The Girl Who Waited

I originally expected this episode to be about Amy's intermedicuim period, but since that was covered in Let's Kill Hitler, I quickly picked up on the new plot quickly. Apparently simple: Amy is trapped in a quarantine facility with time compression. When the TARDIS locks onto the wrong timestream, Rory must chose which version of his wife to save.

First of all, kudos to Gillan for her performance. She quickly convinces us of the hatred that Amy-Now has been feeding for thirty-five years, as well as the pain of Amy-Then. Arthur Davrill also deserves high marks. This was his chance to shine, and he rose to the occasion. (Smith did well too, but this was techinically a Doctor-lite episode, although it doesn't come off as one at all).

It was also beautifully artistically, from the shots of the two Amys to the strange settings and small details, like the robot Rory and Amy-Now beginning to put on her lipstick before remembering that she's old. Another small tidbit that is great is the geek glasses the Doctor gives to Rory.

The strength of this episode was in the tearjerkers, though. Rory chose to become the Lone Centurian, with a hint of what he was in for history-wise, and a definate end in view, while Amy pushed the wrong button and was stranded alone with hostile Handbots for thirty-five years, always wondering if this was the day she would be rescued. A lot of her dialouge was heartbreaking, but her goodbye to Rory and last words nearly had me bawling. Not to mention when Amy woke up and asked "Where is she?"
Five of Five.

p.s. We also have a date for the season five Sarah Jane Adventures opener: October 3rd. with the second part airing the 4th! I'm looking forward to that weekend--after The Wedding of River Song, back to Bannerman Road for the last Sarah Jane Adventures...sniff