Closing Time.

[elisi]

You know what’s marvellous about this episode from a meta point-of-view? The mirrors finally [begin to] become clearly defined, and I can write a post with lots of subheadings and different topics, rather than something that’s a big tangled ball with no beginning or end.

Please no spoilers beyond this episode (and the trailer)!!!

Comments

[elisi]

meta = joy
*twirls you*

Amy is *still* a mirror to the Doctor. Invoking the password that got them into Ten's console room. Becoming famous. Good with kids. Having a companion following her around. She's been converted.
Oh very good. But it's a different kind of mirror? (This is what I mean about the mirrors being clearer.) River is a literal mirror, with Timelord abilities and a timey-wimey nature, and someone who travels the universe by herself. Amy has turned into Sarah Jane. :) (Also see this discussion.)

Conversion. (Ten wore Converse shoes for running.) "With the Word." Perfect that we get Cybermen this time. Silver men, *mirror men*, "you will be like us." This is how the Doctor fights monsters, becoming like them. Notice the eyeglass loop he wears while wiping the memory of the cybermat so he can reprogram it. Shushing everyone, an invocation of silence.
LOVELY. (And yes, I forgot to mention the cybermen. As well as Eleven's sudden declaration of love... Which was funny, but the fact that this is what he reaches for, after Ten's near fatal inability to say the words, speaks volumes about how far he's come.)

The impact he has on Craig. Fighting the cybermat on their backs, using kitchen implements to beat it into submission. Their gestures in the elevator while discussing the "star trek teleport" thingie. They take turns sitting and pacing in the kitchen; Eleven sprinkles pepper on Craig as if he's "cooking".
Oh god the pepper! *dies laughing again* Um good points. I just keep cracking up.

And the ultimate conversion: The Doctor learning to fight for love, rather than fighting against monsters, is ultimately what Craig learns, too.
And the fact that love isn't easy - as Roberts pointed out, it's Alfie crying, the thing that Craig has been unable to cope with, which brings him back and makes him fight. Oh I'm TOTALLY going to quote Buffy (because it'll always be applicable): 'Love is pain, and the Slayer forges strength from pain. Love... give... forgive. Risk the pain. It is your nature. Love will bring you to your gift.'