More Doctor Who wibble with spoilers

[daibhidc]

This afternoon I commented to my sister that with typical Moffat sneakiness, answering the question "Who is River really?" hadn't actually told us any of the things we wanted to know when we asked "Who is River really?" We didn't know what her relationship with the Doctor was, or who she killed, or...

And at that point my sister looked at me like I was mad, and said "She killed the Doctor. We saw it happen. Melody Pond is the girl in the spacesuit, remember?"

And I was astounded because that honestly hadn't occured to me. Even though we saw a major flashback of the Doctor connecting Melody's Timelordness to the girl in the spacesuit. And somehow, it still didn't feel right.

And I've finally worked out why. The moment Amy's question about her hypothetical child having "a time head" was juxtaposed with Spacesuit Girl regenerating, I thought "That would suggest..." It was literally the first thing I thought of. Just as when Octavian said River killed "a good man. A hero to many", the first thing I thought was "That sounds like the Doctor."

And I've had enough experience with Moffat plots by now to automatically discount the first thing I thought of. Moffatt could start the next Confidential by saying "Yes, I hope it's quite clear now. Melody is Spacesuit Girl is River, she's in Stormcage for killing the Doctor and by the way yes, she's his wife!" and my reaction would be "Okay, so where's he really going with this?"

Comments

[scarfman]

I keep saying that I seem to be the only fan who didn't have a theory who River really is to be confirmed or denied by this episode. Now you see why I don't maintain such theories.

[rob-t-firefly.livejournal.com]

You were not alone in this.

[scarfman]

I keep saying that I seem to be the only fan who didn't have a theory who River really is to be confirmed or denied by this episode. Now you see why I don't maintain such theories.

[scarfman]

I keep saying that I seem to be the only fan who didn't have a theory who River really is to be confirmed or denied by this episode. Now you see why I don't maintain such theories.

[vatine]

As happens, when Melody was introduced by name, at the beginning of the episode, I was going "no, that's a bit too obvious, but I can't see how to modify Kovarian into 'River Song', so we'll see".

[daibhid-c.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure why River sacrificing herself for the Doctor means she can't have killed him. And if she killed the Ganger Doctor, then wouldn't that make him the good man she killed?

Personally, not only am I not convinced Spacesuit Girl is Melody/River, I'm also not at all sure that the spacesuited person who killed the Doctor (forty years after Spacesuit Girl escaped her spacesuit) is actually Spacesuit Girl. We never see their face in that scene.

[moustachios.livejournal.com]

Melody Pond can't be Spacesuit Girl, because River (who is Melody) was as baffled as anyone else about the spacesuit, why the little girl was calling for help, etc. (Or she's a good liar.)

I do think she might have killed Rory. Or possibly just witnessed his grizzly end, or outlived him, or something. She seemed surprised, and a bit sad, when he showed up at Stormcage.

I'm mostly still puzzled about why Amy and River both got stomach-sick on early exposure to the Silence. WHAT IF THEY WERE BOTH PREGNANT? Spacesuit Girl being River and the Doctor's kid or something would be just so... soap opera.

[daibhid-c.livejournal.com]

Melody Pond can't be Spacesuit Girl, because River (who is Melody) was as baffled as anyone else about the spacesuit, why the little girl was calling for help, etc. (Or she's a good liar.)

Good point.

A theory my sister and neice came up with is that, whoever she killed, the real reason she's in Stormcage is so Eyepatch Woman can't reach her.

[pedanther]

The other reason I don't believe the Impossible Astronaut killing the Doctor was River killing the Good Man was that there's no obvious way that could lead to her being arrested and bunged into Stormhold.

Speaking of Moffat being sneaky, though: It's mentioned in passing in the Confidential that the writing on the side of the crib, which Amy can't read because it's in Gallifreyan, is the Doctor's name -- which means that in addition to trumpeting the answer to River's identity, Moffat's also quietly slipped us the end to the sentence "The only way you could possibly know my name is --"