NuWho Review: Series 8 Episode 2 "Into The Dalek"

By: Phil Ford & Steven Moffat

**Spoilers**

If you have not yet seen this episode, please go and do so before proceeding.

        I'm not entirely sure what to think about this episode. First off, I really loved it. I think it's the best dalek story we've had since Series 1 of the revived show. It had some notable similarities to the Series 1 episode Dalek, but managed to turn those into more of a strength than a weakness. We have known the daleks for nearly 51 years now and, given that they are The Doctor's most iconic and recurring nemesis, they are increasingly difficult to build innovative stories around. (I think - hope - that we've given up on trying to make them scary again. All such attempts just end in embarrassment for all involved.) When I heard that this episode was going to feature a 'good dalek' I groaned and massaged the bridge of my nose in exasperation, expecting another of the Moffat flops that have been happening with alarming regularity of late. Do you remember back to The Doctor Dances? Remember how 'everybody lives' was such a novel concept? Remember back whenever we SAW The Doctor lose everything rather than just hear people make grandiose speeches about it? Remember how intimidating and cruel the daleks were in The Parting of the Ways? Remember?  Good. Because that is what this episode is. It feels like Dalek crossed over with The Parting of the Ways and just a touch of the better parts of Let's Kill Hitler. And I really enjoyed it.

Favorite Moments & Random Thoughts:

- Peter Capaldi is absolutely magnetic. Every time he is on screen he just commands respect and draws the attention of the audience. Just the scene where he picks up Soldier Blue (who was so generic I don't even remember her first name) and is utterly unconcerned with anything but the big picture. It's a stark reminder that not only is this no longer Smith's uncoordinated house cat Doctor, but that The Doctor isn't human and doesn't necessarily think the same way we do. He tries to be comforting...kind of...but ultimately comes off as cold and uncaring. Alien.

- The moment when The Doctor first sees that captured dalek simply puts chills up my spine. It's not just the eyebrows. Capaldi's face goes from impatient but eager to help to simmering rage and hatred.

- Danny Pink, the new companion/potential love interest for Clara. Hmmm. What do I think about Danny? It's still a little bit early to know whether or not he'll turn out to be an annoyance or an asset...but I think, at this point, he seems okay. Certainly he doesn't grate on my nerves the way Mickey did, but some things just felt a bit forced about him. Like they're going to try for another Rory Williams. And that's just not going to end well.

- Okay. So the questions from the students were a good way to introduce Danny and to give him some exposition back-story, except for one problem: WHY WOULD A KID BE ASKING THOSE QUESTIONS?! I wasn't a particularly shy kid and I would never have thought of, nor dared to, ask my teacher that. It would be one thing if the kid in question was played like Malfoy or something...but he isn't. It's played totally straight and logical and just feels like the plot bending over backwards to accommodate itself. Samuel Anderson is amazing. It's not his fault the script let him down there.

- The one good thing about these scenes, though, is that Clara's joke about soldiers (her 'quirky wit') got her into trouble this time as they cut Danny deeper than she expected. Character development in progress! First step is consequences for actions.

- It is funny that The Doctor went to get coffee for Clara and missed the mark by about three weeks. His steering is as bad as ever.

- I feel like the whole "Am I a good man?" scene, excellently acted though it is, was introduced WAY too early in the episode. 

- I do, however, LOVE the direction that 12 and Clara's relationship is taking this series. A big part of what made Clara unlikable in series 7 was that she seemed to be defined by little other than her generic wittiness and her ambiguously flirtatious relationship with The Doctor. I think that this change of direction was just what we needed to give her character a kick in the pants development-wise and it gives us a lovely dynamic between Doctor and companion that really seems to fit better. Clara was born to save The Doctor. She is the Impossible Girl which basically means she's the glorified nanny for this ancient Time Lord. So now, in this new dynamic, she looks after him just as much as he looks after her. They have a mentor-student relationship that is a bit reminiscent of 7 and Ace and is just a joy to watch.

