Note: The following review contains spoilers for all aired episodes of Doctor Who, including the most recent, “Let’s Kill Hitler.”
There are so, so many reasons that “Let’s Kill Hitler” is one of the most dazzlingly, jawdroppingly ingenious episodes of Doctor Who perhaps ever, but they can all be boiled down to a single description: it is batshit insane, and I mean that in the most gloriously positive way imaginable. Steven Moffat has played around with time and temporal paradoxes to a degree that no previous Doctor Who showrunner has accomplished, in this series more than any other, but all of the wibbly wobbly timey wimey twists and turns that have been burbling about in Moffat’s Who since before he even took up the mantle were all apparently just preparing us for the revelations of this hour. As I’d expected, despite the title, Hitler himself is but a cameo in this delightfully mindbending installment, his greatest significance being metaphorical–to wit, the old philosophical question of whether one should kill Hitler if one had a time machine, the pro side being that it would prevent the deaths of millions of people and one of the greatest evils history has ever known, the con side being that one would have no clue just what butterfly effect consequences might arise from making an alteration of that magnitude. Oh, and he was also there so Rory could punch him in the face. We now live in a world in which Rory Pond has punched Adolf Hitler in the face and stuffed him in a closet, and what a beautiful place it is.
“Let’s Kill Hitler” has so much about it to love, I’m not even sure where to begin. Perhaps with the revelation that, although Amy and Rory seemed to have lost their daughter and will thus miss out on raising her, they actually had raised her already. Their best childhood friend, Mels, one of the few people who had believed little Amelia about the Doctor and who was so won over by the fantasy that she wanted to marry him, was Melody Pond. Amy had, in fact, named her daughter Melody after her daughter, Melody–this mischievous girl who Amy and Rory had been attempting to provide guidance and support to throughout their lives. She had believed Amy’s stories of the Doctor because she knew from childhood that she was one day going to kill him. As Mels, however, she never realized the irony that when she told people she would marry him, that might come to pass in the future, as well.
We still don’t have all of the answers about River, of course. We don’t know when she takes up the name, River, for example. We don’t know how long she remained with Madame Kevorian before being sent to the orphanage. Did they raise her for years, brainwashing her to kill the Doctor, and did she then regenerate as a younger child in the orphanage (and what happened in the successive years between regenerating at the end of “Day of the Moon” and appearing in Amy and Rory’s lives?), or did they simply implant her with some sort of sleeper technology or otherwise plant that suggestion as a child before sending her there, or was that brainwashing going on while she was at the orphanage? After all, it was overrun by Silence. Speaking of which, we now have the interesting confirmations that the Silence are a religious order (which connects them to the religious orders we met in last series’ Weeping Angels two-parter and in “A Good Man Goes to War”) and that they are responsible for all that has happened, which makes it seem likely that (a) there were Silence we did not see in the last episode, and (b) the Amy/Ganger switch occurred when the Silence captured her in “Day of the Moon.”
We also learned quite a few other things. For example, we now know why River has always looked the same whenever we’ve seen her, which is a really brilliant explanation not only because it allows Alex Kingston to always be the River that the Doctor knew with no need for ever casting younger actresses as younger versions of River and subsequently explains why she hasn’t regenerated again, but even more so because it brings the story of the Doctor and River beautifully full circle. We now know the story of how the Doctor and River met. Their relationship is bookended by her giving her life for him. The first time they meet, she sacrifices her ability to regenerate in order to save the life that she stole from him, and the last time, she sacrifices herself to save his life again. One has to wonder if the second time (or the first, from our perspective) was out of atonement for what she did to him.
There are two things, however, that make this even more interesting. The first is that the Doctor convinces her to save his life by whispering something in her ear, just as River convinced the Doctor she was trustworthy in “Silence in the Library”/”Forest of the Dead” by whispering something in his ear, and I am going to assume that the whispers are identical: the Doctor’s true name. My first reaction regarding what the question the Silence are trying to answer might be is that it is likely the question after which this entire show is named, “Doctor Who?” which would be such a perfectly Moffatian solution. The Silence want to know who the Doctor is. If so, his real name would be the answer, so the fact that he confides it in her might be why she realizes she should be helping him, because an enemy (as she was always told he was) wouldn’t reveal this secret so willingly.
Secondly, this entire scenario removes any potential ickiness that might have arisen if the Doctor and River truly did always meet each other on a backwards track. Some fans were concerned that Moffat had been implying earlier that when River first met the Doctor, she was this inexperienced, young thing who was taken in by the Doctor, who had already experienced their entire relationship, which might have given the whole thing an uncomfortable power imbalance. Now, we know definitively that River was not a naive, little flower on their first meeting. She was an assassin who knew who he was and had been planning for her entire life to kill him, which makes the fact that this will eventually become a romance even more fascinating.
