Story: Into the Dalek
The Twelfth Doctor gets his inevitable meeting with the Daleks in his second episode, "Into the Dalek", in which the Doctor must get shrunk down and save a Dalek that is hurt, but also showing signs of being a good Dalek, wanting to destroy the Daleks for what they are and seeing beauty in the universe. Capaldi shows us more of his strengths in the role, again he is strong and gripping, but with a definite vulnerability as well.
I appreciated that the episode didn't just feel like a gimmicky kind of episode...which a shrinking episode could've easily fell into the trap of. Instead it feels much more character driven than a Dalek episode usually would. The Doctor is really trying to figure out whether or not he is a good man, something this new incarnation is struggling with. The episode isn't just an excuse to look at the inside of a Dalek, it also looks at the inside of the Doctor. Who he is deep down, or at least how he currently feels about himself deep down. Moffat may need co-writers like Phil Ford to help bring forth the characterization that he kind of struggles with on his own, in favor of zany plots.
Also in this episode, we meet the new recurring character of Danny Pink, a fellow teacher with Clara and a former soldier. We don't see a lot of him, but we get a few hints about his character such as he is awkward around ladies, he seems to have regrets about something that happened when he was a soldier, and that he and Clara are going out for drinks and a relationship is probably on the horizon. The actor seems likable enough, so I look forward to future episodes with him.
Again we get a mysterious scene with Missy, the Gatekeeper to the Nethersphere (as Moffat initially described her in interviews), as one of the soliders in the episode dies and is again greeted by Missy and told that she is in heaven. I like that instead of a lot of plotlines to follow, as we had during the Matt Smith era, we are getting a simple thread that follows through the episodes, much more like the RTD era and the first Smith Series. I'm very intrigued to see where this character and storyline end up.
This is a solid episode for Capaldi, who once again shows that he is the right man for the job. I think he had more intriguing moments in his debut episode, but he just felt like the stalwart Doctor we want, and he gets some introspective moments as well. Probably the best truly Dalek story in a long while. They've had some great moments here and there, but the last really great story in which the Daleks felt well utilized was the two-part finale to Series 2.
NEXT TIME: Sherwood Forest
Written By: Phil Ford & Steven Moffat
Length: 45 Minutes
Year: 2014The Twelfth Doctor gets his inevitable meeting with the Daleks in his second episode, "Into the Dalek", in which the Doctor must get shrunk down and save a Dalek that is hurt, but also showing signs of being a good Dalek, wanting to destroy the Daleks for what they are and seeing beauty in the universe. Capaldi shows us more of his strengths in the role, again he is strong and gripping, but with a definite vulnerability as well.
Also in this episode, we meet the new recurring character of Danny Pink, a fellow teacher with Clara and a former soldier. We don't see a lot of him, but we get a few hints about his character such as he is awkward around ladies, he seems to have regrets about something that happened when he was a soldier, and that he and Clara are going out for drinks and a relationship is probably on the horizon. The actor seems likable enough, so I look forward to future episodes with him.
Again we get a mysterious scene with Missy, the Gatekeeper to the Nethersphere (as Moffat initially described her in interviews), as one of the soliders in the episode dies and is again greeted by Missy and told that she is in heaven. I like that instead of a lot of plotlines to follow, as we had during the Matt Smith era, we are getting a simple thread that follows through the episodes, much more like the RTD era and the first Smith Series. I'm very intrigued to see where this character and storyline end up.
This is a solid episode for Capaldi, who once again shows that he is the right man for the job. I think he had more intriguing moments in his debut episode, but he just felt like the stalwart Doctor we want, and he gets some introspective moments as well. Probably the best truly Dalek story in a long while. They've had some great moments here and there, but the last really great story in which the Daleks felt well utilized was the two-part finale to Series 2.
NEXT TIME: Sherwood Forest
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