Doctor Who: “A Good Man Goes to War” & “Let’s Kill Hitler”

Doctor-who-lets-kill-hitler-river-song_article_story_main I meant to offer some thoughts on the Doctor Who episode "A Good Man Goes to War" back when it aired a few months ago, but it got away from me. So now I'll offer some thoughts on it and Part 2 of the story: "Let's Kill Hitler."

I think that both episodes were basically enjoyable, but flawed. They were not Steven Moffatt's best work. (Certainly nowhere near as powerful as "Silence in the Library"/"Forest of the Dead.")

To keep this post from getting (even more) overly long, I'll leave the good things to your memory (we probably enjoyed a lot of the same stuff) and focus on what I consider the flaws.

First, the cheeky religious elements didn't work for me (the fat/thin gay married Anglican marines, the headless monks, the papal mainframe herself). Last season's treatment of the 51st century priestly marine corp was much better.

These were minor annoyances, though. The main flaws were larger.

For a start, there was the problem of motivation. Here the Doctor is supposed to be pitted against a massive dangerous enemy that has it in for him in a superdramatic way, and yet we've never seen them before.

Worse, they don't seem to have a motivation for their actions; we don't know why they hate the Doctor so much. Who are these people and why should we–or they–care?

You can't have a superdramatic battle with enemies the audience doesn't know or understand. In fact, it turns out that even the Doctor doesn't know or understand this enemy. He doesn't know, for example, that they are working for the Silence (who themselves are little-understood Johnny come latelies).

All of this sucks emotional punch out of the episode, making all the hyperventilating, over-the-top drama hyping ring hollow. It would been far more effective to reveal that the plot against Amy's baby was being run by a villain we know and understand, like the Master . . . or Davros. Either would have been far more chilling than the Eyepatch Lady.

Then there's the big reveal. If you didn't see that coming, it would have been really cool. My enjoyment of it was marred, though, but the fact I did see it coming. A long way off. Multiple episodes earlier.

Last season, when Amy Pond was introduced, people started speculating about a connection between them and their water-based names. Then this season Amy turns up pregnant, and the TARDIS tells Rory that "The only water in the forest is the river." Oh, and there's been all this talk about the Doctor discovering who River "really is." After that, it's not hard to guess the big reveal.

Then there's what happens when the Doctor find out who River is. He becomes elated and runs off with the TARDIS, saying that he knows where Amy's baby is and everything will be fine. Why doesn't he take everybody with him? Why don't they all go get Amy's baby together?

Dramatically, this makes no sense. The only thing I can suppose is that Moffatt wanted the Doctor off the screen to simplify the revelation to Amy and Rory–and the audience. Having him in the shot would change the dynamic. Either that or–more likely–he needed to do it to set up the introduction of Mels in the next episode.

Previously Moffatt had promised that we would have a "game changing" twist for the midseason cliffhanger, but this revelation–while interesting and clever–was not "game changing." Especially not when it stands in the shadow of the Doctor's apparent death, which was very effectively portrayed in the first episode of the season. Paying that off as the midseason cliffhanger would have been dramatic and game changing, but finding out River's identity? Not so much.

There's also the implication from the phrase "good man" in the episode title that suggests, based on past episodes, it will pay off the Doctor's apparent death in some way.

Finally, we cut to the title card saying Doctor Who will be back in the fall in "Let's Kill Hitler"–an arrestingly dramatic title.

It suggests that Amy's baby may be back in Hitler's time, and that this is where the Doctor is going (though how would he know that?). It also promises an episode in which we get a serious treatment of the eternal time travel question of why the Doctor shouldn't just kill Hitler and save millions of lives. This is the kind of thing time travel stories regularly involve, and the such a dramatic title promises the audience a serious payoff on the question.

But this is not the episode we get.

It turns out that the Doctor doesn't know where Amy's baby is–so why did he ditch the rest of the crew at the previous episode's end? And why was he so elated at the time? This makes no sense.

Worse, while Melody's line when she commandeers the TARDIS and the Doctor asks her if there is any place in particular she wants to go ("You've got a time machine. I've got a gun. Let's kill Hitler!") is really good, the whole Hitler subplot turns out to be a tiny part of the episode that is basically played for comic relief ("Rory, put Hiter in the cupboard." "Right. Putting Hitler in the cupboard.")

This totally welshes on the promise implied by the title card we were shown at the end of the previous episode. You must deliver on that kind of promise, and Moffatt didn't.

Then there's the character of Mels herself. As soon as she drove up and turned out to be Amy and Rory's best friend–who the Doctor AND THE AUDIENCE–have mysteriously never met, I thought, "Oh, no! Another sudden introduction of somebody Really Important who we Don't Know."

You can't generate audience investment in a character on the spot. This is the same flaw that plagued the previous episode with the allegedly impressive villains who we don't know and don't understand. Suddenly introducing someone and telling us they're important and then expecting us to care about them (for good or ill) is Bad Writing.

If you want emotional payoff, you have to let the audience get to know the characters and form strong emotional impressions of them before you use those emotional ties to the characters to create moments of powerful drama. If you don't let the audience do that then the attempt at drama falls flat.

