It is a myth that Steven Moffat has staked his career on whether or not you like River Song. Yes, she's arguably more important than any other recurring character/not-quite-companion on the show, ever (so that category would also include, um, the Brig and... uh... Rose's mum).
It is far more accurate to say that Moffat has stakes his career on an epic deconstruction of the Doctor's god complex, hence the title of this episode. And, given the previous run of episodes, if you ever thought "The God Complex" referred to anything else, then shame on you. (On a side note, I'd be willing to bet money - not a lot, mind you - that there's an image of the Silence under Eyepatch Lady's eyepatch, so that she's always looking at them. Yeah, light doesn't work that way, but hard science has never exactly been a deal-breaker on this show.)
So there's a maze that's contained to hold a Minotaur-like thing. This thing eats people's faith. It's been thrown in a prison, presumably by other members of its own race. Regardless, the justice system that sentenced this thing decided that a) the death penalty was not an option (because the show is made in Britain but also because if they did execute it, there wouldn't be a plot), and b) a bunch of innocent passer-by could be harvested to keep this thing alive. The entire prison is designed to torment innocent people by showing them what they fear most, or something. That is how the justice system works. Now if a justice system that cruel and unusual could sentence the Minotaur... how heinous must its crimes have been?
My point is that once again the Doctor is called to sympathize with a rampaging murderer, although at least this time he puts the thing down. He does it by doing one of the most memorable things the Seventh Doctor did - he breaks his companion's faith in him. Wait. Didn't Moffat say he despised the Seventh Doctor's run? I'm so confused.
The prison is apparently near Planet France, which gets invaded more than any planet in the Universe, but it also picks up three earth-men. Um, okay. Interestingly, none of them believe in Santa. One's a Muslim, one's a conspiracy nut, and one's a gambler who believes in luck. Frankly, I'd be offended if the show equated belief in conspiracies or belief in luck with belief in my God. Not burning-cars offended, mind you, but still offended.
Okay, so why was this episode made? Because Moffat wanted to deconstruct the Doctor's God Complex, got it. But why was it set in a hotel? Because Moffat thinks that hotels are creepy. Well then you actually have to make the hotel creepy, and not just rely on the whole we're-trapped-in-here-with-a-monster premise. How about some dark corridors?
Now, what Moffat excells at is killing people I don't like (his Season 4 two-parter being the exception - except there Frakwit McRichbugger was important to the plot). So gambler-nut and conspiracy-toolbag are the first to go. And then we spend a lot of time with the chick and grooming her to be the next companion, so you know she's gonna get offed. Because apparently anyone who finds "their room" suddenly loses the will to live - as evidently happens to the Doctor by the end, if anything in "Closing Time" is anything to go by.
Which begs the question of why people go looking for their rooms in the first place.
So what did I like? Well, the monster costume was all right. I liked the Doctor finally coming to his senses and kicking Amy and Rory out before they died. I liked the cheese-eating surrender-planet. I liked the guy from the cheese-eating surrender-planet calling the Doctor out on his inability to save everyone.
It's an average episode, ultimately. It gets a plus one point because, well, because there's not a kid in it.
6 out of 10.
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