Jeff's Marathon Diary: From The Quality Of 'Mercy' To A New City Of Angels

[Primetimer]

The Doctor's companions have always come and gone, but Amy and Rory got to do both a lot more than most.

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[Fat Elvis 007]

Amy and Rory's send-off is nonsensical even by Moffat's standards. OK, so the Doctor can never take the TARDIS back to Manhattan. So? Take it to New Jersey and take a train to Manhattan. Or use River's vortex manipulator to go see them, like River says she is going to do at the end of this episode. There are so many ways out of this problem! If I feel like I am smarter than the Doctor at the end of the episode, then the episode didn't work.

 

Besides, Amy and Rory didn't need a twagic, angsty ending. They had every reason to leave the Doctor of their own accord, as stressed in the preceding episode, as well as the entire previous season. Why not just let them have a Martha-like exit, where they decide keeping away from the Doctor is for their own good? The whole "we can never see each other again, or CONSEQUENCES" thing was way too derivative of Donna and Rose's ending.

 

Back to River, I'm still pissed that the writers never explored her relationship with her parents, or the effect that losing her had on Amy and Rory's lives. It seemed like it didn't even occur to Moffat that this might be necessary or important. The characters just did not seem to care one bit. 

 

I loved Amy and Rory, and even River, but this episode as well as the complete lack of narrative payoff for the River storyline has seriously soured me on their time with the show. 

[April Bloodgate]

Amy and Rory's send-off is nonsensical even by Moffat's standards. OK, so the Doctor can never take the TARDIS back to Manhattan. So? Take it to New Jersey and take a train to Manhattan. Or use River's vortex manipulator to go see them, like River says she is going to do at the end of this episode. There are so many ways out of this problem! If I feel like I am smarter than the Doctor at the end of the episode, then the episode didn't work.

This! This bothers me so much about that episode. Argh...