An interesting pair of episodes that answered some questions and raised a few more.
The Doctor wanted to drop of Amy and Rory for some fish and chips so that he could check on some things. Amy wasn't having any of that so they ended up coming along. They landed sometime in the twenty-second century at an island factory that produced a very corrosive acid. The workers had a rather unique way of dealing with such a dangerous product. They used 'gangers made from "the Flesh", duplicates of themselves controlled by them from control harnesses. But things went wrong when the factory was hit by a solar wave and the 'gangers went walk about.
Together, these episodes had a lot of the elements that I like in Doctor Who. One being that great drama can be played out on a small scale rather than the Doctor having to save the entire planet. It doesn't mean that the actions of the characters are any less important, after all for those involved in the story, it is the world to them.
I really liked the way the characters had to deal with duplicates of themselves. I mean, how would we react if we met our self. Would we accept a second version of us. I really don't know how I would react if it was me in that situation. Would I be as accepting as the Doctor was. I would hope so. But I have a feeling I would react a little more like the others did, with at best suspicion and at worst hatred. In "Amy's Choice" the Doctor realized that the Dream Lord was a version out of his sub-conscious. He reasoned, there's only one person in the universe that could hate him as much as the Dream Lord did. That would be himself. So I rather think that if we truly met our self that we wouldn't like it very much.
Of course in this case the Doctor accepted himself. It was Amy that had trouble accepting the Doctor. I am still a little unsure as to precisely when the Doctor and Flesh Doctor changed shoes. The Doctor implies that it was very early on. I suspect that it had to be before the Doctor went out in the hall with Amy and she told him about inviting them to his death.
It is always cool when they make references to the Doctor's history. As Flesh Doctor is stabilizing he has some trouble with previous regenerations. We get some Fourth Doctor coming through with the jelly baby comment with Tom Baker's actual voice, then "I'm the Doctor" from the Tenth Doctor and then he yells, "No, let it go, we've moved on." Great stuff.
There were touching moments too as when the Doctor made the phone call to Jimmy's son and tricked his 'ganger into an act of humanity.
I have said it before, that this season seems to be the torture Amy season, and they continued it with a vengeance in this episode. Karen Gillan is doing a remarkable job in the role. I am very impressed. In the final scene where she says, "Doctor, I am frightened. I am properly, properly scared." you can really feel her fear.
This whole double episode has led us to that final scene where we discover why Amy is pregnant and not pregnant and why she was seeing the Eye Patch Lady. We now know that Amy was a 'ganger of some kind. In her case being controlled by the real Amy without her knowing what was really going on. So we have had that question partially answered, but now we have more questions.
When was Amy captured and replaced with her 'ganger? Clearly before this season began.
Who kidnapped her?
With whose baby is she pregnant?
Is her child the one in the spacesuit?
Oh, and I have another small question. The Doctor gave Flesh Doctor his sonic screwdriver before they took off in the Tardis. He then dissolved Amy with it in the Tardis. Did the Flesh reproduce a working sonic screwdriver? Or did the Doctor have two of them? Or was this a continuity mistake? If anyone can answer this let me know.
We will apparently also find out who River Song is. (I am nervous about this.) The next episode will likely only tease us with answers as it is a cliffhanger and we will have to wait until the fall for part two. But still, I am looking forward to it.
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