The Walking Dead Episode 5: No Time Left

You know, out of the forty-odd games I've played in my lifetime few have been as emotionally involving as 'The Walking Dead' has. There are exceptions of course: the finale to 'Red Dead Redemption', pretty much the entire 'Mass Effect' series and maybe the odd cut scene here and there in the Assassins Creed games but apart from that I can't exactly call gaming sentimental. Most of us play video-games to pass the time and be entertained for a few hours, to get that kick after an awesome 'epic-win' or simply to relax. But when a video game actually taps into the same region of the brain that controls emotions such as pain, loss, heartbreak, sadness, despair etc..... now that's special. Sure T.V and Film do it all the time, even Music, but video games? Nah. When a video-game, an interactive form of entertainment that (let's face it) exists to satiate your primal need for violence and bloodlust, actually hits those same dramatic highs as static experiences, that's considered GROUND-BREAKING. 'The Walking Dead', while not necessarily the first or last game to do this, proves once more that video-games, if given more attention in their script department, can meet or even exceed some of your best entertainment experiences. The fact that it is the first game to focus solely on the story and not rely on any tangible gameplay mechanics like shooting to increase the experience further puts it in the spotlight. Oh, and guess what? Having played all five episodes over an eight month period I can now say that it succeeds in doing what it set out to do: It's a story driven adventure game that tailors it's experience to the choices you make. No more, no less. But the fact that it's really, really f*cking good at investing you into the story and the characters makes 'The Walking Dead' one of the best games this year.

Lee doesn't really know what to do with a walkie-talky...

Oh and one more thing: if you read on and haven't played 'The Walking Dead' yet then I advise you to buy and play the game NOW. It's on every available platform imaginable (Xbox Live/PSN/PC/Mac/iphone 4/ipad 2 etc....) and at £3 or 5 euros for one episode episode that last's around 3-4 hours, it really is a bargain. Whether you like zombies, play video-games, or prefer to stay away from this kind of stuff then don't worry, it couldn't be more easier to play. But you do need to have a high tolerance towards drama and gore, so prepare to be stressed as hell but in a way that will have you crawling back for more. With all that in mind, read on. But beware, I can't talk about this episode without spoiling it so *SPOILERS WILL FOLLOW*!

God-dammit! Gotta keep those nasty spoilers out!

The episode starts exactly where Episode 4 'Around Every Corner' left off. Lee Everett (the player) has been bitten by a zombie, and he has at best a few hours to live. Clementine, his nine-year-old protege has been kidnapped by an unknown stranger and to make matters worse Savannah has been overrun by the several thousand strong zombie horde from Episode 3. Your sole objective is to get Clementine back in time before finally succumbing to the zombie virus that's in your veins. Right from the bat the stakes feel high, which is apt considering this the finale to the series. Lee's bite is a ticking time-bomb that permeates throughout the episode, he really does have 'No Time Left'. I'm still amazed that the writers had the balls to kill off their main character in what has been one of the most successful series for Telltale. As an avid watcher of The Walking Dead T.V show and with a considerable amount of knowledge on the comic book I knew from the end of episode 4 that Lee was doomed. The writers love to pull the rug from under your feet at the worst possible moment and they adore false hope, so of course they gave you the option to lop off your infected arm at the start. (NOTE: For the uneducated in the WD universe if you get bit by a zombie you can survive the ordeal by amputating the infected limb, but if have to do it IMMEDIATELY after you get bit. The T.V show just pulled that trick off with Hershel and he survived but only because they cut off his leg fast enough to stop the infection from spreading. But with Lee it had been at least an hour before they decided to cut his arm off so it was inevitable that he would eventually die and transform into a zombie). Shockingly, most players did indeed cut their arm off, still clinging to that last ounce of hope. Not me though, I knew that at this point there was no coming out of this. Cruelly, if Lee is armless throughout the rest of the episode then the signs of zombification taking it's toll will only happen at the very end of the episode (further inspiring hope into players) whereas if you're like me and considered the loss of an arm an detriment then you'll be blacking out all the time and in the worst possible circumstances. To be honest, whatever you pick will have a lasting impact on the story.

They're not going to keep it together...

After the amputation scene in the morgue the Episode is pretty much touch and go until the very end. Lee's time is limited so the first thing he does (after having escaped the hospital with a short but sweet puzzle) is go back to the house and pick up anyone that was left behind at the end of Ep 4 to find Clementine. We're treated to a rather great action scene beforehand though where the zombie horde swarms the house (I cheered when zombie Brie came in through the window) and the group has a last stand on the second floor before retreating up into the attic. The scene in the attic is a great change of pace, it simply involves the survivors sitting in a chair and discussing previous events in the series...it's just a great moment of reflection and instil's  a sense of finality into everything. I'm amazed at how they finally made me care about Omid and Christa as well, in Ep's 3 & 4 as characters I thought they were pretty milk-toast but in Ep 5? Wow, I went from not caring about them to loving them in ten minutes! Omid in particular had some great things to say ('DUDE! You ruined that guy's face!') and insight into Christa's parents T.V habits ('They watch Kung-Fu movies') all added that little extra ounce of likeability to them that was missing in Episode 4. In a way, the sequence in the house encapsulates what's so perfect about Episode 5: you get the balls to the wall tension of Episode 4 and yet straight after it's nothing but people talking inside a room reflecting on their life and situation. It's like Episode 4 but without any of it's shortcomings. The talking doesn't last long though and we're soon thrust out into the zombie filled streets of Savannah using the rooftops as a way to get by unscathed. Of course Ben has to f*ck everything up though, that guy is a magnet for disaster. As the group is jumping from a balcony to the roof of another building the metal girders give way and Ben falls onto the street below. Kenny, having just had sense knocked back into him (Ben grew some balls! YAY!) decides to go down and inspect the damage along with Lee. Unfortunately, Ben has a spike sticking out of his stomach and with the zombies fast approaching Kenny suddenly decides to sacrifice himself and uses his last bullet to put Ben out of his misery. Why he did that I don't know, you could argue that after Katjaa and Duck died he was suicidal but why now, especially when he seemed so intent on saving Clementine? Still I don't know, to be honest Kenny's death was the only moment that felt forced (well that, and Vernon suddenly and inexplicably stealing our boat). I'd rather have this version than the alternative though. If you kill Ben in Episode 4 then Kenny dies a little later saving Christa, who was in turn trying to get the walkie-talkie. A bit more heroic than my scenario yes, but Kenny going out with Ben (for whatever contrived reasons) is much more poetic than 'died because of that blasted walkie-talkie'. HOWEVER, seen as we didn't actually see Kenny die on screen or hear him scream to death as the zombies munched on him then I have reason to believe that he is still alive. In fact, if we don't see your death on The Walking Dead then you're pretty much confirmed to still be alive! The writers have more than enough leeway to bring him back in Season 2 if they want to.