Steven Moffatt's like of sudden introductions of major characters as plot twists, though, conflicts with this.

After the opening credits, we got a montage showing Mels' early life with Amy and Rory, and I have to admit that this was effective. It let us do the kind of bonding with her as a character that we needed to do in order to care about her. Moffatt thus redeemed the mistake he was in the process of making before the opening credits.

But redeeming a mistake is not as good as not making it in the first place. Think of the greater impact this episode would have had if Mels had been introduced long ago, and we'd seen her interacting with Amy and Rory as their best friend for a long time.

Maybe she would have been an additional TARDIS companion along with them! Think of how much mind-bending emotional punch THAT would have given to what happens to her in this episode!

Another flaw in this episode, though I think a lesser one, is the quirky, psychotic way River acts. Partly this is explained by the programming she's been given, but that's not a really good explanation. Crazy people do not make good agents to perform the kind of task she's been given.

A better, more logical explanation is that the way she makes her entrance in this episode has a temporarily unsettling effect on her mind as well as her body–something that has repetated precedents in this show.

Those are the major flaws in the episodes, to my mind. They occur on the structural/plot/emotional dynamics level, though there are some on the detail level as well.

I did think the episodes were, overall, enjoyable, though. And they had some really nice things, again on the larger and the smaller level. 

I thought Rory got some of the best lines in this episode (along with Mels). His panicked silence (a non-line) as a teenager when Amy asks him if there is even one girl he's ever showed any interest in is priceless. 

Then we have gems such as, "I'm trapped inside a giant robotic replica of my wife. . . . I'm really trying not to see this as a metaphor." And, when Amy challenges him on how he knew they were struck by a miniaturization ray, he says, "Well, there was a ray, and we . . . miniaturized." Or when the killbot tells them to remain calm for their executions, a panicked Rory piquedly retorts, "When has that ever worked!"

The killbots get some good lines, too: "You will experience a tingling sensation . . . then death."

Soon I'll try to have some thoughts on the next episode, Night Terrors.

Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."

17 thoughts on “Doctor Who: “A Good Man Goes to War” & “Let’s Kill Hitler””

  1. Great analysis, Jimmy. At the conclusion of “A Good Man Goes To War”, I wasn’t all that taken aback either. But it made me wonder why River didn’t recognize Amy in the most excellent episode “The Time Of Angels” – I’ll have to rewatch that one to see if there’s anything I missed.
    I hope Moffatt’s big payoff at the end of the season works. I’m expecting some plot holes, sure, but I’m hoping it comes together satisfactorily. That being said, I think he’s juggling way too many balls at once here, and I’m afraid he will drop one at the conclusion.
    Personally, I like the concept of The Silence. Cool alien you forget when you no longer look at them. I wish they had been introduced a bit more succinctly last season, with more than just the cryptic “Silence will fall!” exclamation that had been made a couple times. I’m looking forward to seeing their return.
    Maybe next year they can bring the Ice Warriors!

  2. I agree with the fact that many people guessed River was Amy’s child. I believe Moffat had said in an interview that it would be someone no one expects. Clearly, many people did.
    I’ve rewatched “The Time of Angels” a couple times. I can’t find anything that would even suggest that River is Amy’s child. That may just be based on the fact that the actress Alex Kingston did not know at the time (I’m not sure if anyone knew when they were filming last season). Something that’s bothered me along those lines is how un-parental Amy and Rory are towards River. I keep waiting for an awkward moment when they try to deal with the fact their child is a) much older than them, b) apparently also their childhood friend, and c) romantically(possibly) linked to the Doctor.
    I’m hoping for a good finish this season though!

  3. Brett: That seems to be what they’re implying. They’ve dropped multiple hints that River is in jail for killing the Doctor.

  4. @ Brett & Jimmy: I actually kinda believe it’s going to be Rory. Whenever anyone’s described as a “good man”, it’s not the Doctor, and IIRC, Rory’s been called or described as a “good man” at least a couple of times (including, whether or not this counts, in the latest issue of the IDW comic). Even The Doctor himself denies (inadvertently) that he’s the “good man” in “A Good Man Goes to War” when he tells Madame Kovarian: “A good man doesn’t need any rules. Today’s not a good day to find out why I have so many.”

  5. Sorry, perhaps one bit of info was left out — I’m going on the line that she’s in jail for “killing a good man. Perhaps the best man I ever knew.”

  6. @Pat: That’s very possible. I guess I kind of hope that it’s the Doctor before it’s Rory, because it would be so cliche for Rory to be the one that dies; he seems to die almost every episode, so I would be dissapointed if all of those hints, and if the thin that River hides, was simply something that Rory seems to do like I breathe air!

  7. Pat: I acknowledge that Moffatt may pull a fast one on us. It may turn out that the “good man” who dies is (a) the Doctor, (b) Rory, or (c) someone Moffatt introduces on the spot! (in view of his tendencies.)
    Similarly, the person who does the killing may be: (a) River/Melody, (b) Rory, (c) Amy, (d) the Doctor, or (e) someone Moffatt introduces on the spot (or has only introduced this season).
    We’ll have to see, but at least the overt implication is that it’s River killing the Doctor.

