Doctor Who: Series 5 Finale: The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang Review
Posted: Wednesday, June 30, 2010
by Cameron Home
Warning: This review contains MAJOR spoilers. If you have not watched the two episodes yet and plan on, do NOT, repeat do NOT, read this yet.
Doctor Who. A classic show that is essentially Britain’s Star Trek. Everyone in Britain has heard of it, and everyone in Britain will know someone who watches it. I could give pre-series 5 history, but I’d rather give a summary of the series and then the review.
One important thing to know is that in the Silurian two-parter (The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood), Amy Pond’s fiancé, Rory Williams, dies and is eaten by the crack, where he is erased from time.
But enough back story, it’s time for the review. It will be in three parts:
1) The Pandorica Opens
2) The Big Bang
3) Overall Story
So let’s go straight into The Pandorica Opens.
Basic Plot Summary: A painting by van Gogh and the oldest message in the history of time leads the Doctor to 102 AD, where he, Amy and his future wife, (it’s complicated. Wibbly wobbly timey wimey), have to find out what’s in this prison box called the Pandorica, which is under Stonehenge. But almost every single one of the Doctor’s enemies are apparently trying to proclaim the box too. After an epic speech, the Doctor scares them off. Meanwhile, under the surface, Rory, who has somehow come back into existence as a Roman, saves Amy from a Cyberman. If you think this is all confusing, it is. This is where the awesome begins. River (The Doctor’s wife) has to take the TARDIS anywhere but the time where it explodes (its explosion causes the cracks, by the way. This is stated by the Doctor around this point in the episode) but something else is controlling it and takes it to Amy’s house, and the date and time of the explosion. Uh-oh. So we discover this was all a trap taken from Amy’s thoughts. The Romans were actually from a book she read, minus Rory, and they are all plastic Autons, who turn evil by the end. Then the Pandorica opens while Amy’s memories of Rory are returning. It opens and we discover that it is indeed a prison for the most feared villain in the universe. The Doctor himself. All the enemies formed an alliance to stop him so the TARDIS would not explode. Too late. The episode ends with the TARDIS exploding with River in it, The Doctor being trapped in the Pandorica, Amy being shot by Rory (he couldn’t help it, it was his programming), and all the stars going out.
Plot: 10/10
This story is amazing, with 4 cliff-hangers, the return of a lot of the Doctor’s enemies, explanations for the cracks, and more. It’s hard to describe just how great the plot of this story is.
Acting: 9/10
As always, Matt Smith is amazing as the Doctor (especially in his speech to scare of the aliens), Arthur Darvill as Rory is great, and... well, everyone’s great, really.
Characters: 10/10
Pretty much everyone in the series returned, and everyone worked so well. All the enemies working together, Auton Rory, etc.
Overall: 10/10
I can’t help but give this a full 10/10. Everything in this story is FANTASTIC. I have no qualms with it, or any complaints. I just have to give this a perfect score.
Now it’s time for The Big Bang.
Basic Plot Summary: Now this is hard to write, as the plot goes whimsically all over the place. It starts with young Amelia (she’s Amelia, not Amy when she’s young) praying to Santa, like in the first episode of this series. Then, it gives us exposition about the stars not existing. Interesting. Oddly, there are mysterious notes directed to Miss Pond, which tell her to see the Pandorica exhibit at the National Museum. She does, and is told to stick around by another note. When everyone’s left, the most amazing thing happens. The Pandorica opens and out comes... Amy!? Cut back 1894 years, to 102 AD. Rory is talking to Amy’s corpse when the Doctor appears, tells Rory to get him out of the Pandorica, and then disappears and reappears multiple times. What the heck is going on? So after Rory helps the Doctor out, the Doctor puts Amy in the Pandorica, where it will revive her in 1894 years time. Aaaah, right. After Rory saying he won’t go with the Doctor to the future, there’s another jump cut back to 1996. Amy discovers that Rory is probably dead, after protecting the Pandorica all those years. Suddenly, a Dalek! And the Doctor! The Doctor hides the Amys behind the Pandorica, when suddenly the Dalek gets shot. Rory’s still alive! Now, there’s a lot more going on, but I best skip to the next part that’s important. After time travelling various times, he meets his dying self. Then he rescues River, who’s on a time loop in the TARDIS, and the Dalek shoots him. He travels back in the past to meet himself and give a warning, and then River kills the Dalek while Amy and Rory check on the Doctor. His corpse is gone. He wasn’t really dead at all, apparently, and was using them as a diversion so he could get to work on making the second Big Bang happen to recreate the universe. After lots of discussion, he flies off in the Pandorica into the TARDIS, and is starting to be wiped from existence. If everyone else can live, he can’t. He travels through to the past and ends with meeting young Amy and tucking her in bed. Then he enters the closing crack and is gone from existence. Skip to Amy’s wedding, where suddenly, multiple things give her the memory of the Doctor back. And she imagines him back... Wait, what? Well, whatever. It’s still a cool scene, even if it’s stupid. The episode ends with Amy and Rory joining the Doctor to find out the cause of something involving the Orient Express in Space. Unfortunately, the Big Bad is probably still out there.
Plot: 6/10 or 9/10
The plot as a whole is confusing until you rewatch it, like I did for this review. Plus, the cliff-hangers are solved in a bad way, so that detracts points. But the episode’s plot is great when you get it. And thus, the difference in points.
Acting: 10/10
Matt Smith SHINES in this episode. His goodbye speech to Amelia before he leaves to go in the crack is sad, and you can relate to him. This is easily his best performance. He actually seems like someone in their early 50’s, not someone younger than 30. Everyone else does fantastically too, but nothing shines more than Smith.
Characters: 8/10
Not as good as last time. The fewer characters still work FANTASTICALLY together, but... the characters don’t work as well as in The Pandorica Opens. Minus the Doctor, who is amazing.
Overall: 8-9/10
There are many flaws in this episode. As a finale, it’s not that good. Most of the questions have been left unanswered in set up for the next series, or so it seems. But as an episode, it is great. Especially upon rewatch.
So now for my overall view of the two part finale:
9/10
Despite all the flaws of the second part, all the good bits and the whole first part make up for it. The second part is the most confusing thing ever, with all the time travel and things going on, hence why my plot summary wasn’t the best. But overall as set up for the next series and a conclusion to the whole series, it is a very good two parter.
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Top-level comments on this article: (6 total)Interesting and comprehensive reviews, Cameron. Which I couldn't stop myself reading! Drat! - you warned me...I know and understand how hard it is to avoid looking at spoilers.Thanks for the comment.
Wow, you really know your doctor who stuff and I thought it was just for fun.Hahah, thanks. Doctor Who is my favourite TV show after all.Thanks for the comment.
Hi Cameron.It's clear you love Dr. Who. Who wouldn't? But I haven't seen it in years. I'm sure it has changed a lot. I loved the campiness of it and the crazy plots and villains. I should probably look it up online and see if I can watch any newer episodes.Thanks for a great review.DianneYou should, Smith's very classic Doctory (is that a word? Well, it is now).Thanks for the comment.
i guess you were right i should not have read this without the preceding installments sorryDon't worry, it's alright. I sometimes fight not to read spoilers too.Thanks for the comment.
Thanks for sharing this information. Interesting.Thanks for the comment.
Great article. Well done.I really enjoyed your review and the two episodes. Stephen Moffat can write damn well - these two are up there with The Curse of the Fatal Death.However a little tip for you would be to try and make it less mechanistic. Have a go at writing a review sometime which flows naturally rather than having defined sections.I can see what you mean, but the sections split it up and separate it into parts that are easy to read.Thanks for the comment.
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