REACTION | DOCTOR WHO | 5x7 | Amy's Choice

[@ThePonderer]

To me this is the “centerpiece” of Series 5. It’s where it becomes clear both how perfect the Doctor/Amy/Rory trinity is, and just how much Amy’s arrested development and eventual maturity is the real emotional arc of the season.

[@scottredding7357]

I love the writing in this one - “a really good mare” … “an intergalactic space dog” … “lots at steak” … “let’s die looking like a Peruvian folk band.”

[@ClintBandito]

I also really love some of the mental health humour, especially the self harm bit at the beginning which really thematically ties in with the Doctor's self loathing.

[@BritanyBinges]

Yeah, it seems like a really dark out-of-place joke in the moment, but when you realize how much the doctor's self-loathing factors into the story it becomes a lot more relevant.

[@ClintBandito]

@@BritanyBinges This season has some really good mental health themes sprinkled in, obviously this and Vincent (I know you've finished this series cause you're up to date, but anyone who isn't should probably stop reading I guess), but also Amy's relationship to the crack as she constantly lives with the feeling of something missing and lost in her life without being able to place the source is very reminiscent of depression. This is also very vital to her story this series as a whole since she is so reliant on her "imaginary" friend and running from her own life because it scares her for this very reason. Maybe you could even argue Amy's story and the Doctor's this episode contrast as they're both forced to face themselves in a way as Amy is forced to face the decisions she's made and what she's running from and does come out better for it meanwhile the Doctor can acknowledge himself and his problems he still be the end is very much haunted by it.

[@craigoconnor6662]

@@ClintBandito Deep.

[@MalcolmWolf]

@@ClintBandito People also felt parallels with the invisible beast chasing Vincent matching his battles with mental illness

[@SoTOreo]

As someone who has extreme hatred for themselves I kinda love the line in this where the doctors like "only one person could hate me as much as you do"

[@darynvoss7883]

"To stave off the self-harm" Kind of prophetic in this episode...

[@selkie76]

3:50 Then we must fight - I've been watching since the '70s and this console room remains my fave of all time ^_~ 17:30 He's dressed as a racing driver to mock the Doctor for driving so fast.

[@Jaserocks2]

This is one of my favorite episodes. Toby Jones (Dr. Zola in Captain America) plays the dream lord so well. This is another look at the darkness the Doctor carries with him. The choice was either to stay with the doctor or leave him and have a life. This episode marks the first time Rory dies. Amy, Rory and the Doctor are my favorite team.

[@alexeyvolkov7590]

I love this episode. Just rewatch it knowing that everything around is a part of Dreamlord scenario and you see the point of it. Dreamlord was making Amy to choose, but not only that. He was creating events to make her realize her feelings to Rory. Amy was in turmoil after Vampires in Venice, and Doctor wasn't ready to confront her to choose. But the dark side of the Doctor decided to do it regardless of her feelings. So harsch methods for good reasons. And also one moment. Just watch how Doctor and Dreamlord look at each other when Amy made a choice and was ready to die. They both understand the situation around, regret it, but do not stop her. At this point Doctor definitely knew the goal of Dreamlord and decided to go along for good reason. And in the end he sees Dreamlord in his reflection. Genious

[@RudiMyDear]

You can see it a lot throughout series 5, but 11's the Darkest of The Doctor's faces, putting on this facade of happiness, running away from his entire past and putting on a big goofy clown act: Pure unbridled 'Denial', the first of Five Stages of Grief: A Doctor who tries to Run from the hard choices, something we see a bit of in The Beast Below, where Amy has to be the one to Drag the Doctor to make the hard choices of his life-- and in this episode their roles are reversed (by means of the Dreamlord), The Doctor, as the Dreamlord, forces Amy to make that same kind of choice: To Run from who she is, or confront it. And the choice she makes, she, like herself in Beast Below, has someone there to help her go through with her choice when she does make it. Neither one has completely changed or become better for it with the choices they've made-- but both have now crossed the start line.

[@Will-nn6ux]

I encountered Toby Jones (the Dream Lord) in Richmond Park (one of the big Royal Parks in London) several years ago! I approached a guy to ask directions, and then recognised him as I was speaking! Didn’t say anything, though.

