Day 789: The Angels Take Manhattan

The Angels Take Manhattan is all about endings. Not only is it the ending of the first stretch of five episodes that make up Series 7 (which I refer to as 'The Snuggie Season', for personal reasons), but it is also the ending of Amy and Rory's time in the TARDIS and the ending of Moffat's BIG section of episodes. The BIG section, you will recall, took to having massive concepts for episodes that all aimed to stretch what could be possible on television. If the stories of Series 5 could feasibly form an odd fairy tale to read to a child, the stories of the rest of the time with Amy and Rory feel like they wouldn't look out of place in a cinema. From a story that spans the whole of America to the whole of history happening at once, not forgetting the entire concept of Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, the BIG section stretched boundaries and provided some amazing moments. But, it must come to an end and The Angels Take Manhattan represents a symbolic winding down of that whole saga.

The ending to The Angels Take Manhattan, quite notably, happens at the twelve minute mark of the episode. It's at that point that we, as the audience, see Rory's grave and so we know that his future is set in stone, if you'll excuse the pun. The rest of the episode, then, is padding until we finally reach that point where Rory dies once and for all, perhaps with Amy in tow as well. But unlike other forms of padding where it stretches out an episode because the writer has more time to fill, this padding is quite cleverly used by Steven Moffat. It's padding because the characters want to avoid the ending; they continually see hints and indications that this is how the story will end and yet they fight to keep it being written, one scene at a time. For instance, they break the rules of the story, bringing in a time paradox to destroy the Angels by preventing the entire adventure from ever happening.

It's all fascinating to look at structurally, because the story constantly reminds you that this is probably the end for Amy and Rory, and seems to rush through all of the plot, leaving Amy and Rory atop Winter Quay at around the 30 minute mark, with the remaining 15 minutes dedicated to the characters saying goodbye. This ensures that the very nature of concluding this era of the programme is intertwined with the episode itself. Compare this to, say, RTD's companion departures, The God Complex or Face the Raven, where the departure of the companion happens suddenly towards the end of the episode, as if there's always the get-out clause that the companion could still be with the Doctor at the end. Here, the ending is always going to happen, so the only thing that can be done is to delay it and hope that something will happen to save the day.

But, of course, everything must come to an end. Amy and Rory go back in time to New York, with their characters leaving the series forever. It's a strong ending for them, allowing them to live that life that they'd begun to settle into without the Doctor without having to worry about him dashing in at inopportune moments and whisk them away with the temptation to travel through time and space. And this whole idea of the companions being tempted by the Doctor, and even getting addicted to this travel, will be explored by Moffat at a later date in what I think is perhaps some of his strongest work as a writer. But, unfortunately, that's at a later date. For now, we have to look at what may be his weakest. Say goodbye to the BIG section, and say hello to what tomorrow will bring, with the purple section.