I'll be honest, I found the first half of the current season to be somewhat dull after the first two episodes. The only episode of note for me (after the two part premiere) being The Doctor's Wife, that is until the mid-season finale. The finale was a real killjoy for me, mostly due to the revelation at the end of River actually being Amy and Rory's child. It put the relationship between her and The Doctor in a rather awkward light to say the least. Suffice it be said I was fairly upset, but did my best to come to terms with it, but never could no matter how many times I watched the episode.
Fast forward through the summer months to last night's episode, Let's Kill Hitler. I can safely say that I am now far more okay with River being Amy and Rory's daughter than I was at the beginning of June. The reason is four words, super villain River Song.
Okay, so her time on the dark side of the force didn't last for very long, but damn was it awesome. I think they really passed up an opportunity to give The Doctor a new Time Lord villain that wasn't The Master. (temporary though she'd have been) We've already seen how much awesome River can dish out when she's allied with The Doctor, I think it would have been a fun set of stories to pit the two against each other for a time. Sadly, by episode's end, River has already been brought back to the side of good and the status quot of who's good and who's bad is restored. While her career as a budding super villain was stopped prematurely, it's entirely possible we'll get an interesting character arc on how she copes with turning against her sole purpose for being alive. She still has to kill The Doctor in Utah, (or so they want us to believe) and it's not a far stretch of the imagination that it comes as a result of the inner conflict she is no doubt about to go through.
Of course River's character development wasn't the only thing great about this episode. As the title implies we got to spend a little time with everyone's favorite genocidal dictator. I'd be lying if I said going into this episode I didn't imagine that it would be a wonderful romp of insanity as Amy, Rory, and The Doctor did their damnedest to kill Hitler because they somehow stopped him from dying like history says he should. Yes, copious amount of Benny Hill music, Monty Python references, and Looney Toon gags were involved in this imagined episode. Still, Hitler's screen time was probably the highlight of the current season for me. It was wonderfully hysterical and luckily didn't out stay it's welcome. I'll probably be one of many to say this, but I want a t-shirt with Rory saying "Shut up Hitler, and get in the cupboard."
The episode has a few plot holes of logic (for instance the people in the robot failing to make sure they were in the right year before they carried out their mission) but what episode of Doctor Who doesn't have a few speckled around. Overall it was a great way for the show to return from the summer break, and has left me chomping at the bit for more.
Next week's episode is Night Terrors, and it looks like it's shaping up to be rife with nightmare fuel for everyone.
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