I like your idea about Rory. The theme of making the right, even heroic choices despite your limits and of not letting other people define your existence is really interesting and powerful. If that's what Moffat does with River, I think I'd be happy with it. Even the Doctor has to deal with his past and the impossible choices that were forced on him. As do we all. Whether she was intentionally altered by the TARDIS, programmed by the Silence, or whatever happened to her, that would be an interesting path to go down.

Yeah, the whole impressionable girl thing is cropping up so much I think it has to be leading up to something. I mean, it even happened to Lorna Bucket, who is a minor one-shot character.

I hope you're right. I feel like Moffat is trying to plant leads for so many things, and right now it just feels irritating to me to have so many loose ends. Maybe next half-season there'll be some closure that makes them all worth it.