Four weeks in to the season and we're a decent chunk through Moffat's first series. So far the show's been exciting, if not a little weak in parts, and this first of a two-parter does offer something difficult to mess up -- Weeping Angels. They were a great villain in 'Blink', and now they're back with another episode of their own. But how does the episode stack up? As always, I'm lazy, so let's make a list.

AWESOME: Amy! Even if you dislike the rest of the episode, it is a pretty great chance to just look at Amy and think, She's much less obnoxious than previous companions. I'm actually a fan. Karen Gillian does some good work as Amy; she straddles the line between 'Yeah, I'll go along with this' and 'Maybe you're just being stupid' nicely. The character's also more consistent than previous companions, which is another benefit.

NOT  SO AWESOME:Reusing backgrounds. Dear BBC -- I know you're located out of Wales. I know you guys have to try and shoot locally. I know you're located on a wee island country, and there's only so many places you can film. That said, I really appreciate that you're trying to be less obvious, but the opening shot on the alien world is very clearly the same beach where Ten said goodbye to Rose. Maybe if you hadn't filmed half a dozen scenes from that same angle, you'd be able to get away with it. As it stands, you tried to play it close to the chest, but it was still relatively apparent. That, and, it looks like we're conceptually reusing sets as well. The temple in this episode looked a lot like the temple in 'The Impossible Planet'/'The Satan Pit'. I understand that it's tough to make cavernous indoor temples look different, but the shot of the group first seeing the large open space looked just like the one from 'The Impossible Planet', but with some statues scattered around. Not bad, it just takes a little of the magic away.

ON THE FENCE: River Song. This was originally going to be a blog where I complained about River Song, but that's boring, and probably unfair of me since this is only her second appearance. That said, I dislike the character. Russell T. Davies had Rose as his insert character, and it feels like Moffat has River Song. She's got all the quirky dialogue, the inexplicable rapport with The Doctor... she's the Mary Sue of Who. OK, maybe that's a little harsh, but hear me out. I can appreciate the whole 'Maybe she's bad!' thing they've got going on, but the continual cute wink-winks directly into the camera, and the 'Ooh, spoilers!', and the 'We're married... MAYBE! TEE HEE!' thing is more obnoxious than fun. After this episode, I feel confident in making the following predictions about River Song. One, she's probably a Time Lord. This explains some of her more ridiculous aspects (floating through space into the TARDIS, knowing how to fly the TARDIS, familiarity with and usage of the Sonic Screwdrivers, knowledge of High Gallifreyan). Two, she's evil, and will probably try to kill The Doctor or something. That's why she's been in jail and why she doesn't want to go back. Three, she's probably The Rani. They have the same bouffant hair-do, and since The Rani's TARDIS has a fully functional chameleon circuit, it could really be anywhere. AND, since The Doctor seems to be splitting time, time itself might be all wonky and he doesn't recognize the presence of another Time Lord. Regardless, Moffat's gonna need to pull out something big with River Song in order to make her tolerable. And please, don't have her be The Doctor's wife, that's dumb.

AWESOME: Doctor dialogue. The Doctor has some great zingers and character moments in this episode, including one very rambly exploration of the phrase 'needle in a haystack'. The tone is good, and the lines/characterization is nice, and The Doctor is already very well-defined four episodes in. They didn't even need a 'THE DOCTOR IS REALLY SAD' moment like they had with Nine in the first Cassandra episode to flesh Eleven out.

NOT  SO AWESOME: More Moffat-isms. Steven Moffat, when will you stop stealing from yourself?! You're a talented fellow, so let's cut out the little winks and nods to what you've already done. Oh look, a ghostly communicator relaying messages from the dead! Let's steal that from 'Silence In The Library'! Not to mention the entire episode is mashing up two of your older ideas (River Song and the entire Weeping Angels premise, with the flickering flashlights and the Angels themselves and all). You do awesome stuff, so actually go out there and do it! Quit copying your old ideas and riding on your laurels, you hot dog!

ON THE FENCE: Future foreboding. Good in some cases, irritating in others. The idea that maybe River Song's mission is less innocent than it originally seems? Awesome foreboding! Having her read off a list of stuff they've done, or do? Less interesting. To the episode's credit, I think we avoided a lingering shot of a crack in the universe, although I'm sure that's coming next episode since it's technically the end.

AWESOME: All that spooky stuff that was an awful lot like 'The Ring' and existed solely to get Amy in trouble when The Doctor couldn't help her... all that was awesome. Great scene, very suspenseful, a little funny, and even filled in some plot holes from the previous Angels episode. Maybe was a little too close to 'The Ring' for my liking, but hey, everyone's entitled to borrow a good idea now and again.

NOT  SO AWESOME: The whole pre-credits thing. Just... awful. Femme fatale River Song blasts out of a spaceship airlock with her tiny pistol/blowtorch, and gives a deadpan wink into the camera? The whole 'sweetie' thing? Groan. The last few episodes have had great openings; this one's more meh, nay, even eye-roll-y than the others.

ON THE FENCE: "You've made another mistake. Do you want to know what that mistake is? That mistake is the second mistake you've made, and it's a bad one. It's one involving me. I am The Doctor. It's a mistake involving The Doctor. It's not this one, awful, clumsy line to end out the episode. No, you could have had a succinct zinger, but instead opted for this rambling, repetitive, seemingly dramatic sentence. But as I was saying... uh... The one thing you don't want to do, ever, really ever, even if you have to, on your mother's life, definitely not, very bad things, is to put something in a trap. Put what in a trap? Put a person in a trap. But who is that person? That person is me. The Doctor. You don't put The Doctor in a trap." /fires a gun, something explodes, roll credits

|