215. (5.11) The Lodger

And now for the funny one. This is another oddball episode but where as Amy's Choice was weird, this one is actually funny. James Corden is quite hilarious and is the perfect counterpoint to Matt Smith's comedic side. The Doctor in domestics for an episode is somewhat novel but a welcomed breath of fresh air after a lot of emotional baggage lately. Matt Smith actually owns this episode, playing the fish out of water trying to fit in, with such ease and carefree. Even for one episode, Smith and Corden make a great team.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lodger_(Doctor_Who)

216B. (5.13) The Big Bang

Moffat resolves this first season finale cliffhanger in typical wibbley wobbley timey whiney fashion. The Pandorica opens to reveal Amy and it's open by young Amelia Pond. Rory the Roman Auton stands guard for centuries. River is trapped in the exploding TARDIS. And the Doctor is wearing a fez because fez's are cool. It's bonkers. The Doctor travels back in his timeline to young Amelia so she can remember him back into existence. WTF? We flash forward to to Amy and Rory's wedding day, with time rewritten, and Amy brings the Doctor back with a little help from River, who's also present. Again, bonkers. In the end, River leaves more cryptic spoilers, Amy & Rory are married, and the 3 of them taking off in the TARDIS for new adventures. Crazy. While it was fun, it didn't have the same emotional punch at any of RTD's season finales.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Bang_(Doctor_Who)

216A. (5.12) The Pandorica Opens

Steven Moffat's first season finale begins with a cavalcade of cameo's from throughout this season. We get the return of River Song (hello sweety). We get the return of Rory, unexpectedly). The foretold Pandorica makes its appearance. Rory is revealed to be an Auton and shots Amy, who just remembered who he was (that's love). And the final trap for the Doctor is sprung with the coalition of villains including the Cybermen, the Daleks of many colors, the Sontarans, and more. It's a fan wank moment that had so much more potential. The cliffhanger of the Doctor being locked up in the Pandorica was good and left us hanging as the universe exploded around us.

To Be Continued......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pandorica_Opens

214. (5.10) Vincent and the Doctor

Vincent and the Doctor is the best episode of the season and an all-time classic. After an abrupt erasure of Rory, the Doctor takes Amy to a VanGough exhibit at an Art Museum. Of course this leads to them going back in time to do a meet and greet with Vincent. In the best new tradition of Doctor Who, in meeting historical literary giants, we now get to meet historical art giants and what a cracker it is! The best moment ever that sets this apart from the rest is when the Doctor takes Vincent to the future to see his works in a museum and hears of his important and stature in the history of art. It's such a touching moment and you can't help but tear up. Tony Curran is magnificent as VanGough. Bill Nighy also turns in a wonderful cameo. A+

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_and_the_Doctor

213B. (5.9) Cold Blood

Long story short- the humans kill a Silurian while Amy is trying to negotiate peace with them. It looks like all out war is going to break out when the Silurians go back into hibernation. Done. The real meat of the story is the crack in time that absorbs Rory and erases him from time. Another heart breaking Rory death and then Amy doesn't remember him. Rory owns the moment and for the first time, well second time, you really feel something for him and might actually miss him. The Silurian's return is good too, though I think a full on invasion would have been cool to see with dinosaurs and ancient modern weapons over running London. And I miss their third eye. Just saying.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Blood_(Doctor_Who)

213A. (5.8) The Hungry Earth

Classic monster the Silurians make their triumphant return to Doctor Who here! After nearly 30 years away, the original reptilian inhabitants of Earth come back, unfortunately they don't look anything like they did in their previous 2 appearances and don't sound like they did on audio. Anyways, this is a nice reintroduction to the Silurian society, which seems to be dominated by females. While Amy is captured and about to be experimented on, the Doctor travels underground to discover there's a whole city of Silurians preparing to invade.

