It’s time to say Goodbye. Rory and Amy embark on their final adventure with the Doctor. A visit to New York City in 1938 and 2012. But, the Weeping Angels are waiting and fate is closing in. So, is their final adventure worthy of the ones to come before?

The first companion of the “New Series”, Rose, who traveled with the Ninth and Tenth Doctors, has left twice, in the Series Two finale, Doomsday, she is sent to a parallel universe, seemingly never to return. But, she finds a way. It takes the end of all reality to make it happen, but Rose and the Doctor are finally reunited in the Series Four finale Journey’s End, only to discover that to keep the order of the universe, she must return to the parallel universe and allow it to seal itself off forever. The first time Rose left, the Doctor said Goodbye via hologram in one of the most emotional scenes in the history of Doctor Who. The second time, Rose is not left alone. She is left to care for the second, half-human Doctor that was created earlier in the episode. He will stay with Rose and grow old with her. That is the end of Rose’s story, which is not too tragic. The Tenth Doctor’s next companion is Medical Student Martha Jones, who just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time when the Doctor checks himself into the Hospital she is studying at to track an alien invader. After helping the Doctor stop the alien murderer, Martha is given one trip in the TARDIS as a reward. After he returns her from this trip however, events transpire in the present, which convince the Doctor that although he was not looking for a new companion, he has found one. Martha’s farewell comes in the Series Three finale, The Last of the Time Lords, after she has helped the Doctor to defeat the Master, and the effects of the Toclafane invasion has been reversed. Due to the fact that she is needed to help people cope with the effect of the trauma they suffered, she decides to leave on her own, which is a first for a companion in the New Series. She also leaves because she realizes that the Doctor will never feel the same feelings for her as she feels for him. But, before she leaves, she gives him her cellphone, and we, and the Doctor, will see her again. The Doctor’s next companion, to his surprise, is Donna Noble, who has been looking for the Doctor ever since the events of The Runaway Bride. They reunite in the Series Four premiere Partners in Crime, where Donna finally takes the Doctor up on his offer to go with him. The Doctor is happy because Donna does not fancy him like Martha did. Ironically, over the course of her time with the Doctor, Donna meets both of the Tenth Doctor’s former companions, Martha, now a UNIT Doctor, and Rose, who is able to return due to a weakening of the dimensional walls of the Universe. Donna’s departure is perhaps the most tragic, as due to the half-human, half time lord nature of her existence, her mind is burning up. To save her, the Doctor must wipe all traces of him and their adventures together from her mind. After Series Four, the Tenth Doctor embarks on his final adventures, culminating in his regeneration at the end of the 2010 New Year’s Special The End of Time, Part 2. Following his regeneration and the crashing of the TARDIS, the newly regenerated Eleventh Doctor lands in the garden of young Amelia Pond. And the rest is now history. So, how does Amy’s sendoff compare? Is it a worthy end? Read my review and find out.

FIGURES AND MORE EXCLUSIVE EPISODE REVIEW

Show:                        Doctor Who

Series:                       7

Episode #:                4

Title:                           The Power of Three

Writer:                       Chris Chibnall

Cast

The Doctor                            Matt Smith

Amy Pond                              Karen Gillan

Rory Williams                       Arthur Darvill

River Song                             Alex Kingston

Grayle                                     Mike McShane

Sam Garner                           Rob David

Foreman                                Ozzie Yue

Hood 1                                   Bentley Kalu

Garner 2                                Burnell Tucker

Plot

The story opens with the skyline of New York City superimposed against a woman typing a story on a 1930s era typewriter and voiced over by a Detective Garner, a private investigator from the same era. He has just been contacted by “Mr Grayle”, an art collector who is the scariest man in Garner’s acquaintance. Grayle, who has seen the effect of the Weeping Angels moving, hires Garner for $25/day (plus expenses) and asks him to check out an apartment block at Battery Park, where “the statues live”. Garner is hesitant to believe Grayle’s story but is intrigued at meeting something scarier than he is.

Upon arriving at the apartment, Garner is guided through a series of automatic doors and an elevator to a room with his name on the outside. Upon entering, he is confronted with duplicates of his clothing, his badge, and finally a much older version of himself, who warns him “I’m you” and that the statues are coming for him. He retreats to the roof while being chased by the Angels, who are no longer in hiding. He is met by the life-sized Statue of Liberty, which has been taken over by the Angels. We see the typewriter complete the heading of Chapter I – “The Dying Detective”.

