Does anyone else think that Amy and Rorys relationship is a bit fake, I mean the way Amy talks to Rory is a bit much sometimes, maybe its just me…

I enjoyed it, and enjoyed how it left me with questions — just as a series opener ought to. It was a tad confusing at times, but I felt that was appropriate, since it gave the audience a touch of what the characters were feeling — they were every bit as confused, since they were coping with a highly selective sort of amnesia. When Amy’s in the abandoned orphanage, and she notices the flashing light of her recorder — and then marks appear on her arm — and then on her face — and she realizes there must be a $#@*-load of Silents in the room….. It was good. One drawback of this approach, of making us as confused as the characters, was that they lost out on some opportunities for thematic and character development. However, it did gain some expediency, and they did have a hell of a lot to pack into this one. It was fantastic; I loved it! Very anxious to find out what else we learn about this girl, and that she obviously has some sort of relationship with Amy — perhaps the obvious one, perhaps not. The TARDIS’ ambiguous result on whether or not Amy was pregnant was interesting too, and it’s hard to escape the conclusion that the Silence have something to do with that. Methinks they will not be happy with the Doctor for his tidy little intervention, and that there will be a reckoning.

And I agree with whoever commented on how sad the ending was for River. Alex Kingston did a fabulous job there; River was clearly devastated realizing that she’s now far enough back in the Doctor’s timeline that they don’t really have a relationship anymore. And soon, for her, will come that fateful day when he doesn’t recognize her at all….

The little girl in the astronaut suit in Florida in 1969 is no longer in the astronaut suit when that suit shows up in Utah in 2011. Someone else is in it by then and that someone is the one who “shoots” the 1100 year old Doctor.

Someone was building a TARDIS. The Silence saw this happening, butted in and stole the technology. They couldn’t pilot the ship though. The Silence found the little girl, knew what she was (of Time Lord descent) and acted to force her to pilot their stolen, partially built TARDIS.

Amy is inside a padded-room somewhere, “dreaming”, or so says the woman who was peeking into Amy’s “room” through the opening in the door. So it seems.

I, like others here, was also mixed up by the beginning moments of this 2nd episode. I’m not certain why our Time Team was now on the bad side of the military. Canton and the President still were on their side. They should have had enough control over the military/Area 51 personnel to prevent a 3-month chase down and capture of the Doctor, Amy, Rory and River.

That aside, lots of fun in this episode. Lots of confusion, too! I truly hope all of this works out in an easily understood manner and that it doesn’t all go the way of “Lost” and become all bogged down in a mismanaged puzzle.

So… Is Amy “arched” in the same way the 10th Doctor was arched in “Human Nature/Family of Blood”? Was the little Time Lord girl actually a past incarnation of Amy? Has Amy, in her “arched” persona, gone a bit insane? And just why do those stairs lead from the 2nd floor of Amy’s house up to a dead-end ceiling? Does Amy know who has “killed hundreds of Time Lords”?

Can’t wait to find out!

Absolutely brilliant! Another Moffat masterpiece. People who are complaining about be confused by this episode need to start watching something else. The conclusion that leads to another massive story arc blew my mind – even after watching Doctor Who for 25 years! Absolutely awesome!!!

@Professor Zed
I think the reason our heroes were “suddenly on the bad side” of the military was to convince the Silence that they were indeed either dead or in prison so as not to present a threat – or to enable our heroes to work their clandestine operation. Just my opinion.

This was not just the best DW story I have ever seen, but quite simply the best piece of television I have ever seen. The writing and direction were second to none. I was astounded that I was watching such dark imagery so early in the evening. It was scary, moving and profound. Moffat… Thank you. Matt Smith as The Doctor… Utterly fantastic. It was great to see Rory’s character grow. Karen Gillan has been superb from the word go. This series alone is worth the TV license fee.

Really good. Cleverly answering some questions while throwing up new ones…

What an excellent two-part start to this series.

PS. Mr Renfrew, creepy or what? Renfrew is a town directly next to Paisley where The Moff grew up.

What a brilliant 2-parter. Loved the last scene with the little girl’s regeneration????

Bring on the rest of series 6.

The little girl is the Rani and that’s why she killed the doctor in episode one, also Omega will return at some date.

@cynet
Not correct I’m afraid

The identity of the little girl is actually fairly obvious, as to why/how she is able to regenerate.. I don’t know.

@Professor Zed
I agree that it does seem to be all about Amy this series. Much as last series was, actually. There’s a lot more going on underneath that fiery ginger surface!

