Did she? I remember them fighting a Sontaran for no reason that was explained (and also being married suddenly because they’re the only two black characters in the series and that’s just how it’s done), but I don’t recall it being said she’d left UNIT.
Martha told him “You’re the one who persuaded me to go freelance” in that scene.
One thing I hate about episodes like this is we have the established concept of fixed points in time. We have seen a lot of the future of the human expansion in to the galaxy over the years. Are we to believe that none of that at all is fixed and current day earth is in danger of destruction by the peril du jour? Is it not a given that the human race cannot be wiped out at this point in history, as we have already seen them in the future.
Some episodes seem to have a MOTW focus with a bit of character development thrown in; others (like this one and the one with James Corden in the department store) are really about the Doctor and his relationship to the people around him with a minor MOTW thrown in who is easily defeated at the end. These used to annoy me, but as I like the interpersonal stuff I’m willing to put up with the occasional “wave the screwdriver and the aliens blow up” ending now and then.
My favorite bit was the incident at the Savoy, as they sit in shock amongst the rubble afterwards (“Zygon ship under the hotel, half the staff imposters…”). Sometimes the best adventures are the ones you never see (like Ten and Martha armed with arrows trying to get somewhere before “red hatching” at the end of “Blink”).
Three words:
Look! Monsters! Run!
IT was nice to see a (Lethbridge-)Stewart in charge of UNIT again.
They reminded me of the Twilight Zone episode with the pig faced people trying to give an “ugly” girl (to them) plastic surgery.
I hated the entire episode, for all the plot holes and the easy wrap up at the end.
Even though I enjoy Eleven when he’s at his manic goofiest, after 200 year in this regeneration shouldn’t he have mellowed out a bit?
“Wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey”.
I’ll bet when Moffatt was writing that line, he had no idea he was creating the ultimate “Get Out Of Jail Free” card for the series. Or maybe he did, the devious Scottish bastard…
Nope. None of that is fixed and the human race can be wiped out at any time.
The old series addressed this point explicitly in “The Pyramids Of Mars”. Facing an invasion of Egyptian gods and robot mummies, as you do, back in the 1910’s, Sarah Jane brought up the point that, being from 1980 (cough), she knew for a fact that the Earth survived, so they could just get in the TARDIS and leave knowing humanity’s future was secure. The Doctor took her on a jump forward to 1980 to show her what would happen if they didn’t deal with the invasion, and the Earth was a desolate, barren wasteland with the entire human race destroyed. (This is the Doctor’s idea of making a point. He can really be a dick sometimes.)
They also showed the 9th Doctor doing some re-writing of the future of humanity too. Interfering with what was happening on Satellite 5 in “The Long Game” meant that, 100 years later, what was supposed to be the beginning of the Great and Bountiful Human Empire hadn’t happened. Instead everyone was just in watching telly, unwitting subjects of a terrifying alliance of Daleks and reality TV.
Everything the Doctor does changes the history of the universe. Time can be re-written. There are no fixed points, except occasionally when there is.
Or as Maus Magill said: Look! Monsters! Run!
Rule #1: The Doctor Lies
NM
+1 to everything Monkey Chews and JohnT said.
Also in The Shakespeare Code, which I just rewatched last night, Marth says the same thing as Mary Jane said as noted by Monkey Chews and the Doctor says it’s like in Back to the Future where Marty and Co. in the photo are fading away because of the change in the past.
I liked the episode. I agree the plot was just there for the character study. I really enjoyed the things we learned about the Doctor. Always coming back to Amy because it was “the first face this face saw”. It touched a brothers heart.
I love Brian too. I loved the contrast between the Doctor going crazy after watching the cube for four days and how it took forever and Brian saying how time flies when your alone with your thought. And Brian diligently vlogging the cube’s non-activities. He really reminded me of Donna’s grandpa and I love that character and now I feel the same for Brian.
Sometimes I get the sense that the ceaseless activity of Eleven is a sign of someone who is desperately trying to distract himself from unpleasant thoughts.
I adore Brian and Donna’s Grandpa as well. I think Brian and Rory are hysterical, they act like they are father and son. There is a certain exasperation you get with family members, sort of a can’t live with them and can’t kill them because Mum would kick my arse … 
No comments yet? I’ll miss Amy and Rory. 
Moffat can be such a sod at times.
I liked it better when Companions just left. Like Sarah Jane in the 70’s decided to return home.
I’ll spoiler tag my comments because I’m not sure this has aired in the US yet and I have some specific questions.
[spoiler]I’m confused. Why exactly did Amy following Rory back into time (via Angel attack) mean that she was creating a “fixed point”? And why does that mean the Doctor can never go and see them again? I get that for whatever reason he can’t get the Tardis into 1938 New York, but couldn’t he like…go to 1938 Iowa, and then drive to New York? Or maybe he could go to 1940 New York and see them then? He’s a Time Lord. It seems bizarre that he can’t go back to visit his old friends at any point during their remaining 50 year lifespan.
Apart from my timey-wimey nitpicking though, I thought it was a good episode and a decent end for the Ponds as companions.[/spoiler]
There is already some speculation that the Doctor’s timeline and the Ponds’ timeline were not the same; that is, the order in which we saw the episodes is the order that Amy and Rory experienced the events, but that the Doctor had already seen their departure when he was being so clingy in “The Power of Three”. Which would be consistent with what we’ve already seen with River.
Also, more evidence of the Doctor’s erasure: one wonders how muchthe change to River’s timeline (getting pardoned because the Doctor “never existed”) will affect anything. Or was her timeline changed at all? It’s all very confusing.
Also, I totally did not recognise Mike McShane. And - evil cherubs!
Mike McShane? So that’s who that was? But who the hell was Mike McShane and why did I recognise his face… Yeah yeah yeah off to google or Wikipedia or IMDB for the answer 
Agreed. The Pond exit was bittersweet but a bit too much: the Doctor running through the park in slow-mo was cheesy as hell. And this “fixed point” buisness? I thought he was a Time Lord? Yeesh. Go back and get them already. And while you’re at it, save Adric and Donna…
Just aired here on the left coast. I guess it’s best not to pick too closely or we’ll just end up making diagrams with napkins and straws. It was a poignant farewell and that’s good enough for me.