{"id":233,"date":"2011-03-23T10:20:20","date_gmt":"2011-03-23T17:20:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=233"},"modified":"2011-03-23T10:22:28","modified_gmt":"2011-03-23T17:22:28","slug":"mark-watches-doctor-who-s05e05-flesh-and-stone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2011\/03\/mark-watches-doctor-who-s05e05-flesh-and-stone\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Doctor Who’: S05E05 – Flesh and Stone"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the fifth episode of the fifth series of Doctor Who<\/em>, the Doctor, Amy, and River Song face an impossible situation as they are surrounded by the Weeping Angels. Surprisingly, the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153crack\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in Amy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wall from the series\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 opener is actually explained. WHAT. If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re intrigued, then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Doctor Who<\/em>.<\/p>\n

HOLY GOD, WHAT AN EPISODE OF TELEVISION. Seriously, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know if I could pick a single moment from \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Flesh and Stone\u00e2\u20ac\u009d as my favorite. I did not expect this second half of the story to be even more relentless and intense than the first, but there are so many moments where I held my breath in horror or tears welled in my eyes. Like I felt during \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Eleventh Hour,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Doctor Who<\/em> just seems so fresh and new these days, and this episode is Moffat not only giving us a thrilling episode full of fright, but he shows that he can do emotionally huge drama like Russell T Davies was known for.<\/p>\n

For once, I really like the resolution of the cliffhanger; it didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel like it took away from the urgency of the situation, and as the camera revealed that the survivors were actually upside down, I had the goofiest grin on my face. YOU ARE BRILLIANT, DOCTOR. The thing that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so great about this is that Moffat doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wait a second to continue to up the stakes. In past two-part episodes, upon resolving the conflict, the episode usually settles into a much slower pace, allowing the characters to get into place for the finale. But in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Flesh and Stone,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no waiting at all. The scenes of the remaining survivors doing their best to try and outrun the Weeping Angels are simply amazing, most especially the hauntingly quiet moment when the Doctor realizes he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll have to ask everyone to turn their lights off in order for them to move deeper into the ship. I love that Father Octavian asks River if she trusts this man with her life, amid the din and terror of the situation, because it did not suggest later events near the resolution of the episode.<\/p>\n

I worried that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d have to deal with another story of the Doctor and his companions trapped inside of a spaceship with aliens trying to attack them, but, again, unbelievably unprepared. I was so unprepared. The Doctor reveals that there is an oxygen factory, a LITERAL MACHINE FOREST, on board the starship. And I really have to praise Moffat for this. Taking the episode to this new set really injects a completely different tone to the rest of the story. Many of the moments where Weeping Angels flash into place behind trees and creeping around bushes are among the best images this show has ever produced. The actual coloring is exciting, too, which is probably a weird thing to pick up on, but the earthy tones and the unsettling lighting of this place create an unending sense of gloom to what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s happening on screen.<\/p>\n

But out of everything that happens during \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Flesh and Stone,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the crack in the wall that most surprised me. (Well\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.ok, maybe the final scene did. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll get there.)<\/p>\n

As it appeared on the wall of the Byzantium<\/em>, I knew that it would be impossible to ignore it. I mean\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S RIGHT THERE. AND IT IS HUGE. The Doctor orders everyone out as he begins to investigate and WHAT. WHAT<\/em>. It is literally leaking time?!?!?!?!<\/em> I mean, how many times have we heard the phrase, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Time is running out\u00e2\u20ac\u009d? AND HOW MANY TIMES WAS IT EVER LITERAL<\/em>? Oh god, Moffat, you are a genius can I bake you some cookies<\/em><\/p>\n

