7. The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang
This double episode is very confusing on first, and second, watching. Many familiar faces from this season drop in for a visit, but the main focus is the Doctor, Amy and River Song. They end up at Stonehenge during the Roman Invasion; the Pandorica - a prison built to contain the most feared thing in the Universe - is opening and all enemies of the Doctor are gathering. The heart of these shows is Rory - after dying/being erased from time earlier in the season - he appears as a robotic Roman soldier and saves Amy from a relentless Cyberman, but she doesn't recognize him. River finds out that Amy's memories have kinda conjured the whole Roman thing to get the Doctor there. His enemies, working together - the whole 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' thing - force him into the Pandorica. Amy is dying. River is trapped in the exploding Tardis. By the second part, the future has changed; we see young Amelia living in a world with no stars, where time is collapsing. She's summoned to the museum and the Doctor bounces between past and present to put everything right. It turns out that the Doctor was able to swap places with Amy, thus keeping her alive until her younger self can reactivate the older version! Of most importance is the fact that Rory insists on staying with the Pandorica to guard the dormant Amy, which he does for almost 2000 years, never sleeping, until history knows him as Centurion, protector of the box; the Doctor takes the short cut to the future. Cutting past the chase: once everything is fixed, everyone lives except the Doctor. At the wedding reception of Amy and Rory, she remembers him and summons him from the void to dance at her wedding. The Doctor dances again! To Queen, in top hat, white tie and tails.
The Lesson: Pick the good guy, not the flashy one with the cool ride and unusual fashion sense, who'll take short cuts and is never there on boring days. Find the one who has as much fun adventuring with you as staying home and doing nothing, the one who makes you laugh, who brings out the best in you, the one who always has your back, no matter what. Also, it is an excellent reminder that patience has it rewards.