39,327
edits
Doctor Who/Recap/S31/E12 The Pandorica Opens: Difference between revisions
Doctor Who/Recap/S31/E12 The Pandorica Opens (view source)
Revision as of 05:59, 5 October 2014
, 9 years agoupdate links
m (revise quote template spacing) |
m (update links) |
||
Line 10:
We join the Doctor, who's taking Amy to the oldest planet in the universe. There's a message on the cliff side that no-one's ever translated, but that changes today. "Why today?", Amy asks. Because of the TARDIS' [[Translator Microbes]], answers the Doctor. They open the doors, and see in fifty foot letters, you guessed it, "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S31 E04 The Time of Angels|Hello Sweetie!]]". River's also left the Doctor some co-ordinates, which take the TARDIS to Roman Britain (102AD), where River's playing Cleopatra. As soon as the Doctor gets there, we finally get a peek at the painting; it's the TARDIS. And it's exploding. ...Ah.
Luckily, Vincent has left date and map references on the painting. The painting's name? [[Title Drop|"The Pandorica Opens".]] The Doctor insists that it's a fairytale, while River argues that if it is real, it's here, it's opening and it's related to the TARDIS going kaboom.
Cut to the trio on horseback, riding to Stonehenge. River and Amy have a Timey-Wimey conversation about their goodbye [[Doctor Who/Recap/S31 E05 Flesh and Stone|last time]]; "I'll see you again when the Pandorica opens," River had said. Maybe she did say that. But she hasn't yet. Maybe she will have. They move aside a stone and go under Stonehenge. Inside, they find a box carved with complicated patterns and symbols: the Pandorica. More than just a fairytale, then. Something's trapped inside there, a goblin or a trickster or a warrior soaked in the blood of a thousand galaxies. "The most feared being of all the cosmos", the Doctor says. Indestructible, can't be caught or reasoned with; it would just drop out of the sky and tear down their world. How did it get caught? Like all fairytales, a good wizard came and [[Foreshadowing|tricked him]]. Amy takes a moment to mention that it's a bit like Pandora's Box, her favourite book when she was a kid; all the bad things trapped inside it that came into the world when the box opened. Hell, even the name's similar. This arouses the Doctor's suspicion: Amy's favourite subject at school, the Romans, and now her favourite childhood book. Never overlook a coincidence. Unless you're busy, then always overlook a coincidence.
And it's opening from the inside, breaking all kinds of locks and safe-holders; what could get past all that? What could inspire that level of fear? And moreover, how did Vincent van Gogh know about it, since he won't even be alive for another few centuries? Well, Stonehenge is broadcasting a warning to everyone, everywhere and every''when''; the Pandorica is opening.
Wait a minute: a message to everyone, everywhere? So, who else is coming?
[[Oh Crap|...Oh.]]
Line 34:
Amy manages to stumble behind a big door and shut it. It rattles a bit and falls open, revealing the Cyberman with a sword stabbed through it and pinned to the wood. Amy passes out, but Rory, in full Roman gear, catches her and carries her out. The Doctor scans her and starts babbling, looking at two huge [[BFG|Cyberguns]]; Cybermen, Cyberweapons, why is one of them in there, was it locked in by one of its own? But there's something right in his face that he's missing, something right in front of him, something big. He'll get it in a minute. He walks away from Rory and --
Wait.
He pokes Rory quite apprehensively. Not to be rude, but Rory ''[[Doctor Who/Recap/S31 E09 Cold Blood|died]]'' and was ''[[Ret-Gone|erased from time]]''. Turns out, Rory doesn't really have an answer either. He just died and became a Roman centurion. It's sort of distracting. He walks over to the sleeping Amy. [[Dramatic Irony|"Did she]] [[Tear Jerker|miss me?"]] Oh, Rory.
