The Blink Review: Flesh and Stone

Last week saw a breathtaking story which featured the return of the popular Weeping Angels, the ancient race who can only move when you’re not looking, as well as the mysterious River Song who knows secrets of the Doctor’s future. This was combined with the excellent writing of Steven Moffat, who managed to keep the suspense and mystery of the angels throughout the whole episode. After such a brilliant start to the story, would the second part live up to such expectations?

Some aspects of ‘Flesh and Stone’ are even better than in the first part, with the threat of the Weeping Angels keeping the story tense throughout. This is achieved through the many sinister factors of the script, including the ghostly voice of Sacred Bob, the idea of the angels constantly getting nearer to the Doctor, and the mystery of Amy counting down numbers.

The scariest part of the episode comes when we see the Weeping Angels move for the first time, as they slowly approach Amy, who has to keep her eyes shut in order not to be taken over by the angel inside her mind. The idea of us being able to see them move has had mixed reviews from people, although I personally think that it added a whole new layer to the species, and made them scarier than they had ever been before.

The main aspect that was rather disappointing in this episode was that River Song was deeply underused, and her presence did not add much to the overall story. Instead she was used as more of a tool to be shouted at by the Doctor, when he was unable to help Amy. Having said that, we did gradually begin to learn more about her past life, including the fact that she had previously killed the most important man to her. Some people have speculated that she is referring to the Doctor, although this seems a bit too obvious.

The other disappointing, and somewhat peculiar factor was the kiss shared between the Doctor and Amy at the end of the episode. This seemed extremely unusual for Amy’s gentle character, despite her being a kissogram when the Doctor met her as an adult for the first time. Some reports have suggested that this was deliberately out of character, and fits in with Amy not remembering the Daleks.

Overall though, this was an incredibly good episode, with all the thrills and scares to make it the best story this series. The new production team has proven that they are very capable of creating fresh and varied episodes, all of an extraordinary high level, and as we approach halfway through their first series, we can be very safe that Doctor Who will remain on our screens for years to come.

Rating: 5/5 stars

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