Asylum of the Daleks Review
Review of 7x01: Asylum of the Daleks. Spoilers Ahoy.
Overview
So here it is. After a much longer break than normal (the last episode was at Christmas) tonight the first episode of Season 7 aired. The season that promises a new companion, and the loss of some old ones. The Ponds are coming into the final straight. It’s nearly time to say goodbye.
Moffat promised us that each of the next five episodes would be like “little action movies.” While this struck me as more horror movie than action, I can see what he was going for.
And it’s certainly shaken things up a bit.
Episode Summery
The beginning bit with the Doctor on Skaro and the Ponds where ever they were was important for two reasons. One it established the concept of the special humanoid Dalek things - we’ll have to come up with a name for them - and two it made it clear that not everything is right in the State of Pond both of which are important for later in the episode.
The concept of a Dalek Asylum is an interesting one. As was stated in the episode it where was where all the defective Daleks went, the crazed, the broken, the battle scared. However the idea of a Dalek prison, suggests that the Daleks feel fear, that the Parliament of Daleks - and the Dalek Prime Minister, loved that - are scared of them. That’s not something you expect from the Daleks. As the Doctor said “Scared isn’t Dalek.”
I will get to the Saga of Amy and Rory below, so I’ll move on to what was the shining light of this episode. Jenna-Louise Colman as Oswin. There’s some confusion about whether Oswin is the new companion or whether Jenna will be playing a different character from Christmas, but either way she was absolutely brilliant. Kudos and thanks to the press and bloggers who managed to keep that little twist in the tale a secret.
The ending though, with Oswin revealed to be a Dalek, was horribly sad and will doubtless prompt a lot of questions. If she is the new companion, how does she get out of being a Dalek?
The Doctor
There was something dark about the Doctor in today’s episode. It’s possible - as we’ve seen from the Pond Life minisodes - that he’s been travelling on his own for a while, and as we know that’s not a good thing for the Doctor to do as he starts to get inside his own head. It’s also possible he’s detected that something is up with the Ponds and hopes that taking them away again will allow him to fix it. The look on his face when Amy told him she and Rory had split up, was one of someone seeing his family ripped away from him.
This episode cemented in my mind the Doctors role as a “fixer.” Whatever situation the Doctor finds himself in, he always manages to find a way out of it or to fix it, be it being trapped in the Dalek asylum of the breakup of the Ponds.
I also have one question, or thought if you prefer. Having dropped the Ponds off at home, effectively barred them from travelling with him full time, is the Doctor preparing for the day he’ll have to find himself a new companion to replace them?
The Companion
I’d known it was coming for a while - as had everyone who followed Steven Moffat on Twitter - but still. Actually seeing it happen, hearing Rory say that he and Amy were getting divorced. This was Amy and Rory. The Girl who Waited and The Lonely Centurion. They’d gone through too much and waited for each other for too long to just….break up.
Of course there was a reason behind it, and that was even more heart-breaking I think. The idea that Amy didn’t stop loving Rory, in fact she loved him so much that she was willing to let him go so he could be happy was acted out pitch perfectly by Karen Gillian. Both Karen and Arthur were superb in this episode - especially in their massive argument scene - and I think watching them go is going to hurt. A lot. They are the longest serving companions of the new season. It’s going to be quite strange when they are no longer there.
As mentioned above we also got a look at if not the new companion, the actress playing the new companion and what she will be like this episode. I think I can safely say that anyone who has any doubts about Jenna’s ability to keep up with Matt will have forgotten them by the end of the episode. She was funny, smart and almost as bouncy as Matt himself.
Come on Christmas.
The Bad Guy
I’ve not been a huge fan of the Daleks for a while now. I mean yes they are scary and are the Doctors Number One Enemy. But something about the continuous, “They’re all gone, Oh their not. Oh they are. Oh they aren’t.” has made me tire of them. This episode I think we got them back.
There is actually something scarier, about inert, broken Daleks I think than there is about live ones. With live ones you know what they are capable of. But these ones. You didn’t know if you could just creep past them or if they would wake up as you reached the door. They make you feel nervous, which is something new for the Daleks. Like I said. Not action movie, but horror movie.
The fact that they no longer know who the Doctor is, is another interesting idea. It means we get new battles, rather than the same old ideas and arguments being hashed out time and again. I’ll be interested to see what happens next time we meet them.
Conclusion
An episode with both thrills and chills, a new twist on an old idea and a first sight of the new companion. This was to my mind a pretty good episode. One thing I would say is if you are going to make a bit thing of bringing back every Dalek ever, than using more than just the Bronze and Skittle Daleks would have been good.
