Asylum of the Daleks

Dear Gary—

“Something’s wrong with Amy and Rory, and who’s going to fix it?”

OK, so Amy has become a tarted up pseudo-celebrity rock n’ roll girl and kicked Rory out of the house. That’s out of the blue, unbelievable, and manufactured. And here we go again with the ‘who loves who more’ treadmill.

What’s wrong with Amy and Rory is that they have no clue what marriage is, in large part due to the Doctor. They obviously have zero communication skills and apparently need the thrill of the TARDIS to maintain any kind of marital harmony. So Amy can’t have kids, or I should say any more kids since she has already given birth to Melody only to have the baby stolen from her arms. Countless couples deal with infertility issues and manage to have strong marriages. Their confrontation over their breakup never resolves any of their issues; it is simply the rush of adventure that has thrown them together again; once they are deposited back home I recommend some serious counseling or they will soon be headed for divorce court.

Sorry Gary. I had to get that out of the way so I can now concentrate on the main storyline which is really rather decent. It’s a shame that I am irritated from the start and have an overall sense of discontent with the show of late because it makes it difficult for me to look past, but I’ll try.

Amy and Rory probably could have been dispensed with for this episode, and it is not a little odd and contrived that the Daleks decide to kidnap these two out of the blue just because “it is known the Doctor required companions” (reminiscent of The Five Doctors), but despite my aura of annoyance they do provide some comic relief and a few genuinely sincere Amy/Rory moments.

The Daleks and Soufflé Girl, however, are the real stars of the story.

The opening sequence with the Doctor and Darla on Skaro is haunting and the images we get of this long lost but apparently not lost planet are beautifully rendered. The realization that Darla is a Dalek puppet along with the implications of this Dalek technology is horrifying and lends a new layer of danger to these age-old enemies of the Doctor. Then we are treated to the sight of all of those assorted Daleks and the Dalek Parliament. Next we hear the deafening chorus of “save the Daleks.” (“Well, this is new.”)

And the surprises keep coming; this is the most depth the Daleks have been afforded in a long time.

The Dalek Asylum and Daleks that even the Daleks are afraid of are chilling prospects, and the sight of these  battle-scarred and insane” Daleks, even though dormant, is more frightening than the Parliament full of active Daleks cowering at the thought of even one of their mad brethren escaping. The “eg, eg, eg” refrain as one comes slowly to life and that is mistaken by Rory for ‘egg’ is both funny and spine tingling as it slowly evolves into the familiar and dreaded “exterminate.”

“It is offensive to us to extinguish such divine hatred,” the Dalek Prime Minister offers as explanation to the Doctor for the existence of this asylum, and it makes sense that the Daleks would have this concept of beauty. However I am getting a bit weary of the show’s constant barrage of disparaging images aimed at the Doctor. Deeming the Doctor their Predator  and then adding that it is due to the Doctor’s deep-seated hatred that they continually fail in their attempts to kill him, the Daleks are reiterating concepts of the dark and dangerous nature of the Doctor that the show has been hammering home for some time now. A little of this can be effective, but true to its nature New Who has beaten it into the ground.

“You’re going to fire me at a planet,” the Doctor asks. “That’s your plan? I get fired at a planet and expected to fix it?” Yeah, that’s their plan alright. Because, deep sigh, the force field surrounding the Asylum can only be turned off from within the Asylum. So this all could have been averted if the Daleks had only lived up to their brilliant reputation and built a control room on Skaro rather than essentially handing the keys of the Asylum over to the inmates. But then this all would have been averted and we wouldn’t have any reason for the episode and so I will overlook this obvious lapse in Dalek judgment.

In addition to the Daleks we have Soufflé Girl, alternatively known as Oswin Oswald, who is a standout in the episode. A self-described genius, Oswin has managed to stay alive and keep her sanity (to all appearances) for roughly a year while stranded in her crashed spaceship at the center of the Dalek Asylum. She listens to Carmen and bakes soufflés when not holding off the insane throngs at her door. Oswin is vivacious and resourceful; cute and charming; brave and vulnerable. Her flirtations with Rory as she guides him to safety are humorous (and OK, I suppose Rory is needed after all, and you can’t very well have Rory without Amy; I just wish they would put all of their stale and forced relationship issues behind them once and for all). She is equally comfortable bantering with the Doctor (gotta love that “Chin Boy”) even as she disables Daleks and hacks into their telepathic web. Her deletion of the Doctor from Dalek lore is brilliant, except for the fact that you just know this will be short lived. As short lived as the Doctor’s supposed death at Lake Silencio. (How is it again that the Daleks know he is still alive to begin our story?)

There is a mystery at the heart of Oswin Oswald, though. A mystery that the Doctor detects from the start. “Soufflés? Against the Daleks? Where’d you get the milk?” It is a question only the Doctor considers important, and when he learns the answer he is devastated. “You dreamed it for yourself because the truth was too terrible,” he tells the girl of soufflés. Slowly the truth dawns on her; she is a Dalek. It is a heartbreaking reveal for the Doctor, for Oswin, and for the audience. She is no longer a human despite her protests; she is a Dalek. But she does protest; she has denied and suppressed; now she fights against it. The part that is still Oswin can yet save the Doctor even as the part that is Dalek stumbles out “eggs . . . stir . . . min . . . ate.”

“Run you clever boy,” the Oswin side of her says, “and remember.” Knowing at this point in the show’s history that the actress, Jenna-Louise Coleman, is to play the role of the Doctor’s next companion, this statement, said directly to the camera, is prophetic. It is enigmatic and intriguing and doesn’t look like it will become the cumbersome burden recent season arcs have been.

A promising start to New Who's seventh season. I just wish, Gary, it didn’t end with the inane question . . .