Mr. Universal's Blog

It's been five years since Amy and Rory last saw the Doctor, and much has happened since. The two are now happily married, as evidenced by a very-pregnant Amy, while Rory has since graduated from mere nurse and now seems to be a doctor, himself. With her bulging midsection and his colonial ponytail in tow, the pair seems resigned to their fate as a growing family right smack dab in the middle of quite possibly the most serene village in all of England. But then - go figure - the familiar noise begins and is followed by the prompt appearance of the Doctor himself. A quick reunion is followed by the nagging feeling that something isn't quite right with this picture-perfect scenario. Then they wake up back in the Tardis, realizing they apparently just had a shared psychic experience masquerading as a dream. Then they wake up again. Oops.

Sounds like this one is going to be, in the Doctor's own words, a tricky one. Keep reading for the rest of the dreamy "Amy's Choice" micro-review!

If this micro-review of the episode ends up being a short one, it's only because I really don't want to give too much away.  Like last week's fun "The Vampires of Venice",  "Amy's Choice" harkens back to simpler Who times, when the use of effects and other ‘modern' conveniences almost criminally detracts from the wonderfully nutty narrative established by the main objective. As such, I'll do my best to keep spoilers to an absolute minimum, as this is definitely one that's best left for one to experience for their own selves.

After waking up (and waking up again) from their shared dream, the Doctor (Matt Smith) realizes that the Tardis has lost power, effectively leaving them drifting through the universe.  It's here the self-titled Dream Lord (played with gusto by the great Toby Jones) makes his appearance, and after a bit of verbal sparring with the Doctor, reveals himself to be the one responsible for these bizarre interchanges. He's also intimately connected to the Doctor somehow, and seems to know his most intimate secrets and inner mysteries better than anyone. Having disconnected the Tardis's power supply, he offers them an opportunity to right things with a Riddler-like scenario of his own. One of the two "worlds" they have experiences, the idyllic future village and the dead Tardis, isn't real, and exists only in their shared dreams.

Their choice - or Amy's choice - is to choose which world is real. But there's a catch (isn't there always), as dying in the correct world means returning to the real one, while dying in reality means... simply dying. "That's why they call it reality!" But the Dream Lord isn't an absentee host, as he continually snaps them between both worlds, which share the same running time and sense of impending danger. Falling asleep in one world won't give you immunity in the next, as there's still the issue of your sleeping body and its unguarded self.

The Tardis Choice has the three hurdling towards a star that is burning cold in the non-functioning (i.e. dead) time-machine, although the Doctor reassures them that they'll have frozen to death long before smashing into the dying star. With no heat and the bizarre phenomenon of a star that burns ‘cold' set out before them, they'll fight sleep and the Dream Lord's relentless taunting as they hope to prove this world the real one.

In the Village Choice, the three face certain doom by the strangest of aliens, the Ecnodeen, which like many of Who's most sympathetic creatures have found themselves abandoned on planet earth, and have been using this particular group of elderly humans as host bodies. This is what's kept them alive for long, postulates the Doctor, right before they open their mouths to reveal (with shoddy CG effects) their true selves: eyeballs that spew a green mist that turns unlucky humans into piles of ash. They also give chase, walkers and canes in tow, while our hapless trio fights between this world and the next. This geriatric Night of the Living Dead relentlessly storm forward, and it isn't long before they have Amy and Rory barricading themselves in the closest house. Survival is not guaranteed, especially since the line between what's real and what's not has been blurred by an interstellar imp with a severe god complex.

It turns out each world is actually a metaphor for how Amy perceives her own future, with each basically representing her ultimate destiny if allowed to choose. Would she prefer the tranquility of married life in the village, or the unpredictable Peter Pan life of never having to grow up inside a time machine that can go anywhere she desires? Perhaps the question should be whether she would choose life with Rory or the Doctor himself.

What makes this episode so enjoyable is its emphasis on the characters themselves, as there's barely a hint of any chaotic action and/or universal destruction. True, the elderly alien assassins (fun to say) do give chase, somewhat, but even this seems designed to get Amy, Rory, and the Doctor talking and suspecting. These aren't surface-level discussions, either, and it's fascinating to see them continue the recent Doctor deconstruction that recent episodes started. Even if her choice seems like a foregone conclusion, it's the rationalizing she takes to get to that point that's so interesting, and its here that Amy (Karen Gillam) continues to prove herself as both a first-rate companion. Her exchanges with the Dream Lord (Toby Jones) are the highlight of the episode, as its good fun to watch her become so protective over the Doctor and her true feelings.

One interesting thing I learned when researching this one, and it's that Toby Jones (the Dream Lord) will be appearing as the villainous Arnim Zola in next year's superhero adaption of Captain America, which is part of the ever-expanding Avengers universe that Marvel is putting together (most recently with Iron Man 2). He's always been an impressive character actor, and it should be interesting to see him wear the role of a villain in a big-budget blockbuster.

The official BBC is practically bare of extra features for "Amy's Choice", although I think we should let them slide this one time. A few updated character logs here and there aren't always a bad thing, and seem appropriate given this was a relatively low-key episode. But don't get too comfortable, as next week's "The Hungry Earth" looks to bring things back to normal...or whatever passes for normalcy in this series.  Until then, be sure to check out what's going on in the Who Universe right HERE!