Rate & Discuss: A Good Man Goes to War
In her cell in Stormcage, River Song sadly acknowledges that the time has come at last – today will mark the Battle of Demons Run and the Doctor’s darkest hour. Both sides will make their sacrifices and River Song must finally reveal her most closely guarded secret to the Doctor.
Well, there we have it! The first half of Series 6 has reached its mind-blowing conclusion. There were twists and turns waiting around every corner, but did it live up to the hype?
Tonight’s epic episode has undoubtedly been one of the most highly anticipated of recent years, and, what with the return of several monsters, the culmination of various ongoing plot threads, plus the long awaited reveal of River Song and the fact that it was our last dose of the Doctor until the autumn, you can see why it had so much riding on its back!
Responsible for delivering the goods was Steven Moffat, the man universally acclaimed for his time and space defying brain. He had lots to get through in the mid-series finale, and from start to finish, the story went by at rocket speed, as the Doctor and Rory the Roman raced across galaxies and River acknowledged that her time had come at last…
For poor Amy, it was an emotional rollercoaster at the hands of Madame Kovarian, while all around them the Doctor’s enemies lay a carefully concealed trap as he called in long held debts and solemnly given promises. Both sides made sacrifices, but was it worth it?
We’ve had some exhilarating cliffhangers this series, and this one was no exception, but we’re now left to twiddle our thumbs until the autumn. Among all the shock revelations and surprises that hit us in tonight’s episode, we’ve been given plenty to think about until our heroes return, most notably River Song, whose true identity has at long last hit the airwaves. Was her secret the pay off we’d been promised? Were your theories right?
So, did you love it or loathe it? Were you blown away by the suspense and danger, or was Steven Moffat’s storytelling just too much to take in? The comments are waiting…
Please don’t read the comments if you haven’t yet seen the episode. Spoilers!
@vaguely Because I don’t agree with you and annie means, I take it, that you both believe that unless everyone agrees with you, they have not the right to air their views? I understand people like KG and think she is a good actor, I don’t and no one I know who watches Doctor Who, across the country rate her at all as an actor. I refer you back to my comment earlier “The thing about websites like this is that it is a “Rate & Discuss” forum, not a “if you don’t like it” that means you do not have the right to judge.” If you don’t like this policy, I would suggest you refer this to the moderators and demand that they prevent people being allowed to have opinions that don’t conform to your own views. I will always stand my my own opinion that KG is not a good actor and for me, she is in the bottom 3 companions from the overall 48 years of fantastic actors who have made Doctor Who what it is and KG should be grateful for!
@annie
im talking about this one episode and dont talk to me like that, i can come on here all i want i love doctor who All I was saying is im not happy with the storyline with river at the moment.
Doctor who is my fave show in the whole universe! im just saying im not a fan of the rver song reveal, it was way too obvious and im not really happy about it. I love the Doctor, i love Amy Pond she’s my all-time female character and i love Rory too although i used to think he got in the way all the time, he grew on me all of a sudden. I love them all together and all three of them travelling through space and time? it cant get any better than that.
everyone has their own opinions, why dont you try and not look for an argument?
@annie
I think you need to calm down… you shouldnt talk to people like your doing. Everyone has their own opinions on here… Dont forget, not everyone is gonna like certain aspects of the series, but it dosent mean they dont like Doctor Who plus theres no such thing as a perfect TV programme.
@Shannon
I completely agree with you about the music. Now it’s stuck in my head. Did you notice they played the same music when the little girl regenerated in Day of the Moon ? One can love or hate River’s big reveal, but the scene in itself is perhaps the most beautiful and moving I saw since the first episode of new Who (well, there was also Rose’s departure in Doomsday).
@ annie, Steve…
Come on, the show is all about friendship, love and tolerance, isn’t it ? I, for one, love big and dark mysteries that require all my attention to be solved. But I also think this series, it’s become really too complicated. Especially, there are way too much time travels (when do the events of A Good Man Goes To War happen, by the way ?). As for the soap opera aspect of the show, I don’t mind River being Amy’s daughter, but I’m not so sure about River being the Doctor’s lover/wife. Anyway, I’ll wait for further developments before having an opinion.
