Holy heck, that’s some goddam good Dr Who right there! Roll on Christmas!
How does Moffat manage to do this? Much to my chagrin, he DOES use the dreaded reset device - but in the way reset devices are meant to be used, but rarely are. Result? LOVED it! A finale not bogged down in techno babble, yet still complicated enough and more or less logical, answered the important questions, yet still left a bit of mystery (why did the Tardis blow up?) for later to come, all of that, plus emotional development for the character arcs. Sure, there were bits here and there that weren’t perfect, but overall, very satisfying finale!
And thinking back to the scene with the Weeping Angels, it all made sense again. I was wondering why the Doctor was so emotional and gentle with Amy back then (like sure, he would be gentle, but the level of emotion seemed excessive at the time that early in their relationship), and now - ah hah, of course! Nice touch.
Very nicely done. Yes, we still got a few bad throwaway episodes (I like interesting/good throwaway eps, after all, it is DW, but for me, the Dalek, the Vampire, and to a lesser extent, the Liz10 episodes weren’t successful in delivering a good standalone story, and wasn’t all that important in the narrative, so they stick out for me as the weak points), but all in all, nicely weaved narrative for the whole season, and definitely a very strong pair of finale episodes. (Though I do wonder if some people might be bothered that there really wasn’t a ‘big bad’ in the episode. We do see one Dalek, but that’s about it. I actually liked this choice for the finale, though I do wish as a season we saw a cool new alien somewhere. We got some pretty tame aliens all season.)
And I’ll never think of “something old, something new, something borrowed something blue” the same way again.
Finally. I’m THRILLED to see Rory at the end there joining their adventures! Fingers crossed on him hanging around for at least a chunk of, if not all the episodes next season.
I’m watching The Big Bang right now and I have to keep stopping it every five minutes because something new happens that blows my mind.
I had to stop it at the opening title sequence because the first five minutes were already some of the timeyest and whimeyest Doctor Who I’ve ever seen. (How did he get out? How did she get in? “This is where it gets complicated,” indeed!)
I had to stop it after the Doctor pulled off the trick with the mop and the flyer and the soda cup just because, wow, that’s a deft and intricate temporal shell game.
I had to stop it after River shot the fez, because I was laughing too hard. Amy and River make such a great team. They won’t put up with any more of the Eleventh Doctor’s quirky shenanigans.
I have to take breather and digest this in small chunks. Alright, I’m going to dive back in for more.
“Okay, kid. This is where it gets complicated.”
One of the best lines in an episode full of best lines.
Okay, I’ve finished it.
Wow. Just, …wow.
They managed to work in and explain almost everything I had questions about. The extra rooms in Amy’s house. The Jacketed Doctor in Flesh and Stone. Little Amelia sitting on her suitcase. (The ducks weren’t specifically addressed, but I imagine that they were eaten up by the Cracks like so many other things in Amy’s life.)
When the Doctor said “Gotcha,” to Amy as the Pandorica was closing, I started to suspect that maybe he had a plan to save or reconstitute himself using Amy’s memory.
When the Doctor said, “I think I’ll skip the rest of the rewind. I hate repeats,” it struck me that maybe he doesn’t want to relive some of the more painful memories from his Tenth and Ninth incarnations.
Amy managed to wish her imaginary friend back into existence on the day of her wedding, which seemed very appropriate, very fairy-tale.
I love the fact that the Eleventh Doctor is an unabashedly terrible dancer, unlike the Ninth, who was a rather good dancer, once he got started. I love that the Eleventh Doctor’s “special occasion” tuxedo is different from the Tenth’s and uniquely his own. I love that he plays football (unlike the Fifth who played cricket) and can cook (I can’t imagine either of the previous two Doctors did much of their own cooking.) Our new Doctor has developed a unique identity of his own.
This episode is rather intricately plotted. It has a lot of strands. You have to listen very closely to what the Doctor says, because he has a lot to explain very, very quickly, but it all holds together very tightly. Stephen Moffat really pulled out all the stops.
They even managed to seed in some hints and teasers for next year. We have been promised more River Song and more of “The Silence” and more of Rory and Amy.
Whew! I’m going to need to re-watch that again when it comes on BBC America.
Anyone else as hella pissed as I am at SyFy for dropping Doctor Who? BBC America isn’t offered by my cable provider, so watching this season was…interesting. 
Yes i’m in the same boat. Thank the maker for those inter tubes.:D;)
Syfy didn’t “drop” Doctor Who i don’t think - there was a bidding war and BBC America won…
And watching it this season was “interesting” for me as well since i’m too impatient to wait until BBCA catches up with the UK schedule. 
Here’s something cool… extracts the audio from YouTube clips and makes it a downloadable .mp3… http://www.listentoyoutube.com And then there’s a couple YouTube clips with some of the show’s unreleased music, so…
Next Stop Everything: http://www.listentoyoutube.com/download.php?video=lwKdICmrzrE
(Link broke… source video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44uQ5p7BAVM )
BBC America is showing a marathon of series 5 all day today in preparation for the American premiere of The Big Bang tonight. Good chance to brush up on back story before the end. Who’s onboard for the Frak party of the Big Bang later tonight?
On another note, Miss Muffett Your fantasy sci fi team may be the best I’ve seen yet… Come on, buffy and teh Dr. and Sayid? Damn, that’s tough.