The thing is, this season\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153theme\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or endgame was seeded fairly obviously throughout these episodes, but this is the first time that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been addressed so blatantly before the final two episodes of the series. I was taken entirely offguard by Moffat\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s script because I assumed the pattern would be the same as it always was: hint towards the finale, don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t explain anything until episode eleven or twelve. OH HEY, THIS IS EPISODE FIVE AND THE CRACK CONSUMES TIME<\/em>. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why Amy didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t remember the Daleks or other details of her life and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why we watch the other soldiers quickly forget that their fellow clerics ever existed. Which is a terrifying thought, by the way. Somehow, though, Moffat compounds this with Amy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s slow conversion due to the Weeping Angel inside of her. Has counting down ever been so disturbing?<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Flesh and Stone\u00e2\u20ac\u009d doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just excel with a fantastic story, though. Both Karen Gillan and Matt Smith have some of their best-acted scenes in series five so far. (I must say, too, that Alex Kingston and Iain Glen provide more-than-satisfactory assistance in this regard as well, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll get to them later.) As the Doctor realizes the severity of Amy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s situation, he knows he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll have to leave her behind to find a solution. I found their parting scene so unbelievably raw, especially for two actors who are only on their fifth episode together. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s undeniable that Matt and Karen have possibly the best chemistry between a Doctor and his companion yet, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a testament to their remarkable talent that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s taken them so little time to build a genuine, believable rapport.<\/p>\n

But I have to say: The Doctor saying goodbye to Father Octavian is UTTER BRILLIANCE. That look on his face when he knows that Octavian is going to die is so goddamn real. It last but a second, coming right before Matt Smith\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s eyes well up with tears, and it is one of the most powerful images this show has ever given us. And as cheesy as it might actually be, Father Octavian\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s parting words are poetic and bittersweet.<\/p>\n

For Karen Gillan, though, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s being placed in an impossible situation that truly makes her shine, and I have no qualms about stating that I know I will already love her as a companion this early into her run. Not only does she have to literally be in the dark throughout a good portion of this episode, she plays up the physical aspect of her situation with incredible skill. The scene where she has to navigate to the Byzantium<\/em> with her eyes closed, but acting as if she can see, is riveting, well-acted and logistically completely nightmare fuel. AGAIN.<\/p>\n

Goddamn, I love this show.<\/p>\n

I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel like the end of this part of the story was anti-climactic either, as we get a full explanation for the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153crack.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Caused by an explosion in time on June 26, 2010, the crack rewrites time as it expands and as the Angels rush to escape it, I found it a fitting end for the creatures that they were devoured by the time explosion in order to save Amy, River, and the Doctor. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one of those bits of wild science that would probably break down if I spent even five seconds thinking about it, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m in this to be entertained. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t necessarily hold Doctor Who<\/em> to the same rigorous standards as most science fiction I consume.<\/p>\n

As we bid goodbye to River Song, certain that she will return again, we find out she killed a man and was always under the watch of the clerics, traveling to Alfava Metraxis to hopefully earn a pardon. I mean\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6that can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be the Doctor she killed in his future\/her past, right? Sooooooo\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6..what? She then names the next moment we will see her: when the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Pandorica\u00e2\u20ac\u009d opens, which is now the second time we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve heard that phrase. How does that relate to the time explosion crack, and why does the Doctor believe it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a fairy tale?<\/p>\n

Truthfully, though, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think any of us expected the closing scene of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Flesh and Stone.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Understandably so, after a truly awful experience, Amy asks to be taken home to recuperate and attend her wedding to Rory. OMG SHE IS MARRYING RORY! THAT IS SO ADORABLE OMG MORE RORY<\/strong><\/em>. What makes absolutely no sense, though, is Amy expressing sexual feelings for the Doctor. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve never seen anyone kiss the Doctor like that before. I mean, I liked the distinction Amy made that she wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t in love with the Doctor; she merely wanted a make out party. MAKE OUT PARTIES ARE AWESOME. But why now? Why is she acting this way?<\/p>\n

The episode ends with the Doctor whisking Amy away when he realizes the date: June 25th<\/sup>, 2010. The time explosion is THE VERY NEXT DAY.<\/p>\n

What the holy fuck, you guys.<\/p>\n

THOUGHTS<\/strong><\/p>\n