Lee's finest moment in the entire game.

We then see the departure of Omid and Christa and thankfully they don't die horribly like the other characters tend to do. They're separated from Lee as he tries to cross a dilapidated sign (which breaks), and there's no way they can get to him. I advised them to get out of the city and to meet me back at the train (by the way Christa's pregger's, in one of the most blindingly obvious yet surprisingly low-key reveals ever), while exclaiming that they'd be great guardians for Clementine if she get's out of this mess. As Christa and Omid leave it's clear that there is no way to get to The Marsh House (Clementine's supposed location) without first fighting your way through the gigantic zombie horde in front of it. Lee (who at this point is looking extremely pale) being the badass he is climbs down and attacks the horde dead on, in one of the most ludicrously insane yet bad ass moments I've ever experienced in a video-game. Armed with a cleaver and a shard of broken glass cutting into his hand (can't have my left arm unresponsive) the player epically slays a gazillion zombies while the music is swelling to one hell of a crescendo. I can only imagine how more awesome it gets if Lee only has one arm, his sheer drive to save Clementine (and as a result of you inhabiting Lee and Clementine being one of the nicest child characters in fiction, YOUR drive as well) and balls is tremendous. So you fight through the zombies and enter The Marsh House hotel, full of creepy corridors and ready to confront whatever bastard has kidnapped Clementine. Naturally, what follows is not what you expect. In another ballsy move, the writers of The Walking Dead have decided to base the climax of the Finale around two isolated conversations with two people. There's no blaze of glory, no last hurrah, no action climax. Once again, it goes to the core of what makes this game great, the choices and the conversations, not to mention the excellent screen writing. The stranger (the game gives us no name, no doubt to rub in the symbolic nature of the character) turns out to be just another poor soul who has lost everything to the zombie apocalypse and as a result has gone a bit crazy because of it (oh, and he does sound a lot like Tom Cruise). It's all because of that abandoned car you found at the end of Episode 2, I KNEW that was coming back to bit me in the ass. While Clementine is locked up in an adjacent room the stranger forces me to sit and tells his tragic tale to me while at gunpoint. In short, by stealing food from that car he lost both his wife and daughter to the zombies and wants revenge. BUT when hearing of all the horrible things I've done thanks to Clementine (it's a great way of bringing past choices and decisions to the forefront) he decided to kidnap her and 'start a new family'. He also has a habit of talking to the decapitated zombie head of his wife in a bag, which proves to be his downfall when Clem manages to sneak out and distract him while he's talking to the head. Then a rather violent confrontation ensues which either results in the guy dying by Lee strangling him to death or shot in the head by Clementine. I like how the stranger was just like Kenny and Lee but without Clementine to ground him in reality so as a result he kinda lost it. He even makes a point about the fact that he's not just some cannibal or monster in the woods but is in fact just a....Dad. One of the main themes in The Walking Dead is how the zombie apocalypse affects you both mentally and physically, in a way the zombies are perfect as the vice that permits the radical evolution of characters in such a short span of time. This is a world where everyone (alive and dead) are monsters, it shows both the best and worst of humanity and often these two sides switch places. Just look at our main protagonist, Lee. Before the apocalypse he was just some random guy, an ex-history Teacher being sent to jail for murder. Protecting Clementine is almost like his redemption for all that, and the player can even bring it up during the convo with the stranger. Now who you were before doesn't matter, it's all about clinging onto hope and survival. Clementine is Lee's hope. She's all he really cares about now, the old Lee Everett has gone. And the stranger? Before this whole ordeal he had a wife. And a son. AND a daughter. He had a nice life. Now he's got none of that, he has no hope left, and it breaks him, so he's not the guy he was before either. And most of it is because that one small decision that you made at the end of Ep 2 had lasting consequences, and it's repercussions have ultimately cost Lee his life. 

Yeah, crossing that sign MIGHT not be a good idea!

So Lee is finally reunited with Clementine (who is really traumatised about what she's done) but they've still got to get past the horde outside. Lee discovers that if you coat yourself in zombie guts then the zombies will just consider you to be another zombie and leave you alone....so the first thing he does is kill a zombie, scoop out it's intestines and smear it all over Clementine! Lovely...this leads to a tense scene outside where you're surrounded by zombies and have to walk as quietly as possible so as not to draw attention to yourself. Normally this would go without a hitch, but seen as this The Walking Dead then you'd be forgiven for expecting the worst: Clementine spots her zombified parents in the zombie crowd, JUST as Lee passes out again! Lee wakes a bit later, the distraught Clementine having pulled him into an abandoned jewellery store. This is the end of the game. You've got Clementine trapped in a room with a Lee, who at this point can't even move, and he literally has only minutes left. There is an exit, but it's in another room with a zombie security guard/cop. The only thing he can do now is to get Clementine out of this store and offer a few pro-tips on surviving the zombie apocalypse. It's extremely emotional, the voice acting for Clementine in particular had me welling up, especially when she came to the realisation that I was bitten. The way she reacted to everything was exactly how a little girl would react in this situation, and I felt more sorry for her than Lee to be honest! The last half an hour of 'No Time Left' is essentially Lee passing the mantle over to Clementine, as we get to (indirectly) control her by giving her orders on what to do. Clementine has now become the main character, as Lee is slowly fading away. Her arc in this series has mainly been about teaching her how to survive in the ZA, while at the same time making sure she doesn't lose her humanity and stop her becoming a little girl in the process. You've been trying to stop Clementine from becoming like everyone else basically, which is why I asked Omid and Christa to be her guardians as they're the only people who have stayed the same throughout this journey. Point being, we still have to give her hope. 

