would any of us have waited, even for the Doctor, before taking each of those steps down the emotional road. Days? Weeks? Even months?

 

[Perpetual Man]

A bit of a different episode, but I really enjoyed it.

Although I've really been enjoying the ongoing story arc, it is time for a break from interlinking stories, and in a recent interview Moffat seemed to be leaning in the same direction. He said he'd done his complex story and got it out of his system, and the plan was for a more singular stand alone run of stories next year. If they are as good as the last two then it bodes very well.

Two things that stood out -as Adasunshine mentioned something that could kill the Doctor dead, with no hope of regeneration; I might have misheard but I also got the impression that he felt the robots could kill him as well - the injection they were desperate to avoid?

And the robot hands were made of Flesh... so yet another appearance in a different form...

 

[Purdy Bear]

I loved this episode. As someone more of older Amy's years I could really understand her point of view, but also love young Amy. Poor Rory was in a fix.

I think the episode successfully showed the darker side of the Dr, his not always nicer then life. He also makes a lot of mistakes due to his over enthusiasm, doing the feet in puddle first before looking how deep it is.

Im seeing a connection with clowns, dolls, being lost in other spaces in this series, very interesting and scary for the future ones.

PS It really made my imagination go - what would your life be if you were living there, which zone would you choose.

 

[HoopyFrood]

I did enjoy the episode, but I wasn't sure why older Amy hated the Dr so much.
Surely the companions know that they put themselves at risk when travelling with the Dr, but they alwasy seem to think he is infallible, and although almost every week they are in some sort of life or death situation it seems that when something does go wrong they blame the Dr, the man that saves them almost everytime they do get almost killed.
I is interesting that we are seeing the Dr not be able to save everyone easily, although it makes for a more interesting and tense episode I think we all knew that the Dr would save younger Amy without too much fuss.

I think that would give her a very valid reason to hate him. He's always supposed to save them. So waiting thirty six years? I would've been completely narked with him after that first week in the room, never mind thirty six years. Plus, being alone, with nothing but time on your hands, you'd have little else to do but think on it and get more and more resentful...

Also, while on this line of thought, I think it's feasible that Amy could have learnt how to hack into the interface and all that jazz. She didn't need to eat, it was likely she didn't need to sleep either, or anything else that would get in the way. Apparently it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill and the Interface was pretty much the only thing of interest around.


Anyway, I really, really liked this episode. Only and simply those three characters, with some brilliant characterisation. I think Karen was excellent, especially as older Amy talking to her younger self. I don't mind taking a break from the main arc, especially when it's to do something like this that really invests in the characters, and their lack of searching for Melody isn't bothering me too much. It's all too timey-wimey.

Next week's looks awesome -- Hotel with rooms for everyone. Including Weeping Angels, argh!

 

[TheEndIsNigh]

First off, it was acceptable.

OK, there were parts where the plot was just bad, but like last week the interest in the outcome was maintained such that these inconsistencies could be 'overlooked'.

Personally, I found the 'over the hill Amy' a bit hard to take and a bit overdone, both in the unconvincing fighting methods and the super intelligent abilities. Eye candy should now it's place IMO . I did wonder at 36 years, why not 200 or the traditional 1000. After 1000 years I understand someone getting a bit miffed. As for Who being a liar: as someone mentioned, they've all seen him in action and know what he is.
By the way can someone remind me how Rory lived for those 1000 years?

Did anyone think the hand bots 'flash' looked vaguely like the flash in the death of Who scene?

Next week: Hotel rooms - versus this week - multiple rooms in time. Is there a theme?

Anyway, like last week, this episode was one of the better ones of the series. Sidekick in trouble Doctor to the rescue stuff.

 

[PTeppic]

By the way can someone remind me how Rory lived for those 1000 years?

