I'm not a dalek. - Doctor Who 7x01 "Asylum of the Daleks" Review

Guess, who?

The Doctor is back!





I just watched “Asylum of the Daleks” for the first time and I don't hate Moffat as much as I usually do, although there's, as always, some things I just didn't like. But hey, I think we're better than average here, so... it's still good. Maybe I just missed getting a new episode of Doctor Who so much that I'm too emotional and happy they're back to actually judge this episode. I might dislike it when rewatching. Ok, first reactions:


 - We're on Skaro! Well, the Doctor is, actually. Still: Oh my gosh! This cannot be good. (Of course it's a trap, you idiot! OMG Doctor, get away!) - Also, never mind that Skaro is actually timelocked since the Time War and the Doctor simply cannot be there (but I have to admit I didn't remember that until I saw some reactions on Tumblr and went like... Right, there was something about the Doctor not able to go back to Gallifrey because it's timelocked, just like Skaro - well... I guess Moffat doesn't take canon too seriously, and since I had forgotten, maybe some other people did, too... also it was something that RTD had written back when DW was still awesome and sometimes I think Moffat's motto is "nevermind what's been there before, I'll do my own shit".

 - So Amy is a model now? Well, should have figured, after what we saw of her in “Closing Time”. Remember? Petrichor? Her perfume? And the little fangirl?
Well, I was actually slightly disappointed by that. That's just my problem with how Moffat treats women. I mean, Amy traveled the universe with the Doctor (and Rory), she fought monsters and aliens and... well, after all she's been through becoming a model just seems really stupid and shallow, doesn't it? I mean,... really?
And how can you make Amy and Rory get a divorce? And let Amy treat Rory the way she does? Stop it, Moffat. Just, stop it! Ok once they're on the Asylum planet we see pretty quickly that Amy still cares about Rory – and I bet everyone went: Of course she still cares about him. We knew that along! Because really, how can this not just have been one of Moffat's (stupid) ploys? Messing with the audience. Making us think that the Ponds and not very much in love anymore. Freak the fandom out a little bit. Typical Moffat.
Aaaaaaand later on: See, they ARE still very much in love with each other. Amy wouldn't just stop loving Rory. She'd never. This is the Ponds we're talking about. She just was just letting Rory go, kicked him out because.... but... what is this fuckery with Amy not being able to have children because of Demon's Run?! WTF, Moffat? See, again: Moffat's treatment of women. Amy is a model. Amy is woman and should be able to have children (let's forget about River Song, she doesn't really count cause she never grew up as the Ponds' daughter). She can't have children though, which rids her of one of her purposes in life. Therefore she has to let Rory go so he can have children with some other woman. That's just so... well, I'm not ok with this. Also, they could at least have talked about this instead of just getting a divorce. Ok, so they got back together in the end, and Rory got to do his adorable little victory dance and we know they're gonna have some super awesome makeup sex and live happily ever after.... (unfortunately without their adorable <i>Pond Life</i> Ood butler, cause the Doctor took it back home)... but... meh. I was really disappointed about everything Pond.