Dem' zomby's, always trying to grab our attention!

Clementine smashes the glass window and retrieves the handcuffs inside. At this point you can either handcuff the zombie (who's stuck in a chair) or Lee. I chose Lee, just in case he dies while she's still trapped inside. Unfortunately as she goes to get the keys for the door (which are on the zombie cop) he get's loose and with Lee powerless to do anything he basically tells her to grab the cricket bat and smash it's head in, showering her in blood. And just when you think things couldn't get even more bleak the game then gives you the option to either have Clementine shoot you (stopping you becoming a zombie) or to just leave you. Me, not wanting to put Clementine through anything else just asked her to leave me and her response was heartbreaking. I mean she's nine-years-old, caked in blood, crying, heck she's just outright murdered someone AND she's found out that her parents have in fact been dead this whole time....yeah I think I should easy on her. I mean it's one thing to shoot your kidnapper, but Lee??? Nah, that's far to upsetting. Well okay, everything is upsetting at this point. So depending on your ending Clementine either holds your hand while you say a few last words (of your choice, I personally picked 'I'll miss you...' and 'Stay out of the cities' as my last piece of advice) before leaving only to look back and see you die hunched up against the radiator OR picks up the zombie cop's gun crying her eyes out and puts a bullet in your head. Suffice to say, the music swells and 'The Walking Dead' font appears over black shortly afterwards, which basically means that now Lee (the main character and protagonist) is dead and that's the end of his story. As a bit of added symbolism, Lee happens to die handcuffed AND near a zombie cop, just like the beginning of Episode 1 (but sans the dying bit). Clementine though? Well after the credits (during which plays a VERY suitable song) we're treated to a short cut-scene with Clementine holding the gun and sitting a log in the middle of some field looking very sad. She then sees two strangers walking in the distance (Christa and Omid? New Characters? Someone from the comics?) and...they stop, having clearly just noticed Clementine. The game once again cuts to black on Clementine's horrified face and that's it. No more Walking Dead til' Season 2!

NUTTER ALERT! Also, don't look in the bag....WHAT'S IN THE BAG?!!!

So what did I think of 'No Time Left'? Well as you can tell it's mostly praise, but the quietness of the last half is what really caught me off guard, just the abrupt change in tone and pace really. Oh, and I was expecting a better confrontation with Clementine's kidnapper, who they had been building up to since Ep 3 but in the end turned out to be just 'another guy'. I get what they were going for, I really do, but the game went out on a quiet note rather than the epic bang we've been trained to expect from Finale's these days, which you could see as being a positive or a negative. I hate to say it, but I prefer an epic bang. This is also the shortest episode yet (although Ep 4 was the longest Ep) and barely clocks in at an hour and a half. Don't get me wrong none of it feels rushed but I still thought we could have spent some more time with that kidnapper and maybe added in a few climatic action scenes at the end. The only other complaint I can possibly muster (apart from the bugs, which continue to be a constant in this game) is that there are a LOT of loose ends. We have no idea what happened to Molly (I thought she would show up at the end to rescue Lee), Kenny's fate was left ambiguous, Vernon just outright stole our boat and left for seemingly no reason and Omid and Christa just disappeared from the narrative. Not to mention Clementine, who's fate now seems even more uncertain. The only real closure we got was with Ben and Lee, the rest of it just sort of went nowhere. So while they're clearly setting up Season 2 (which has been confirmed) I would have liked to have gotten more finality out of things. Unfortunately, the only real finality you can get in the zombie apocalypse is a bullet through the brain, because if any characters live then they're still in immediate danger. 'No Time Left' is a great finale to the series, although it's hardly perfect: 8/10. Overall though? I think Episode 3 was the best, or more precisely the end of Ep 2 and the start of Ep 3 simply because of the shock value and it was at that moment that we knew just how FAR Telltale was willing to go with it's dark subject matter. That one-two punch of Carley being shot, Lilly leaving, duck getting bit and Clementine (seemingly) becoming a zombie cannot be matched in terms of sheer balls or shock value. The entire Series is fantastic though, and is definitely more than the sum of it's parts. Goodbye Lee Everett, it's been one hell of a traumatising experience! 

Clementine, you crack me up. Seriously, I can't stop crying!

The Walking Dead Overall: 9/10

Positives:

+ Great Dialogue, Voice acting, Story, Characters etc...
+ Brilliant art-style, really captures the feel of the comic-book. 
+ Great sound design, music
+ Truly haunting
+ Really depressing
+ Shocking, unexpected twists
+ Clementine, Lee, Kenny
+ Choices, consequences
+ Really tense action
+ Easy controls

Negatives:

- It's very buggy, can detract from experience
- Episode 4 is a little dull
- Chuck's death
- Last episode is really short
- Point and click gameplay is boring
- Lot's of loose threads
- Puzzles too easy

P.S Thank you Telltale for introducing episodic games back into our mainstream culture, it fits so well, not to mention bringing back the old adventure games in style. Ah yes, and thanks for giving us a great story....BUT IN A VIDEO GAME! 

A sad end, but a fitting one.