  8. I was so disappointed in “Let’s Kill Hitler,” and you’ve put your finger on the reasons why, I think. I mean, I felt cheated, because it seemed like I *should* have liked it, because all the elements of awesome were there, and Moffat just didn’t do a very good job bringing them together.
    Maybe I’m a bit dense, but I don’t remember seeing River/Amy coming. I’m guessing that the army/the silence is going to be explained further as the season progresses, so I’m willing to wait and see what they do with that.

  9. I’ve been trying to post to this thread twice, but ran into the captcha police. Now, I don’t have any time, since it’s finals week. Let me just say that if Moffat is going where I think he is going, the resolution will be satisfactory…more, later…Oh, let me just say that I don’t think it is Rory that will be killed and, yes it is Melody, sort of, who kills the Doctor (remember, she is traveling backwards in time). The man is the Doctor, except it isn’t, and the groundwork has already been set. Turnabout is fair play, after all. More, later…
    Have I been cryptic, enough. I am having Captcha shock.

  10. Maybe River is in jail for having killed a Flesh version of Rory in a parallel universe. And the Doctor that was shot in episode one was actually a killbot.
    My (additional) questions are: when did River finally figure out she was Rory and Amy’s daughter? Wouldn’t she have known since the Pandorica episode? And wouldn’t she have known that she was the person held in the astronaut suit, since that was an earlier regeneration? Too many holes that *I hope* get filled in by the final episode. I really hope this doesn’t carry over into season 7.

  11. Maybe River is in jail for having killed a Flesh version of Rory in a parallel universe
    So close. Ask yourself: who are the jailers?
    Yes, the Flesh is involved, I think. Remember what the Doctor said as he left the acid plant and to whom he said it.
    More, later.

  12. I was going to do a long post on the various threads between Series 5 and Series 6, but to do so, I had to make extensive use of quotes from Doctor Who transcripts to show the connections between the dialogs and while that is legal under fair use, it is not, technically, legal to post complete transcripts of Doctor Who episodes on the Internet, so I can’t use the material that is posted on the Internet. The way copyright laws are written these days is really sad.
    There are so many connected threads. They form a sort of Moffat personality to the two series. The doctor has pulled this whole kill-an-older-self trick, before. River told Amy and Rory that the Doctor lies and that his death was a diversion.
    There is a Fez/Stetson link.
    There is a connection between the crack in Amy’s wall and the Silence and the Panopticon (were they created when the Universe was re-booted?). Why do people forget them when they look away – just like people being forgotten when they pass through the crack in time.
    There is a link with between the concept of running in Series 5 and Series 6 and it involves River.
    The Flesh is a big thing this Series and, while not the key, is an important plot device.
    Don’t forget River’s Vortex Manipulator.
    Wish I could do a long post, but, alas, until I can find a legal source form which to quote, all I can do is summarize.
    The Chicken

  13. and the Panopticon
    You mean Pandorica, me thinks.
    Your summary pulls together a lot of plot points and devices. As I wrote earlier, Moffatt is juggling a lot of balls here, and I see one of (at least) 3 outcomes:
    1) the series finale will ingeniously tie everything together
    2) he’s going to drop one of the balls and the ending will not be as satisfactory.
    3) it’ll all get wrapped up in Series 7!!

  14. Yeah, yeah, Panoptica. The Panopticon was a building designed by Jeremy Bentham to house prisoners so that each one could be observed from any vantage point. Same thing. Both derived from the Greek, Optikos; Opticon has Greek roots, Optica, Latin.
    The Chicken

  15. I suspect that the Doctor who was killed in the Impossible Astronaut might have been either the Flesh Doctor, whom the doctor iAd could reconstruct his matrix, or the Doctor using the same technique as in the Eleventh Hour.
    There would be a certain fairness in the Doctor using the Flesh to defeat the Silence, but the more I think about it, the more this sounds like too obvious a solution. It probably really is the Doctor. Why was the FBI agent called to the scene unless there was a clear connection to the Silence? They wanted the Doctor killed and the Doctor obliged them. The Girl in the Space Suit was probably River, but then, why did she shoot at it unless out of guilty? The older River could have simply told the doctor what was going to happen unless she didn’t know because of the reverse aging phenomenon.
    The panoptica opens and Silence falls. There is a connection between the crack in time, the panoptica, and the Silence.
    Was Prisoner Zero really that Alien-wannabe? My guess is that a Prisoner Zero should be someone really dangerous. My guess: River.
    More, later.

  16. Prisoner Zero couldn’t have been River, because she doesn’t have the ability to morph.
    I’m wondering if Prisoner Zero was the Master, given that in the Fox movie in 1996, he had the appearance of a snake-like creature when he escaped from the Doctor’s TARDIS before inhabiting Eric Roberts. Just a random thought.
    The Panoptica – were those the jailers in The Eleventh Hour?
    I’m still waiting for the Valeyard to show up….

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