by David Finniss

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It was interesting to see the idea of no stars popping up again. This not only confirms that the final shot from the last episode was quite literal, but it shows how close things are to the brink. When it was revealed that there was “no such thing as stars,” I had to admit, I was a bit confused. I mean, the Sun is a star and life couldn’t exist on Earth without it. More than that, there’s moonlight.

One of my favorite parts of the episode was the time loops. This episode puts even “Blink” to shame when it comes to the Timey Wimey ball. It’s especially amusing as we see the Doctor jumping around in time in rather quick succession. You’d think that it would make it hard to follow, but it actually isn’t that difficult to keep up.

While it is up to the Doctor to save the universe, there isn’t really a villain for this particular episode. Yes, a Dalek does show up, but that felt rather shoehorned in. Most Dalek appearances usually leave some sort of lasting impression, but this just felt sort of ho-hum. It basically just gave the cast something to run away from when the plot hit a lag. It’s rather disappointing ...

Speaking of the Dalek, this is the episode that features River Song making said Dalek beg for mercy just before she kills it. I wasn’t a fan of that moment to be honest. No Dalek would ever do that and it just seemed like they wanted to build up River at the expense of one of Who’s great villains. The show keeps trying to paint her as some badass, but quite frankly, I’m not really buying it.

I’m guessing that by episode’s end, Rory is a human again. I’m not surprised to see the status quo restored, but given how freqently Rory’s role as “the last centurion” gets mentioned on the internet, I figured it would play a bigger role. Of course, I may be incorrect, and as that only happened last episode, there wasn’t a whole lot

This episode is not as good as the one that came before it, but it is a decent cap off to the season’s “cracks in time” arc. It also sets things in motion for the next arc regarding the Silence so there are some nice teasers for viewers who want to find out what happens next. We’re never told what caused the TARDIS to explode, though the implication seems to be that it is the Silence. That’s just guesswork on my part though. I’ll have to start digging into season six to figure out more on that front. This is not a stand out episode by any stretch, but it does prove pivotal to the plot so it is something of a must watch in that regard.

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