There's commotion above them before the Doctor can answer, and the sky above Stonehenge is filled with all kinds of alien spaceships. They're surrounded. The Doctor tells River to get the TARDIS to him, while he grabs the scanner and shouts into it. He addresses each and every single one of the starships: could they all stop whizzing about please, because "'''[[Large Ham|I!]] [[Doctor Who/NS/Recap/S2 E7 The Idiots Lantern|AM!]] [[This Is Sparta|TALKING!]]'''". Who's got the Pandorica? He does, next question. Who's coming to take it? Look at him:
Line 50:
The TARDIS and River have landed, but the screen is showing a mess of nothing. River goes out the door when the screen cracks, and suddenly a [[Hell Is That Noise|creepy voice]] from ''nowhere'' announces "silence will fall". They've landed outside Amy's house on June 26th, 2010. The door's been broken wide open and there are burn marks on the grass. In Amy's room, River finds a picture book of Romans and ''Pandora's Box''. They're exactly the same Roman soldiers from Stonehenge; maybe they're illusions, maybe they're cover-ups, but they were created from Amy's memories. Then she notices a photo of Amy and Rory together, the latter dressed as a centurion, and we realize that Rory is also a construct.
Rory tries to get Amy to remember him. She's crying, but she doesn't know why. She's happy, but ''why is she happy?''
The TARDIS is still uncontrollable, the doors won't open, and again that creepy voice from ''nowhere'' that says "silence will fall". The Pandorica gives off a high-pitched whine and suddenly all the Romans stop. [[Tomato in the Mirror|Including Rory]]. A light comes from the Pandorica, and when the Romans start up again, the ones underground are frogmarching the Doctor towards it. In reality, the Romans are perfected Autons, part of the Nestene consciousness, made to forget what they really were -- until it was time. Rory's [[Humanity Is Infectious|struggling to keep hold of his humanity]], while trying to get Amy away. "I'm Rory! I'm Rory! I'm Rory --"
Line 56:
"-- [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|Williams. From Leadworth. My boyfriend. How could I ever forget you?"]] Oh, ''Amy''.
Underground, Daleks have appeared, along with Cybermen, Judoon, Sontarans, etc. The Pandorica opens. It is ready. For the Doctor. Above ground, Rory's lost his hold and shoots Amy while clinging to her.
The aliens watch while the Doctor is dragged into the Pandorica. River re-wires the TARDIS. {{spoiler|[[Like You Would Really Do It|Amy dies.]]}}
Line 95:
* [[Consummate Liar]]: As we learn much, much later, River is lying when she tells the Doctor {{spoiler|that he taught her to fly the TARDIS.}}
* [[Continuity Porn|Continuity]] <s>[[Continuity Nod|Nod]]</s> [[Continuity Porn|Porn]]: The Doctor's Academy Nickname, ΘΣ or Theta Sigma, first mentioned as far back as the Fourth Doctor serial "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S16 E6 The Armageddon Factor|The Armageddon Factor]]", is part of River's message.
** The Doctor's "No plans, no backup, no weapons worth a damn!" calls back to "[[Doctor Who/NS/Recap/S1 E13 The Parting of the Ways|The Parting of the Ways]]", way back in Series 1.
** The episode is a "direct sequel", according to Moffat, to every episode except "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S31 E07 Amys Choice|Amy's Choice]]":
*** The episode, from the Doctor's perspective, takes place very shortly after "The Lodger".
Line 109:
** The Doctor's fate resembles Merlin's (trapped forever in an impenetrable prison by someone who uses his own power against him). In the Seventh Doctor episode ''Battlefield'', the Doctor turns out to ''be'' Merlin. He probably should have paid attention to the end of that particular story...
** The Under-henge's background music also contains a lot of cues from the Cyberman stories of the Tenth Doctor.
** The Doctor's speech to scare off the alien fleet is possibly what River [[Time Travel Tense Trouble|will/was referring to]] when she tells the Tenth Doctor "Armies will flee in your wake" in [[Doctor Who/NS/Recap/S4 E9 Forest of the Dead|Forest of the Dead]].
** In "The Eleventh Hour", Rory told us that Amy had him dress up as the Doctor. We learn in this episode that he also dressed up as a Roman (in the photo).
** So basically he's spent his life catering to her fantasies? That's gonna be one interesting marriage....
Line 116:
* [[Deadly Hug]]: Auton-Rory does this to Amy, who refuses to flee despite his increasingly desperate warnings.
* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Yeah, I think you probably are.
* [[Dissimile]]: The Doctor uses one to explain what the Cybermen do: "It's just like being an organ donor, except you're alive and sort of...screaming."
* [[Downer Ending]]
* [[Eldritch Abomination]]: The Pandorica was built to hold "a nameless, terrible thing, soaked in the blood of a billion galaxies:" {{spoiler|[[Humanoid Abomination|the Doctor]]}}.
