Goodbye Pond

No quotes this time. Why? I suppose it was the performances that had me and not the words spoken.

The Angels Take Manhattan. The episode was... an end. Because it's what happens in life and sometimes you don't have any say in it. Was I saddened by this episode? Yes. But, more for the Doctor than for Amy. I feel the intended emphasis was Amy and Rory's story and in every right it should be. But... in the end Amy and Rory had each other. The impossible choice between a life with Rory or a life with the Doctor but without Rory was not a choice at all as established long ago. The Doctor was given the back seat in this episode but it's his potential and inevitable loss that burned distractingly bright in the background of the couple's story. The moment when the Doctor breaks down in shock and anger when he realises the end is near for his dear companion. The scene on the rooftop as he calls her name helplessly. And again, as he pleads desperately for her to stop in the graveyard because he will never get to see her again. We can only imagine how high his emotions were running because we know how important Amy is to the Doctor as set up in the previous episode. And the fall out? Well, that will be left to be seen in the next story.

So did I get the heart wrenching, harrowing end I was hoping for? ...Sorry, no. It missed it by a little bit, because again, this was Amy and Rory's story and in the end they were happy. But it still is very sad and in the end the Doctor ended up "standing over their graves", something he so desperately tried to prevent since The God Complex. 

It was great to see River again. Married life I must say suits the Doctor. Well, their version of marriage at least. I think the scene I love the most among all the hell that was breaking loose was the heart to heart moment when the two sat on the staircase. The Doctor out of love healed River's broken wrist and giving it a kiss, but the sweetest gesture (I thought at least) was received with a slap to his face from his darling wife. She storms off saying he's embarrassing her, with him calling after her in frustration like only a confused husband would be. The two are adorable.

Putting the good stuff aside for the moment. I really didn't like the Statue of Liberty being a Weeping Angel. The first time I read the idea in a comment I thought it would be cool but then I dismissed it because it's so impractical. How many tourists have snapped pictures of the iconic statute? How can the gigantic statue ever move, is there ever a moment in the city that "never sleeps" when people aren't looking at it? And isn't the Statue of Liberty made of copper not stone? But I've long become tired of the Angels since The Time of the Angel/ Flesh and Stone, those two episodes were over kill. Although, the cherubs and other formed statues did bring back some of the fear that I'd lost for the usual kind.  

So it's goodbye to the Ponds. It really is the end of the Ponds as signified by how Amy chose to be remembered as a Williams and not Pond. And it's the end of another chapter in the Doctor's life. However, I do wonder what about Brian? How will the Doctor break the news to him or maybe River should deliver the news? I wonder if Rory ever got around to telling his father about River? Guess, we'll see.