It's funny, the lack of Melody/River has been bugging me for weeks, but it didn't bother me in this episode. Though I did make it a conscious thought at the beginning of the episode to not think about it, because I was tired of it ruining episodes for me. And looking at it now, I do think that Rory's pulling himself away from Tardis life (by speaking about his travels in past tense for example) could definitely be a manifestation of all he feels he's lost, including Melody.
I do find it interesting that he pulled the classic Ten move by leaving the companions behind, but I feel he did it in a decisively not Ten manner. Ten was never strong enough to leave the companions behind before he broke them. He had to have them forced out of his grasp. But Eleven can see that they can't keep going like this. Which is one of the key differences between Ten and Eleven for me, Eleven doesn't NEED his companions the same way Ten did, and in fact often thrives without them right by his side (The Lodger, A Christmas Carol) whereas Ten falls to pieces (...all of his specials). Which is why I LOVED that Eleven acknowledged that it was arrogance that made him keep Amy around all this time, because I think that's a very different reason than why he had companions in the past, and I think it really helps justify a lot that's happened over the past two seasons for me.
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Date: 2011-09-18 09:07 pm (UTC)I do find it interesting that he pulled the classic Ten move by leaving the companions behind, but I feel he did it in a decisively not Ten manner. Ten was never strong enough to leave the companions behind before he broke them. He had to have them forced out of his grasp. But Eleven can see that they can't keep going like this. Which is one of the key differences between Ten and Eleven for me, Eleven doesn't NEED his companions the same way Ten did, and in fact often thrives without them right by his side (The Lodger, A Christmas Carol) whereas Ten falls to pieces (...all of his specials). Which is why I LOVED that Eleven acknowledged that it was arrogance that made him keep Amy around all this time, because I think that's a very different reason than why he had companions in the past, and I think it really helps justify a lot that's happened over the past two seasons for me.