The ‘Eyepatch Lady’ was a) completely random and b) very intriguing. “She’s dreaming” – who is this ’she’? Are they talking about Amy or the child? Can’t wait to find out!

I know most people will probably disagree with this and it’s just idle speculation, but couldn’t that little girl be related to Jenny in some way? Because we’re going to see an old friend with a new face (was it that?) and Jenny can (kind of) regenerate?

I always prefer to get my comments about episodes in as soon as possible, because if I’m late like now, there’s already been 51 comments and mine is kind of meaningless, lol

Still…

I did enjoy this episode. I was texting my girlfriend all the way through it, so wasn’t concentrating fully on the episode, so will have to watch again but I did see most of it.

I was a bit confused about how Amy, Rory, River and Canton remembered The Silence enough to search for them and when they forgot, how would they know what the tally marks meant?……….I assume it was because each time they saw a Silence, they remembered more or perhaps their memories were sparked easier by visual clues, I’m still not sure though.

The inclusion of Area 51 was pretty much an obvious thing to do when they’re in America, but it did allow for the US government to seemingly imprison the Doctor using alien materials. I think Canton seeming to hunt down Amy, Rory and River at the start of the episode and shooting them was cool and the solution for getting the Doctor out of yet another perfect prison, while allowing Amy, Rory and River to live was a very nice one.

Essentially, it was that the prison was so secure that helped them.

The recording devices in their hands were also a nice touch, the memory of nothing having happened, no time having past and yet there being a message from them about having seen the Silence.

I also liked how the Doctor snuck into Apollo 11, it was quite amusing to see him say “there’s always a spare bit” and the camera to zoom away to show Apollo 11.

I still have no idea who the little girl is. The photo of Amy holding a baby in that child’s bedroom was weird and again posed more questions. It was surprising and a little exciting to see a little girl begin to regenerate at the end of the episode too, I wasn’t watching closely so don’t know if that’s the same girl from the Space Suit, but if it is, it poses the question why the space suit was set up to be a life support system for a human, not a Time Lady.

Although the regeneration of the little girl was cool and a little exciting, it also felt a little numb and no one was more surprised than me about that. I can’t explain really why I wasn’t jumping up and down with excitement, it was cool and you wonder why she can regenerate and who she is, but it just felt kind of hollow. Perhaps it’s because the audience has a connection to the Doctor, so whenever he regenerates, it’s significant whereas we don’t know who this girl is, so the fact she can regenerate simply means she’s Gallifreyan or at least enough to allow regeneration.

As for Amy’s pregnancy, is she or isn’t she and who’s the father, for me it’s getting a little irritating. I think that’s because I seriously don’t want the Doctor to be the Father because there is so much wrong with that, I wouldn’t know where to start.

In this episode, there’s Amy talking over the communicator making Rory think she’s talking about the Doctor, she assures him she wasn’t but maybe she still was?…….then you have her apparently joking with the Doctor because they knew Rory was listening, but did they actually?

I don’t know, I’m just a bit concerned Steven Moffat is creating more and more questions to add to the questions of Season 5 to the point where there will be overload and I’ll forget some of the questions and I might not notice the answers.

Having said that, it was an enjoyable episode, I want to watch it again on my own so I can concentrate on the detail, but so far, Season 6 has been very good to reasonable and I look forward to next week.

The little girl is Idris.

WTF?! omg she regenerates and River kisses the Doctor, the moment i saw her costume and the place that they were in i said “THEY’RE GOING TO KISS, i remember in the trailer!” whilst for the little girl, i am very suspicous and were Amy and the Doctor actually joking because they knew Rory was listening? :/ Haha i liked the bit when the hobo is scared ^^

I really enjoyed the episode, i was very confused with the time lord girl, maybe she is the doctors daughter or maybe even the master. I’m not sure what it has to do with Amy though, if it is the doctors and Amys then i will feel sorry for Rory.

For people worrying about it, The Doctor has not had sex with Amy. It could be his in some odd, implanted way, but they have not had sex.

Well having rewatched both episodes again and again ! Murray Gold’s themes for the individual characters could be a clue,
as the music played for the Doctors death/funeral pyre was the same as that which culminated in the little girls regeneration………mmmmmm…..!

I think it would be a great twist if the baby who turned into the regenerating girl was Amy’s . And the Father is Rory who is secretly the Master in a new regeneration.

Also, River Song could be the Doctor’s daughter in a new regeneration (think back to series 3 with Martha. The episode when the war was happening and the machine sampled the doctor’s DNA)

One key detail that will reveal all (sadly): River says “My old fella didn’t see that, did he? He gets ever so cross”, knowing that Rory was watching her.