So, watched EVOLUTION OF THE DALEKS...
Feb. 25th, 2013 08:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ladyofleithian...and it was really good! Loved it. :)
I'll admit that the episode was darker than the previous one -- not that that's bad, per se, mostly making an observation. Stuff like pretty much almost everyone dying, and the Doctor making a few morally ambiguous decisions, to say the least (I know that was a complaint with the episode -- the Doctor allying with the Daleks. I actually think it kind of worked -- but that's something I'll get to in a separate section). I really liked it though. For example, the character moments, such as Martha and Tallulah talking in the Empire State Building talking about the Doctor and Laszlo and such (I know that Tallulah's "the one good thing in my life and [the Daleks] destroyed it." really got to me. It's really one thing to say the bad guys are bad guys, to say the least, but I think it's quite another to see it for yourself -- the death and destruction, for example, that they leave in their wake), and Martha going around camp healing people up. Also, Martha refusing to leave the Doctor (I think that's another similarity between her and Rose -- no matter what happens, they will never ever abandon the Doctor), and the talk between Martha, Frank and Tallulah about the psychic paper. And Tallulah observing how beautiful New York really is. (Although seriously, that high up? That's probably a bad idea) Also, some great moments in general, like Martha mourning the matter of the pig slaves, and what happened to them. Not many would mourn what happens to a bunch of Mooks, but in DOCTOR WHO...well, one does it. After all, they didn't ask to be turned into pig slaves. And it's not like they had a choice in leaving either -- they were forced into this state. I think that's one of many reasons I love DOCTOR WHO -- not many other heroes would show compassion towards their enemies. (Hell, some of them can even be sanctimonious regarding them, or cruel. And it's really where the heroes are unlikeable that I tend to root for the villains. If the heroes are great and the villains are great, I can...well, I can be fascinated by the villains while still rooting for the heroes to win. Just a bit of a tip for the writers out there. :) And then there's also the matter of the Doctor -- the grief he feels over the deaths of the human-Dalek hybrids after the Daleks kill them in perhaps the most horrific way possible (well, one of the most horrific ways). Just his Reason You Suck speech at the Daleks -- it's something to behold. Condemning them for shunning any chance of redemption (although, Doctor? Are they not Daleks? I mean...they don't really care about being redeemed. They just care about killing -- all to prove their supremacy somehow. Hell, the Lone Dalek in "Dalek" would rather die than risk being "contaminated" by a human. It's what Davros made them to be), and just generally tearing into their mentality. His fury is just so quiet, but it's clear nonetheless. And I doubt that it's a stretch that he thought what happened to Sec, to the Cult of Skaro, to the human-Dalek hybrids was somehow his fault. Being too trusting, really. I think that's the thing about Ten -- he's such a Wide-Eyed Idealist that the thought of the world being otherwise...well, it breaks his hearts. And I doubt it's a stretch to think that Rose might have influenced him this way -- his previous persona was dark and broken. Rose really taught him to live again -- that there were things worth living for. And the world...well, the world didn't seem to like that idea, considering how much Ten's had the emotional stuffing beat out of him. And I think he and Nine are alike in a sense that death and destruction...they can't bear it. They have a strong drive to save (especially Ten) and if they can't save people...well, they can't bear it.
And yet even after his rage after what the Daleks have done ("genocide", as he puts it), Ten still goes to Dalek Caan and tries to save him, if only to prevent another genocide. Because he doesn't want to relive the Time War again. And because he's just that kind. Even when the Master's hurt him, for example, he continues to love him and want to help him. It's really why I love Ten -- not because of his looks, but because of what's inside. Because inside...well, he is beautiful, I think. He really is.
Hell, even the reason he helps Sec is noble, even though what he's doing is shady at best and morally reprehensible at worst. Because he genuinely believes Sec is capable of redemption. The Doctor's Wide Eyed Idealist nature -- on the one hand, it's a wonderful thing, but on the other hand, that can be part of what makes him so terrifying on occasion. Still, it's really not idealism itself that is dangerous -- only what one does with it.
