Ten Statements About....DOCTOR WHO SEASON SIX, EPISODE SEVEN: A Good Man Goes To War(2011)

The baddest man in the TARDIS...and he's a nurse!  Hell,
so is the Sontaran!

"What you are going to be, Melody, is very, very brave."

"Two minutes."

"But not as brave as they'll have to be. Because there's someone coming. I don't know where he is, or what he's doing, but trust me. He's on his way."

1) Somehow, I just knew that the speech Amy gives to open the show was about Rory...and it sets up Rory's return to his 'Last Centurion' mode exceptionally. And Arthur Darvill proves beyond a shadow of a doubt why he's the best companion on the TARDIS this season....

2) I like how Madame Vastra is played by Neve McIntosh, who played Ayala in the Silurian two-parter (and I like even more how there's a story that I'm sure is going to be told about how a Silurian warrior ended up as a Sherlock Holmes manque in love with her wicked hot Watson analogue.). And that David Starkey, Skorr in the Sontaran two-parter, plays the Sontaran nurse Strax. It's a way of introducing new character while giving us connections to the older episodes.

3) I don't care what the context is...spaceborn Spitfires having a dogfight are just wicked cool.

4) So we're, like, what? Not even two seasons into Moffat's run and we've got two seasons built primarily around 'let's lead the Doctor into a big ol' Trap.' This may be one of the few things about the Reign of Moffat that I really dislike.

For those of you wondering who River Song was...well, The
Doctor just found out.

5) That being said, I rather like how Moffat is carrying on some of the themes of Davies' run--i.e. the Doctor's way of 'weaponizing' his companions--and is turning those themes on their head. Thus we have the enemies of the Doctor waging a war against him by trying to turn his companions--and their issue--into weapons against him.

6) Okay, Henry Avery? Him I did not expect to see again. Which just goes to show that during the Reign of Moffat, there is never, ever anything remotely close to a throwaway episode.

7) Back to Rory for a moment...you know why I love this character so much? He is a total and thorough bad-ass without using violence. In a way, he's the ultimate proof of the adage 'A true warrior is judged not by when he draws his sword, but when he doesn't.' And Arthur Darvill gives us this bad ass without once losing sight of the things that made Rory unique waaaay back in 'The Eleventh Hour.' I always knew Rory would be interesting, but if you told me he'd grow to be one of my favorite companions ever...I'd prolly have laughed.

8) Oh, shit...so it seems you were right after all, Jason.

(I realize this statement makes no sense to anyone but Jason Cleaver.  Cheers, Jason!)

A hot brunette in Victorian wear weilding
a samurai sword?  I'm in love...

9) I have to say that I'm still not thrilled with the villain set. Frances Barber's Madame Kovarian continues to have too much scenery in her teeth for me to take seriously (although admittedly the moment when she reveals what she pulled is pretty good) and the Headless Monks....eh A creepy visual, some neat flashy-sparky swordy things, but when all is said and done they pretty much don't do much.

10) This really puts Matt Smith through the wringer--he goes through a lot of emotions as he hits each of the plot points and it's wonderful that his anguish is as palatable as his joy when River Song's big reveal hits him.  And it looks like, at least for a bit, we'll be getting The Doctor soloing around the universe....

In short.....is it as great as 'The Pandorica' Opens'? Not quite--but there are loads of surprises, one big reveal, and some great moments that elaborate and confront some of the themes of the RTD era. And how can you resist the promise that the second leg of the season supposedly begins with an episode called 'Let's Kill Hitler'

Ten Statements--No Wait, Eleven!--About....DOCTOR WHO SEASON SIX, EPISODE SIX: The Almost People (2011)

Look at me!  No, don't look at me!

"It's the eyes. The eyes are the last to go."

"What are you talking about?"

"When they destroy us, the eyes are the last things to melt, and there's one question in those eyes: Why?"

1) Okay...seeing Matt Smith do every single doctor in between primal screams was cool. And having him essentially playing straight man for himself instead of dull old 'Good Doctor/Evil Doctor works out quite nicely.

2) It's interesting how in this script we see not just the humans Fuck It Up For Themselves--Jenny, with her vision of revolution and revolt in India mucks things up for the Gangers in this episode just as badly as Cleaves gets the human in shit with her regulations and bylaws in the previous episode.

3) I wonder if the little exchange between Amy and the Doctors where she addresses the differences between them is another case of Moffat looking askance at Russell T. Davies, this time for the way he handled Rose's final fate.

4) After this episode, I'm even more impressed with Raquel Cassidy's Cleaves. Much like Smith, she chooses to take the challenge of portraying both the human and Ganger versions of her character and make something more nuanced and complex than most actors would.

5) God, I hope the eyepatch lady plot thread is resolved next episode. I don't think I could stand seeing this carry over into part two of the season.

6) Another interesting thing--even though Rory has been weaponized in the past, becoming an Auton last season, he seems to be the one companion since the new series began who believes what the Doctor claims he believes--i.e. that people, whether human or non-human, are geniunely good. It's that fact that he refuses to become another tool of violence that may be his most intriguing feature.

7) The eye wall is a cute effect...but is it really necessary? All I could think as I saw it was 'how did the Gangers get all the time to place living eyes in all those holes?'

Thankfully Ganger-Jenny is not the crux of this two-parter...
because, quite frankly, she's a crap villian.

8) How did Ganger-Jenny get these special stretchy-girl abilities? None of the other Gangers display them, and it actually detracts from her menace....

9) The way The Doctor gets the Gangers to turn on Ganger-Jenn is much more typical of how I'd expect him to resolve things than the whole kill order from 'The Day of The Moon.' It makes me wonder if this iteration of The Doctor is beginning to come to grips with the boiling rage he's been struggle to contain since last season.

Okay, maybe I shouldn't have gotten so
attached to Pond...

10) Is it just me, or has the Doctor's, ummmm, relationship with the TARDIS changed a bit since 'The Doctor's Wife.' I mean, he's always anthropomorphised her, but still.....

11) Wait a minute, the episode isn't--OH MY LORD!!!!

In short.....much stronger than the first part, this episode raises a lot of questions, gives us new insights...and slams us with an ending no one expected because, you know, we thought we already ruled that possibility out.....