First off, I got to say that I’m not often surprised anymore
by TV and movies. The internet age has spoiled everything for everyone, and I’ve
been one the biggest enablers as well. It’s got to the point where I’m more
fascinated by the information than the actual end product.
As a long-time viewer of Doctor Who –going on 32 years now- I’ve watched the show grow in
the United States from a cult program to the “global phenomena” it’s become as
the revived series launches into its seventh season. I’ve watched them all,
every single episode from TOS not
lost to the BBC’s lack of vision (even though I know it was a cost issue that
forced the loss of a lot of William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton episodes in
the 1960s) and every single episode in this new format.
Over the years, both old and new series showrunners have
tried to keep secrets from press, and thus the fans. In the olden days, it was
much easier; there were no internet and the fan’s, just as excited as today,
were limited to small groups within their home towns, so getting information to
each other was difficult.
Now, of course, as showrunner Steven Moffat has pointed out,
it’s difficult to keep anything secret on Doctor Who. Due to the availability
of the internet, phones that can take pictures that then can be transmitted instantly,
and fans who come and stalk location shoots, information on what and who the
Doctor is battling is rapidly spread across the world via blog forums and
entertainment websites.
But the nearly 50 year-old franchise pulled a bait and
switch with the TV viewing audience with its seventh season opener Asylum of the Daleks, and in doing so,
provided a spectacular surprise that somehow never got out, despite four
preview showings (plus, I think, this twist will cement Steven Moffat as one
the most cleverest showrunners the series has ever been given). And as an added
bonus, he skillfully rebooted the Daleks –not an easy task considering their
long continuity history with the show.
At the end of season six, the Doctor had faked his death. But what of the other prophecies that Dorium
asks the Doctor about: the “fall of the Eleventh” and the ultimate question
always hinted about in the long series history, “Doctor who?”
Little of that is addressed in what Moffat claims this will
be a fairly episodic season, so no two-parter’s and apparently no huge arcs.
So, as Asylum of the Daleks opens,
the Doctor has arrived on Skaro, home world of the Daleks after receiving a
message from a woman who needs the Doctor’s help in rescuing her daughter from
a Dalek prison camp. While the Daleks have used humans before in their plans,
they’ve never –as far as I known- had a prison camp. So all too late, the Time
Lord realizes it’s a trap (which then begs the question if the Daleks could
find him so easily, why all the subterfuge over the years?). Meanwhile, Amy and
Rory have split up as the viewing audience is given a glimpse into just how
much River Song has ruined their lives. Both are soon captured by the Daleks
hybrids (where Moffat, in a sort of screw you to the Star Trek franchises Borg, have made the Daleks a hive mind now. I
mean, after all, the Cybermen have always been the precursor to them, so why
not for the Daleks?) and brought aboard a ship, where the Parliament of the
Daleks takes them to their shielded asylum planet, a place where they keep the
most battle-scarred and unstable of their kind.
The Dalek prime minister tells the Doctor that the planet has
been penetrated by a ship and someone must go down to the planet and turn off
the force field so they can destroy it.
And it’s here where we get the surprise. Since the announcement of
the departure of Amy and Rory was going to be the fifth episode and that the
new companion was to be introduced in the sixth story, the Christmas episode called
The Snowman, we were given a twist
because there she was, appearing five episodes early, and, apparently, (taking
a page from the life of River Song) doomed.
This sets up an interesting conundrum for fans, as they’ll
have to ponder how Jenna-Louise Coleman’s character –going by Oswin Oswald
here- ends up as Clara Oswin in the Christmas episode. The other intriguing aspect
is how the Doctor heard her voice so clearly as a woman than a Dalek, until the
reveal was made (and who else was reminded of Dalek, the episode from the first
season of the revived series, when the Doctor saw who he been in contact with?)
In the meantime, while this episode does have “Dalek” in its title, the episode seems
more focused on Amy and Rory’s fractured relationship. Here, both Arthur Darvil
and Karen Gillan shine as they explore the repercussions of events at Demon’s
Run –Amy was setting Rory free because she can never have kids, and Rory wants
them so much (the performances of the actors was fantastic in that scene, but I
afterwards, I began to ponder would Amy really divorce Rory without explaining
the reason for why she’s divorcing him? I mean, who does that?).
As noted with the Star
Trek franchise, continuity has been a hobgoblin to Doctor Who as well, especially with the Dalek’s, who’ve been the
Doctor’s foes since its beginning. Here, Moffat gives the Daleks a bit of an
evolution not seen in the franchise in a long time, and reboots them back to
the menace they once were (and Oswin –in a sort of dues ex machina- has figured
out a way to wipe the Dalek’s collective memory of their most deadly enemy, the
Doctor). This intriguing development put’s their long-time battle between each
other in new and very welcome position.
As we’ve learned, Moffat lies, and it will be interesting to
see how this Oswin arc plays out. Also, hopefully, we’ll be given some
explanation as why the Doctor heard her voice instead of a Dalek one, how he “saves”
her (and she can’t be living in some sort reverse timeline like River Song, as
she specifically says she’s never “seen him before.”).
How will she get to the Christmas episode intact? Is she
really dead? Is she a ghost, as some rumors have suggested? Has the Doctor’s
mind been clouded due to the nanoclouds on the planet, just as Amy’s was, so he
assumes she’s a human and not a Dalek? Ironic, if the next companion turns out
to be a Dalek, though then, Moffat would be borrowing from Voyager’s Seven of Nine, would he not?
And that, my friends, does not seem to be Steven Moffat.
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