The last time we saw the Doctor, he was entombed in the mythical Pandorica, surrounded by an alliance of his deadliest enemies - Cybermen, Daleks, Judoon, Silurians, putting their differences aside to save the universe from the Doctor. Meanwhile, River Song was trapped in the TARDIS, which had apparently fallen under the control of someone or something, which warned that "silence will fall". Lastly, Amy Pond was reunited with her fiancé, Rory Williams, who had died, been wiped from her memory, and mysteriously resurrected as a Roman centurion - only to find that he wasn't quite the man she agreed to marry. The finale of the 2010 series of Doctor Who asks as many questions as it answers, leaving us with an uneven conclusion to the first year of Steven Moffat and Matt Smith at the helm.

As a finale, "The Big Bang" reminds me of the end of 1991's Themla & Louise - a freeze frame of the car, suspended over the Grand Canyon. That's what "The Big Bang" feels like, the middle point of Series 5 and Series 6. Production-wise, of course, it's not (the 2010 Christmas Special will bear that burden), but "The Big Bang" leaves so many questions unanswered that it's hard not to feel disappointed at the lack of any resolutions. I understand that Series 6 will focus on many of the plot points raised in Series 5, and that's great, it really is - no, it really is! I love that whatever story Steven Moffat has cooked up, it's so good that it's going to take two whole series to resolve. That's good, that's great! Imagine how epic it will be! Imagine the scope! Imagine the complexity of the story! But where does that leave the finale of Series 5? Where does that leave some of the brilliant (and confusing as all hell) elements that were introduced in the preceding episodes? "Series 6," you'll say, and that's fine - but what did that leave "The Big Bang" to offer? Moffat might as well have called the episode "To Be Continued".

Who/what orchestrated the whole trap for the Doctor and caused the TARDIS to explode in the first place? Why is the date of Amy Pond's wedding so significant? How did Amy survive a point-blank range shot from Rory's Auton gun? Speaking of Rory, how was he reborn as an Auton? Was he still an Auton after the Doctor reset everything? How was the Doctor magically "remembered" back into reality, replete with the TARDIS landing in the right time, the right place, and him dressed up for the occasion? How was Amy able to "invert" the effects of the Time Crack? Is she still the focus of the mystery? Why was the bigger picture reduced to a mere throwaway line 15 seconds before the credits rolled?

And why, dear God, why, are we still doing the Henpecked Rory act? Has nothing changed between him and Amy?  Rory crossing the River Styx (and then coming back as an Auton…or something) meant no character development? Do we have Series 6 to look forward to him being the fifth wheel to Amy and the Doctor gallivanting across time and space, with her occasionally throwing him a kiss to keep him happy?

At one point in the episode, the Doctor remarks that he, Rory, Amy and River are "safe in the eye of the storm" from the collapsing universe around them. The line is too similar to the one uttered by the Doctor in "Last of the Time Lords", but ultimate reset button or not, at least that finale resolved some storylines. In the end, the only truly memorable scene is River's torturous execution of the fossilized Dalek ("Mer-cy! MER-CY!") among other scenes of the Doctor running around and being clever (although briefly seeing the dead Doctor was certainly interesting). "The Big Bang" promised a lot, but ultimately fizzes out with a cosmically disappointing 3.0/5.