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“Except they don't have a word for 'pond' because the only water in the forest is the river. The Doctor will find your daughter and he will care for her whatever it takes. And I know that. It's me. I'm Melody. I'm your daughter.”
Loads of stuff is thrown at the screen, and not all of it makes a lot of sense if you think about it too hard. Other ideas that could have made great stories by themselves are given only a few short scenes or moments. A big emotional climax. Even a companion-that-never was in the mould of Lynda-with-a-y. In many ways, 'A Good Man Goes to War' felt like a Russell T. Davies finale as seen through the mind of Steven Moffat, and for me, that was a very, very good thing.
Sure, if you think about the early part of the plot, there are elements that don't quite add up. Why, for example, would the Doctor have chosen that group of people to help him in his darkest hour, and is his hubris really so great that he'd fall for the army diversion trap? But when the result is as fast-paced, packed and downright entertaining as this, these small niggles are forgotten.
The episode spends a good twenty minutes building up to the arrival of the Doctor, with both the tease of the TARDIS materializing to call in some old debts, then with the suggestion that it's the Doctor beneath one of the Headless Monk hoods. Moffat has great fun with all this, allowing it to move the story along without taxing the brain too much – I especially loved the way he couldn't resist making us think briefly that the Doctor was Melody's father.
But, of course, the real crux of the episode, and indeed the series, is the identity of River Song. We knew it was coming, thanks to her scene with Rory early in the episode, and a link between her and Amy has been speculated ever since Amy's surname was announced. I'm normally awful at guessing these things, but as soon as the baby's first name was first shown, I knew what the revelation would be. And yet, I was completely hooked to the final few moments, unable to take my eyes off the screen, thanks to some great writing and excellent acting.
Karen Gillan has never been better than she was in those final moments, while the glee and shock on Matt Smith's enchanting face was a sight to behold. And Alex Kingston proved once again that she's more than capable of delivering the other side of River, the sensitivity behind her flirtatious demeanour. But for me, the true heart of the episode, and these first seven episodes, has been Arthur Darvill as Rory. Sweet, lovely, noble, glorious Rory, who finally showed us what he's made of as he calmly asks a fleet of Cybermen the simple question “where is my wife?” without flinching. I honestly cannot put into words just how glad I am that he's a permanent member of the team, and just how subtle and just how wonderful his performance is.
We'll have to wait until September to find out if splitting the series in half worked, but I understand why this was chosen as the mid-series cliffhanger, as this revelation raises far more questions than it answers. Can River regneerate? If so, is she the girl from the end of 'Day of the Moon', or is that just what we're meant to think? And will the young Melody be reunited with her parents? Where does this leave the Doctor and River? But, most of all, can my love for Matt Smith's face and Arthur Darvill's nobility increase any more? I guess we'll find out in September.
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