The Walking Dead Episode 4: Around Every Corner

So with Episode 5's release date immanently approaching I thought it was best to play catch-up and finally review Episode 4 'Around Every Corner'. After the sensationally tense and emotionally wrecking Episode 3 that killed off half the cast and then introduced several new characters I naturally started the episode with my expectations through the roof in more ways than one. I couldn't wait to find out who the walkie-talkie guy was and why he was so interested in Clementine and Lee. I was interested to see where Kenny's character would go next and I was ready for several jaw-dropping moments. Sadly while Episode 4 is packed with these moments, it's middle half feels like filler and the story doesn't quite hit those emotional highpoints you were expecting until the end. So while it's in no way bad or even mediocre (in fact, most of it is rather good) you can't help but compare it to previous episodes and see it as a bit of a disappointment, especially when you have to wait a whole month for the next episode!

Clementine is the sweetest character in gaming, PERIOD. So sweet that this zombie wants to gobble her up!

Episode 4 starts about an hour after where Ep 3 left off, with the group having just abandoned the train and entering Savannah to look for a boat. Naturally things go awry immediately and they get ambushed by a horde of zombies and have to hide in the garden of an abandoned house. In the midst of all this chaos one of the new characters bites the dust in a rather abrupt fashion with little to no fanfare at all. We don't even see the death on-screen (although you do see 'the remains' later) and I wonder why the writers introduced a character late into Ep 3 only to kill him/her (not saying because of spoilers) immediately afterwards at the beginning of Ep 4? I mean it's almost like they introduced him/her only to give a bit of exposition to Lee and then swiftly got rid of him for shock value? Hmmmm.... Now while I understand WHY they did it, I didn't feel anything because I had only just met his/her character and hadn't had time to connect to him/her in the slightest. Episode 3 had one shocking death after the other and it mattered because I had grown to love the characters over the previous Episodes, killing him/her off here robbed the moment of any emotional value or weight. In fact the lack of fanfare suggest's the writers didn't even care about his/her character either, and it felt out of place with the rest of the episode. I hate to call it lazy script writing, but that's what it is. Thankfully what follows is classic WD, with plenty of unpleasant situations being thrown onto the player. At the realisation that I had to dig up a dead dog in order to get into the house I audibly sighed 'Oh god...' before doing the dirty work and then having to kill a starved kid zombie in the attic just felt wrong, afterwords I had to bury the poor soul next to his dead dog in the garden! After the house is properly searched and cleared of any threats Lee and Kenny go to the harbour to find a boat...only to find it utterly deserted and ransacked of anything worthwhile. They're also greeted with a giant barricade made out of zombie corpses, some of whom are still undead having been pierced on spikes to act as scarecrows to warn off any survivors hoping to get past the barrier. What's past the barrier? Well it's very spoilerific but let's just say it's not pretty...In fact anything after this point is serious spoiler territory so let's just say there are a few new characters introduced (honestly the cast of survivors are on a revolving door at this point, it's almost like the writers said 'CRAP! WE'RE RUNNING OUT OF CHARACTERS TO KILL OFF! WE NEED MORE CHARACTERS TO SATISIFY OUR BLOOD LUST!!!'), several new locales to be explored and lots AND lots of tense action moments. As a penultimate episode this is clearly setting up things for Ep 5 (aka the finale) so I will not criticize the Ep for not paying off on a lot of it's many dangling threads but let's just say that your questions at the end of Ep 3 will not by answered in Ep 4, much to my disappointment. They're saving everything for the last Ep and most of this episode feels like filler. Entertaining filler sure, but filler nonetheless. There are a few good moments here and there but you're essentially on a damn fetch quest the whole time with no real juicy plot moments to satisfy my need for intense drama. The last 15 minutes though......ohhhhh boy!

This is a really unnerving moment, poor kid.

As far as gameplay goes Episode 4 is the most action packed entry of the series to date, and with the exception of a few small puzzles here and there most of it is Lee becoming a full on zombie badass, with the zombie death counter hitting record highs at the Ep's climax in particular. Of course the satisfaction in terms of gameplay goes up a bit (when is killing zombies NOT fun?) but I should stress that this is still a point and click adventure game, all you're doing is pressing a button that is labelled 'kill zombie' a few times. Which is probably another reason why this Episode feels slightly underwhelming seen as most of it is action and it therefore the game relies on it's almost non-existent gameplay mechanics and it feels dull compared to, say, having meaningful conversations with the great cast. That's not to say there aren't any difficult choices to make or really nice convo's in the Ep, it just means that they take a back-seat to the some of the action taking place. And that's why the episodes conclusion is fantastic, because it's like they packed all the shocking moments, consequences and tense reveals til' the last 15 minutes and gave us a few filler action tasks to do beforehand. Again that's not to say I didn't LIKE those filler action tasks, it's just that it can't compare to the more dialogue focused aspects of the game that featured prominently in the previous eps. 

Even THEY can't believe the twist at the end!

I can't spoil the last 15 minutes but let's just say the Episode did it's job of making me hyped for the finale! And in true Walking Dead fashion it is SHOCKING and you'll never see it coming! But as it stands I'll give Episode 4 'Around Every Corner' an 8/10. Not quite as good as previous instalments, but that's only because it set's the stage for what is surely going to be an amazing pay-off to an amazing entertainment experience. The characters are still amazing (Clementine in particular), the voice acting is still stellar and the narrative continues to be one of the most compelling stories in gaming. I must stress to anyone that hasn't got it yet (again), BUY AND PLAY THIS NOW!

Doctor Who: The Angel's Take Manhattan

Well this is it, the episode we was all looking forward to (and dreading at the same time) 'The Angel's Take Manhattan'. I must admit that before watching the episode for the first time I was a tad skeptical. I mean, how on earth are they going to re-introduce River Song and The Weeping Angels and STILL have time left to give the Pond's a proper send-off in the time space of just 45 minutes? Thankfully, Amy & Rory's exit was absolutely fantastic and while the episode does suffer from Steven Moffat's trademarked mile-a-minute approach to storytelling and The Weeping Angel's slightly lacklustre appearance, this was definitely Doctor Who on top form. And yes, I am sad to see Amy & Rory go (especially Rory). 

