Warning: Time-Altering Spoilers Below
On the surface, Daleks just aren’t that scary–they literally look like upside down garbage cans with plungers attached to their bodies. However, it’s what is inside the Daleks that make these classic foes so disturbing.
And that’s the keyword with this episode. Disturbing.
With “Into the Dalek,” viewers are taken on a tour that fans have never really seen before. This time, instead of battling the Daleks, the Doctor is tasked with leading a search party inside one of them.
“How does he do that?” you may be asking.
Well, if you’re a fan of “Osmosis Jones,” or “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids,” you’re going to like this episode.
If you’re a fan of classic “Doctor Who” adventures, you’ll find there are lots of entertaining bits to get your fill.
It seems that Capaldi is still testing the waters with his take on the new Doctor, which is understandable considering this is still only the second episode of the season. And it’s not such a bad thing considering he was seemingly born to play the role.
His dialogue is still the best part so far into the season. His sarcastic, sometimes cynical delivery will certainly leave you entertained.
Viewers will also get their first view of new character Danny Pink, a former soldier turned History teacher at the school in which Clara works. It’s plain to see from the first moment Danny meets Clara that he is penned to be her new love interest.
Their limited interactions come off as a bit awkward, only because Danny is so self-conscious. It’s safe to assume he may also be suffering from some type of mild PTSD from his time in the military.
Characters and scripting aside, this episode offers much more action than the previous episode, and the special effects are quite nice as well.
The episode begins with a massive Dalek ship hunting down a much smaller military ship. The ship dances around the Dalek Ships’ lasers in a fantastic space dogfight sequence but is ultimately unable to escape. One of the ship’s pilots was left to fly the craft alone as her co-pilot (and brother) unfortunately died during the Dalek ship’s pursuit.
Before the Daleks could blow up the marine ship, the Doctor materializes the TARDIS around her body before she could be caught in the explosion. The Doctor returns her to her base, a military outpost hidden inside an asteroid belt. There, the Doctor is tasked with mending a recently captured Dalek.
At first, the Doctor refuses until the damaged Dalek says that all Daleks must be destroyed.
I’m sure this turned many heads.
With the hope that he has found a seemingly “good” Dalek, the Doctor collects Clara and is shrunken down to microscopic size with three other space marines and are inserted into the Dalek through its eyestalk.
It is here that we finally get a look at what makes the Dalek tick, all the bits and bobs and human dissolving antibodies are here on display for everyone to see.
The Doctor and company eventually find what has been ailing the Dalek, a small crack in what could be considered the Dalek’s brain. The Doctor mends the crack with his trusty sonic screwdriver and, to no one’s surprise, the Dalek turns evil again, shooting its way through the military base and sending a distress signal to the Dalek mother ship from the beginning of the episode.
Clara and the Doctor hatch a plan to try and revert the Dalek back to its “good” side by resetting its memories and sending it a message. The Doctor ultimately ends up in a psychic link with the Dalek, using his vast knowledge of the infinite universe to sooth the Dalek.
This plan works well at first, until the Dalek taps into the Doctor’s hatred for the Dalek race. The Dalek then proceeds to go on a second rampage, killing off all the other Daleks who infiltrated the marine base.
The Doctor, now returned to normal size, confronts the Dalek, realizing that there is no such thing as a “Good Dalek.”
The Dalek replies by saying, “You are a good Dalek.”
Chills? Yeah. I got ‘em, too.
However, that statement rings truer now than in any other season. The new Doctor seems to be struggling with his humanity, asking Clara if he is a “good man” at the start of the episode. Clara was unable to answer his question, responding that she only knows that the Doctor tries to be a good man and that is all that counts.
The new season of “Doctor Who” has gotten off to a dark start, and it is safe to assume the season arch is only going to get darker with the Doctor suffering with his own morality and the strange reappearance of Missy from the previous episode.
It will be interesting to see where this Doctor will take his viewers in the future and also how far Capaldi will let us peer behind the veil of what the essence of the Doctor truly is.
Episode 3 of “Doctor Who,” titled “Robot of Sherwood,” airs Saturday, September 6 on BBC America.