From Newsgroup: rec.arts.drwho.moderated
From Address: jphalt{at}aol.com
Subject: Amy's Choice: my review

AMY'S CHOICE

1 episode. Approx. 43 minutes. Written by: Simon Nye. Directed by:
Catherine Morshead. Produced by: Tracie Simpson.


THE PLOT

It is five years later. Amy and Rory are married, back in that
peaceful (boring) English village, and they have a child on the way.
That's when the TARDIS materializes. Ostensibly, the Doctor is there
to pay them a visit, though it isn't long before Amy realizes that
he's just come there by mistake.

...And, just like that, they're back in the TARDIS. The Doctor thinks
he just nodded off and had a bad dream, until he realizes that Amy and
Rory shared the same dream. When they find themselves back in the
village again, the Doctor realizes that something has gone very
wrong.

That's when The Dream Lord (Toby Jones) appears, and confronts them
with a choice. One setting is reality, the other a dream. As they are
about to face mortal danger in both places, they need to decide which
- because they won't be able to survive both fights simultaneously!


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: A peaceful, quiet village, with no danger and no
disturbances or distractions other than the sound of birds trilling.
For the Doctor, this is the definition of a dreadful nightmare. He's
someone who has to keep moving all the time - possibly to stop himself
from really reflecting on some of the elements of his chosen
lifestyle. The Dream Lord has quite a few barbs to direct his way.
Like any series of statements that is twisting your personality to its
most base and negative impulses, many of the Dream Lord's
interpretations are at the very least oversimplified. But there is
validity to some of it.

Amy: Though she assures Rory that if it were to come to a choice
between him and the Doctor, she would choose him, she really isn't
sure of that. She certainly isn't ready to give up traveling with the
Doctor yet, and she wonders why anyone ever would - a statement that
Rory isn't very happy to hear. She also has an implicit faith that
"the Doctor will fix it," no matter what is wrong. When the Doctor
tells her that there are some things that he can't fix, her faith is
shattered: "Then what's the point of you?" She wants, needs, and
expects him to be a magic man (just like in the old song), and can't
accept that there are limits to his abilities.

Rory: A part of Rory's refusal to be intimidated by the Doctor is his
insistence on competing with the other man, something both the Doctor
and Amy find highly counter-productive. He's actually at his best when
the Doctor's not around, dragging the unconscious and pregnant Amy up
the stairs to save them both from the village's rampaging alien-
possessed old people. When facing death, he refreshingly does not
maintain a self-sacrifical stiff upper lip. Instead, he protests that
he's "not ready," and clings to life (to Amy, which for him is the
same thing).


THOUGHTS

An interesting episode, this, one that almost makes me want to go back
and watch it a second time right off the bat. Once you realize who the
Dream Lord is (and, almost surprisingly, I didn't have a clue), it
really does put a spin on some of the things he says to the Doctor,
Amy, and Rory. I'm actually a bit surprised at some of the places this
episode pushes at, with regard to the Doctor's character. It would be
very interesting to see the show continue to explore some of the lead
character's darkness.

The episode is well-structured. The cuts back and forth between the
two possible realities keep the momentum going, while enforcing a
certain dreamlike quality on the episode. The "cold star" and the
frosted TARDIS create a sort of fairytale winter within the TARDIS
console room. Meanwhile, the English village, with its brightness and
birdsong, is a fairytale summer.

Oh, I haven't mentioned the new TARDIS interior set in any of my
Series Five reviews yet. Since this episode spends quite a bit of time
in that set, this seems a good review to give my opinion: I really
like it. I never did fully warm to the TARDIS interior of the
Eccleston/Tennant years. It always seemed a bit too... I don't know, a
bit too busy, maybe. This set works for me much better. I'd still
plump for the original interior from the Hartnell years if pressed for
my favorite interior, but I do find this newest version a big
improvement over what came before.


Rating: 9/10.

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