Ahhh....happy memories...

The episode starts with a rather lengthy intro-sequence that takes up a good 10 minutes of the story. While it doesn't really need to be there it perfectly recreates a Noire atmosphere and re-introduces the Weeping Angel's with style. The reveal at the end was gobsmakingly brilliant but because the rest of the episode fails to dwell on it or even acknowledge it later on it's effect quickly diminishes. If viewed as a self-contained short movie featuring the Weeping Angel's or even as a prequel to the episode I would understand why they filmed it, but does it really need to take up a full ten minutes worth of screen time? If you take the entire segment out the episode what does it add exactly? If you ask me the whole reason this episode was set in 1930's New York was because Steven Moffat wrote this segment beforehand and wanted to include it in an episode of the show. If you take out the New York setting from the episode and changed it to...ooooh I dunno London 2012 then nothing in the story changes. NOTHING AT ALL. Well okay, visually the episode would be worse. New York look's fantastic, both in the past and present and once again demonstrates New Who's panache for trying to diversify the setting and locales as much as possible. 
So with the out-of-place intro aside, what about the rest of the episode? Well we're treated to a few nice views of modern day New York, some nice banter between the three leads (the last time we'll see any of them together just chilling out) and then all of a sudden Rory is sent back in time by a Weeping Angel to 1930's New York, appearing conveniently right next to his daughter Melody/River Song. I love the way the book is used to convey exposition, even if it is a trick often deployed by Moffat in his timey-wimey stories. What makes it even cooler is the fact that the book is ACTUALLY going to be published in the UK as a tie-in to the episode, so we will ACTUALLY be able read the book! Oh, I do love the Doctor Who merchandising team sometimes. Anyway the book is used to great effect in the episode, and reading the chapter titles to find Rory was genius.  

This isn't going to last...

The collector Mr. Grayle is the plot device used to bring all of the characters into (roughly) the same time and place. It's a shame we didn't get more of him, his character is quite literally thrown out of the story half-way through along with his menacing bodyguards. He's immediately forgotten about however, as we're greeting to quite a chilling scene with Rory in the cellar with The Weeping Babies, complete with giggling cherub voices. The one thing I didn't like however was how they just deplaced him in space, not time. Um....why? The Weeping Angel's kind of lost their menace here, because their method of displacing people back in time can only really be seen as an annoyance, especially seen as the Doctor can time-travel. The Weeping Angel's in Series 5 two parter snapped peoples necks (rather gruesomely too, may I add) and were so seemingly unstoppable that Moffat had to literally write in a Deus Ex Machina (the crack in time) in order to get rid of them. Here, they seem a bit weak in comparison and they feel less scary because....well...they don't really do a lot for most of the episode do they? Just stand around and look scary. In fact the characters blink several times in a scene and they don't move an inch. For the next ten minutes the episode is mainly River-Doctor focused, and it was nice to see Alex Kingston just being River Song rather than the more cartoony psychopathic version of the character we saw in Let's Kill Hitler/The Wedding Of River Song. The scene on the stairway where we actually see her bloodied roken wrist was unpleasant, (I think it's the first time we've seen blood on this show in a while)  and her speech to Amy about 'never let him see you damaged' was a nice moment. I would have liked to see more of a mother-daughter interaction between the two though, especially since the events of the last series has once again been discarded and put under the rug with the exception of the Doctor being 'dead/erased from the universe'. The problem is that things happen so fast in Moffat's stories that the characters barely have time to react or consider what on earth is going on and it's implications. Some more 'quiet' scenes like this one please? In the last 20 minutes Rory enters the Weeping Angel controlled building 'Winter Quay' only to find a much older version of himself (in a scene very reminiscent of Blink). Amy and the gang arrive just in time to witness the death of old Rory, and young Rory is left feeling bewildered. From this point on the episode really hit's it stride, and the realisation that Rory is destined to be stuck in that bed forever without Amy really added peril to the whole thing. The ensuing chase to the rooftops was vintage Weeping Angel's and the second appearance of the Statue of Liberty was the icing on the cake...or was it? For something that was hyped throughout the whole episode the Angel Of Liberty was barely a cameo appearance, not to mention the fact that it's EXTREMELY implausible for the people of New York to not notice a massive BRONZE statue (I thought the Weeping Angel's were made out of stone? And how did it become a Weeping Angel in the first place? EXPLAIN MOFFAT. EXPLAAAAAIN!) stomping around the place? It appeared for three seconds, was referenced once by Rory and then forgotten about. Not even the Doctor batted an eyelid when he saw it. HELLO? It's a giant FREAKING WEEPING ANGEL!! THIS SHOULD BE HUGE!!! Ok maybe I was expecting too much (I really thought those teeth would come down and chomp on Rory) but to have such a big, grandiose idea appearing at the climax of Amy & Rory's swansong episode you'd think they would have done more with the idea? But in the grand scheme of things I suppose it didn't really matter, what DID matter was the small issue of The Ponds making a suicide pact in order to create a paradox that would destroy the Weeping Angel's. The rooftop scene is one of the best moments in NuWho, and Karen Gillian and Arthur Darvill act their asses off in it. Arthur Darvill in particular was fantastic, his character Rory started out a geeky nerd vying for Amy's attention but has truly evolved into something more over the past few years, in some ways I'd argue he's more heroic than the Doctor. While some fans felt cheated that Rory never got a proper send-off in the episode (i.e he never got to say goodbye) I disagree, because this entire scene was in a way his send-off, even though he still features for a bit after this. His love for Amy shines through, the fact that he would rather risk his life than live without her is evidence enough and later on Amy does the same thing, this time risking her life to live with Rory, so this was Rory's last moment in the spotlight, he just came first. So if you do class this as Rory's exit (which I do) then it's definitely the best out of the two. His line about constantly dying (a popular joke among DW fans: 'They KEEP killing Rory!') and asking Amy to push him was frightfully emotional. Then when Amy joins him I could barely stop breathing.

