I thought, based on that, we would see things like Amy and Rory at a party starting to tell a story about one of their adventures and catching themselves mid sentence or friends asking where they've been or being really bored. Doesn't sound exciting but, I really wanted it. Unfortunately, what we got was this:
That is all of the episodes strung together but, I think I've made my point about Pond Life as a whole so I'm going to talk about my initial reaction to each mini episode very briefly.
Episode 1
I know it was a prequel split into 5 parts which totaled over 5 minutes which is pretty average as far as length of a prequel but I have to admit, when I first saw that the first episode was only 55 seconds long I was a bit bummed but, still very optimistic. On first watching, when I looked at the time and realized there were only ten seconds left for the Ponds after the Doctor's rambling about his various adventures, my optimism faded. I did appreciate the nod to Classic Doctor Who, with the helmic regulator acting up and all but, it was just the Doctor talking at full speed to an answering machine. Basically, I was already very disappointed.
Episode 2
The Ponds being woken up by the Doctor, being on screen for more than ten seconds and having more than one line was a bit of an improvement. I enjoyed the fact that his bursting into their bedroom without knocking must have happened before since Rory says, "we have a rule about the bedroom." The Doctor doesn't necessarily respect or grasp well understood boundaries. One example in particular springs to mind; the Tenth Doctor eating marmalade out of a jar with his fingers in the Webbers' kitchen in Fear Her. I feel like this part of Pond Life actually showed one of the ways that the Doctor impacts their lives and it was more along the lines of what I was looking for.
Episode 3
Still stuck in their house and awful silly but, I'm generally a fan of silly so I didn't mind this. I enjoyed that it was the first one without the Doctor, who I obviously adore but, I just wanted more Amy and Rory despite the wig(s). "Ood on a loo" what more is there to say?
Episode 4
Better. I think I would feel a bit guilty having an alien slave in my home too, even knowing that the Ood live to serve. They didn't have a great time with Nephew either so, I can see how that might add to the awkwardness. Loved seeing Amy stealing food from Rory and just the little faces they made at each other. Arthur and Karen really act so well as a couple. Plus Rory's plastic Roman lunchbox? Pure awesome.
Episode 5
After watching them be kinda cute together for the last few parts, this one was a big shocker though not really. It actually validated a set report that I had debunked, in my mind anyways, long before as being too cruel of a thing for Moffat to do to us. How do you give us the devotion of The Last Centurion and that amazing speech from Amy in The Girl Who Waited and then show us Rory leaving Amy in a huff? Oh cruelty, thy name is Moffat! Not to mention that right before Asylum of the Daleks, Moffat tweeted this, "15 minutes. Some scenes may be disturbing for people of a marital disposition."
So all in all Pond life just wasn't what I expected or wanted but, if I knew nothing about it before watching I may have enjoyed it more.
I have a suspicion, and I'm not alone, that based on the wardrobe and certain lines in Pond Life and the first 4 episodes of series 7 that the events so far have all been a bit timey-wimey. I think that we'll learn more in The Angels Take Manhattan so, in order to prevent those revelations from changing my opinions of the episodes, I will be writing reviews for the first three episodes today before saying goodbye to the Ponds. I will miss them so.
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