Flesh and Stone

Dear Gary—

Soooo . . . this crack is a good thing? Just think of the possibilities. The Doctor and Amy could travel around through time and space followed by this giant vacuum cleaner ridding the universe of all manner of pests. They could go back to Skaro and exterminate the Daleks. They could find out where the Cybermen are lurking and delete. That’s one handy shop-vac they have there.

But no, it’s not good. It is just convenient, and that’s a big problem as the promising story started in the first half falls apart in the second. The Time of Angels set up the Angels as a powerful enemy for the Doctor, but Flesh and Stone renders them meaningless. I’m not sure if the script made the Angels too unstoppable and therefore had to come up with this even more formidable foe to take care of them as the only way out, or if it knew all along that this big, bad crack was going to eliminate the Angels and so it felt it could make them as unbeatable as it wanted because they were going to be swept under the carpet as a matter of course. Either way is unpardonable. The Doctor doesn’t have to even consider ways to defeat the Angels because with one magic swoop they are gone. Nonexistent. What was the fuss about anyway? I forget.

That’s not to say that there are not some suspenseful moments along the way.

Doctor: “Now, counting. What’s that about? Bob, why are they making her count?”

Angel Bob: “To make her afraid, sir.”

Doctor: “Okay, but why? What for?”

Angel Bob: “For fun, sir.”

It is effectively disturbing and creepy. It also emphasizes the fact that these Angels have no sane explanation for their actions.

But now I know why they have no motivation; why they are killing simply for killing’s sake. The trouble of creating a plot is unnecessary because the Angels themselves are pointless. This has been a two part story all in service of The Crack. It could be anything menacing our fearless heroes in the jungle as long as it keeps the tension up.

The Crack is the only semblance of reason in the story. The Angels are after the power source; the chasing and killing of Clerics is only by way of amusement for them in the interim. But then they suddenly realize that The Crack is dangerous and they want to throw the Doctor in to appease the angry god.

The glaring light of The Crack, however, serves to shine a spotlight on the gaping holes in the narrative.

The initial Angel comes to Alfava Metraxis to free the army of Angels trapped in the caverns, presumably to go on a murderous rampage across the universe just for kicks. The Crack showing up is pure coincidence courtesy of the script. The Doctor showing up is another piece of luck for the Angels.

Now, why does the Doctor show up? Because after his miraculous rescue of River he follows the Byzantium on which the initial Angel is traveling. Why does he follow the Byzantium? Because River tells him to. Why does River tell him to? Because River (and the Clerics) is (are) after the initial Angel. Why is River (and the Clerics) after the initial Angel? I’m not sure. They have this book that raises vague warnings about the Angels and they therefore go off in hot pursuit after one Angel to neutralize it even though they know it has been dormant for centuries while it has passed from one private collection to another.  For this Octavian expects River to provide an army (or the Doctor who is the equivalent) and in turn will provide River with a pardon. Why he thinks he needs an army to go after one dormant Angel, let alone why River is the only one he can turn to for such an army, is unexplained.

Regardless, our cast of characters is assembled so that The Crack can do its dirty.

In the meantime the Angels begin their slow but relentless pursuit of the Doctor and company in their cruel game of tag.

Then there is this hilarious bit of blind man’s bluff. It is actually very well done. On the surface it is a masterpiece of suspense. The one defense against Angels is to see them; Amy, who is semi-possessed of an Angel, must keep her eyes closed to keep it from taking full possession. Amy must make her unseeing way through a forest of Angels guided only by the Doctor’s voice and the sound of the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver on her communicator. Quite a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation. You have to look at an Angel to stop it, but if you look in an Angel’s eyes you’re a goner; if you do look in an Angel’s eyes you have to keep your own eyes closed to keep it at bay, but then you can’t see the Angels around you and you’re dead anyway. The one loophole in this is that the Angels have bricks for brains and can’t tell if a person’s eyes are open or closed. They know if you blink and will be on you in a second, but if you keep your eyes firmly shut and simply act as though you can see they are fooled. You don’t even have to act very hard; Amy stumbling around and waving her arms about is hardly convincing; not to mention the fact that the Doctor announced the plan for all to hear and I’m sure the Angels were listening. The Angels soon tire of this diversion, but just when they decide to go in for the kill River gets the teleport working. Phew.

This Angel amusement park is crashed by The Crack in the nick of time.

“Never mind the Angels. There’s worse here than the Angels.”

First the crack amuses itself with the Clerics, though. This is so that we can learn the vital fact that The Crack erases its victims from time. The Crack is Time Energy. One by one the Clerics walk towards the light and are no more. Again it is well done; it is suspenseful; it is eerie. But I really have to wonder. Amy asks the Doctor how it is that she can remember these men who have never been born and the Doctor replies, “You’re a time traveler now, Amy. It changes the way you see the universe . . . forever.” Going back to The Eleventh Hour, how is it that little Amelia Pond (pre time traveling Amy) has memories of her long lost mother, or even how little Amelia Pond could have been born if her mother never was. But I guess that is jumping ahead to serials yet to come and I can’t remember if those questions are addressed.

For the immediate serial, however, I wonder what River’s fate will be now that the Angels have been swallowed by The Crack. If the initial Angel they were chasing never existed, how will the powers that be remember why they let River out of prison, much less that they promised her a pardon. Unless it was Father Octavian alone who took it upon himself to spring her, and now that he is dead will that murder be placed on her since the real culprits never existed? And since they never existed, does that mean Octavian was never murdered and therefore alive? And that they never came to Alfava Metraxis in the first place because their reason for doing so has been erased from time? Ah, the wibbly wobbly nature of Doctor Who time.

“Time can be rewritten.”

All in all Flesh and Stone is entertaining enough and in that it does its job. The principals of the Doctor, Amy, and River are again excellent and the Doctor’s “No, seriously, get a grip” solution is cleverly done. The final moments of the episode are rather jarring after the dark tension of the preceding hour, but I suppose it sets the tone for the story to come; although Amy’s blatant attempt at seduction the night before her wedding is off-putting and doesn’t bode well.

For now, Gary, I will ignore “when the Pandorica opens” and instead will leave you with this interesting observation by the Doctor:

“If I always told you the truth, I wouldn’t need you to trust me.”

And so I will yet again place my trust in the Doctor and continue on . . .