River Song The Doctors Wife
Best Episode: Day of the Moon
Youve got a screwdriver! Go build a cabinet!
Ah, River Song. The only person in the room who knows more than the Doctor that, and her unbelievably clever wit and general take-no-prisoners approach to life is what makes her a perfect match for Eleven. Their chemistry is amazing, and pretty much any scene with both of them in it (inevitably arguing or flirting or both at the same time) is beyond entertaining. Shes smart, shes tough, shes funny, shes good with a gun, and shes got killer lines like the one above and this classic quote from Lets Kill Hitler: Well, I was on my way to this gay Gypsy bar mitzvah for the disabled when I suddenly thought, Gosh, the Third Reichs a bit rubbish, I think Ill kill the Fuhrer! With lip like that, whats not to love about River Song? Well, for starters, we run into the same problem as the series did with Amy. Once more the main female character in Elevens life is a mystery that he has to unravel, and this makes her seem more like a puzzle for the Doctor to solve than an actual person. Also, just like Amys whole life became all about waiting for her Doctor to come back, Rivers whole life has been spent learning all about the Doctor, first in order to kill him, and then to find him in all of time and space. River doesnt have much identity outside being with the Doctor; her claim to fame, i.e. being the Doctors wife, also led up to one of the most tragic butcherings of character I have ever seen, in The Wedding of River Song. This formerly strong, independent, intelligent character is reduced to a weepy, emotional mess as she refuses to sacrifice her own happiness for the sake of the rest of mankind: River: Ill suffer if I have to kill you. Doctor: More than every living thing in the universe?! River: Yes. For the most part I really liked this episode until I saw this scene, and then I was just appalled at what the writers had done to her character. The River I knew would never be that selfish or want to cause her Doctor that much pain just for the sake of her own emotional welfare. No, of course she doesnt want to kill the love of her life, but when it comes down to either her survival or the rest of the universes, theres really no question about it, is there? I was so disappointed in what they had done to her character just in order to fill in a plot point. Luckily she never reverts to that horrific state of character again, and has quite a brilliant comeback in The Angels Take Manhattan. While her story seemed to come to an end in The Name of the Doctor, some important questions still remain unanswered: when does the Doctor tell her his name? When does he give her his sonic screwdriver? Hopefully she returns in the Christmas special so we will have some resolution to her story before Eleven regenerates!