The Big Bang Review
The final reveiw for Matt Smith's first season. 5X013 The Big Bang. Spoilers inside of course.
Overview
So this is it. The one we’ve been waiting for and dreading all at the same time. The final episode of Matt Smith’s first season where Moff ties up, not only all the cliff-hangers from last week (and what cliff-hangers they were) but also all the plot ends he’s been seeding across the season, finally proving if any of the fandom theories were correct (and some of them were as it turned out. Glad to see we were right about Jacket!Doctor)
And true to form it was absolutely fantastic. A perfect story to cap off what has been in essence a perfect series. Flawed in places of course, but good enough to make everyone happy.
Episode Summery
Well at the end of last week Moffat left us with enough cling-hangers to have the whole fandom tearing its collective hair out. But not only did he tie them all up satisfactorily, he confirmed several fan theories and above all made us smile. For the first time since Doctor Who returned the series ended happily instead of with some major crisis or the Doctor all alone (it also didn’t tie into the Christmas special but that’s another matter). Instead he was reunited with his companions, flying off in more fabulous adventures
The beginning (in fact the whole episode) was deliciously timey wimey with the Doctor bouncing around his timeline in order to get things sorted. While his methods may have been a bit odd at time, they worked.
But in the end it came down to his Companions to save, not the universe but the Doctor himself. Wiped from time and space, it took the childhood dreams of Amy Pond to bring him back from non-existents which tied in beautifully with the fairy tale concept which had been running through out the series. In fact the scene itself where Amy cried “Raggedy man you are late for my wedding” seemed to me to come straight out of Peter Pan.
In short a perfect end to the series, tying up nearly all of the loose ends and leaving one left for us to chase in the future.
The Doctor
The brilliant thing about the Doctor leaping back and forth through his own timeline was that there were times when he both didn’t know and did know what was going on at the same time. Moffat has put the time travel back into Doctor Who this season being more wibbly wobbly than ever before.
The best thing about the Doctor in this episode though was that he was willing to sacrifice his life and his very existence in order to restore the universe and give Amy back her family. Though he did tear up slightly when talking to Amelia he was willing to step into the crack voluntarily at a time of his choosing.
Finally this is a Doctor who is glad to see his companions happy. He showed up at Rory and Amy’s wedding and enjoyed himself even though he suspected that they might leave him, because what mattered to him above everything was that they were happy. Especially Rory who he felt had earned it.
Of course when they returned to him, he was even happier because this Doctor, like all his incarnations doesn’t like to be alone. Now he has friends to travel with. The Doctor is truly happy again.
The Companion
In reverse order again, as we once again have three to deal with.
Rory Williams: Rory Williams, the boy who waited. For two thousand years Auton!Rory guarded the Pandorica (making him older than the Doctor) simply because he wasn’t willing to leave the woman he loved all alone. And then when the universe was restored he willingly leapt on the chance to travel with the Doctor again. I’m glad Moff bought him back to life.
River Song: If River Song isn’t the Doctor’s wife I don’t know what she is. Their banter in this episode was brilliant and filled with chemistry. Once again she showed a level of technological knowledge and skill on par with the Doctor making her his equal. One thing she doesn’t have however is his mercy. When she believed that a Dalek had killed the Doctor, she made it beg for mercy before shooting it. I really hope we see him again and based on her comment at the end I think we will.
Amy Pond: The girl whose life didn’t make sense. Who’s (as it turned out) whole family had been swallowed by the Crack. And in the end the one person who could save the Doctor. She recreated the world she wanted from her memories and then when it seemed as if the Doctor had gone for good bought him back as well. The Princess saved the Wizard for a change. Then ran off with him again. Only this time she took her prince with her.
The Bad Guy
There was no real bad guy in this episode. The threat was the destruction of the universe and the collapse of history, as caused by the TARDIS exploding. But Moff was mysteriously silent on what exactly had been controlling the TARDIS itself. He was also silent (pun intended) on the nature of the Silence. I assume he’s leaving that for next season.
Conclusion.
A brilliant conclusion both to the two part finale and to the series. It was Moff all over, brilliant and funny and heart breaking all at the same time. There is no doubt in my mind now that Steven Moffat was the perfect person to take over from Russell T Davis.
Roll on Christmas and Season Six.