It’s been just short of a week since The Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond began their adventures in time and space, so the question is, does the second episode of the Moffat Era live up to expectations? Well DUH! The Beast Below takes place on Starship U.K. a spaceship carrying the whole of the British people ever since the Earth began to burn. The ships been afloat for many hundreds of years yet everything isn’t what it appears (ofcourse) and once the Doctor arrives things begin to unravel.

Matt Smith continues to develop his take on the Doctor with some pretty spectacular results, part knight in shining armor and park cocky high-school quarterback. You remember when at the end of Waters of Mars The Doctor seemed a little TOO confident? Well it’s almost seems like a bit of that confidence has lingered in this form which makes sense considering The Doctor once claimed that his 9^th/10^th incarnation was born from War and that Rose changed her. The Doctor gets some really awesome moments in this one, a couple nice one-liners and some powerful dialogue, so far Matt Smith is really great maybe no Tennant yet but he’s defiantly had a better start in my opinion then Tennant who for the most part was lackluster (when compared to his later seasons) in his first year.

Turn that frown upside down!

Karen aka Amy gets a full episode to develop her character and again this second episode really helps define her character as a strong willed character who is unsure and maybe even scared of her own future. It really helped that The Doctor and Amy spent a portion of the episode separated because when the focus is on both of them the viewer tends to look more at the relationship dynamic between the two but when separate they each get a chance at the spotlight which is needed this early on so we don’t have to still wonder what the character may become down the line come week 12 or 13.

The story of Beast is decent enough, there is a mystery that while seemingly super threatening isn’t. Basically the entire episode boils down to the age old Doctors choice, never an easy one at that. It might have seemed stale with a weaker companion but without giving away too much Moffat wrote Amy a part that flipped most of his former companions upside down. For once it’s not all on The Doctors hands. I will say I was hoping for more from the Smilers (those creepy angry looking robot things from the trailers) as they never went far beyond a threatening face, although to be fair there is one bit involving them that could have been interesting but was never expanded upon it was just left up in the air, I’m sure you’ll know what I mean if you’ve watched it. Most of the secondary characters this time out are completely forgettable sadly including Liz who makes a great entrance. Overall there are a couple of plot points that are weak or just plain forgotten that maybe if this episode had an hour running time like the first it could have been better. The main plot device which features the titular “beast” is also kind of weak but still far from the worst Who has ever had.

"No I'm telling you we parked in the M Lot"

So then The Doctor and Amy are still pleasantly surprising me, the story this time out had its moments but was ultimately a bit weak compared to last week. The ending though was a thing of genius, sure when you watch it you may scratch you head and say WTF but it doesn’t stop it from being awesome and making you look forward to episode 3 with mouth watering ferocity and if the end wasn’t enough the trailer for episode 3 was crotch adjusting-ly great,Winston Churchill FTW!!! Overall a very fun episode.

Overall Score

7 out of 10

Sinatra ENJOYS The Beast Below