Besides these revelations, this episode is so wonderful because it manages to provide some answers without being too expositional while simultaneously being action-packed and bouncily inventive, and also providing every one of the main actors and characters with fantastic material, which can be extremely difficult to do. Some people worried that the extreme intricacies of the plotting this series would either ultimately rob the characters of their agency or mean that their actions were being dictated by the plot, not the other way around, but this episode reconfirms that after the necessary set-up that was prominent in much of the first half of the series, the Doctor, Amy, Rory, and River (and not the timey wimey plot) are still the true stars of the show.
Every single one gets a chance to be awesome in this episode. Matt Smith gives yet another heartbreaking performance as the Doctor is dying (seeing all of his recent companions is a beautiful touch, and just like Tennant before him, Smith is fantastic as ever at selling that he was the same man who traveled with them), Karen Gillan is superb in all of the various permutations of Amy in this episode–modern day Amy, teenager Amy, robot Amy–and even more excitingly, Amy gets to solve the Tesselecta problem and demonstrate how enormously intelligent and badass she is, Arthur Darvill sells the hell out of Rory as usual and gets to, again, punch Hitler in the face and show extreme bravery (and be extremely moving as teenager Rory–I love how Amy assumed Rory was gay because he never expressed interest in girls, not ever putting two and two together that she was the girl he pined for), and Alex Kingston plays River’s conflict at the end of the episode gorgeously and is a scream as newly regenerated River. Does it surprise anyone how similar she is to Eleven upon his regeneration? I would also like to submit “I was on my way to this gay gypsy bar mitzvah for the disabled when I suddenly thought, “Gosh, the Third Reich’s a bit rubbish, I think I’ll kill the Fuhrer,’” as Steven Moffat’s new greatest line of dialogue ever. Also, what a lovely surprise it is to see little Caitlin Blackwood back as Amelia and just as wonderful as ever, particularly in her scene as the TARDIS’ voice interface, in which she is effortlessly hilarious.
The Tesselecta itself is also just such a brilliantly whacked-out concept–a team of time traveling justice seekers who shrink themselves in order to operate a human-body-sized robot that can transform its appearance to look like any person, for the express purpose of punishing history’s worst offenders. It’s also particularly interesting that they aren’t looking to change history on a wide scale. They simply want to dole out a worse, more painful death to the bad guys than that which history itself brought them. Does that make them ethically better or worse than they might otherwise be? On the one hand, they aren’t messing up the flow of history, as most of these people would have died regardless (or been imprisoned and thus out of commission), but on the other hand, since they aren’t changing any events, whatever satisfaction they get from punishing these people seems to be merely petty. On the other other hand, it isn’t even necessarily a traditional death sentence for all, because, again, many of these people were doomed to die. They even refrain from killing Hitler because they arrived too early in his time stream. They alter their plans to punishing River, because it seems that she has killed the Doctor ahead of schedule (as they say, time can be rewritten) and therefore has completed her evil act. The question remains whether the River in the astronaut suit in Utah is this River or the young girl.
All in all, a simply enormous episode of Doctor Who that manages to convey a great deal of surprising information while also managing to be as funny, emotional, light-footed, and fast-paced as ever, as befitting an episode with such a beautifully deranged title. If the next five episodes are at least as great at this one, series 6 will finish most remarkably, indeed.
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
I keep holding out hope that the astronaut suit we see in Utah hold River post-"Forest of the Dead" somehow. We know that astronaut suits could be a vehicle for the Vashta Nerada, so maybe there's some hope that FotD wasn't actually the "end" of the Doctor/River story. Probably unlikely, but I always do hope for a happy ending for the Doctor.
Hmmm. I thought it was a mixed bag of an episode. On the one hand it was gloriously manic, proceeding at such a pace that you didn't have time to take a breath and realise that the plot elements barely made any sense. Up there with so many of the best David Tennant episodes. On the other hand, so many of those plot elements, whether they made sense or not, were unoriginal borrowings from elsewhere (The Numbskulls. meet Dave etc etc)
On the one hand, Rory continues to grow as a character as does Arthur Darvill as an actor. He undoubtedly had the best moments in this episode. On the other hand, the character Mels had more than a hint of the deus ex machina about her (Amy's best friend and yet we've never heard of her before? And she didn't even attend Amy's wedding?) and the actress who played her just wasn't up to the task.
On the one hand, Moffatt indulged his penchant for the kind of labyrinthine and self-referential plot developments that are guaranteed to delight die-hard Who fans. On the other, he continued to take the show yet further into territory which makes it inaccessible to new viewers.
