Ten Statements About....DOCTOR WHO SEASON SIX, EPISODE FOUR: The Doctor's Wife (2011)

When it's Ood...the episode's got to be Good!

"You gave me hope and then you took it away. That's enough to make anyone dangerous. God knows what it will do to me. Basically...RUN!"

1) Right from the start, Neil Gaiman starts pulling stuff out of the old toybox--not just the Time Lord EMS, but the idea of the TARDIS doing a little trip outside of space...I almost expected Matt Smith to utter the phrase I have been hoping for for a bit--i.e. 'We're entering E-Space.'

2) I see Gaiman liked Jekyll as well.....

3) I love the fact that Gaiman is willing to show us a Doctor Who, quite frankly, feels like he's out of his depth. I've been so used to the new version of The Doctor as some sort of all-knowing super-hero with all the right answers that having a Doctor who feels like he's beaten, who admits he doesn't know what to do before literally slapping himself, is wonderful.

4) The real gimmick of this show--and the thing from which the episode takes its name from--is a magnificent conceit that I'm surprised no one figured out. It's something that's been obvious ever since Russell T. Davies came up with his way of super-charging his Mary Sue character in "The Parting of The Ways"...and yet it took six seasons to explore it. It opens up a whole new bit of wonder, and it's a credit to Suranne Jones that she's able to embody this mad concept so well. And speaking of Ms. Jones....

"Don't be alarmed..but WE'RE IN YOUR HEAD!"

5) God, I love the way she interacts with Smith. The sparkage just flies between them like some insane emotional arc reactor, and I love how they bicker like the proverbial old married couple. They go through the equivalent of a full relationship without missing a blink....

6) I have said it before--I am a sucker for anything that happens, even partially, in real time.

7) Leave it to Neil Gaiman to find a way to write a Doctor Who script where running through corridors is an integral part of the script..and make it truly scary again.

8) I know you're all prolly tired of hearing me say it...but Arthur Darvill's Rory is the coolest. It's he who weathers House's assault, he who pulls Amy through, and he who continues to be the glue that keeps this show together.

She's cute...but she's gotta stop screaming ever episode...

9) Sadly, as much as I adore Karen Gillan...I'm beginning to worry that she's sliding into that most hated of Doctor Companion archetypes, The Girl School Screamer. This is the second time her primary role has been to be menaced in the last three episodes.

10) I am somewhat saddened that the older TARDIS console wasn't one of the Classic consoles...like the one from the final Hinchcliffe earlier.

In short....after the disappointment of last week, this is so far the highlight of the season--an example of what Who should be. Namely, mad ideas, crazy characters and lots of running around.  And it's so refreshingly free of the overarc stuff that's been bugging me this season.