McGani

Well. I just watched “The Girl Who Waited”. I have never openly cried at fiction before, but this episode was one of those rare moments that caused my eyes to become very wet and I had to blink a few times before I could see properly again. 

I’m sure everyone feels this way, but I’m of the belief that if something can make ME feel emotional like that, then it’s bloody brilliant writing.

I don’t think anyone’s actually going to read this, because I don’t think many of my followers are Doctor Who fans, but I’m going to talk about this episode anyway. 

The Episode began with a choice, and it ended with a choice.
Two buttons to decide Amy’s fate. Red or Green? Waterfall or Anchor? The symbolism was fantastic. Green usually means something positive, while the Anchor symbolizes stability; staying put. Red is associated with more negativity when complemented by green, and the Waterfall represents quick, constantly-flowing movement. 

Although I didn’t expect Amy’s character to understand all of that in the space of a second, I still cringed when I saw her press the red button without giving it a second thought. C’mon, you should know better by now!

But, without that stupid decision, the episode couldn’t have happened, and I will justify it by her being momentarily distracted. I am sure that, if Amy was thinking about something other than her cell phone and a potential vacation, she would have thought twice before pushing a button. At the time, she didn’t expect anything sinister (again, her experiences with the Doctor should have made her wiser, but I digress).

So, it started with Amy’s choice and ended in Rory’s choice. Kind of poetic, if you think about it.

Amy managed to create a sonic device??
I’m still a little confused about that. Honestly, when I saw OldAmy had a sonic replica, I jumped to conclusions that she was evil somehow, or that was a clue to something much bigger, such as the OldAmy was just a mirage, and she didn’t in fact experience 36 years. I felt a little deflated when nothing of the sort was revealed. It was just what it appeared to be: a sonic device. I’m still knitting my eyebrows together about how that was possible, though, and how it was significant enough to write into the episode.

Amy’s character developed more in 36 years than Rory’s did in 2,000.
A lot of people are comparing Amy’s “wait” to Rory’s, and I honestly don’t care about who waited longer, it’s not a contest and the context of it was way too different to compare. What I care about is that Amy’s character actually changed appropriately to her wait. She spent 36 years alone and it showed. She became hardened, paranoid and definitely untrusting. Hateful and lonely to a point where she turned a disarmed robot into a companion. She became a survivor, interested mostly in self-preservation and fuck-all to YoungAmy. You could definitely believe that version of Amy Pond spent 36 years apart from Rory and the Doctor, and even herself. 

They did a brilliant job on her makeup, too.

Rory, on the other hand, was this noble centurion for 2,000 years while he protected the Pandorica. At the end of it, I never saw a clear change in his character. He was still the lovable hipster that all of the fangirls mill around with adoration wetting their eyes. I’ve never liked Rory’s character; he’s always felt like the second coming of Mickey to me, though admittedly easier to look at and listen to (Mickey’s constantly-quivering voice drove me nuts).

However, I will concede that in this particular episode, Rory crossed that line from Mickey for me at the very end. Seeing his character finally get that spotlight it’s needed for quite some time, to allow him to show some emotion and really prove to the audience that he and Amy belong together, is what swayed me. The show has been insisting on their true love for a long time, but it’s felt forced and I could never believe it. It always felt like Rory was there just to keep the Amy/Doctor shippers at bay, which I didn’t feel would have been necessary if they hadn’t made Amy try to jump him on the night before her wedding. Tonight’s episode finally showed me what I needed to see in Rory Williams, and I’m hoping they continue to give him some spotlight because I believe he truly shines in it.

I still think it’s bullshit that 2,000 years hardly changed him when it only took 36 for Amy to make a clear character-leap, but that’s in the past and I can’t change my own timestream.

The writing in this episode was beautiful.
It takes good writing and even better acting to evoke such strong emotions from an audience. The dialogue was perfect, Amy’s words on beauty were perfect, and the lovers on either side of the TARDIS doors was perfect.

Was anyone else strangely reminded of when Rose was pulled into the other dimension, and she and the doctor lingered at the wall? I’m glad Amy and Rory could at least hear each other in this version of that heartbreaking moment.

It gave it some closure, although it made me even more emotional when OldAmy told him not to let her in if he loved her. Her wise acceptance of the reality was absolutely devastating. Sacrifice always does that to me. She went down with dignity.

If you’re hating the Doctor right now, you need to re-watch the series.
The Doctor has to make the hard calls. He always has and he always will. We should be used to this by now, no matter how much it pains us. He’s committed genocide more than once, and even to his own people. I don’t think there’s a companion he’s traveled with so far that he hasn’t hurt in one way or another (not on purpose, but it always happens).

He is a very layered character; he does what is right for the whole, not just the smaller parts. The end justifies the means and he doesn’t let bias get in the way. The Doctor has done a lot of things that fill him with remorse, and this will undoubtedly be added to the list; but he does it anyway. It’s for the greater good. If he doesn’t make the choice, nobody else will, and it’s his burden.

Being a layered character, our Doctor can’t be peppy and quirky all of the time. If you can’t handle that, if these decisions make you hate him, you won’t want to keep watching the series. For every moment of happiness the Doctor has, he will pay for it with a great tragedy. The perks of being a Timelord, aye?

The ending was perfect. OldAmy couldn’t live.
We all know it, which is what made it so tragic and beautiful at the same time.
Besides, if OldAmy HAD come to the TARDIS and been wisked away to a new life…how happy do you think she could have possibly been? Solitude does a lot to a person’s brain, and 36 years of it probably means Amy’s damage wasn’t reparable. She would have never been able to find true happiness again.

Also, with YoungAmy getting to live, that meant she would never get to be with Rory. We know by her naming of the robot-companion that Rory is the most important person to her. There weren’t 2 of him to go around, and neither of the Amy’s were going to share.  Walking on an earth, knowing Rory is somewhere loving a younger version of herself, would have destroyed her. She would have never been the same.  She would have always felt the inferior version of her younger self. 

Whapping a foe with a canvas painting defeats them?
I thought that only happened in cartoons xD 

Glasses are cool.
I love this running gag with 11, and the callback to 10. FOR THE WIN. 

(gifs are not, and never are, mine)

They’re both Doctor Who designs; will consider making something else later. PLEASE VOTE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE I BEG.

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TARDIS Design

FEZ Design

EDIT: NEW DESIGN BECAUSE I CAN

Who’s Your Doctor Design