Why was that dude so mad at Steven Moffat on May 21, 2006?

I watched "The Power of Three" and "The Angels Take Manhattan" more or less back-to-back last night. The first was good, light character fun but not much of a mystery or adventure. I think it would have worked better as a Doctor-light episode, with the Ponds investigating the goings-on at the hospital while the Doctor was off on a wild goose chase looking for the source. ("A Town Called Mercy" would probably have worked better as the matching Pond-light episode anyway, with the alien doctor as the Doctor's pseudo-companion—<gasp> secrets and lies!) But if "The Power of Three" is going to be a family affair, it would have been nice to have River in it, and we could have a funny introductions gag where Brian insists that his last name isn't Pond and the Doctor insists that his last name isn't Song.

"The Angels Take Manhattan" was a lot of fun, and much more effective (for me, anyway) than the two-part angel story a while back. It took some time to realize that the Winter Quay really was gone, so Amy and Rory were free to go anywhere (and therefore could live a happy life and get River's book published). But with New York too unstable to rescue them, why couldn't the Doctor tell Amy to just travel to Chicago and he'd pick them up there? Emotionally, it worked well, but it also felt like the Doctor was giving up.

But I've had issues with Amy and Rory for quite a while. They've been thru much more personal, emotional trauma than any other new series companion. They really ought to have been ready to settle down and say goodbye to the Doctor several episodes ago. The Doctor normally chooses companions who have little family and nothing to lose for exactly the reason that they won't be missed. But here Amy and Rory were juggling jobs and adventuring, and it felt false.