EXTERMINATE, EXTERMINATE!!
Right from the moment I saw this… Dalek, I couldn’t help but shout “Blorgon! Inspector, watch out!” If you readers do not understand this reference, it is from my favorite TV show “Community”, which spoofed Dr.Who in a few episodes with its own version, “Inspector Spacetime”.
Now is the episode “Dalek” silly? Yes, without a doubt. Is it more grim, intense, gripping, and concentrated? Yes! Although there were a few jokes in this episode, it was mostly a more serious and less contrived story which filled in some of the black and white background the Doctor has forged for himself. The good news is that the jokes in this episode were actually laugh-out-loud funny, and when the show wanted to switch to being intense? Almost like magic, I was leaning into my monitor, my heart racing.
Let me just say, this is hands down my favorite episode of the show thus far, it accomplishes a lot in the time given and is much more entertaining than previous episodes. This is the first GOOD episode of the show, and I couldn’t be more thrilled.
The villain in this episode is the Dalek, the last of the Dalek’s, which are a genetically created alien race out to quite literally… exterminate. This episode draws a few parallels between the Dalek and the Doctor, whom are both the last of their species, and are out to kill each other. This was an intriguing way to introduce a villain, because before this the baddies were… well… just plain out baddies. They were evil for the hell of being evil, with hackneyed excuses as to why they are doing what they are doing. Here, although the Dalek was “bred to exterminate”, has a hatred of the Doctor as the Doctor has a hatred for him.
Needless to say, I very much enjoyed this development. We got a little backstory on the “Last time war” and we got to see what the weird deformed alien-Dalek looks like. A pretty interesting accomplishment within this universe the writers are attempting to create.
Also, may I just say that every main actor (there are only two) in this episode seemed to be on their A-game. I was actually VERY impressed by Eccleston’s performance in this episode. He delivered some fantastic emotional bits without coming off as too cheesy. Rose on the other hand, was much better but was a bit lacking in the emotional aspect of the episodes dialogue. But that’s understandable, this ain’t dr.who if it isn’t campy!
And this episode is somewhat campy, significantly less than the previous ones, but it was still there. The Dalek’s voice was silly, yet I liked it. The two generic side characters were silly, and the one villainous Van Statten was just a two dimensional caricature. BUT, he was the outlet for the Doctor to deliver just a killer speech to him over how he squanders his life collecting alien garbage.
Overall, this was a good episode, in fact, I’d say that it was very good. It was a significant and emotional upgrade over the previous silly departures, and I found great joy in re-watching it for a second time. Brava, Dr. Who, you have my attention…
P.S- So the Doctor has two hearts…
P.S #2- So they took that random “genius” with them?
Grade: B+
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