New Who Review for Amy’s Choice
Posted By Kathleen David on June 1, 2010
This is a bit of a set piece. We have our core characters in an odd dilemma of what is reality and what is fantasy and who’s fantasy is it? My theory I am putting behind the cut.
I like Rory more and more. I am hoping that he sticks around for a while because the dynamics between the Doctor, Rory, and Amy are really neat. And Amy’s feelings for both Rory and the Doctor are an interesting mix.
The structure of the story was interesting. I have to say that it had me going for a while but the ending left me a little unsatisfied.
I am enjoy this season a lot. I do find it interesting that, for most of these episodes, you could drop just about any incarnation of the Doctor and it would work one way or another. Moffat seems to have more of a sense of “history” of the character than RTD did (again I am not slamming RTD, just noting a difference).
As usual spoilers can only go up through Amy’s Choice and I have seen the next two episodes and would like to leave those who haven’t totally spoiler free thank you.
I’m going to start with the ending here and work my way back.
I thought the ending was a little confused and a little pat all in one. OK it was the Doctor making up the dreams? I can kind of put this together is you put the Valeyard in the mix as the Doctor’s last incarnation or potential last incarnation. After that, I think it might be a clue to the end of the season or it will make more sense after the end of the season.
So was it Rory’s Dream, Amy’s Dream, or the Doctor’s dream for them in the village? It seemed to be Rory’s until towards the middle then it seemed to be the Doctor’s. And the freezing TARDIS as the other problem that must be solved was a nice contrast. And since they were dreaming within a dream, the logic of how things work go out the window.
Also Amy really didn’t have a choice as much as they set that up.
And now I don’t think they can do an episode with Queen Elizabeth due to all the stuff they have said about her. Also you would need Tennant back to do it.
I thought this was an OK episode with a lot of potential that didn’t get fulfilled. I liked it but I didn’t love it.
Next week we deal with the Hungry Earth.
I am grateful for episodes that get me thinking of other stories that could have been told.
I’m writing without having read your review, which is awkward. For my broadcast on BBC America, Amy’s Choice is the episode scheduled to broadcast this coming Saturday, the 5th of June. They had a “skip week” this past weekend (although I believe that they did show some DW reruns). It is possible, of course, that what is broadcast to me differs from what is broadcast elsewhere.
The Valeyard is not and has never been the Doctor’s final evil self, he is the Doctor’s darkside taken form from the time of his final regeneration. Admittedly it being his final regeneration was the initial plan of the writers but it was squashed by the producer and they went the darkside version instead.
Actually, in “Trial of a Timelord”, the Master told the Doctor, “The Valeyard is an amalgamation of the darker sides of your nature, somewhere between your twelfth and final incarnation.”
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The key word is “amalgamation.” The Valeyard isn’t a future Doctor, per se, but negative aspects of the Doctor’s character, somehow given physical form. Whether the Valeyard is comparable to a projection of a future incarnation of the Doctor, like Cho-Je was a projection of K’anpo’s next incarnation in “Planet of the Spiders”, or something akin to the Watcher from “Logopolis” (an apparent intermediary step between the fourth and fifth Doctors), or something else entirely, is unclear. Maybe if Colin Baker had been given another season, the issue might’ve been addressed in more detail. Who knows?
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By the way, Apparently some Doctor Who fans have advanced the theory that the “Meta-Crisis 10th Doctor” created in “Journey’s End” will eventually become the Valeyard. Sounds cool, but it doesn’t work. For one, he’s partially human (a combination of the Doctor’s DNA (from the excess regeneration energy the Doctor siphoned off into his severed hand) and DNA from Donna when she touched the canister holding (sorry) the hand (and making her the Doctor-Donna), which means he has only one heart and one lifetime (as he told Rose, he won’t regenerate). So there’s no way for him to eventually look like Michael Jayston C. 1986.
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But even if the Meta-Crisis 10th Doctor had been a full-blooded Timelord with powers to regenerate, there’s still the question of how he’d get A) back to the regular universe and B) to pre-Time War Gallifrey in order to strike his bargain with the high council.
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And then there’s the whole point about the Valeyard being an amalgamation of the darker sides of the Doctor’s nature. Though the Master could’ve been lying (doubtful. He’d have no reason to lie), or been misinformed himself.
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As to the episode itself, my first thought upon watching it was that the “Dream Lord” might be the Celestial Toymaker. Not sure why, but that possibility popped into my head. Granted, what the “Dream Lord” did isn’t quite the Toymaker’s M.O., but it wasn’t too far removed from what the Toymaker might’ve done. In a sense, the Doctor, Amy and Rory were playing a game with their lives at stake.
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One major strike against it being the Toymaker is that I don’t see him as the foe who hates the Doctor the most. That distinction would probably be a three-way tie between the Daleks, Davros and the Master. And obviously the “Dream Lord” wasn’t any of them. If the Master had been re-cast, I’m sure we’d have heard about it.
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This morning, though, another suspect occurred to me, even though I’d already seen the episode and knew the answer. For the record, that suspect was the other Master. The one from The Land of Fiction in “The Mind Robber” (or more likely his replacement, as he was rescued by the Doctor at the end of the episode). Again, as with the Toymaker, not the same M.O. as before, but close. But also no reason to hate the Doctor.
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I never considered that the “Dream Lord” might be a manifestation of the Doctor’s subconscious. It’d be interesting, though, if it turns out the Valeyard is eventually “born” in a similar fashion.
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The dilemma presented to the Doctor, Amy and Rory was interesting. Both scenarios had elements of both reality and unreality. I never considered that they might both be dreams, however. Though it does make sense that a being that can manipulate dreams shouldn’t be able to affect reality.
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Completely unrelated, but I wouldn’t mind at some point down the road at least a reference to the Doctor becoming Merlin (as established in “Battlefield”). It’d be interesting to see what transpires that makes the Doctor decide to take on that role (I’d always imagined the seventh Doctor set his future self free at some point, that the Doctor isn’t doomed to actually spend eternity sealed in ice caves), but even a few throwaway lines suggesting that adventure took place off camera would be O.K.
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I’m likewise enjoying this season.
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Rick