We're dead... AGAIN - Doctor Who 6x08 "Let's Kill Hitler" and 6x09 "Night Terrors" Reviews

Okay guys, let's talk about Doctor Who for a minute: As most of you will know, I do have a slight problem with Steven Moffat's way of running the show, especially since series six. Looking back on series six, there was only one episode (out of seven in the first half) I really truly enjoyed and that was “The Doctor's Wife”, written by Neil Gaiman way back before series five actually aired and Moffat started to go through with his master plan to mind-fuck us.

Now, I know lots of people really enjoyed last week's episode “Let's Kill Hitler” - and I was really looking forward to it too, spending almost the whole summer without Doctor Who - but I thought it was kind of disappointing. I don't want to say it was a bad episode, but... I don't quite get the whole euphoria.
So, I really enjoyed the beginning, Rory and Amy driving their mini through that corn field to call the Doctor via corn circles. Funny! Also, Eleven looked quite dashing in that coat.
And I really enjoyed seeing young Amy and Rory – so cute – and basically how they got together, even though I thought Mels was really annoying.
Apart from that: I'm kind of fed up with Moffat's obsession with World War II. It was nice in “The Empty Child/ The Doctor Dances”, I could handle “Victory to the Daleks” (because Mark Gatiss is a great writer, the tea daleks were fun and I liked – that version of – Winston Churchill) – but the Doctor has to whole of time and space at his hands and should be able to travel somewhere else. But I could live with that, too. It's a British show after all, and I know they love the topic.
So... let's kill Hitler.
I admit, the Doctor saving Hitler's life by accident was kind of funny, and Rory punching him in the face was really badass. (I love Rory, he's awesome!) And then – remember this is an episode called “Let's Kill Hitler” - we just put Hitler in the cupboard and forget about him?! Seriously?! And he cannot come out by himself again, or is found by someone? No? Sorry, I kind of all that a plot hole, right there, Mr. Moffat. I just feel this problem should have been solved somehow.
But I guess Hitler wasn't important anymore, now that Mels regenerated into... River Song. Or Melody Pond. Whatever. Because Mels' sole purpose in life is to kill the Doctor and what better way to get near him than to befriend your parents/ his friends while they're still children? So... Melody Pond was actually named after herself. Yeah...
Ok, Moffat's obsession is beginning to annoy me. It seems his whole plan for the series (beginning way back in series five) is only centered around the Doctor and River Song, and how they get together and how the Doctor dies. Where are the fun stories of traveling to the past and the future, fighting monsters, meeting famous people (other than Hitler, whom we haven't really met and solved crimes with – not that I'd want that, I know that wouldn't work – but just put away in a closet), getting to see funny aliens and having adventures? I miss that. But where was I?
Oh yeah, River Song – who doesn't know she's River Song yet – poisons the Doctor by kissing him (it was actually a cute kiss, I loved the little pucker thing Matt did with his lips there) and then runs off. So the Doctor is dying – AGAIN! And while the Ponds are all badass, following River on a motorbike, the Doctor seeks help from his TARDIS. And Moffat decides to crush some fangirl hearts.
We were promised cameos by Rose, Martha and Donna – and Moffat didn't exactly break this promise, letting them show up in the form of holograms the TARDIS's voice interface shows the Doctor after he requests to see “someone he likes” (other than himself, whom he obviously doesn't like). So he gets first Rose, then Martha and then Donna, whom he rejects because “guilt!” until he gets little Amelia Pond (because apparently he hasn't screwed her up yet). But... as nice as it was to see the Doctor (or at least the TARDIS) remembered Rose, Martha and Donna, it was really sad to see them reduced to just that one association GUILT! They did have nice times, fun times, didn't they? These were and still are brave women without whose help the world would have ended more than once before. They were his friends! (Yes, totally citing Harry Potter here but it's true) So, I thought it was a little insulting to just reduce them to this one, negative, feeling. *shakes fist* Moffat!!!!!
To be honest, I could't care less about this whole Amy and Rory within that Amy robot thing. Their “I love you” hug when they thought they'd die was very sweet, but really, that whole robot assassin story was only a little, unimportant subplot, or so it felt. It was like Moffat thinking “Oh, I need a little bit of plot around the River/Doctor stuff, let's just take a time traveling robot steered by tiny people that tries to take out evil people throughout history” (btw how Star Trek did the inside of that robot look?).
So, the Doctor is still dying, but nonetheless has time to change into his dinner frock and top hat – yes, the Sonic Cane was really cool and Matt looked dashing in that outfit but that's so not the point – to mess a bit with River Song. And River/Mels/Melody finally realized that the Doctor is a good man and she doesn't want to kill him because one day they'll be in love and so she uses all her remaining regenerations to save him. Just like that.
And after she's recovered she studies to become an archeologist to be able to find the Doctor throughout history.
Problem: Amy and Rory don't seem to have a problem with leaving their daughter (which is still weird) once again – after making it the Doctor's most important mission to find their Melody. Seriously? It's that easy?
Second: River Song, who started out in series four being really quite badass and becoming more and more so during “The Pandorica Opens/ The Big Bang” and “The Impossible Astronaut/ Day of the Moon” - and I really came to like her – is now building her whole life around the Doctor. Everything she does is because of and centered around him. Independence? Emancipation? Badassery? Yeah... not much to zero. *shakes fist* Moffat! Btw, this episode and the whole way she acted in it really made me dislike, even hate River Song. She was nice while making a few guest appearances but it's getting too much. This is still Doctor Who not The River Song and Doctor Show. Sorry.

