DW 7x01
I'm gonna start out by saying that I really did love Asylum of the Daleks. I spent all year thinking I wouldn't be returning to DW with the new season but tumblr spoiled me on the Big Thing and I watched and it was wonderful. Except for a few things that could so easily not have even been issues that it's embarrassing.
The Good:
Oswin is adorable and I love her. I don't think I've loved a companion so much on first meeting since Rose so yay!
The reveal at the end, even though I knew exactly what was coming, was heartbreaking and made me love the character even more.
Amy and Rory still very clearly cared for each other. Their dynamic was still great, especially the Parliament scene. A lot of couples would have made their personal drama a main issue of the episode but instead the Doctor had to force them into the spotlight. Amy and Rory were seasoned companions who understood they are not the center of the events they get caught up in.
The Okay:
So we went to an asylum where the worst of the worst Daleks were housed and got ... not much. They were laughably inept and really, if they have the power to turn a human girl into a Dalek, they should be able to repair themselves. The danger levels were painfully low throughout the episode.
The Bad:
(None of these quotes are exact and most don't even try to be.)
"It is abhorant to us to destroy such beautiful hatred."
Two minutes later...
"We're gonna blow up the planet."
"It's where the Daleks send the worst of the worst."
Two minutes later...
"Something's gotten in and if something can get in that means that other things can get out."
Ten minutes later...
"The nano cloud is the planet's automated defense system, destroying and assimilating any non-Dalek lifeform that manages to reach the surface."
"You'll need this to protect you from the nano cloud."
Forty minutes later...
"Time Lord biology. He must not need it."
The last one I'm hoping might be a set-up for something later but I'm not holding my breath since Moffat has been going on and on about all the stand-alone episodes this season. (The Daleks know Time Lords, if they think the Doctor needs a wristband, he needs one.) The first two though could easily have been dealt with with a simple shift in motive. The Daleks think the beings living on the Asylum (and by extension the Asylum itself) are Beautiful and suddenly they're getting this weird signal that is very much not beautiful. So why couldn't they have just wanted the Doctor to "save" whatever was sending it? Of course their plan would have been to destroy the Doctor and the abomination when he got it back up, just like their plan was to destroy the Doctor in the show.
The Unsure:
Did the Ponds never talk before the divorce? I'm sure their marrital issues were about more than just Amy's infertility and I'm sure that they got a lot of talking done while the Doctor was getting to Oswin, but I just don't feel like there was enough. A Ponds reconciliation episode should have been more about the Ponds. (And yes, I know I praised the episode earlier for it not being about the Ponds so much. Even though I'm still happy about that and the reconciliation, under the circumstances I would have liked a more believable wait of an episode or two.)
After watching the episode I was sure Oswin had somehow used her genius to survive and would get back to a human body (hopefully without anything relating to the Flesh because it's always problematic and can be used lazily). But tumblr and that "remember me"-plus-look-at-the-camera got me thinking and I really do not like this theory that is floating around about Oswin already travelling with the Doctor before the crash (and, I assume, forgetting him due to her transformation and not remembering until mid-way through that last conversation and knowing not to tell him because she's a genius). It's just too Forest of the Dead for me and I've already got a River-vibe from Oswin. I don't want her to feel recycled.
-
But of course there's plenty of time to deal with Oswin and who really cares if the Ponds are sickeningly happy. It was a great episode and I'm looking forward to what's to come. So long as the big issue at season's end isn't time breaking again. Threaten to wipe out the human race, we promise to be just as concerned.
The Good:
Oswin is adorable and I love her. I don't think I've loved a companion so much on first meeting since Rose so yay!
The reveal at the end, even though I knew exactly what was coming, was heartbreaking and made me love the character even more.
Amy and Rory still very clearly cared for each other. Their dynamic was still great, especially the Parliament scene. A lot of couples would have made their personal drama a main issue of the episode but instead the Doctor had to force them into the spotlight. Amy and Rory were seasoned companions who understood they are not the center of the events they get caught up in.
The Okay:
So we went to an asylum where the worst of the worst Daleks were housed and got ... not much. They were laughably inept and really, if they have the power to turn a human girl into a Dalek, they should be able to repair themselves. The danger levels were painfully low throughout the episode.
The Bad:
(None of these quotes are exact and most don't even try to be.)
"It is abhorant to us to destroy such beautiful hatred."
Two minutes later...
"We're gonna blow up the planet."
"It's where the Daleks send the worst of the worst."
Two minutes later...
"Something's gotten in and if something can get in that means that other things can get out."
Ten minutes later...
"The nano cloud is the planet's automated defense system, destroying and assimilating any non-Dalek lifeform that manages to reach the surface."
"You'll need this to protect you from the nano cloud."
Forty minutes later...
"Time Lord biology. He must not need it."
The last one I'm hoping might be a set-up for something later but I'm not holding my breath since Moffat has been going on and on about all the stand-alone episodes this season. (The Daleks know Time Lords, if they think the Doctor needs a wristband, he needs one.) The first two though could easily have been dealt with with a simple shift in motive. The Daleks think the beings living on the Asylum (and by extension the Asylum itself) are Beautiful and suddenly they're getting this weird signal that is very much not beautiful. So why couldn't they have just wanted the Doctor to "save" whatever was sending it? Of course their plan would have been to destroy the Doctor and the abomination when he got it back up, just like their plan was to destroy the Doctor in the show.
The Unsure:
Did the Ponds never talk before the divorce? I'm sure their marrital issues were about more than just Amy's infertility and I'm sure that they got a lot of talking done while the Doctor was getting to Oswin, but I just don't feel like there was enough. A Ponds reconciliation episode should have been more about the Ponds. (And yes, I know I praised the episode earlier for it not being about the Ponds so much. Even though I'm still happy about that and the reconciliation, under the circumstances I would have liked a more believable wait of an episode or two.)
After watching the episode I was sure Oswin had somehow used her genius to survive and would get back to a human body (hopefully without anything relating to the Flesh because it's always problematic and can be used lazily). But tumblr and that "remember me"-plus-look-at-the-camera got me thinking and I really do not like this theory that is floating around about Oswin already travelling with the Doctor before the crash (and, I assume, forgetting him due to her transformation and not remembering until mid-way through that last conversation and knowing not to tell him because she's a genius). It's just too Forest of the Dead for me and I've already got a River-vibe from Oswin. I don't want her to feel recycled.
-
But of course there's plenty of time to deal with Oswin and who really cares if the Ponds are sickeningly happy. It was a great episode and I'm looking forward to what's to come. So long as the big issue at season's end isn't time breaking again. Threaten to wipe out the human race, we promise to be just as concerned.