“The Wedding of River Song” brings this season of Doctor Who to a close. It answers the question of who River is to the Doctor (Matt Smith) and as a climax of that story arc fits the bill nicely. It does however underwhelm for a season finale as the whole episode is one long string of exposition explaining how the Doctor avoids dying by taking control of the Teselecta and convincing River (Alex Kingston) not to save him but to marry him instead.

I have issues with the narrative style in this episode. I’m not fond of the start in the middle, only to go back to the beginning to explain everything as one character describes events to another. Here, with the Doctor explaining everything to Churchill (Ian McNeice) because time has imploded, it all feels a little too much like catch-up. I would have much preferred if the episode had simply opened with the Doctor deciding to find out why he needed to die and tackling the Dalek… and onwards from there. The section in particular when the Doctor is explaining how he invited Amy, Rory and River is particularly frustrating as yes, already worked that out and didn’t need to see it.

There are two redeeming moments during this whole ‘let’s catch up the audience by telling them what has happened’ opening: first and foremost, the lovely, lovely tribute to the Brigadier (the late Nicholas Courtney), where the Doctor discovers his old friend has died. That scene where the Doctor is seemingly determined to keep running regardless because he has a time machine is brilliant. I loved the nods to Rose and Jack but more the tribute. Matt Smith just played that scene fantastically well. The Doctor’s sorrow at the death of his old friend is very evident and it makes his decision to stop running and face his own death very believable.

The second redeeming moment is the scene between Astronaut!River and the Doctor where they discuss what is going to happen and he tells her that she’s forgiven. It’s a wonderful moment of tension, again beautifully acted by Smith and Kingston. It’s poignant and seemingly hopeless and… and the moment River turns it all on its head by not killing the Doctor is nicely played.

I had hoped things would improve at this point since we were caught up but then there is more catch-up as Amy (Karen Gillan) and Rory (Arthur Darvill) appear to tell us about the new reality of all time existing all at once. This time it’s Amy explaining things to the Doctor rather than the Doctor telling Churchill but it’s still exposition. There are three redeeming moments in this section: the Doctor and River flirting with each other with the Doctor angry at River for interfering; Rory staying behind to take on the Silence and Amy saving him, and Amy killing Madame Kovarian and finally acknowledging the loss of her baby.

At this point I thought, ‘great, this is where the action starts! The Silence are attacking! There’ll be action!’

Alas, no.

What happens next is River telling the Doctor how they’ve sent a message to the rest of the universe asking for help and how many people want to save the Doctor. River at this point is just so hopelessly sounding like something from a bad romance novel (the whole ‘I’ll suffer more than every single creature in the universe if I have to kill the man I love’ thing) that I cringed. Kudos to Kingston for getting through it with a straight face.

And then we get a wedding (which actually is quite sweet)…and time restarts. And we get yet another exposition scene where River explains to Amy that the Doctor is alive. More exposition instead of just showing us!!! The redeeming feature of this section is two-fold: one, that we actually get to see Rory and Amy and their daughter interacting; and two, the moment where Amy realizes she’s the Doctor’s mother-in-law is priceless for the look Karen Gillan does.

All in all, this was not the finale I was expecting or hoping for. It’s solid entertainment and there are some nice touches that draw parallels between last season’s finale and this (the ‘Honey, I’m home’ moment for one). Last season it was space that was imploding and needed rebooting and this season it’s time, but it just lacks the sense of occasion that a finale should have.

In some ways, this season has been rather up and down. There have been moments of brilliance such as “The Doctor’s Wife” (32.05), “The Girl Who Waited” (32.09) and “The God Complex” (32.10). But there have also been disappointments – “The Curse of the Black Spot” (32.03) in particular. It’s a ‘B’ overall for the season’s story arc and that phrase teachers all over the world love to use: ‘could do better.’ But it’s also an ‘A’ for effort, the acting and the overall production. I look forward to next season.
 
   -- Rachel Day