Into the Dalek

Dear Gary—

“Am I a good man?”

Into the Dalek just as easily could have been called Into the Doctor as it explores the question along with this twelfth generation. The very fact that he is asking the question is admirable and worthy of a positive response.

Mind you, I am getting fed up with New Who’s fascination with the Doctor’s psyche and the constant barrage of angst-ridden stories. With Doctors Ten and Eleven these journeys down deep dark alleys veered towards wallowing self-indulgence. However Peter Capaldi’s straightforward question to his companion lends honesty to this tired New Who theme. Quite simply, Peter Capaldi breaths fresh life into the show.

Journey: “I thought you were saving him.”

Doctor: “He was dead already. I was saving us.”

And again—

Journey: “A man has just died. You will not talk like that.”

Doctor: “A lot of people have died. Everything in here is dead.”

The Doctor very logically goes on to explain why that is a good thing for their own survival.

It is exchanges like this that Clara watches and processes to go into her calculation of whether or not the Doctor is a good man. Likewise it is these same exchanges that the audience is taking note of. It is an alien morality. The Doctor’s question, “Am I a good man,” has to be viewed in this light. So often Doctors Ten and Eleven adopted the self-righteous, politically correct morality of Twenty-First Century Earth; but no matter how much time the Doctor has spent here, he is after all an alien being who is unconstrained by time or space; and his moral code must reflect this.

In this story Peter Capaldi holds up well against the gold standard of Tom Baker’s Doctor, in particular Tom Baker’s Doctor of Pyramids of Mars. At least for now the Twelfth Doctor is getting back to his alien roots.

And he is getting back to a far more interesting dynamic with his companion.

Clara: “I’m his carer.”

Doctor: “Yeah, my carer. She cares so I don’t have to.”

An alien and a human distinct from one another; not a couple of highs school sweethearts holding hands as they journey through the stars.

“He’ll get us out of here,” Clara tells Journey and she continues, “The difficult part is not killing him before he can.”  Or when Gretchen asks, “Is he mad, or is he right?” Clara replies, “Hand on my heart; most days he’s both.” This is the complete faith a Doctor Who companion must have even while acknowledging his sometimes difficult nature; accepting the Doctor flaws and all and not worshipping him as a superhero.

The setting for our story is of all places the interior workings of a Dalek, and again it is a refreshing take on an age-old foe of the show. The Doctor, Clara, Journey Blue, Gretchen, and Ross have been shrunk and injected into what they believe is a ‘good’ Dalek. (“Fantastic idea for a movie; terrible idea for a proctologist.”) It is a rather dubious claim; the only basis for the injured Dalek’s goodness is the fact that he wishes the destruction of his fellow Daleks, but it is enough to intrigue the Doctor and makes for a compelling episode.

The Doctor’s examination of the Dalek, both physical and psychological, is fascinating. The Dalek antibodies provide sufficient tension as the Doctor quizzes ‘Rusty’ on his transformation. The notion that a Dalek can witness a star being born and see beauty is enough to give the Doctor hope; hope for Daleks and hope for himself. However, when he repairs the damage to Rusty (I’m not very clear on why they were sent in to heal the Dalek, even if good, or how healing the ‘good’ Dalek’s body would help them in understanding the psychology of this ‘good’ Dalek and using it in their fight against the legions of ‘bad’ Daleks; but I’m not going to question too deeply) and Rusty reverts to his extermination roots, the Doctor reverts to his own world view of good and evil and his and the Daleks’ place in it.

This is where ‘carer’ Clara comes in, and her slap of the Doctor ranks up there in the top three of Doctor Who slaps, along with Donna’s in The Runaway Bride and Leela’s in Horror of Fang Rock. It is also where Clara’s newfound profession of teaching comes in handy.

“Is that really what we’ve learned today?” The best teacher is one who questions; who provokes thought; who leads a pupil to his or her own conclusions. Clara steers the Doctor back onto the path of hope. In turn, the Doctor sends Clara off on a leap of faith journey with a “do a clever thing” mission to reawaken Rusty’s suppressed memories of beauty.

The fact that the Doctor was right, that Rusty is not really good but has instead merely redirected his hatred from others to his own race, is not surprising but it is disheartening. Especially for the Doctor. And especially for the Doctor as Rusty turns the tables on him and states: “I am not a good Dalek. You are a good Dalek.” But the Doctor can take heart in this—in the fact that he tried; in the fact that he admitted the possibility of a ‘good’ Dalek. And in the fact that he asked the question of Clara (“Am I a good man?”). As long as he continues to travel in that hope he established so long ago there is hope for the Doctor.

It is a great second outing for Doctor Twelve that lets us get better acquainted with this new incarnation, takes time to develop the Doctor/companion relationship, and still allows for a thrilling adventure. If only the Doctor would accept Journey Blue into TARDIS life, despite the awkward name. Journey would make for an excellent companion, and the Doctor’s dismissal of her simply because she is a soldier harkens back to Ten’s and Eleven’s hypocrisy regarding guns and the military. It is not worthy of this new and questioning Doctor. (I go back to my gold standard Number Four in Pyramids: “I never carry firearms.” A simple and direct statement with no judgment cast upon others for doing so.)

But this is where the dreary season arc comes into play. Journey Blue is a soldier, as was Danny Pink. Journey Blue/Danny Pink. Clara takes note of the similarity (just in case the audience doesn’t catch it). And she further aids the viewer with a decided “Not me” regarding having rules against soldiers.

Now Clara’s flirtations with Danny are cute and fun. However . . .

Firstly: We have finally put the companion crush trope behind us with the advent of Peter Capaldi. Must we really dive headlong into a romance for Clara so soon? If it weren’t for the endless cycles of raging hormones we have endured I wouldn’t be as suspicious, but now I’m beginning to think that the writers on the show have the same difficulty that so many male authors have when creating female characters—and that is they simply don’t have a clue how to create a female character. The only crutch they can fall back on is to define their women vis-à-vis their relationships with male characters.

Next: “Ah, you shoot people then cry about it afterwards?” This is Clara’s idea of being funny? Of flirting? By being sanctimonious and insulting? She’s been hanging around the Doctor too long.

Next: I’m sick of these yo-yoing companions. Journey Blue would have been a committed companion. Clara, on the other hand, remains a “see you next Wednesday” companion and hardly in a position to make a commitment to anybody. She won’t commit to traveling with the Doctor but she won’t commit to end her travels with him either; so where does that leave room for a personal life on Earth? If she starts a relationship with Danny she will inevitably end up lying to him and shortchanging him.

Last but far from least: Danny Pink is clearly being set up as the sacrificial lamb to the season’s arc. That is his one and only purpose, so don’t get too attached. The tear rolling down his cheek when asked, “Have you ever killed anyone who wasn’t a soldier,” is screaming set-up. This is extremely annoying, especially since I like Danny and think he deserves better.

It is obvious and clumsy and there Doctor Who goes showing its script again.

One last word about glaringly obvious and clumsy—dead Gretchen ending up in Missy’s ‘paradise.’

Putting those aside, however, I am enjoying this new generation of Doctor, Gary. I’ll commit to my TARDIS travels even if Clara won’t.