With the second half of the 2011 series to start up this weekend, I thought it’s a good time to start a new thread for ongoing “Who” discussions, rather than dredge up the old one. Especially since, as I just learned, the titles for all the new episodes have been revealed. The one that will get the most talk is sure to be the last episode title…
the Wedding of River Song
Why do my daughters, who should have AT LEAST inherited their mother’s streak of larceny (not an insult), leave it to me to, er, acquire these things? Or is it more of, “If I wanted to change my own oil then why did I get married?”
Some people find that as hostile, but how cute is it? Given my taste in wives and dogs that bite back, awful damned cute. And not something I will act on anytime soon, until I feel like it. Which is six hours after the first is broadcast, so the worst of the pirates are cleared out.
And Rory punching out Hitler wins the thread.
New “Doctor Who” tomorrow night. With Hurricane (or Tropical Storm) Irene approaching, I plan to be at home watching.
BTW, I guess I should have put it in the thread title but this thread can have “spoilers” for already-aired episodes. That is, once the ep. has been originally shown, no need to put a box around it.
Anyway, here’s a round-up of all the dangling plot-threads from series 6, Part I:
River Song - revealed to be Amy & Rory’s daughter Melody Pond, but there’s still a whole lot about her that we don’t know. For instance, she’s intermittently serving - when she feels like it apparently - a sentence for murdering “the best man she’s ever known.” (Anybody want to guess who that is?) And what exactly will take place when River “first” meets him?
Madame Kovarian - she hates the Doctor, but why? And where / when did she run off to with baby Melody? And exactly how does she intend to turn a baby into a weapon? (River is certainly handy with a gun, but she doesn’t strike me as someone who was raised to be a killing machine.)
A young girl (presumably a young River Song) was being held prisoner by the Silence in 1969 in an Apollo era spacesuit. She escaped from the suit (and the Silence) and appeared to be able to regenerate.
At some point in the 11th Doctor’s own personal timelline, he will be gunned down by a mysterious assailant in an Apollo era spacesuit, and fail to regenerate. “Ganger” Amy unwittingly revealed to the Doctor that she knows he will die.
The Silence - mysterious new baddies who are instantly forgotten about the moment a person looks away from them. They have some ongoing grudge against the Doctor (perhaps because he engineered their near-extermination in 1969?)
Amy must tell the Doctor “what he must, and what he never can know.”
Mysterious “missing” moments - like the unfilmed scene in between “Impossible Astronaut” and “Day of the Moon” in which the Doctor, Amy, Rory, River & Canton escape the lair of the Silence. POssibly also on the “Curse of the Black Spot” pirate ship (one of the pirates just seems to disappear midway through the story with no explanation.)
The time machine that was gestating above Craig Owen’s apartment, and was later down in the Silence’s lair.
Ok, that covers the plot points I recall. Did I forget anything?
Don’t guess we can do individual episode threads, can we? I can never find my place in the monster season-long threads that’re all the rage these days.
That said, I’m certainly excited to have my Who back. 
Well synopsed!
7 hours until Let’s Kill Hitler!
…just to be clear and not to upset anyone, you are talking about UK pace, correct?
You got it. American viewers who don’t want to be spoiled are advised to keep out of the thread until it’s aired over here (a few hours after it’s aired in Merry Ol’…)
Only 60 minutes to go!
Quoted, just in case I get shouted at!
So… did they ever let Hitler out of the cupboard? And why didn’t The Doctor eat the fish fingers and custard to save himself? And how annoyed am I that I was right predicting it would be River Song driving the red sportcar in the cornfield (even if I thought I was wrong!). And why weren’t the Ponds miniaturised when the Tardis collected them? And, and, and…
Loved it
(particularly loved seeing the previous companions again - guilt, guilt and more guilt!)
…Moffatt: you magnificent bastard. And that is my review!
Really? I thought it was a bit of a mess.
I’ll probably watch tonight. Or I may turn off the lights early and get to sleep.
Honestly, this dragged out two year story is hard for me to get excited about. I was interested back in May when the other episodes aired. I’m not sure now if I want to fool with this thing or not. Nothing ever gets resolved. All they do is throw out these clues that lead know where. Took five years to learn a fifty year old woman is the daughter of a cute redhead that is only in her early twenties.
I’m not crapping on your thread. I want to get excited. I may wait and read the comments after it airs. Then I may want to see it more.
I had a lot of fun watching it, but trying to piece together what’s going on with the story arc is annoying and confusing and is starting to make me not care about even figuring out what the deal is with River Song/the Silence/whatever.
Did anyone ever let Hitler out of the closet?
Answers given in this episode include:
Doctor was killed by child Melody in Space Suit. First regeneration happens after that.
Doctor’s death in this episode not necessarily the death that River is tried for. But as it was witnessed by people who have some kind of official capacity, maybe it is.
I think River’s History goes like this:
[ul]
[li]Melody is conceived in the TARDIS so has been affected by it to be a Time Lady, or something close to it.[/li][li]She is kidnapped and trained to be a killer.[/li][li]When still a child she is sent to kill the Doctor in Utah, apparently by the Silence.[/li][li]Achieves goal.[/li][li]Ends up back in Washington where she sends a message to the President to try and save her, but was probably intended as some kind of trap.[/li][li]Trap failed to achieve anything, so child Melody escapes.[/li][li]Soon afterward, perhaps because of not having the life support of the spacesuit, in New York she regenerates for the first time.[/li][li]Becomes Mels, goes searching for Amelia and Rory, and becomes their friend.[/li][li]Has troublesome time growing up, waiting to inevitably meet the Doctor.[/li][li]Finally does, goes off to Berlin 1938, and unexpectedly dies and regenerates.[/li][li]Episode episode episode.[/li][li]Has second thoughts and decides to use up all of her regenerations to save the Doctor. In her mind, and perhaps the Doctor’s, is now intimately connected with him, so that even if she isn’t his wife, is the closest two Time Lords can get.[/li][/ul]
Though there will be many adventures with her yet to come, and the other, apparently more final, death of the Doctor in Utah is still to be resolved, I think we’re caught up with River’s story now.
No no no. I was struck by how careful they were NOT to place that in her timeline. I even rewatched to be sure. There is nothing that states it was child Melody. Only that it was Melody.
And if it was - she’d remember doing it as a kid. Why do it again?
Nah, I think that was adult River in the spacesuit. Why she decided to wear the spacesuit the Silence put her in as a kid is anyone’s guess. But there is no way that was Child Melody in the spacesuit that shot The Doctor in Utah.
A surprising amount of comedy shoehorned into all that exposition. The antibodies were pure Douglas Adams, methought.
Not enough Hitler killing in my opinion.
Doesn’t she say:
she remembered doing it? And as far as I can tell, the spacesuit is only for the child, it was built to fit her exactly.
It sort of contradicts if she attempts to kill him this time around, before the already seen time which is after she knows she already did it, but I put that down to wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey and her natural opportunistic tendencies.