After the opening credits, we see the Doctor, Amy, and Rory enjoying a picnic in Central Park in contemporary New York City. The Doctor and Amy read a 1930s detective novel while Rory goes for coffee. Rory suddenly finds himself in 1938, while the Doctor and Amy read about Rory’s appearance there in the book. The Doctor and Amy continue to read in concurrence with events in the past, as Rory finds himself joining River Song to visit Grayle. River explains—even though the Doctor tries—that landing the TARDIS in this time period is impossible due to the level of time distortions. While Amy insists they read ahead to learn about Rory’s fate and reading about the Doctor breaking something, he tells her not to for fear of creating fixed points in time, and worries about the presence of Weeping Angels.

Grayle orders Rory to the basement of his home with “the babies”, while River is taken to his secured office. Information she provides via the book allows the Doctor to signal her via the writing on an old Chinese vase, and she activates a homing beacon, allowing the Doctor to guide his TARDIS to Grayle. In the meantime Grayle has shown River a damaged Weeping Angel, part of his collection, and allowed it to trap River in order to gain information about the Angels from her. Amy deduces that River will write the book, and though aware of reading ahead for spoilers, guesses she would have left hints, and they identify Rory’s location from the chapter titles. However, as Amy races off, the Doctor finds the last chapter is about Amy’s farewell and frets. Upset, he tells River to free herself from the Angel without breaking her wrist, as Amy had already read this in the book and as such is destined to happen. The Doctor joins Amy and find that Rory was locked in the basement with baby Angels, but has since disappeared. River appears, having freed herself from the Angel, and soon locates Rory nearby at the Winter Quay apartment block. However, as they race to leave, the Doctor grabs River’s hand, revealing that her wrist is broken. Realising the events of the book are still coming true, the Doctor uses his regeneration energy to heal River.

At the Quay, Rory is drawn to a suite labelled with his name, just as the others catch up to him. In one of the rooms, they find an elderly Rory on his death bed, who calls to Amy before dying. The Doctor realises that Rory’s fate is now assured, and deduces that the Angels have used this building many times within the populous New York City as a battery farm, leaving their victims to live out their lives in solitude, whilst the Angels feast on their energy. Rory and Amy refuse to accept their fate, insisting they can run from the Angels forever. The Doctor and River agree, and help to distract the Angels.

Amy and Rory are forced to the roof of the building, where the Statue of Liberty, a giant Angel itself, awaits to take Rory to the past. Rory determines there is another exit — were he to die by jumping from the roof before the Angels take him to live out his life in solitude, a paradox would be created, ending their preying methods and wiping them from existence. Fearing it won’t work, and unable to live without him, Amy opts to join him, and just as the Doctor and River reach the roof, the two jump, creating the paradox and killing the Angels.

The four find themselves back in the present, as if nothing had happened, though the Doctor notes with the paradox, he can no longer travel to that point in time for fear of destroying New York. As they enter the TARDIS, Rory spots a tombstone with his name on it — moments before he is touched by one surviving Angel and disappears into the past. A distraught Amy convinces herself that if she were touched by the same Angel, it would send her to the same place it sent Rory. The Doctor tries to talk her out of it, knowing he can’t return to the past to see her again, but River insists she goes. Amy tearfully says goodbye to the Doctor and her daughter before closing her eyes and letting the Angel take her. The tombstone then changes to reflect Amy’s presence in the past with Rory, both having died of old age.

In the TARDIS with River, the Doctor realises that she will deliver the manuscript of the text to Amy to publish, and goes to retrieve the last page of the book with the afterword, written by Amy and asking him to tell her younger self the stories of the adventures she would have in the future and to find a new companion because he should never be alone. In the afterword, Amy tells him that she and Rory love him and assures him that they lived a good and happy life together. As the episode ends, young Amelia Pond waits for the Doctor, looking to the skies as she hears the sound of the TARDIS engines.