And about the acting, well I don’t agree with the one who are not impressed with Karen Gillan. In A Good Man Goes To War, I found her convincing in a whole range of emotions : her joy when the doctor arrives, her disgust when he fails to protect Melody, her horror when she loses Melody, her relief when Rory finds her with the baby, her cold anger when she threatens to kill River… It’s just my opinion, and the same goes for Matt Smith, Arthur Darvill and, last but not least, the amazing Alex Kingston (I think she was just perfect in the episode’s final scene).
Amy’s motherhood and all the still unexplained mysteries created by Steven Moffat are now at the forefront. So I wonder how someone who say they love Doctor Who but can’t stand the current storylines can still watch the show.
Finally, I think the show evolved quite a lot in its classic era too : the regeneration, the “stuck on Earth” Doctor, the Time Lords, the disappearance of purely historical stories… It must continue to evolve, the new path taken can be full of good surprises !
@Steve
“Because I don’t agree with you and annie means, I take it, that you both believe that unless everyone agrees with you, they have not the right to air their views? ”
@Bad Wolf
Soap opera doesn’t mean what you (and several others) seem to think it means.
I think everyone needs to calm down, this is turning into a flaming match on a public comment box and it’s doing nothing for new visitors to Whoviannet, who may be put off by the arguing.
At the end of the day, as has been said, everyone has their own views on Doctor Who and everyone, within reason, has a right to discuss them in a civilised way, you know.
I don’t agree with Steve most of the time, BUT I do respect his opinion and accept that is what he thinks, so fair enough.
Whoa…what is with the dog piling? I don’t think Karen is a very good actress either, although she’s certainly improved. That’s a completely subjective opinion that should be as welcomed as any other and should certainly not invite personal attacks and name calling.
WOW
New reader here. Boy, there is no love lost around here is there. Joined to discuss DR WHO, not read put downs of the actors. Hope some of you remember that Karen like the REST of us is a real person with FEELINGS.
WOW
Not what I expected from Who fans of whatever age!!
@Rift user
i love karen!
well… i loved the ep! i think the reason it didn’t seem like there was a a story behind it was because moffet gaves us answers instead of the usual archs! i thought the reveal was great but i realise that many people (including myself) predicted it to be amy and rory’s daughter anyway but if you think about it, coming on this website with your and many other peoples ideas which might make sense to you or people pointing out little hints and references you might have missed will almost always end up in spoilers! i thought rory was amazing! awww i loved him at the beggining, he was all manly for once! but got abit more like usual at the end though. the acting was great by all! also i think i have an idea on the theory behind this and the last series… it’s all been about the doctors anger and how many people have made sacrifises for him! here are the references- in ‘amys choice’ he meets the dreamlord which is all the badness of the doctor and at the end he sees him again in his reflection. now i thought this was important orginally because i thought we would see the dreamlord again but i think it is just to emphasise the doctors ‘dark side’ anyway… there have been lots this series, which is abit weird because i don’t know where all his anger has come from? here they are: 1. his mistrustingness of like everyone since this series, when he told President Nixon to ‘trust noone but me’ 2. ‘the boxes will make you angry’? 3. in ‘the almost people’ he shoves and like is violent towards amy and keeps shouting; ‘why!’ now this is verrry strange as the doctor is never resorted to violence like that before!? 4. in ‘a good man goes to war’- well the title suggests he is now at war!? the doctor, at war!? also throughout the episode many of his friends refered to him as a warrior and when the cilurian said something about him needing to control his anger when he was talking to cornel ‘runaway’ and that he should be careful of it and she also said about people looking up to him to being a warrior he sat down and looked like he was really upset, ‘me… me a warrior…me’(aww bless him!) obviously realising what he has become and most importantly River Song who, it seems, knows him better than he does himself had rant to him about him being angry which worried me. what do you think of my therory? thanks guys!
Whoa, too much conflict people! Everyone has their own views, allow them to express them. Everyone has different views and most likely will have at least ONE person disagreeing.
