a good man goes to war

[rebellious_toes]

What's this? Me actually getting around to writing something about the latest episode of Doctor Who? And only about *counts* six weeks after the fact? No, surely not. Must be my imagination.

I'm writing this based on a) the notes I made while re-watching the episode a few weeks back and b) my unreliable memory so I apologise in advance for any mistakes, misrememberings or general nonsense that result from this. OK then, on with some thoughts on A Good Man Goes to War...

• Melody Pond! She is the most adorable thing ever. And go Amy, telling her about her dad (and of course she was talking about Rory!) and at the same time letting her kidnappers know just what's coming for them.
• "Where. Is. My. Wife?" Oh yes, Roranicus Pondicus is back and the Cybermen don't know what's hit them! And "don't give me those blank looks" has been a long time coming!
• Lorna Bucket, who once met the Doctor. Why do I get the feeling you're going to be important?
• "How did you find him?" / "Stringy, but tasty all the same. I shan't be needing dinner." This is the point where I join the chorus asking for a Vastra and Jenny spin off.
• "Did somebody call for a nurse?" Commander Strax is my new favourite. "You'll be up and around in no time. And perhaps one day you and I shall meet on the field of battle and I will destroy you for the glory of the Sontaran Empire." See? He gets all the best lines.
• RIVER!!! OK, she seems really weirded out by Rory being there. Does she not expect to see him for some reason? Can't stop thinking that he's the good man she killed. DO NOT WANT And now she's babbling at him about the Doctor taking her ice skating for her birthday and Stevie Wonder singing and I love it. There need to be more scenes with River and Rory.
• Eyepatch Lady, you are an evil woman. (I know she has a name now but she will always be Eyepatch Lady.)
• "Why would you need me?! I'm old! I'm fat! I'm blue!" Dorium is my other new favourite.
• Lorna's made her a prayer leaf. I like Lorna.
• OK, headless monks are actually headless. Ew.
• "Amelia Pond! Get your coat!" I knew it! I knew he was one of them! And now Silurians and Judoon and Vastra and Jenny and Strax and SPITFIRES IN SPACE! This is the best scene ever!
• "The Doctor must think he's winning right until the trap closes." Damn it, what's she playing at? But never mind that, RORY!!!!!!! AND CAPTAIN AVERY AND TOBY!!!! BUT MOSTLY RORY!!!! (Once again, I really need to lay off the exclamation marks. At this rate, there won't be any left for the rest of this.)
• You made the Doctor angry. Bad move. "And when people come to you and ask if trying to get to me through the people I LOVE... is in anyway a good idea, I want you to tell them your name." I got shivers during this scene.
• Pond family reunion! RORY DRESSED AS A ROMAN HOLDING A BABY AND CRYING. MY OVARIES WILL NEVER RECOVER. And look at him, proudly showing her off to the Doctor. (He speaks baby, why am I not surprised?)
• "Melody Williams." / "...is a geography teacher. Melody Pond is a superhero." Sorry Rory, your name sucks. ;)
• "I can produce magnificent quantities of lactic fluid!" Did I mention that Strax is my favourite?
• It's the Doctor's cot! ♥
• "Human plus Time Lord." WHAT. The baby has a time head!!!
• I just love his whole THERE IS NO SEX IN MY TARDIS HOW DARE YOU EVEN SUGGEST IT denial. Doctor, you took them on honeymoon. Several honeymoons, in fact. What did you think they were doing? Did you seriously think they would let bunkbeds stop them?
• So Melody's part-Time Lord and Eyepatch Lady wants to make her into a weapon? So I guess she is the little girl then?
• The monks are back and they've killed Dorium! It's OK though. RORY HAS A GUN AND A SWORD AND HE'S GOING SORT THESE BASTARDS.
• AAAHHHHHH MELODY'S FLESH! THAT IS THE MOST HORRIFIC THING I HAVE EVER SEEN. D:
• NOT STRAX TOO!? WHY MUST YOU KILL THE ONES I LOVE!?
• Amy can't even look at him. I want to reach into the screen and hug her. :(
• AND LORNA'S DEAD TOO. That's it, I'm never admitting to liking any character ever again. I'm obviously a jinx. (Come to think of it, maybe that's why Rory's always dying. IT'S ALL MY FAULT.)
• RIVER! And whoa, she's not holding back!
• "Tell me... who you are." / "I am telling you. Can't you read?" How great are Matt and Alex in this scene? The nervous giggling, the glances to Amy and Rory, it's all so perfectly pitched. And then he just legs it!
• Pond becomes River, Melody becomes Song. "It's me. I'm Melody. I'm your daughter." AND RORY AND AMY MAKE THE SAME WTF FACE AS HALF THE PEOPLE WATCHING. Doctor, I think running away was a wise move. After all, Rory has a sword.


• LET'S KILL HITLER. LET'S. KILL. HITLER. MOFFAT, YOU MAGNIFICENT TROLL.
• WAIT. WHAT WAS THAT TRAILER? A SKELTAL HAND HOLDING THE SONIC SCREWDRIVER. WHAT. THAT'S IT, I GIVE UP. I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON ANYMORE. ALSO I CANNOT STOP CAPSLOCKING. BRAIN IS BROKEN.

OK, general thoughts: I DON'T KNOW WHAT JUST HAPPENED BUT I LOVED IT. That was a ridiculously exciting 50 minutes of television. I was pretty convinced that River was going to turn out to be Melody even before the episode started and I wasn't sure if I wanted it to happen but when it did, it worked. The reveal was so beautifully played by everyone involved that I couldn't help but love it. I'm sure a lot's been said about it being obvious and not much of a reveal but one of the reasons that it worked for me was that it raises a whole load of other questions. There's obviously a lot more going on here that we don't know about yet and I'm looking forward to seeing where we go from here. Where Team TARDIS goes from here, because you know this is going to change things between them forever. How are Amy and Rory going to cope with knowing that their daughter's all grown up and practically married to the Doctor? That she's in prison? And that she's been lying to them all this time?

Speaking of questions, there's one which springs to mind immediately: If (as the Doctor seems to be assuming) River/Melody and the little girl in the spacesuit are one and the same, why didn't River seem to know that during TIA/DotM? A few possible answers occur:

1. River/Melody is the little girl and was pretending not to know so she didn't mess up the timeline. Perfectly possible, she'd have to be a good liar to keep up the whole "spoilers" bit and I can believe that she'd do that.
2. River/Melody is the little girl but she doesn't know that she is. Maybe they change the timeline, rescue her so it never happened and she forgets? Whatever, for some reason she didn't know that the little girl was her when they were looking for her.
3. River/Melody isn't the little girl. OK, it's not likely that there are two regenerating little girls out there but I'm not going to rule it out.
4. Melody is the little girl but Melody isn't River. Again, bit of a long shot but I'm putting it out there just in case.

Knowing my history with predicting these things, the answer will probably be 5. none of the above but that's why I'm desperate to see what's coming next. Because, even with what I already know, I still have no real clue as to where all this is going and I can't wait to find out.

Right, that's me caught up. How long until the next episode again?