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<em>As always, <strong>Spoiler Warning</strong>.</em><br/><br/>I didn't have high hopes for this episode. From the previews, I got the impression that the story was going to go something like this: Amy gets trapped in an accelerated time stream. The Boys™ repeatedly try (and fail) to save her, while she repeatedly grows older, until finally they use techno-magic to undo the ageing and fly off into the Time Vortex toward their next adventure. In the middle, we would get some action sequences and some Rory-and-Amy-love-each-other-so-much-and-isn't-that-just-so-fucking-sweet sequences.<br/><br/>And I felt justified in this impression. After all, Tom MacRae's previous effort for Doctor Who was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rise_of_the_Cybermen">The Rise of the Age of Steel Cybermen</a>, a disappointing romp to a parallel universe that re-introduced the Cybermen to New Who. This didn't bode well for a story in which the central premise appeared to be 'Amy needs to be rescued'.<br/><br/>But, look... Mr. MacRae, I'm sorry I doubted you. I'm sorry I judged you on Rise of the Cybermen. Because you most certainly can write a good episode of Doctor Who.<br/><br/>This episode is good. On a lot of levels. The dialogue is unrelentingly dark, tense, urgent; the only comedy we get is in the first act. After that it is a downright brutal story. Because MacRae took a story that looked like (and could have been) "Amy needs to be rescued" and he turned it into "Amy doesn't get rescued". The result is what feels, to me, like an attempt at a Feminist critique of the Damsel in Distress story. And it does a pretty good job.<br/><br/>So, Amy doesn't get rescued. Instead, she spends 36 years stuck in a Tower, not being rescued. And this Tower has an endless supply of faceless robots that want to kill her. So she does the only thing that anyone who could survive for 36 years alone in a Tower of Death could do: she gets tough. She may still be trapped, but she saves herself.<br/><br/>And the Amy we get to see here gives us a lot to admire. She can fight, she can hack (I'm using that term very charitably here. After all, computers are bound to be a bit wibbly-wobbly in Doctor Who), build a sonic probe, and she seems to be a genuinely strong female character. The fact that she is filled with bitterness and hatred towards Rory and the Doctor comes across as a realistic consequence of spending three decades in isolation. The venom with which Karen Gillan utters the phrase 'Raggedy Man' really sells Amy's hatred of the doctor, and her later conversation with him really illustrates her character:<br/><br/><blockquote>And there he is, the voice of God. Survive, 'cause no one's gonna come for you. You taught me that... Don't you lecture me, Blue Box man flying through time and space on a whimsy. All I've got, all I've had for thirty-six years, is cold, hard reality.</blockquote><br/><br/>Then we have Rory's reactions. The narrative makes it clear that he is torn between the young and old Amys. The line "Leave her and take you?" is voiced with outright contempt, but shortly after that, he appears more sympathetic, and by the end of the episode is heartbroken at the prospect of leaving her behind.<br/><br/>But, crucially, he does leave her behind. And this brings us to the Feminist overtones that this episode takes on. A core message that you can extrapolate from this story is this: If you trust men, they will lie to you and betray you. Especially if there's a younger, prettier option nearby. They may feel bad about doing it, they may have so many justifications they've sold themselves, but in the end, they betray you. The men here don't just fail to save Amy, they actively refuse. And why? Why does Rory choose young Amy? Because an Amy with decades of resentment and anger is less compatible with him. Because it isn't <em>his</em> Amy. The implication is clear: a woman's personhood is worth less than a woman's utility to her man.<br/><br/>Another thing to consider is why it is Rory's choice in the first place. The Doctor emphasizes that Rory has t
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