Now back to a good old natter about DW… @elena
I think you have a point to all the anger with the Dr. Especially with the moment when he blew up a whole cyber fleet as a “message” in ‘A Good Man Goes To War’!! 10th Dr wouldn’t have done that… However could there be a link cause in ‘Waters of Mars’ the Dr. was all angry and grrr and had no remorse, and thought he was god etc etc. Maybe the 11th Dr. thinks he can get away with anything and that’ll be his greatest downfall?
Very interesting thoughts, concerning the Doctor’s anger. There have been many references to his anger in the past two series’, haven’t there? The Doctor has been battling with himself since going all God-like in “Waters of Mars”. That certainly came to a head in “Amy’s Choice” in which the Doctor was literally battling himself.
Perhaps we should consider even more deeply, the Doctor’s words to the Dreamlord, “Nobody hates me as much as you.” Right there, the Doctor is acknowledging his self-hatred. Maybe the choice between a “real” reality and a false “reality” didn’t stop with “Amy’s Choice”. Maybe it’s still happening, and perhaps was happening even prior to “Amy’s Choice”.
Maybe the “big bad guy” who has arranged all this (and who uttered the words, “Silence will fall”, is the Doctor himself. Not necessarily the Valeyard, but maybe a battle with himself which will now lead to the Valeyard.
I have to agree with the above posts in that the Doctor’s “message” to the Cybermen was very un-Doctor-like. That moment was the Doctor not only showing anger, but being absolutely consumed with anger, hatred and vengeance.
@vaguely Another attempt at dictating your views and forcing them on someone else. As I have said, if you want everybody to agree with you, then I suggest you put your point, which appears to be “unless everyone else agrees with you, they have no right to rate and discuss” to the moderators.
I do know one thing, I could run rings around you with regards to my knowledge of Doctor Who and of the amazing actors whom I have been very lucky to meet, which I am proud to say includes Elizabeth Salden, Jon Pertwee and many others.
@ema I read with interest your point about the Doctor’s anger and the 10th Doctor not doing this. The Doctor in all his history has destroyed Cybermen by the 1000’s. The 7th Doctor destroyed the Cyberman fleet by allowing the launch of the Silver Nemesis, the first Doctor did nothing to prevent the destruction of the Cybermen home world. The 10th Doctor’s anger led to his attempt to wipe out the Daleks on more than one occasion. I was struck by the “Maybe the 11th Dr. thinks he can get away with anything and that’ll be his greatest downfall?”, wasn’t that the point of the “Waters of Mars” which led to Adelaide Brooke suicide?
@vaguely Regardless of a persons age, I dont think its right for someone to come on a website like WhovianNet and say that just because someone dosent agree with something in the series that they shouldnt be on a website for FANS, and I dont think anyone is bitch-slapping one another.
I myself dont like Karen Gillans performance as Amy Pond, I find myself falling asleep at times when shes on-screen, cause lets face it,shes hardly Laurence Olivier (if thats how you spell it) but shes probably a nice enough person no ones denying that, and I do know my stuff cause I do acting alot of the time.
@Steve
Exactly what do you mean when you say Gillan is a bad actress? Illustrate with examples. Remember, this isn’t about the script or the character it is about the sweeping assertion that she is a bad actress. Prove it.
Well Personally I think it was amazing, but I kind of guessed it was going to be River that was Amy and Rory’s daughter. I loved the bit where everything just was awesome until it fell apart. To dictate previous comments I think Its stupid! David Tennant one of the best doctors even said he would have loved to have Steven moffat as his director/script writer. The 11th doctor suits his character and has attracted more viewers than before.
I agree that although I absolutely love Karen (I’d love to meet her, she seems so fun!) I find myself not really taking to Amy as an actual character and Im quite glad that her story is ending this series so we can see new characters!
omg that episode was awesome…. i mean amy and rory and river… the doctor has to be involved somehow as well…. maybe as a husband cause she can’t just snog is face off for no reason.!!!!!!
@Katie
We don’t know if Karen is leaving and Amy’s story has yet to end as I think there is more plus they still need to find out who started the cracks in time and who took over the TARDIS.