 - Daleks! I loved the daleks! Lots of daleks! Most of them old daleks. The frightening ones, not those Power Ranger coloured things we got in series 5. Proper daleks. And oh my fucking god... LOADS of them! Also: a dalek without its shell! Did we even get to see one of those since Classic Who? I remember them from the very first dalek episode, but in New Who...? I might have been a bit frightened there. Before they asked the Doctor for help. WTF?! Coward daleks? Such a thing exists? I think the daleks were stripped of all their feelings except anger? Then, where does the fear come from? How...? Mr. Moffat...? Ok, let's accept the frightened daleks. At least we got a lot of them. And we got something even better: Insane daleks! Yay! Personally, I think insane people are somehow frightening already. But insane daleks?! Half damaged, insane, locked in daleks that even the rest of the daleks are scared of? Where's my fucking sofa so I can hide behind it? Ok, I've seen life size daleks before. Those things are frikkin' scary even if they're not alive. So... the circumstances of this episode already kind of gave me nightmares in itself. Sadly, the rest of the episode didn't. I mean, I got a small fright every now and then... Rory eye to eye with that lifeless dalek that first starts to request “eggs” (oh, Rory) and then finally manages to say EXTERMINATE, really slowly.... that was scary. Those dancing people Amy encountered that were actually daleks... freaky and scary. Amy slowly turning into a dalek? Super scary! But the rest... well... I think there was a lot of potential. But when the Doctor got attacked by all those daleks in intensive care... I was a bit disappointed and not frightened at all. I mean, I still remember how that one dalek in “Dalek” managed to scare the Doctor (Nine – oh Christ Eccleston how I miss you) nearly to death. Now we got... several daleks and... not scary. Sorry. To be honest, I felt the whole episode somehow anticlimactic. It started off great, but the whole way across the planet and to the teleport and then the Doctor's way to Oswin... well... meh. (Also, I totally knew they were just gonna teleport into the TARDIS instead of into the parliament. I so knew it. Ok, I have to give Moffat this one: the plot twist with Oswin actually being a dalek: That was good. Pretty good. Very unexpected (at least on my side). So let's talk about Oswin, shall we?

 - I loved Oswin Oswald. Jenna-Louise Coleman is adorable and I fell for her instantly. Having her bake soufflé is... well, it was alright. I'm not talking about the feminist notion of that and just take her as a girl who likes to bake and eat sweet stuff. Just like me, and I'm definitely not a Moffat girl. Also, she listens to “Carmen” and is really good with computers, really smart, sassy, sweet and fun... and a nerd. And human. So, I really really liked her. And I just loved her banter with the Doctor and Rory. Jenna-Louise is gonna rock as a proper companion! I also really liked the ending. When the Doctor told Oswin she's actually been killed by the daleks and now one of them... yeah, there were tears in my eyes. Not streaming down my face, but I felt so so so sorry for her. She was so smart and lovely and all that. And then, in the end, she even saves the Doctor (and by extension the Ponds). Because she's NOT A DALEK. She's HUMAN. Just because they tried to make her dalek doesn't mean she has to actually become one. Because they take away all your nice feelings, your love and all, and add anger... but she refused! She actually refused to let that happen to her. Because she fought the daleks all this time. And she won't stop. Awww!


So, yeah. That's it. Overall, I didn't love this episode (and I hated what Moffat did to the Ponds). Except for the amount of daleks, and the idea of the asylum, the plot was... not really as epic as I would have expected. I guess I just saw the promo pics with all those daleks and read they were getting all the old daleks they could find and I thought it was gonna be HUGE. And then they showed these huge amounts of daleks pretty much right at the beginning and the episode was kind of lacking an epic showdown.
But then there was Oswin Oswald. Who brought the fun and lightness that I so love about this show. The adorable quirkiness. And the heart. Because Oswin is a character who warms the heart. And she doesn't have to be angry and fierce as Amy was to show her strength. She can be a quirky nerdy smart girl that loves soufflé. And still be strong. And save the Doctor (and the day). She doesn't have to be a fighter, physically, as River Song. (Well, I'm not gonna discuss this here now, everything Rose and Martha and Donna and early Amy vs. later Amy.... I'm gonna do this in another post.) Oswin is just one of those people the Doctor meets and that instantly worm themselves into your heart, because they're so lovable. I'm not saying Moffat can't do that. He wrote Sally Sparrow in “Blink” and she's definitely one of them. But usually his long-term companions or re-occurings aren't like that. I really hope he's not gonna screw up Jenna-Louise's really companion character. And I really hope he's not gonna pull another River Song on us (meaning we see her die in an episode and then later go back and meet her, having the Doctor know she's gonna die). But I really her character is gonna be much like Oswin. Oswin saved this episode. And she gave me hope and made me look forward to this series and especially to the Christmas Special when we're finally gonna meet her properly. Please don't screw this up, Moffat.

Oh, and: *dalek voice on* Doctor Who? Doctor Who? Doctor Who? Doctor Who?.... *dalek voice off*