Review: The Impossible Astronaut

I’ve watched this twice this evening now and I still don’t know what to make of it.  Don’t get me wrong; I loved it.  It picked up where the last season finished off, furthered the story, guaranteed me nightmares, and shocked me to the core.  It was great.  But there’s just a lot to take in.

We finally found out who was building the time machine in The Lodger: The Silence, that was mentioned so often last series.  Which meant that we finally got see what that is: a group of the most terrifying beings I have ever seen in my life.  Reminiscent of Slender Men, they lurk in ancient underground tunnels that run under the entire earth.  We don’t really find out anything more about them, except that I think the bathroom scene may have stolen my soul with its sheer horror.  Seriously.  These things would make the Weeping Angels go running for their mummies.

But in clearing up one mystery, a thousand more are formed, like some sci-fi Hydra.  First, what is The Silence’s game plan?  Why are they doing what they do, what are they hoping to achieve?  Who is the little girl, and has Amy killed her? Could River be Amy and Rory’s child?  Who is the astronaut from the start, and why did it kill the Doctor?

I can’t really try and guess anything without seeing the second part, which is unfortunate.

As far as the episode goes, I have no gripes with it at all.  I enjoyed every single minute.  There were some really striking images: the astronaut emerging from the lake, the Doctor’s death, the Silent killing the White House aide, Amy shooting the little girl and then realising what she’s done.  Matt Smith’s performance was top notch as usual, jumping from light-hearted physical comedy to stone cold callous authority.  Alex Kingston was enigmatic and scene stealing as usual, Arthur Darvill was magnificent as Rory and Karen Gillan gave one of her best performances yet.  The best bit was, in my opinion, the Silent.  They were just mind-numbingly horrifying; they’re going to linger long in my memory and make me afraid to put out the lights tonight…