REVIEW: Doctor Who – Flesh and Stone

Flesh and Stone, the second part of what is quickly becoming one of my favorite Doctor Who stories of all time, aired this Saturday on BBC America. The follow up to The Time of Angels was fantastic. 

Spoilers to follow.

Picking up right after the harrowing conclusion to the previous episode, The Doctor, Amy, River Song and a team of soldiers of the Church are still on the run from the Weeping Angels. The way the Angels have effected Amy is terrifying. As she gets closer and closer to falling victim to whatever it is they’ve done to her, it’s positively spine tingling. Knowing that they’re torturing her for fun makes it even worse and cements the Angels as top tier villains. I hated that we saw the Angels move at first, but it was creepy and frightening.

Angel Bob was brilliant. It was a great trick to give a voice to the Angels without making things silly. At the same time it added to their sadistic nature. It reminded me of the last time we saw River Song with the Vashta Narada and I was picking up a Charlie’s Angels vibe whenever The Doctor said “Angels” into the communicator. It was also nice to see a bishop that wasn’t a villain after what’s happened with the X-Man of the same name and of course the real world.

The story of River Song is complex and ambitious in it’s non-linear nature, and we’re left wondering just how much she can be trusted. Bishop Octavian warns The Doctor about her and tells him that she killed a good man. In both of these episodes, there are hints that River might not be what she seems. I believe she returns before this season ends, so hopefully we’ll learn more about her soon.

In this episode, we learn a great deal about the nature of the crack in time as everyone (Angel or human) that approached it ceased to exist as though they never had.  The Doctor referred to it as the fire from the end of the universe caused by an explosion where every moment in history will crack. The date of the explosion where the crack begins is Amy’s time, more specifically her wedding day, 26-06-2010. While this particular crack was closed at the end of the episode, it’s surely not the last we’ll see of it and The Doctor is now forced to confront some of the mysteries surrounding Amy. The ongoing thread of this crack in time also seems to go back to even before this season started as it’s connected to the fact that Amy doesn’t remember the Daleks and nobody remembers the giant Cyber King that attacked London.

As I said after the first of this two part story, these are the episodes that should make anyone love this show. I’m hopeful that the strength of this story means that whatever they have planned for the season finale will be completely incredible.

More on Doctor Who 2010:
The Time of Angels / The Vampires of Venice