“The Big Bang” is going to take a while to absorb. Fortunately, there are 182 days until the Christmas special, so I have plenty of time to indulge. The biggest thing will be diagramming exactly how the sonic screwdriver passed hands for nearly 2,000 years while managing to always be in the right place at the right time. Okay, I am kidding. But this was a heady plot that did not follow any sort of formula. For that, I give it props already. The big baddie behind the TARDIS explosion in the first place is still at large and incidental to the story here, the theme of which is the less than subtle notion that the memory of loved ones keeps them alive after death or ‘death,” as the case may be.
Along those lines, we have Rory protecting Amy within the Pandorica for over 1,800 years, the Doctor rescuing River from the time loop that saved her from the TARDIS explosion, Amy bringing her parents back, and eventually, the Doctor as well, once he has been trapped outside the universe.
I dwell on that recurring theme because the whole using the Pandorica to recreate the big bang in order to reset the universe is one of those wild, theoretic concepts that gets the nerdy math and physics geeks all tingly on the inside, but leaves us social science geeks why they are skipping over the philosophical love conquers all stuff we are fixated on. I assume that is why the social science geeks reconsidered a lower form. somewhere between furries and slash fan fiction writers.
Outside of the fantastical solution to the universe outside of earth having been wiped out by the exploding TARDIS, there were a lot of interesting moments. The Doctor really was traveling through time in “The Time of Angels” It was his future self bouncing through time after resetting the universe who approached Amy and implored her to remember him. There was a sweet moment where he encountered her the night she fell asleep in the yard waiting for him to return for her as a child. I am even somewhat enthused by the prospect of River becoming a recurring, important character.
I mentioned earlier the story did not follow a predictable formula. Outside of a Dalek which River made short work of, there were no villains. It was a highly personal story. Odd, but I liked it. I suspect others may not. I also like the idea that Amy and Rory got married, but are still companions. Their status as a couple eliminates the whole possibility of puppy which RTD was so obsessed with and gives them an easy way out of the TARDIS--Amy gets pregnant and they will leave without drama. The only drawback is that River is really being set up to marry the Doctor. Perhaps having another married couple around sparks off his nesting instincts.
Entertaining episode. Curious if we will have to wait all next season to find out whether Omega or the master is behind the TARDIS exploding, but I have faith in Steven Moffat. This has been a great season, far less uneven than most in the RTD era, and Matt Smith is rapidly becoming a top tier Doctor.
Rating: **** (out of 5)