There was a lot that was wonderful in this episode. But we shouldn't be afraid to call it on the weaknesses it also had.
On the other hand, the character Mels had more than a hint of the deus ex machina about her (Amy’s best friend and yet we’ve never heard of her before? And she didn’t even attend Amy’s wedding?)
That's the timey wimey factor, though. She didn't exist before. Time was rewritten so now she has. And even if one were to argue that she had always been there, because of the paradox, she explained why she wasn't at the wedding, when the Doctor asked. She doesn't do weddings, plain and simple. We also know that she's always on the run from the law, which explains why she isn't around often. As for why they didn't bring her up before, Amy and Rory surely have lots of friends who they haven't specifically mentioned.
Moffat's in a damned-if-he-did, damned-if-he-didn't situation. If he introduced Mels earlier, many people would likely say that, hot on the heels of the revelation that River was Amy's daughter, the revelation that this other character we've known for so long was River as well would be too many reversals on top of each other. I find the poetry of Amy and Rory having spent years with their daughter far more satisfying than I'm concerned about when she was introduced. The reveal that this is who Amy had named Melody for is enough for me. I might have been more concerned had Mels herself affected a huge deal of change on the plot. In essence, the major change her presence brings is that Amy and Rory did raise their daughter. Other than that, River was trained to kill the Doctor, and that is what she would have done, either way.
The episode is also specifically named "Let's Kill Hitler" in order to directly reference time travel paradoxes, so the entire thing is also very self-aware.
I don't know. I liked lots of things in this episode, but it felt too crowded.
Both Mels and the Tessalecta seemed too out of nowhere to me. Kind of like the cacti aliens in The End Of Time, they where more plot devices than any other thing, they weren't well developed and didn't connect with me.
Probably I'm too critic of this episode because A good man… was brilliant, I've grown used to Steven always topping himself, and I don't think he did it this time.
Also I think whether you like this episode or not depends heavily in whether you like River or not. I like her, but she's been getting new powers as necessary in the last few episodes, and that can put some people off.
A bit messy, but good fun. River's gay gypsy bar mitzvah line was great, but I think I liked Rory's despairing observation of what a difficult day he was having even more!
Wonderful review as ever, Rob. One thing I didn´t understand: what do you mean that time was rewritten so now Mels exists? Which time rewriting do you mean, the one in The Big Bang? How does that affect River-Mels?
Only a couple of things on the show itself:
I love the idea that the Doctor whispered his name to River just as she will one day whisper it to him, both times to get each other´s trust. The thing is though, if someone told you to get a message to someone else and the message was a name, your response probably wouldn´t be "Oh I think she knows. " If she knew, the Doctor wouldn´t waste his last moments sending the message, so River´s reaction suggests it was something more generally romantic (even though that´s a bit cheesy). And actually, while watching it, I could have sworn I heard him whisper "Spoilers", but again, that would make her response a bit strange.
Another thing is that the Doctor´s death has been described as a fixed point in time, meaning it has to happen, which makes it quite difficult for the writers (or, Moffat, because really, who else?) to somehow solve it. I mean, no one actually believes they´re just gonna leave it like that for the future generations of writers to figure out, right?
And just a little note on River´s timeline: even though she started studying archeology right away, she didn´t become a professor until after being released from the prison. But than again, we don´t know yet how old she was when she killed the Doctor. (And may I just say how much I was hoping for it to not be her? I thought the good man would turn out to be Rory or something…)
The time that was rewritten was the Silence kidnapping the baby. In many ways, River's entire existence is a case of time being rewritten.
The thing is though, if someone told you to get a message to someone else and the message was a name, your response probably wouldn´t be “Oh I think she knows. ” If she knew, the Doctor wouldn´t waste his last moments sending the message
River doesn't know at this point, though. Presumably the only people who knows his name are the Doctor himself and the deceased Time Lords. He knows from "Silence in the Library" that he will one day tell River his name, so it makes sense that in this episode, he realized that this was that moment where he told her. And if she spent years knowing about the question, the fact that he just gave her the answer (if indeed this is the question and answer) would be the reason for her realizing the truth about the Doctor not being an enemy. Because he confided in her one of the greatest secrets of all. I highly doubt that the Doctor would ever say anything generically romantic.
(And may I just say how much I was hoping for it to not be her? I thought the good man would turn out to be Rory or something…).
I'm so glad it's not Rory! He's died far too many times. The Doctor's death being a fixed point is certainly crucial but it isn't insurmountable. Even Ten defied a fixed point in "The Waters of Mars." My guess is that the death will be reversed but that there will be Dire Consequences.