To Be Continued...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hungry_Earth

212. (5.7) Amy's Choice

This is the oddest episode ever. I didn't really like it when I first saw it. Upon recent viewing, it didn't hate it as much as I initially did. Trapped between two dream states, the Doctor, Rory and Amy battle wits with the Dream Lord for survival. This story builds up the connection between Amy and Rory, show a possible future of them settled and pregnant. Rory's "death" strikes at the heart of the story. Of course knowing what is to come, this episode actually foreshadows a lot of things. But it's still a weird episode.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy%27s_Choice_(Doctor_Who)

211. (5.6) The Vampires of Venice

The Doctor and Amy pick up Rory at his stag party and head off to adventure in time and space! Rory actually starts developing a backbone here in regards to the Doctor but is still a push over for Amy. The conceit of what the "vampires" actually are is clever and in keeping with Who. Helen McCrory is delightful as the villainess and could easily be cast as The Rani. The location filming is gorgeous and feels authentic. The resolution is very Who-y reminding me of the ending of the Daleks take Manhattan with Tennant. The final second tease is ominous.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Vampires_of_Venice

210B. (5.5) Flesh and Stone

The Doctor and company jump to safety, temporarily out of the reach of the Weeping Angels. But they're still after the Doctor and they're getting stronger. The arc of the story is the crack in Amy's wall first seen in the Eleventh Hour and it gets full frontal here. Thankfully the Doctor uses it to suck up all the Angles and save everyone. Which almost seems secondary to the other tidbits of the episode.

We find out River is in prison for killing a good man. Amy has to keep her eyes closed to she doesn't become an Angel. She's also getting married in the morning to Rory. And the next time we'll see River is when the Pandorica opens. Spoilers sweety. And Amy gives the Doctor the obligatory companion kiss of the season. All in all, the best story yet of the season and a treasure trove of seeds for the future.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flesh_and_Stone

210A. (5.4) The Time of Angels

Hello sweety! The dead River Song returns to flirt with the 11th Doctor. Moffat hits a high point of the season by bringing his character River Song from season 4's Silence in the Library, who may or may not be the Doctor's wife. We are treated to a wonderful opening intro. Moffat continues to build up River and teases new info about her. 

But not only are we treated to the return of one Moffat creation, we get another Moffat creation with the return of the Weeping Angels. And this time they're out for blood. Crash landing of the Byzantium has them weakened and they're killling everyone. They've laid a great trap and the episode cliffhanger is pretty good. Now everybody jump!

TO BE CONTINUED... 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Time_of_Angels

209. (5.3) Victory of the Daleks

Daleks. Churchill. WWII. Mark Gatiss. Could be magic? Every good Doctor gets his trial by fire eventually and we get the Daleks 3rd out the gate. We return to a familiar Moffat setting of World War II London during the blitz (see Empty Child). The Daleks in WWII is a cool concept but they're working for the Allies as servants of Churchill. Yawn. This would have been far more interesting if they were working for Hitler and the Axis and terrorizing Europe. Anyways, the borderline travesty of the story is the recoloring of the Daleks into the rainbow Daleks in bigger shells. They threaten to blow up the Earth, again, Amy deactivates the bomb and the Daleks get away scott free. Yawn. There are excellent small Dalek stories (see Dalek), and excellent big Dalek stories (see Stolen Earth). This unfortunately falls somewhere in the middle and is far from excellent. So much potential...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victory_of_the_Daleks

208. (5.2) The Beast Below

The is the 11th Doctor and Amy's 'The End of the World'. Whisking Amy away in the middle of the night in her night gown, we go to the far future and board Starship UK. This is Amy's episode to roam around in the future and meet weird people and get her feet wet. After RTD did this story to brilliantly already, this version comes off as lesser than and not as stylish. The giant space whale could have been cooler but you never get a sense of its size and magnificence. I think we're starting to see some hallmark Moffat dark and creepy emerge here. I did love Liz 10 though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beast_Below

207. (5.1) The Eleventh Hour

Here we go again! After the heart wrenching end of the 10th Doctor, the new, younger 11th Doctor as portrayed by Matt Smith takes front and center. With no cross over companion or anyone else to bridge the regeneration, the 11th Doctor crash lands in young Amelia Pond's backyard. As the Doctor recovers from his regeneration, Amelia and we the audience learn about his new persona. Jump ahead 12 years, Amy's grown up and the Doctor picks up where he left off. 

I have to say this is one of the better introductory stories for a new Doctor. As opposed to the 10th Doctor who spent half the episode in bed, the 11th Doctor is off and running from the first second. Initially it took a bit for me to get used to such a young actor, with Matt Smith actually younger than Peter Davison at the time of his tenure. But by the end of the episode, Smith has completely embraced the role and made it his own. 

As Steven Moffat's first episode as Executive Director, this also sets the tone for his tenure and starts sewing the seeds for plot lines to come. Spoilers sweety. As the 10th Doctor was a right turn from the 9th Doctor, so too is the 11th Doctor a left turn from 10. And the story continues...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eleventh_Hour_(Doctor_Who)