Line 128:
<!-- %% For out-of-universe FridgeLogic, see Headscratchers/DoctorWho2010Series. -->
* [[Funny Background Event]]: During the Doctor's phonecall with River, while she's at Amy's house, you can see a Roman briefly wielding the Cyberman's weapon, trying to look [[Badass]].
* [[Good
** In-universe, so does Amy. He came back as a Roman because she loves Rory and she loves Romans. He's her perfect man incarnate as Roman-Rory.
* [[Green-Eyed Monster]]: Rory wants to know ''which'' Roman gave Amy her blanket.
* [[Heroic Willpower]]: What Rory uses to stop himself killing Amy. And then, he falters for a moment. {{spoiler|Possibly he faltered because he was distracted ''[[Irony|because he was so happy that Amy recognized him?]]''}}
Line 141:
* [[Kansas City Shuffle]]: The entire legend of the Pandorica is just a cover story for the villain alliance's plan to lure the Doctor to the Pandorica and trap him inside. [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|By doing this, they aim to stop the cracks destroying the universe.]]
* [[Landmarking the Hidden Base]]: Stonehenge
* [[Large Ham]]: The Doctor's [[Badass Boast]] speech. And it is ''awesome''.
{{quote|'''The Doctor:''' Could you lot just stay still for a minute cause [[This Is Sparta|IIIII! AAAAAAAMM! TAAALKIIIIING!]]}}
* [[Legion of Doom]]: The Daleks, Cybermen, the Sontarans, the Judoon, the Hoix, [[Torchwood|the Weevils and the Blowfish]], [[The Sarah Jane Adventures|the Uvodni]], the Sycorax, the Silurians, the Autons and Nestenes, the Atraxi, the Terileptils, the Draconians, the Roboform, Slitheen, the [[Doctor Who/Recap/S3 E1 Galaxy 4|Drahvins]] and the Chelonians (from the [[Doctor Who Expanded Universe]]) have all joined forces to attempt to prevent the explosion of the TARDIS and thus [[The End of the World as We Know It]] by imprisoning the Doctor in the Pandorica. "Attempt" being the keyword here. Also counts as an [[Enemy Mine]] for the Daleks and Cybermen in regards to "[[Doctor Who/NS/Recap/S2 E13 Doomsday|Doomsday]]".
Line 174:
* [[Sealed Good in a Can]]: Although from the point of view of the people sealing the can, they're sealing an evil.
* [[Shipper on Deck]]: The Doctor tosses the engagement ring to Rory and tells him to go get the girl.
* [[Shout-Out]]: The Cyberman head saying "You will be assimilated" to Amy is a nod to the arguments about whether [[Star Trek|the Borg]] was copied from the classic Cybermen and whether the new series Cybermen were overly influenced by the Borg.
** The "oldest text in the universe" that River uses to communicate with the Doctor near the beginning sounds ''very'' similar in the Doctor's description to God's Final Message to His Creation from ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy/So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish|So Long And Thanks For All The Fish]]''. <ref>although in the book they're only 30 feet high</ref> Especially since, thanks to [[Douglas Adams]] being a Doctor Who writer and script editor, there's already been a fair amount of crossover and cross-pollination.
*** It could also be a shout-out to the [[Virgin New Adventures|spin-off novel]] ''Set Piece'', where one of the Doctor's companions uses basically the same trick to arrange a rescue after being stranded in Ancient Egypt.
** The Cyberman head crawling along on tentacles is straight out of ''[[The Thing (film)|The Thing]]''.
Line 183:
** The idea of agents/replicants who do not know their true nature and, on a signal, activate their attack goes back to ''[[The Manchurian Candidate]]'' (hence the [[Manchurian Agent]] trope) and, more recently, ''[[Battlestar Galactica]]'' (Rory's shock as he activates and tries to march off is similar to the [[Tomato in the Mirror]] Cylons).
*** Also a bit [[Dollhouse]].
* [[Skyward Scream]]: The Doctor calling out to every monster in the sky: "'''I. AM. TALKING!'''"
* [[Subverted Trope]]: Count 'em.
** [[Back From the Dead]], [[Death Is Cheap]]: Nope, that's not the real Rory.
| |||