Fantastic scene. Simply brilliant.

So they both jump of the ledge, the Doctor screams 'AMMMMMY!!!!!!' (no 'ROOOORY as well? Damn Doctor, that's cold!), the music swells, you see them falling epically in slow-motion and....cut to white. Ok, I admit it, I was doing my best to hold back the tears, but this next scene was the closest I've ever been to crying at an episode Doctor Who. As it turn's out, the Paradox worked and everything is back to normal again (except we all know there's something else coming up) and the four leads all get swooped back to that graveyard in 2012 New York. The Doctor rejoices, they hug, there's some merry banter with River and then just as they are about to leave Rory spots a gravestone with his name on it. Before Amy can react Rory suddenly gets whisked back in time (again?) by a 'lone survivor' Weeping Angel, his last second of screen time was looking at Amy with a puzzled expression (THAT'S IT?) and Amy shouts for the Doctor. The Doctor notices the gravestone and does his best to convince Amy to come back into the TARDIS so they can 'figure it all out' but nope, Amy has made her mind up. Convinced it would send her back to the same time that it sent Rory to she says a hasty goodbye to her daughter, bursts into tears, faces the Doctor and says one last goodbye before being zapped back into the past by the Angel, once again reunited with her beloved, supposedly living happily ever after with Rory in 1930's New York and dying of natural causes aged 87. WOW. That was a lot to take in! Suffice to say, I was emotionally obliterated. Just the suddenness of it all coupled with the acting from all three leads made what could have been a bitter-sweet ending into something that rivalled even Rose's exit in 2006! Just hearing Matt Smith scream and pour his eyes out, unable to do anything for pretty much the entire episode sent chills down my spine. And Karen Gillian, JESUS CHRIST! She definitely saved the best to last! While none of it quite matched the leap from the building in slo-mo (it was the music that made it) it was still powerful stuff and it was the first time where Steven Moffat actually stopped trying to cram all his grandiose idea's into every second of the thing and just pulled back, allowing the characters to properly emote and give it their all in the last few seconds of screen time. The only issue I have with the last ten minutes is the reason for their permanent exit doesn't seen justified at all.
*WARNING* MAJOR RANT ALERT! *WARNING*
The Doctor says that by being zapped back in time by the Weeping Angel would mean him never being able to see them again, because it would be a 'fixed' point in time. I'm sorry, but wasn't your death last series (a considerably bigger event) a fixed point in time as well? You seemed to get out of that pretty easily! Just what is a 'fixed' point in time anyway? And if causing another paradox would rip New York apart (New York has already been too badly fracturing by the Weeping Angel's time energy) then why not come and get them a few years later when the time energy subsides a bit more? Or how about they just move location? Surely Amy and Rory wouldn't live in New York for the rest of their lives and never leave the city? Even worse, apparently River's vortex manipulator can get there just fine (so basically River can visit them, just not the Doctor?) because she has to deliver the book to Amy to get it published! Why can't River just take them back with her when she goes to see them? Why can't the Doctor go with River? And hey, wasn't young Melody/Mels/River Song still in New York at this point? Do you think they met up with her and actually raised her up properly before sending her off to past Amy and Rory (well technically future Amy & Rory but you get it) from Let's Kill Hitler? Speaking of last series, what about those photo's of Amy and baby Melody found in the orphanage? Where did they come from? Why were the Silence so interested in Amy and Rory? They seemed to hint at the couple being integral to their plans and even had foreknowledge of certain events: 'RORY WILLIAMS, THE MAN THAT DIES AGAIN AND AGAIN...DIE ONE LAST TIME AND KNOOOW SHE WILL NEVER COME BACK TO YOU!!!!!' In fact, the whole Silence Will Fall arc and  the TARDIS mysteriously exploding STILL hasn't been explained yet or even referenced to by the show and for something that seemed so integral to Amy & Rory now that they're both gone does that mean that these questions will NEVER be answered? ARRRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHH!!!!!!!! SO MANY QUESTIONS!!!! SO FEW ANSWERS!!!!!!!! WHY, MOFFAT, WHY????? WHY DO YOU TEASE ME US SO MUCH YET NEVER ANSWER ANYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!?

....So in short I didn't really understand why their exit was so permanent, it's almost like the writer is leaving the back door open for a return.....

The episode end's with the Doctor running in slo-mo towards the final page in Melody's book, an epilogue written by Amy. He reads it teary-eyed and proceeds to re-visit young Amelia Pond (who's still waiting) in a nice callback to 'The Eleventh Hour'. The screen fades to black after a still image of young Amelia's face smiling, essentially the most fitting way to end it ever. One small niggle is the fact that we never saw Brian again, you would think the Doctor would go back to him and tell him what happened wouldn't you? It really felt like a loose-end but luckily they fixed it Mass Effect-style by releasing a touching short storyboard scene narrated by Arthur Darvill:  

Overall I thought this was a great send-off to some of NuWho's best companions, even though there were a few niggles along the way: 9,5/10. I suppose in a way their exit was the most tragic out of the new batch of companions, and it's nice to know that for once a monster was the one that ended up separating the couple from the Doctor rather than some over random element being thrown in last minute. Technically their gravestone should have read 'Killed nicely by Weeping Angel'. Well done Moffat, when it counts you truly deliver, although please stop with these overarching story lines that lead to nothing, I don't want to be let down again.

Great imagery, but makes NO sense in the context of the episode.