Oh no obviously I didn´t LIKE the idea of Rory being hurt in any way, ever again! (He really is getting better and better with every episode, isn´t he?)
What I meant with the name thing was, when the Doctor was whispering, River-or Melody, really, at this point in her life, didn´t know that the message is for her. She probably thought River was the Doctor´s girlfriend and she really was just gonna pass it on, so from her point of view, it would seem strange to just assume someone she´s never met and knows nothing about would or wouldn´t know something, even if it was the Doctor´s real name.
(Oh, and it´s "generically"? Sorry, English isn´t my first language :-) )
She should know the message is for her, though. She knows he's the Doctor. And if she knows the "question" the Silence are after is "Doctor who?" and he just willingly gives her the answer with no reservations, that could be an indication to her that the Silence have been lying to her about him. They would likely have told her that this is something he would never do. After all, he never has for any other person, even his dearest friends. If he were truly her greatest enemy, he wouldn't give up that information, which would then prove to her that he's a friend.
Absolutely, but she didn´t know it was for her. She asked who River is afterwards and was shocked to see it was her. So yes, it does explain why her attitude towards the Doctor changed, but it doesn´t explain her saying "I think she knows".
I still think that the Ganger Doctor is the one we see die in Utah. Just waiting on Moffat to close the loop on that. Time will tell.
I am a fan of timey-wimey storylines but even for me, this is venturing into inaccessible territory. I tend to agree with the commenter who felt it was a mixed bag episode.
I love the fact that the lake where The Doctor was killed was Lake Silencio.
(I didn't think that it was revealed earlier? but doing a search, it does seem to have been?)
I was talking with a friend of mine after watching the episode, and he told me that he didn't enjoy it because she felt that Moffat was being intentionally confusing, and that he found it too difficult to watch because he had to keep track of a plot that had "stopped making sense ages ago." I had to respectfully* disagree with him, as while Moffat's Who can be complete nonsense, there is a very big difference between nonsense and not MAKING sense.
The complaint that the plot is too convoluted for the average viewer to follow just doesn't hold water in my book; my younger brother is all of 13 years old, and after I watched the episode with him, his biggest complaint was that "the regeneration looked the same without sleeves on." Personally, I think Moffat knows his market pretty well; after all, who watches a show about time travel and wants it to be straightforward?
In terms of just the episode, though, your review was spot on, Rob. It was 46 minutes of my shrieking with glee at my computer screen (and then the subsequent teary whimpering.) Alex Kingston is a goddess, and Arthur's Rory just gets better and better every single time we see him. Was a little bit irked by the suddenness of Mel's appearance; while I do think it would have been a bit much to have her as recurring character, I think she should have been mentioned, at least. But I can't even fault Moffat for that, because it's such an absolutely ingenious solution to the problem of how Melody would be raised. All in all, it was just a ridiculously good episode; absolutely sublime from start to finish.
Exactly! Everything you said.
I've been thinking about the River we know, and the Mels we just met and I think the brainwashing wasn't directed at the Doctor-he's a bad man, who does bad things, or is an enemy of her- but was about who and what SHE is. I think they told Mels that she's a monster, that she's only good for one thing and that's being a psychopathic murderer. If you hear you're a monster who is only good for one thing and that's killing the Greatest Man in the Universe (and she never seems to disagree with this idea, but instead seems to take pleasure in the Doctor's goodness as a foil to her badness) from the moment of your birth, and by the SILENCE, who we know employ post-hypnotic suggestion times a trillion, I'd say it would take many many years to break that conditioning. I think the first step was being "raised" by Rory and Amy, then the TARDIS accepting her as Her daughter ("a child of the TARDIS" is my new Doctor Who themed band name), and finally the Doctor revealing his name to her broke through her conditioning.
Not to say that her Chaotic Neutral* tendencies aren't inborn, from Amy at the very least, but I don't think she's a natural psychopath. She didn't actually kill Hitler, or those little Nazis, or the Germans in the restaurant. She humiliated them and robbed them and beat the tar out of them, enjoying every damned minute of it, but she didn't do anything the Doctor might not do under similar circumstances. He stole from medical doctors good gods' sake!
*I think we can all agree, the Doctor is Chaotic Good.
Great post!
I wasted the entire morning pondering the many lives of River Song, and have come up with a timeline (of sorts) here:
http://theoncominghope.blogspot.com/2011/08/many-…
Hey I love reading your reviews but was pretty devastated when I checked on here and found that you haven’t reviewed (or haven’t posted) the latest Doctor Who episode ? You pick up so much about the episodes I just automatically come here to check whether there was something I missed ! Please post a review ?
I’m with Grace. I know you’re busy with the move and all but Rob! we need to hear your thoughts on the wedding!