MY TAKE: Every time a companion leaves, it should be emotional. If the writers have done their jobs right, the end of a companion’s time in the TARDIS should be sad, and depending on the circumstances, even tragic. It should make us feel sad that they are leaving. I am pleased to say that every companion’s departure in the New Series so far  has followed this pattern. I cried when Rose left. I was sad when Martha left. And, I was really sad when Donna had to go. And, while I am sorry to see Mr. Moffatt have to write his first companion farewell, I am pleased to say that he has hit it out of the park. Amy and Rory’s departure is by far the best episode of this short Fall Series and one of the most emotional episodes of the new series. It is a fitting send off to a couple of fine companions, and more importantly, it is the kind of send off these two deserve. It is not easy to let them go, but they leave on their own terms. Well, Amy does at least. I have watched the episode several times now, and it still amazes me at how they were able to fit it into less than an hour. The most amazing part for me is that, in addition to Amy and Rory’s departure, their last adventure leading to it, and the effect it has on the Doctor, Steven has also managed to get River, the Weeping Angels and two different time periods into the episode without it ever feeling rushed. The pacing is perfect, the performances spectacular and the emotions the highest they have even been. Steven brings the Weeping Angels back deadlier than ever, and adds a terrifying new dimension to them with the introduction of the cherub, or “baby” angel. The adults are scary enough, but the babies can move much faster. And, that scene where Rory is in the basement, when the cherub blows his match out is one of the scariest in Doctor Who yet. Also, I love that Steven explores the ultimate extension of the Weeping Angels in New York and turns the Statue of Liberty into the largest Angel ever. Also making a welcome return in this episode is River Song. This is the first appearance since she married the Doctor in last series’ finale. We get a glimpse into the marriage dynamic of her and the Doctor. And, fortunately, for all of us, she hasn’t changed much at all. We also get another piece of the River Song timeline puzzle filled in, as she reveals that she is a Professor now, and she has been pardoned, because the man that she was supposed to have killed doesn’t exist. This also confirms that the Doctor has deleted himself from every database. Alex Kingston turns in another stellar performance as River. But, the episode really belongs equally to the three leads. Matt again continues to expand the Doctor’s emotional range. His anger when River cannot change the events of the book is palpable, and his frustration after River gets angry for him for wasting his regeneration energy is another new side to the Doctor. And again, we see in this episode that it is very hard for the Doctor to deal with the passage of time as pertains to his companions. In this case, the way this is presented in the story is through Amy’s reading glasses, which in a lovely symbolic gesture, the Doctor is wearing at the end of the episode. The Doctor’s final scene with Amy, his frantic pleas for her to come back to the TARDIS and the utter anguish when she is taken by the Angel is eerily reminiscent of the Tenth Doctor’s actions and emotions during Rose’s farewell at the end of Series Two. The one thing the Doctor does not handle well is feeling helpless, which is exactly the state he is put in after Rory is taken. There is literally nothing he can do, and although River knows Amy’s logic is wanting to be touched by the Angel is sound, he cannot bring himself to accept it. Matt should be commended for his ability to make all of us feel the same anguish as the Doctor. The emotional roller coaster ride the Doctor experiences during the episode is shared by all of us. We are all filed with the same hope as the Doctor when Rory’s paradox idea works and they wake up in the graveyard. We are all led to believe that everything might turn out alright. But, alas, we are separated from the Doctor at this point, because we know that the end must come. And, even though we can fell it coming, we are still shocked with the terrifyingly sudden taking of Rory. And, then Amy’s heart wrenching decision to leave the Doctor’s side to join Rory brings us to tears alongside the Doctor. But, like the Doctor, after hearing Amy’s afterword, we are left with a hint of a smile, as the story of Amelia Pond is tied up in a tidy bow. And, we know, everything will be alright. Next, there is Rory. Arthur Darvill turns in one of his finest performances as Rory. So many nuances of Rory’s personality are on display here. From his clueless innocence, to his inability to reconcile witnessing his own death. From his abject terror when confronted by the cherubs, to his tearful willingness to sacrifice his life for Amy. It was great to see how much Rory has grown as a character, becoming so much more confident and self assure, knowing in the end that Amy chose him and he “got the girl.” It makes it that much sadder that this is his final appearance. Many will say that Rory’s send-off was brief, but I think the sudden nature of it adds to the shock and the tragedy. But, above all else, the episode belongs to Amy. It is her impending departure that we all realize will cause us the most grief. Amy has evolved over the course of her 2 and a half seasons from the girl who waited to the girl who keeps the Doctor grounded. She has performed an indispensable service, keeping the Doctor from going too far. Amy’s emotions throughout this episode are all over the place, and yet, the remarkable Karen Gillan makes it look so easy. She will truly be missed. Amy’s sendoff is befitting for a companion of her stature and popularity. It is a tearful farewell, as shocking as it is tragic. We stare with disbelief as Amy is taken by the Angel and mourn in the same instant along with the Doctor. I also thing it was amazing of Karen to insist on reading Amy’s afterword, live on set, off-camera, in Central Park as they filmed the episode. Karen will be missed, but her story is wrapped up cleanly. And so, in the end, the Doctor and River leave in the TARDIS, and Rory and Amy are zapped back in time to live out their lives together. The die five years apart. He was 82, She was 87. Goodbye to the Ponds, and from this Whovian, to Karen, Arthur and Steven Moffat, a heartfelt Thank You.

SCORE: a 5 out of 5

DOCTOR WHO WILL RETURN AT CHRISTMAS