Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Asylum of the Daleks Review

Life's been kinda hectic, and without time or footage to do a video review, I'll just use text.

I've been a fan of Doctor Who for several months.  I've seen nearly every episode of the revived series, excluding the impossible-to-find "Planet of the Dead".  I've seen several serial by Tom Baker, and bits an pieces from others.  And I even liked "Love and Monsters"!  For those who understand that, let it sink in.  Because I'm about to tell you something very few people have actually said: I did NOT like this episode.

Don't get me wrong, I love the Daleks.  They're awesome.  But this . . . I don't know what to say.  Anyways, let's get going.  The episode starts with the Doctor getting kidnapped by a human/Dalek zombie.  Then we cut to Amy and Rory signing divorce papers.  Even though the last time we saw them, their marriage was fine.  And don't give me that Pond Life crap.  A miniseries online should not be essential viewing, and it didn't actually explain anything, it just showed them fighting.  But I digress.  Amy and Rory then get kidnapped as well, and they all meet at the Dalek Parliament.  Even though originally the Daleks had an Emperor.  This does not bode well.  Then we discover that a ship crashed on the Dalek asylum, where all the defective Daleks go.  In order to prevent them from escaping, the Daleks want the Doctor to go down to the planet and shut off the force field so that they can destroy it.  Even though the whole reason for having the Dalek asylum was because "It is offensive to us to extinguish such divine hatred".  Except for all the other times the Daleks killed each other.  It's official, we're in for a rough ride.  And the final twist in the gut?  The Daleks consider it beautiful even though "Daleks have no concept of elegance."  Yep.  And we aren't even ten minutes in.

So, the Daleks shoot the Doctor down to the planet, and he 'meets' Oswin (played by Jenna-Louise Coleman), a survivor from the ship who's been holding off the Daleks for a year.  She's still holed up in her room, but she's managed to hack into the communication system, so she can talk to the Doctor.  She manages to guide them through the ship, and the Doctor leaves Amy and Rory behind to rescue Oswin.  And here, we learn why they're getting a divorce: Amy think she has to give Rory up because she's infertile after the events of Demon's Run, and apparently Rory REALLY wants a kid (So nice of them to tell us that now instead of earlier).  So let me get this straight, for the entire time it took them to get a divorce, she never ONCE thought to talk to him about this fact, or get the Doctor to help her?  And what's wrong with adoption?!  Yeah, this was just sad.  And then they make up after this revelation.  So that's all it takes to repair a relationship, apparently.  Meanwhile, the Doctor reaches Oswin but discovers she's actually a Dalek, who was converted from human.  So, why did she sound human on the intercomm?  And what happened to 'genetic purity'?  Shut up, that's what happened.  Anyways, the Doctor finds the force field (who thought it was a good idea to put the controls to a force field INSIDE THE PRISON?!  They could've escaped whenever they wanted to!)  and manages to get back to the Dalek ship, where it's revealed that when Oswin erased the Daleks memories of the Doctor (forgot to mention that part, sorry), she erased EVERY Daleks memory of the Doctor.  Thank you, Moffat, we Whovians think that's a lovely bird.  So Amy and Rory are dropped off back home and the Doctor continues traveling.

So that was Asylum of the Daleks.  Or, as I like to call it, Train-wreck of the Daleks.  Really, there's no defense for this episode.  The "Old Daleks" that were so hyped barely show up, the plot holes are the size of black holes, the Amy and Rory subplot was rediculous and unneccessary, and to top it all off, 49 years of stories have gone down the drain.  To be fair, the actors do a great job, and there are some genuinlly fuuny moments.  But it doesn't make up for the terrible script.  This episode was a terrible start, and I really hope some one realizes that Steven Moffat worked best on a leash.  This is really another one of those cases where an artist has enjoyed so much success, no one will tell him no anymore.  It's sad, really.  Moffat is a great writer, and I really wanted to enjoy this episode.  But it just wouldn't let me.  Hopefully Moffat will do better.  Oh, and look up 'Doctor Who Skit Asylum of the Daleks' on YouTube.  It's hilarious.  It's better than the episode, actually.  As for my next video review, I'm still working out what to use for it.  But as soon as I know, I'll get started on the script.  See you later!