But oh it’s nice to have Who back.
Overview
So here it is. After a much longer break than normal (the last episode was at Christmas) tonight the first episode of Season 7 aired. The season that promises a new companion, and the loss of some old ones. The Ponds are coming into the final straight. It’s nearly time to say goodbye.
Moffat promised us that each of the next five episodes would be like “little action movies.” While this struck me as more horror movie than action, I can see what he was going for.
And it’s certainly shaken things up a bit.
Episode Summery
The beginning bit with the Doctor on Skaro and the Ponds where ever they were was important for two reasons. One it established the concept of the special humanoid Dalek things - we’ll have to come up with a name for them - and two it made it clear that not everything is right in the State of Pond both of which are important for later in the episode.
The concept of a Dalek Asylum is an interesting one. As was stated in the episode it where was where all the defective Daleks went, the crazed, the broken, the battle scared. However the idea of a Dalek prison, suggests that the Daleks feel fear, that the Parliament of Daleks - and the Dalek Prime Minister, loved that - are scared of them. That’s not something you expect from the Daleks. As the Doctor said “Scared isn’t Dalek.”
I will get to the Saga of Amy and Rory below, so I’ll move on to what was the shining light of this episode. Jenna-Louise Colman as Oswin. There’s some confusion about whether Oswin is the new companion or whether Jenna will be playing a different character from Christmas, but either way she was absolutely brilliant. Kudos and thanks to the press and bloggers who managed to keep that little twist in the tale a secret.
The ending though, with Oswin revealed to be a Dalek, was horribly sad and will doubtless prompt a lot of questions. If she is the new companion, how does she get out of being a Dalek?
The Doctor
There was something dark about the Doctor in today’s episode. It’s possible - as we’ve seen from the Pond Life minisodes - that he’s been travelling on his own for a while, and as we know that’s not a good thing for the Doctor to do as he starts to get inside his own head. It’s also possible he’s detected that something is up with the Ponds and hopes that taking them away again will allow him to fix it. The look on his face when Amy told him she and Rory had split up, was one of someone seeing his family ripped away from him.
This episode cemented in my mind the Doctors role as a “fixer.” Whatever situation the Doctor finds himself in, he always manages to find a way out of it or to fix it, be it being trapped in the Dalek asylum of the breakup of the Ponds.
I also have one question, or thought if you prefer. Having dropped the Ponds off at home, effectively barred them from travelling with him full time, is the Doctor preparing for the day he’ll have to find himself a new companion to replace them?
The Companion
I’d known it was coming for a while - as had everyone who followed Steven Moffat on Twitter - but still. Actually seeing it happen, hearing Rory say that he and Amy were getting divorced. This was Amy and Rory. The Girl who Waited and The Lonely Centurion. They’d gone through too much and waited for each other for too long to just….break up.
Of course there was a reason behind it, and that was even more heart-breaking I think. The idea that Amy didn’t stop loving Rory, in fact she loved him so much that she was willing to let him go so he could be happy was acted out pitch perfectly by Karen Gillian. Both Karen and Arthur were superb in this episode - especially in their massive argument scene - and I think watching them go is going to hurt. A lot. They are the longest serving companions of the new season. It’s going to be quite strange when they are no longer there.
As mentioned above we also got a look at if not the new companion, the actress playing the new companion and what she will be like this episode. I think I can safely say that anyone who has any doubts about Jenna’s ability to keep up with Matt will have forgotten them by the end of the episode. She was funny, smart and almost as bouncy as Matt himself.
Come on Christmas.
The Bad Guy
I’ve not been a huge fan of the Daleks for a while now. I mean yes they are scary and are the Doctors Number One Enemy. But something about the continuous, “They’re all gone, Oh their not. Oh they are. Oh they aren’t.” has made me tire of them. This episode I think we got them back.
There is actually something scarier, about inert, broken Daleks I think than there is about live ones. With live ones you know what they are capable of. But these ones. You didn’t know if you could just creep past them or if they would wake up as you reached the door. They make you feel nervous, which is something new for the Daleks. Like I said. Not action movie, but horror movie.
The fact that they no longer know who the Doctor is, is another interesting idea. It means we get new battles, rather than the same old ideas and arguments being hashed out time and again. I’ll be interested to see what happens next time we meet them.
Conclusion
An episode with both thrills and chills, a new twist on an old idea and a first sight of the new companion. This was to my mind a pretty good episode. One thing I would say is if you are going to make a bit thing of bringing back every Dalek ever, than using more than just the Bronze and Skittle Daleks would have been good.
But oh it’s nice to have Who back.