So what do I think of The Pond Era as a whole? Well it took me a while to warm up to them and Matt Smith, it was one of those cases where they grew on me the more time went on. Rory became the dark horse of the series, by the second half of Series Six I was convinced he was the best of the two. Amy felt a bit dodgy for most of Series Five, but her character improved over time. Series Five as a whole was a bit uneven to me, but 'Vincent And The Doctor', 'Time Of Angels/Flesh And Stone', 'Amy's Choice' and 'The Pandorica Opens' are some of the best episodes of Moffat's run. Their chemistry as a group dynamic is unmatched, I could watch the characters interacting all day to be honest. It's a shame we didn't get more Doctor-Rory combos, 'Dinosaurs On A Spaceship' showed just well Arthur Darvill and Matt Smith worked off each other to brilliant comedic effect. The era hit it's highpoint with the second half of Series Six, there was just so many fun episodes and 'The Girl Who Waited' is still an instant classic. As for Series Seven Part 1 the episodes have been the most ambitious yet but with the exception of 'Dinosaurs' (which wasn't striving to be Shakespeare or anything) they all had script problems. Simply put, the writers got a bit lazy and crammed to much stuff into an already ambitious undertaking. Still, the variety in the last five eps have been incredible and the Doctor Who production Team deserves all the praise it can get. Just re-read a few of those scripts next time, OK? Oh god....that divorce plot still makes me shudder....Well I think it's finally time to the close the door on Amy & Rory (but keep it unlocked just in case), the first married couple in the TARDIS. The Girl who waited and Rory the roman lived happily ever after. THE END.

Doctor Who: The Power Of Three

The fourth episode of Series 7, 'The Power Of Three' was ALMOST fantastic, but like 'A Town Called Mercy', it kinda dropped the ball in a few key aspects. Writer Chris Chibnall returns for the Pond's penultimate episode, and although the episode is dominated in the second half by the black cubes storyline it's clear from the get go that this is a story that is very much centred around Amy & Rory. Up until now Series 7 has felt very Doctor centric, and yes I know that he's the main character and all but with the Pond's leaving so soon you'd think they'd have a lot more to do than just tag along right? Heck they were barely featured in 'A Town Called Mercy'! It should feel like their story is coming to an end, and 'The Power Of Three' is the first episode where I really felt that. 

BEST. CHARACTER. EVER

The episode is based around the simple-yet-genius idea of the black cubes: one day billions of tiny black cubes appear out of nowhere all over the globe and.....appear to do absolutely nothing. It sounds like the most boring idea ever right? I mean invasion of the black cubes that just sit there? WORST. IDEA. EVER. But this situation is probably one of the most original Doctor Who invasion stories I've seen. The Doctor has to essentially live with the ponds for an indefinite amount of time waiting for the cubes to do something. He's bored, and it perfectly demonstrates the differences between his life and the Pond's life to humorous effect. Minutes after the cube invasion UNIT arrives, and we're introduced to it's new commander Kate Stewart (played by Jemma Redgrave), who later is revealed to be the daughter of legendary Doctor Who character Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. While Jemma doesn't have a massive amount of screen-time in the episode, and UNIT as a whole is just a means to get the Doctor into a research lab (under the Tower of London!) I can't think of  a better way to continue UNIT in the show's mythology. Let's hope that this is a character that's destined for multiple appearances rather than just a one-off, because if Jemma Redgrave's character is going to become the new Brigadier than I heartily salute everyone involved on the production of the show. Earnest, intelligent, rather posh and a with slight hint of humour, Kate Stewart is an amazing tribute to Nicholas Courtney's character. 

Fish fingers and custard!

Continuing the trend of amazing side-characters in Doctor Who is Brian Williams, played masterfully once again by Mark...erm...Williams. Rory's Dad is simply a delight to watch, whether it's contemplating over the intent of the cubes or patiently studying them with his camcorder day in, day out the character is instantly lovable. It's a shame that Brian was introduced so late what with Amy & Rory leaving so soon, I would love for him to become a part-time companion ala River Song. But sadly, the departure of his son will most likely mean the departure of Brian *SIGH* R.I.P Brian, the most vigilant character on DW. 

Oh god, NOT THE BIRDIE SONG! KILL IT WITH FIRE!!!!!

As the episode went on, the mystery of the cubes became increasingly compelling, and the many news reports coupled with celebrity comeo's really helped built a sense of scale that if I'm honest Doctor Who hasn't seen in quite a while (not since the RTD days). The comparisons to the ipad/iphone was a neat little inclusion too, along with the Doctor's disdain for Twitter and the cubes going haywire in several different (rather inventive) ways. Despite the air of mystery throughout and increasingly high stakes, it's the subtle humour that really takes the first half of this episode over the edge from being 'Good' to 'Great'. Want to know another moment that I really liked? The scene between Amy and The Doctor on the wall, what a magnificent little scene that was, it's moments like this one that we should have gotten more of in the previous episodes just to further run home the fact that yes, Amy really is leaving. The episode continues to built the stakes immediately after that, with a good ol' fashioned ticking clock appearing on all of the cubes. I was gripped to my seat the whole time, anticipating that big reveal that the whole episode felt like it was building up to (I mean, this has been going on for more than a year right? The pay-off/climax to this must be massive!)....and then the cube opened, revealing nothing. Ooooh. I was really stumped. It was then revealed that the cubes are EMP devices designed to stop peoples hearts and approximately 1/3 of the population of earth had just suffered from fatal heart attacks, so clearly the death toll (and stakes) were now at astronomical levels. 

'Oh God, is that really the ending?'

Then the episode devolved into a rushed conclusion that basically amounted to The Doctor teleporting onto the bad guys ship, waving his magic wand at a screen which SOMEHOW caused everyone dead from heart attacks to suddenly come back to life (wait...WHAT?!) and self destruct the enemies ship. Problem solved, everybody lives, happy ending. I'm sorry, but that ending had more holes in it than swiss cheese riddled with bullet's, and that's without mentioning the fact that it felt incredibly rushed and generic in almost every sense of the word. WTF HAPPENED CHIBNALL, ANSWER ME!!!!!!!! I mean, look at this list I complied detailing all the errors of your bullsh*t ending: 

-First of all, what was the purpose of those guys with the cubes in their mouth? They were never explained or dealt with in the episode!