[@PrinceIMC]

I remember when this was airing I didn’t get to watch the season until it was over and my friend asked me “have you got to the episode where Rory dies yet?” 😂

[@boghag]

Well....

[@StevenJShow]

17:47 Sarah jane and Jack are exceptions. Most of his companions never see him again, or they die. 20:03, she probably said the words. That's not the same thing necessarily as actually telling/showing someone that love. This is consistent with what we've seen of Amy so far. She's passionate, she's a bit abrasive in her personality. Look at the way, in this episode, that she tries to comfort Rory. "It's you, stupid." 22:59 Of course he does. After everything we've seen so far in the relaunch series. That alone. That's not even factoring in his first eight incarnations and all the pain and loss that took place there. Doctor has a lot of baggage. 24:01 The darkness in us is always there. We all know our dark side, even if we like to pretend it doesn't exist(Those people REALLY scare the Hell out of me.)

[@SocietyatLarge]

I vote the Matt Smith doctor, the Doctor 'Most Less Likely to Share all of the Information'. This version of the Doctor is the most truth averse of all of the Doctors. The Master is more likely to tell the truth.

[@Jaserocks2]

@francisgilbert6982 rule one. The Doctor always lies.

[@koletoday]

Rory has to see now how much she loves him. She was willing to kill herself and the doctor for a chance at seeing Rory again

[@BritanyBinges]

Yeah, but then in the very next episode she's surprised they're still together in 10 years. lol I can't exactly blame Rory for being unsure and insecure in their relationship. :-/

[@sirimity]

@@BritanyBingesto me, I feel like that’s more because of the family dynamic she grew up in, she is scared to put too much faith into it.

[@kemmdog4444]

One of the older people was a Dalek voice actor in classic DW.

[@bluesnake4626]

11 really plays with the Doctor's loneliness and what it really means to have had so many friends, and having them all ether leave you, be left behind for their own good, or dying. 11 is scared to be left alone. He faced what he is like at his worst, he has seen what he can do to the people he cares about as well. He is stuck in this limbo of not wanting to be alone, but also being afraid of how he may hurt the next people that he allows himself to get close with.

[@paulhammond6978]

That all makes so much sense too, because 10 travelled on his own after the end of S4 for a while, and so he's recently experienced what he can be like when he doesn't have someone with him. So this is his first attempt to move on from that.

[@matthewpreston28]

He be liking the red heads 😅

[@markbechtold7372]

When I first saw this episode, I felt pretty ho-hum about it. However, I appreciate it more and more upon rewatch. Toby Jones really sells the Dream Lord, and he's my favorite part of this one.

[@ronfehr7899]

Amy's dream. Rory's dream. The Doctor's nightmare?

[@jennifermorris6848]

Never fail to shout out the music. Murray Gold is awesome.

[@thatredkite8310]

Fun fact: in the German dub of this episode, they decided to use German SpongeBob's voice actor for the dream lord

[@eyallev]

(1:00) "it has a dreamy quality to it" there you go, spoiling the ending, right of the bat.

[@BritanyBinges]

Well, they shouldn't have added that hazy filter to it. lol

[@olivefernando7879]

The (2nd) doctor actually has a medical degree, from Edinburgh in the 1880s

[@jeanine6328]

This was actually the very first episode I ever saw. I just happened upon it flipping channels. I had no idea what the show was or what it was about. Then I caught one with Tennant and got throughly confused. But was so hooked. I watched completely out of sequence because that’s how they came on the channel. I was so confused until I saw the my regeneration.

[@IsiahBradley]

YAY!!!! An Amy & Rory classic!!!! WOO-WOO!!!! THANKS!!!

[@NicoleM_radiantbaby]

Oooh, this is one of my all-time fave episodes!