 - She's his carer so he doesn't have to bother with it.

- The wired-up dalek shots are very similar to that episode with Henry van Statten. I wonder if all the parallels are intentional as this episode does seem to deal with the fact that The Doctor has been fooled by 'good daleks' so many times in the past and has lost so much to them in general that he has a burning hatred overriding all else concerning the daleks.

- The shrink ray. "Fantastic idea for a movie, terrible idea for a proctologist" I feel like I'm missing some kind of big reference here...

- I think the idea of actually going inside the dalek is one of the greatest things ever. Because we've had the daleks feature so much in the show for the past 50 years, there's not a whole lot new that can be done with them without heading into the realm of absurdity. This was something new that I don't think we've ever seen before.

- "Don't be lasagna"

- Have I mentioned the visuals in this episode? Have I? Well even if I have, I'm going to say it again...they. Are. GORGEOUS! Kudos to the director for this, but everything from the shots of outer-space to the underwater effects of going through the eyestalk of the dalek are absolutely stunning. Sure the SFX are sometimes a little bit dubious, but for this show it looks bloody amazing and still manages to amaze.

- I do think, however, that they re-used the Teselecta set a bit. I definitely recognize some of those corridors. I also wish that the antibodies, cool as the concept was, were a bit less generic looking. The old antibodies were weird and bizarre and darkly hilarious. These ones just felt boring and stupid and like mosquitoes.

- They also reused a concept from The Beast Below with that tube and the 'stomach' area of the dalek. I must say, though, it was used better here than it was in that earlier episode. I actually laughed whenever The Doctor coolly told them that their buddy was the top layer of ooze, should they want to say any words.

- So the screwdriver has a welding app now? Huh. Good to know.

- I still don't get where the connection about "What have we learned from this?" came from? Okay. So the dalek was good for a moment? So? That's obvious. You just need to reprogram it. What does that prove? Nothing particularly tricky there.

- "An anti-climax, now and again, is good for my hearts."

- But of course it wasn't that simple. One thing I will say about the daleks in this episode...they were intimidating and kill-y again. Sure they mainly killed off generic soldiers. BUT THEY KILLED SOMEONE! This is a good sign for their characters. We've had too much of the 'everybody lives' recently, especially when the daleks are involved.

- By far the best parts of this episode, hands down, are The Doctor talking to the dalek he kind-of-fondly names Rusty, trying to reprogram him to see the wonders of the universe.

- They accomplish this via a mind meld (for once helped out by Clara and NOT made possible with the sonic) that would have made Spock proud. I love the way the dalek does begin to think and see a different way before the rampant hatred that The Doctor holds for the children of Skaro comes and infects him.

- I really think it was interesting that The Doctor admitted that just turning one dalek to destroy them all wasn't a victory. This was a nice, ambiguous ending where all wasn't tied up nice and neat, but still had a feeling of completion.

- I don't know what The Doctor was on about with his whole 'If only you weren't a soldier...' spiel. What? Does he have some rule against soldiers? If so, what on earth was he hanging about with Martha for? He WAS a soldier for a while and this regeneration has the memories of accepting the War Doctor. And what about The Brigadier? Come on!

- Missy! *shakes fist* What's up with you?!

            This episode was a real gamble. Maybe they didn't think of it that way (seeing as how Moffat CLEARLY thought that Asylum of the Daleks would make them scary again) but it was. A good dalek? Seriously? How cheesy is that? And yet it worked. Sometimes the pacing felt a little bit off and the supporting characters were beyond generic, but at least nothing dragged or was outright boring. Over all this episode had some great visuals, wonderful performances, the daleks were at least killing left and right, and we got the full force of Capaldi's darker Doctor start to finish. Into The Dalek is a 4/5.

What did you think? Do you agree with my rating? If not - what would you say differently?