Did anyone think the hand bots 'flash' looked vaguely like the flash in the death of Who scene?

a) As an Auton-style robot
b) No - and there was a green gun at Lake Silence

 

[Dave]

Only just watched this and haven't much to add. Using my kids as a barometer - they didn't like it. I much prefer it to the 'Let's Kill Hitler' type of episode, though I think there might have been some timey-wimey inconsistencies with established 'Who-lore', and I agree that they order these episodes have been shown makes no sense within the overall season arc. I quite liked older Amy - there wasn't a lot of make-up, so much of the difference was due to her acting ability - something I don't think we have seen when she just runs around and gets rescued.

 

[Fried Egg]

I quite liked this episode. My biggest problem with it was that Amy really didn't look like she had aged 36 years, and she was pretty agile for a sixty (odd) year old!

I assume we can safely call the episode filler, seeing as none of it related to the main arc (we didn't even see the screen showing the day the Doctor dies!), and for filler I think it's one of the bets episodes we've seen!

I think that's a little unfair. In my opinion, the bes episodes are generally the ones least concerned with the overall story arc.

 

[Ursa major]

When we first glimpsed the older Amy's face, I too wondered if they'd made a mistake with the ageing, but as we got to see more of her face, I began to think that they'd got it right. Not every woman in their mid fifties** looks decrepit. And some of them are seriously fit, one way or another.

Amy is also in some sort of medical facility, so it's unlikely that the lighting, even that in the supposed outside, would damage the skin in the way true sunlight would. And would she be partying the night away? Or smoking? Or drinking lots of alcohol, or any of all those other things that age the skin?

(And the makeup artists could always say that her proximity to those time engines had a beneficial effect.)


** - Amy is supposed to be seven when we first met her. We then see her twelve years later, making her nineteen in 2010. Assuming we're (usually) seeing Amy as she'd be in 2011 in this series, she's twenty, making the older Amy fifty-six years old.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

I like the over-arching story line type of stuff, like last season, so these "one-off" episodes don't appeal to me as much. However, I am assuming that this episode was supposed to be earlier as well, so it does relate in a way -- but I suspect they removed bits that would have related it to the story arc the way the earlier ones did; I just have a feeling that there should have been some bits with the eyepatch lady and all that, which wouldn't make any sense now that it's moved to later in the season.

That said, I liked it ok, though I only got to see it once instead of my usual twice because *gasp* I actually forgot it was Saturday until after the first run had passed.

I, too, had my doubts that Amy would be able to build a sonic screwdriver ("probe") from scratch even after 36 years. She may have had a lot of time on her hands, but she also had a lot of running to do, and she's never shown any particular proficiency at electronics and/or five-space math or whatever it is. Dunno.

 

[PTeppic]

When we first glimpsed the older Amy's face, I too wondered if they'd made a mistake with the ageing, but as we got to see more of her face, I began to think that they'd got it right. Not every woman in their mid fifties** looks decrepit. And some of them are seriously fit, one way or another.

For the record, to the makers of Harry Potter part 7b, THIS is how you age actors in the early twenties to make them look 20-40 years older. You don't just change their hair and air-brush five o'clock shadow...

 

[TheEndIsNigh]

Though I suppose if you have the convenience of a time machine you can nip along 36 years and fetch back the genuine article.

It's an interesting problem though.

I don't know if 'Amy Pond' has a 'life sharer', but in any case it would make present or future prospects think.

Is this the woman I want to wake up with in 36 years?

Having this presumably accurate (using the now common aging/morphing techniques) picture to refer to, would have both its advantages (and disadvantages).

How many of us would be brave enough to expose ourselves to this treatment?

Should it be compulsory?

 

[PTeppic]

Isn't it the basis of at least one "reality" TV show? To project such an image and then show what they can do to improve on it?

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I was bored through the first third or so of the episode. I said to my husband (also less than enthralled) that I would be turning off the TV at that point except that I was afraid of missing some detail that turned out to be important later.

But when older-Amy turned up we both began to be interested, and by the end of the episode I was a little teary-eyed.

By the time it was over we agreed that it was a good episode.