[@IggyStardust1967]

No spoilers, Britany.... but I will say that of all of the companions of the "modern" Who... Amy and Rory are my favorites! The pair have such a wonderful dynamic that you truly believe that they are, in fact, a married couple! While I do rank Matt Smith as my 3rd favorite Doctor (Tom Baker being my original, and top ranked Doctor, with David Tennant nipping at his heels, and Smith nipping at Tennant's heels).... Amy and Rory are my favorite companions. But to be fair, my "top ranked" are all very, very close. Martha Jones, Donna Noble (and especially her grandfather (may the actor Rest In Peace!)), Sarah Jane Smith, and Rose Tyler are all very close to this pair. Amy and Rory's story (again, no spoilers) is SO well written, and either by accident or design, it's just perfect! I won't say anything else except, "You'll understand why I say this, in time."

[@auntvesuvi3872]

Thank you, Britany! ⏳ Catherine Morshead directed this one.

[@DarrenEden-ub4vj]

The dream lord can only appear in the dream. He does not exist in the real world.

[@CrankyGrandma]

I know you are well past this on patreon, so it’s not spoiling to say this episode gave a preview of the whole Amy arc.

[@suntannedduck2388]

Love this episode, the what if scenario and rhe Doctor testing Amy and to not ignore Rory, to really think things over. It's really good. No idea why the eyes in the elderly is part of the dream and he thought that was a goox ixea besides the travelling into a cold star/planet but otherwise its a good episode to test a companion even if a vit extreme. So well written. Also Toby Jones is just great here as fhe Dream Lord. Also ghr bowtie I think os a different colour in fhe dream and TARDIS too. But the birds hmm. A locked dwon Tardis not a dead one. XD Very solid which is real, how good is the simulation/dream/sense of touch. Hologram of course. That answers a lot. Rory does a good job being normal but not so normal ita boring. Like some later companions. The name thing ah. But yeah fhe companions thinking they are the first when they aren't but because of how magical he is. The ponytail symbolism. It should because fashion sense over symbolism then some object. Very particular words that hit for sure. Teo hates himself and risks a situation woth particles because reasons. But he proved what to do with Amy and getting her morals in check. Would she throw her life away or stay with the Doctor. He does play dumb to let the magical moments happen but to get enough of a chance to see whats out there but also change things when it gwts too deep. But this early for a companion then later makes sense.

[@DaveF.]

It's a great episode - and Toby Jones is sooo good.

[@joshuajoshua2732]

Not one of my favourite Dr. Who episodes but the Dream Lord bit was interesting i didn't much care for the rest despite Amy being a favourite companion of mine but i'm not into the whole romance i like it better when it's space stories.

[@kenmercer8112]

Thumbnail reaction, yeah this is a strange one..

[@craigoconnor6662]

It's strange to think you'll uploading videos for another year or two for a series that you're completely caught up on. By the way, do you watch Doctor Who reactors? There's a few new ones out there who are still on Tennant.

[@BritanyBinges]

It is odd but it's been a blessing to be so much further ahead on Patreon because of spoilers in the comments. There are a lot of things I would've been spoiled on already if I had been so much further ahead. I try not to watch reactions for shows or franchises that I'm currently reacting to because sometimes the reactor will talk about something they knew ahead of time or something they got spoiled on. I have made a few exceptions, but never with Doctor Who. I do have a channel on the Discord specifically where we can discussion other reaction channels and share links and they've been posting about all the new reactors who've started up as a result of the latest season.

[@pacobenitezromero8521]

Now we will have to wait to see your reaction to the Manhattan episode to see if you saw the connection with this episode.

[@railfan711]

He doesn't just abandon people?

[@BritanyBinges]

It seems to feel that way to a lot of his companions.

[@MalcolmWolf]

*Susan enters the chat*

[@BritanyBinges]

@@MalcolmWolf That genuinely made me cackle. lol

[@SamhainRegen666]

I gotta ask what's happening with classic who reactions?

[@BritanyBinges]

They got very few views and each new video was getting fewer and fewer. The KZbin edits take a considerable amount of time and there just weren't enough views to justify continuing them on here. The full reactions are still continuing on Patreon and they're currently in season 10.

[@SamhainRegen666]

@@BritanyBinges oh ok saddening considering I was really looking forward to watching them but I understand

[@steve8510]

My dream team, 11 Amy Rory

[@ronanmates7812]

The more i watch these back the less i like amy, she was never my favourite companion but i guess i forgot some of the crap she did.

[@phantom115cw]

I stopped watching doctor who after this

[@JoshLStuff]

Uh, why?