... December 2014 to be precise and (most fans should be OK with this) I went back in time to make a few points:
* when I first saw this episode in real time (or that version of me contemporaneous with the episode as aired) I recall being happy and anticipatory. Life was full of promise. Going forward, the series would I reasoned be at least this good every episode possibly better. Well, I was wrong, don't want to annoy any die-hard fans but the reason I am (in the future) re-watching the entire Amy Pond series as opposed to watching the current (late 2014) Dr Who in real time is that the older version (the one being reviewed) is not merely slightly better, it is better on an order of magnitude that staggers the imagination. So much for the promise of a brighter tomorrow
* frankly on rewatching I was gobsmacked by how sharp the writing was. I mean you could cut a steak with it. Just the ending of this season could be a clinic in film school. At the end, in the last few minutes, in addition to wrapping up loose ends, the writing team (the two of them) not only manage to riff off the "something old, something new" adage -- AND MAKE IT IMPORTANT TO THE STORY! -- but the word banter when the doc does not understand whether he is proposing to River or asking her if she is single....?
Folks, this is beyond good writing, it is in a class by itself
Bottom line -- there is a not an IMDb rating high enough for this series arc. They say that you can show comedies to people in the hospital and they will get better. They should try showing this series to people who have given up on life ... to see if they can find their spark again.
Worked for me
* when I first saw this episode in real time (or that version of me contemporaneous with the episode as aired) I recall being happy and anticipatory. Life was full of promise. Going forward, the series would I reasoned be at least this good every episode possibly better. Well, I was wrong, don't want to annoy any die-hard fans but the reason I am (in the future) re-watching the entire Amy Pond series as opposed to watching the current (late 2014) Dr Who in real time is that the older version (the one being reviewed) is not merely slightly better, it is better on an order of magnitude that staggers the imagination. So much for the promise of a brighter tomorrow
* frankly on rewatching I was gobsmacked by how sharp the writing was. I mean you could cut a steak with it. Just the ending of this season could be a clinic in film school. At the end, in the last few minutes, in addition to wrapping up loose ends, the writing team (the two of them) not only manage to riff off the "something old, something new" adage -- AND MAKE IT IMPORTANT TO THE STORY! -- but the word banter when the doc does not understand whether he is proposing to River or asking her if she is single....?
Folks, this is beyond good writing, it is in a class by itself
Bottom line -- there is a not an IMDb rating high enough for this series arc. They say that you can show comedies to people in the hospital and they will get better. They should try showing this series to people who have given up on life ... to see if they can find their spark again.
Worked for me