Doctor Who - "Into the Dalek" - Review

Intro

A little bit later than usual this week due to working for most of the day and then being up all night reading Paper Towns by John Green. But here it is, my review for Doctor Who: "Into the Dalek."

SPOILER WARNING

The following review contains spoilers for Doctor Who, Series/Season 8, Episode 2, "Into the Dalek." If you have not seen it, go away. Come back after you've seen the episode. It will do you some good.

Doctor Who - "Into the Dalek" - Review

I will be the first to outright say that I really don't like Daleks. After Series/Season 2 of the new series, Daleks just got annoying and boring. That said, it's probably no surprise I wasn't looking forward to "Into the Dalek." I was sort of wrong in my assumption that it wouldn't be a good episode. In fact, I mostly enjoyed it.

I'll just throw out the bad stuff first. The space battle at the beginning. Yeah, I have a thing about space battles. Don't like them. Get bored during them. The Dalek invasion party bit was definitely a thing that happened. Much exploding and exterminating and unnecessary slow-mo dying. While it was kind of realistic from a battle standpoint, it was where I disengaged from the episode. On second watch, I think I even paused it to go get snacks at the point...

Now on to the better and good stuff of the episode. Let's start with Mr. Danny Pink. At first I thought Danny was a PE teacher. I clearly got the wrong. Not quite sure where they're going to take his character beyond being adorkable with Clara. He reminded me of Mickey Smith a few times there.

Jumping over to Ms. Journey Blue and the disposable babysitters now. Journey was interesting, I suppose. She managed to cover being both sensitive and soldier-y. I'm glad she didn't die or get to go with the Doctor. Of course, due to no casting information about adding her as a companion, we all knew that was going to happen. Also, she just didn't strike me as companion material. Disposable babysitter dude was disposable. I liked the last bit with slightly less disposable Gretchen Allison Carlyle. Not sure what her significance is to Missy, but then we know nothing about either of them so... there's that.

Rusty was alright for a Dalek. He reminded me both of Dalek Caan and the Dalek from "Dalek." Somewhat crazy but able to see the beauty in the universe. I was not at all surprised when Rusty called up The Doctor's hatred for the Daleks. Saw it coming from the moment The Doctor revealed his plan. Of course the creature who hates is going to zero in on the hatred. Not only that, but he's going to find the stuff about his race. Also, Rusty is at least the second Dalek to tell The Doctor he's be a good Dalek.

So while The Doctor is good at hating, I completely agree with Clara's assessment. The Doctor tries as hard as he can to be a good man. Whether or not he succeeds is another matter entirely and sometimes not his fault. No one is perfect.

Overall, I quite enjoyed "Into the Dalek." I've watched it twice before writing this and I have to reiterate that the commercials added in by BBC America throw off the flow of the episodes. Doctor Who wasn't built for commercial breaks. They work much better when not being constantly interrupted.

Favorite Moments

• Clara slapping The Doctor and the entire lead-up to the plan.
• Danny's recollection of his conversation with Clara. Gotta enjoy a good head-desk.
• The Doctor saving Journey in the beginning.
• The fake-out with Missy saving Gretchen.

Quotes!

"An anticlimax once in a while is good for my hearts." - The Doctor

"You asked me if you were a good man and the answer is: 'I don't know.' I think you try to be and I think that's probably the point." - Clara

"Do I pay you? I should give you a raise." - The Doctor

"I am a school teacher." - Clara

"I don't need armed babysitters." - The Doctor

"Don't be lasagna." - The Doctor

Love ya, Jessie