Here's a review that pretty much says what I've been thinking for quite some time now. (Except that I don't mind Alex Kingston all that much)



But...
HOW LUCKY ARE WE TO HAVE MARK GATISS?

Yes, he wrote this week's episode “Night Terrors” which was everything I always loved about Doctor Who. This episode was funny, scary, it had HEART.
The Doctor gets called to a child's bedroom because said child is scared of monsters. It's the most basic plot, but it's the essence of the show. The Doctor fighting monsters, making scared children sleep sound again. Of course, the scared child in this particular case turns out to be an alien cuckoo's egg, who puts everyone that scares him into his closet, or, rather, into the doll house in his closet where they're going to be turned into real scary wooden dolls (btw the Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver still doesn't do wood).
The episode involved the Doctor being funny, the monsters being really scary – it's more scary when it's something domestic, something that could really happen, the Ponds being badass. Seriously, Amy with that frying pan just like Rapunzel in Disney's Tangled and Rory fighting the dolls (plus Amy doll) off with a mop – priceless! Also Rory's “are we dead? Again!” was hilarious. Furthermore, I really love Matt Smith interacting with children, he's so good at that! And Jamie Oram who played little George is the most awesome kid ever! (Watch the Doctor Who Confidentials episode, Jamie is the bestest!) I also really liked that what George was actually scared off was being rejected by his (foster) parents and that all it needed to make the “Night Terrors” go away was for his dad to accept him as his son. As I said: something for the heart.
And yup, this giant-headed dolls scared the shit out of me.
Mark Gatiss, you're a hero! Bless this man!
(although I'm fairly sure Moffat made him put that nursery rhyme with the clock ticking for the Doctor in there at the end. After all, he's still following his master plot to kill the Doctor...)

Also, some observations I made:
The CLOSET: Hitler was put in a closet in the last episode, now we have monsters put in the closet. Coincidence? Or Moffat master plan?
The Doctor wasn't wearing the new coat anymore but went back to his usual tweed and bow tie. So... I was thinking: Maybe we're dealing with more than one Doctor (from different points in time) here. It would be classic Moffat. And the clothes are indicating that. Just a thought.
There's also a lot of the Doctor running around separate from the Ponds. Foreshadowing of an upcoming separation? Will the Ponds leave? Will there be new companions? I really wouldn't mind. I do love the Ponds, I enjoy watching them, but so far Eleven spent almost two series with them and it would be interesting to see him interact with someone new. It was nice seeing him with George's dad, it was also nice seeing him in “The Lodger”. It's about time. (Oh God I will miss Amy and Rory!)


So, yeah, Doctor Who still is some kind of roller coaster ride for me. I miss Russell T Davies. I always will. It's not the loss of David Tennant so much, I do enjoy Matt Smith as the Doctor, but Moffat's plots drive me bonkers.