-Why were the cubed doctors abducting all those people?

-Did the Doctor just let all the abductees die in the end? They were still on the ship when it blew up....

-The glowing girl robot was pointless.

-The Shakri are the most generic villains in Doctor Who that I have ever seen, they just want to exterminate the human race because of 'the tally' or something? 

-What was with the whole '2nd dimension to the left' bullsh*t?

-Why did everyone suddenly come back to life all fine and dandy, that is quite literally the most rubbish cop-out that I've ever seen! 

-Why was the teleport in Rory's hospital, of all the places in the world that it could have been in, what's so special about that hospital? NO EXPLANATION GIVEN. 

-What happened to all the cubes? 

-The Shakri don't make any attempt to stop the Doctor at all, it's like they're the most useless villain ever.

So yes, that's a lot of plot holes. 

Overall though, I would still say this was a good episode. Sure the ending didn't make a lick of sense and was lazy writing on Chibnall's part but the thirty-five minutes before that was a great thriller and had me entertained the whole time so....how the hell do I rate this? Ultimately, it was a great episode with an awful ending that doesn't QUITE negate the previous half an hour so...8/10? Maybe that's a bit too high, but it's the same reason behind why I loved Mass Effect 3 so much: sure the ending could have been better, but it's  the journey there that matters (the main bulk of the game) and not the destination (the last 10 mins). 

Even by our standards, that's a pretty crappy villain!

Doctor Who: A Town Called Mercy

After the spectacular 'Dinosaurs on a Spaceship', I couldn't help but be a little disappointed with 'A Town Called Mercy'. It's not that it's bad, in fact it has a lot of things going for it. But I get the feeling that like 'Curse Of The Black Spot', it had potential to be SO MUCH MORE.

This scene came out of nowhere...

I think I should start by praising just how beautiful this episode looks. Being the first proper Doctor Who Western (the only other episode featuring this setting was 'The Gunslingers' in the classic series) it was important for the production team to capture an authentic Wild-West set for the episode and it's clear that their shoot in Spain has paid off in dividends. Not only is it the most exotic location the series has ever ventured out to film but there's not one dark corridor or indoors studio set in sight, the entire episode looks spot on. And composer Murray Gold's music (probably one of the best parts of the show) hit's all those noticeable twangs from classic westerns. So far, Series 7 of DW has probably some of the most diverse stories ever, we've had Dalek's, Dinosaurs and now a Western! I applaud the production team for such an ambitious task, it's amazing they can accomplish all of this on a BBC budget, the show has never looked better.

It's a shame Issac died half-way through, just when I was starting to like him. 

But as for the rest of the episode? Well, it was a bit 'meh' to be honest. The acting is still great (Ben Browder turns in a great performance as Issac) and the character of the Gunslinger was a real highlight (GREAT camera angles) but I think the main problem is that this episode pivots around the alien Kahler Jex, and while there's nothing wrong with Adrian Scarborough's performance, his character goes through SO many changes in such a short amount of time that well, I end up not caring one bit when he (SPOILER ALERT) blows himself up at the end. Granted, the scene when he's talking to the Doctor in his jail-cell is brilliant, but the inclusion of his spirituality (the writer trying to make him more relatable to the audience) contradict's what he said earlier about his experiments being for the greater good. In that scene, he comes off as an arrogant megalomaniac scientist and has a clear malice towards everyone in Mercy. However later when he starts getting all emotional over his religion? Didn't buy it one bit, and it seemed like the writer Toby Whitehouse put it there solely to make the character more complex. Which is great, but it has a stark contrast to what we saw earlier. Also the conflict between the Doctor and Jex felt extremely forced. What was so special about Jex that made the Doctor suddenly snap? And why now? I can understand the Doctor being angry, but completely losing it over this one mad scientist who (by Doctor Who standards) was a mild villain at best! Soloman from 'Dinosaurs On A Spaceship' was a reeeal nasty piece of work, so I would understand if the Doctor lost it with him, but Jex? Nah. The fact that his character suddenly went crazy out of nowhere didn't help either. Again, this would be a minor nitpick in any other episode but because a lot of the emotional weight in this episode is trying to make you feel for Jex when he commits suicide, the episode just doesn't hit those marks. It doesn't help that Doctor Who has done this sort of episode in the past and handled a complex moral dilemma MUCH more successfully either.

The Gunslinger was one of the episode's best strengths in my opinion.

Oh and you can add Kahler Jex to the list of people in Doctor Who who are supposed to be alien but actually look EXACTLY like us, save for the odd tattoo around one eye. Very Star Trek. I'm also sick of alien races in Doctor Who being so cliche (apart from the main monsters of course). The whole 'my species fought in an endless, bloody war!' thing is getting really old now. In fact, I'm sick of a villain's race being explained by a single sentence at the end of an episode. They make it short to save on time, but too many villains are being 'simplified' by Doctor Who recently. Even Soloman from 'Dinosaurs On A Spaceship' was your stereotypical 'I LIKE MONEY!' bad guy. Better realised villains please. *SIGH* I have one last complaint, and that's Amy & Rory having NOTHING to do in this episode. They didn't need to be there at all, save for Amy's speech in the middle (tone down the heavy music in this part, PLEASE. You're whacking us over the head with sentiment here!), and they're supposed to be leaving in a few episodes time! In fact, none of the episodes have been Amy/Rory centric yet, which I find odd considering this is supposed to be their last bow. I just don't get any sense of things ending here, you know?

So overall we have a rather mixed episode of Doctor Who on our hands, one that has great production values (the cinematography in general is just gorgeous, bravo Saul Metzstein!) a few great action set pieces and a fine performance by all the leads but fails when trying to deal with it's 'complex' moral dilemma. Ultimately I just felt indifferent about it: 6/10.

Why were you in this episode?