And then there's the matter of Dalek Sec. I think he was definitely the selling point for this episode -- going from this clinical Dalek creature to discovering his humanity. When he first speaks with the Doctor in his hybrid Dalek form, he speaks of the human race as...well, very Dalek. (Which...yeah, some of us can have these qualities, but...) Nearing the end, he starts to eschew Dalek ideals, and even start to suggest Davros was wrong the whole time (which...I think that might be why New York was so freezing outside. Hell just froze over. :P). He even goes so far as to sacrifice himself if only to save the Doctor's life -- something a Dalek would not normally do, sacrifice themselves to save a seemingly inferior being, or an enemy (granted, Sec didn't think of the Doctor as his enemy. The other Daleks did). I also liked earlier, when he said that Solomon died bravely, and when he told Thay about how brave humanity really was.
While we're on the subject, Solomon! ;.; Seriously, that was just devastating. Expected (I know my mom and I both said "They don't [have any]" when Solomon was trying to appeal to the Daleks' sense of compassion *) but devastating. Solomon was awesome. He was nice, reasonable, brave, A Father To His Men, a good speaker...seriously, I was really sad to see him go.
Other stuff I liked included the Doctor cooking up a cure for Laszlo and him and Tallulah getting to live a relatively good life with Tallulah in Hooverville. And Martha and The Doctor's talk on the way back to the TARDIS about Tallulah and Laszlo, as well as the Doctor calling back to the Statue of Liberty like he did at the beginning of "Daleks in Manhattan". And Martha finding a way to shock the pig slaves, and the Doctor getting in the way of the lightning strike. Honestly...that was a damn good episode. Seriously.
* And to be fair, I don't think he really knew what the Daleks were capable of. On the plus side, I at least have a new phrase: "having the compassion of a Dalek". What do you guys think? :)
Overall? Loved it. Definitely recommend. :)
I'll admit that the episode was darker than the previous one -- not that that's bad, per se, mostly making an observation. Stuff like pretty much almost everyone dying, and the Doctor making a few morally ambiguous decisions, to say the least (I know that was a complaint with the episode -- the Doctor allying with the Daleks. I actually think it kind of worked -- but that's something I'll get to in a separate section). I really liked it though. For example, the character moments, such as Martha and Tallulah talking in the Empire State Building talking about the Doctor and Laszlo and such (I know that Tallulah's "the one good thing in my life and [the Daleks] destroyed it." really got to me. It's really one thing to say the bad guys are bad guys, to say the least, but I think it's quite another to see it for yourself -- the death and destruction, for example, that they leave in their wake), and Martha going around camp healing people up. Also, Martha refusing to leave the Doctor (I think that's another similarity between her and Rose -- no matter what happens, they will never ever abandon the Doctor), and the talk between Martha, Frank and Tallulah about the psychic paper. And Tallulah observing how beautiful New York really is. (Although seriously, that high up? That's probably a bad idea) Also, some great moments in general, like Martha mourning the matter of the pig slaves, and what happened to them. Not many would mourn what happens to a bunch of Mooks, but in DOCTOR WHO...well, one does it. After all, they didn't ask to be turned into pig slaves. And it's not like they had a choice in leaving either -- they were forced into this state. I think that's one of many reasons I love DOCTOR WHO -- not many other heroes would show compassion towards their enemies. (Hell, some of them can even be sanctimonious regarding them, or cruel. And it's really where the heroes are unlikeable that I tend to root for the villains. If the heroes are great and the villains are great, I can...well, I can be fascinated by the villains while still rooting for the heroes to win. Just a bit of a tip for the writers out there. :) And then there's also the matter of the Doctor -- the grief he feels over the deaths of the human-Dalek hybrids after the Daleks kill them in perhaps the most horrific way possible (well, one of the most horrific ways). Just his Reason You Suck speech at the Daleks -- it's something to behold. Condemning them for shunning any chance of redemption (although, Doctor? Are they not Daleks? I mean...they don't really care about being redeemed. They just care about killing -- all to prove their supremacy somehow. Hell, the Lone Dalek in "Dalek" would rather die than risk being "contaminated" by a human. It's what Davros made them to be), and just generally tearing into their mentality. His fury is just so quiet, but it's clear nonetheless. And I doubt that it's a stretch that he thought what happened to Sec, to the Cult of Skaro, to the human-Dalek hybrids was somehow his fault. Being too trusting, really. I think that's the thing about Ten -- he's such a Wide-Eyed Idealist that the thought of the world being otherwise...well, it breaks his hearts. And I doubt it's a stretch to think that Rose might have influenced him this way -- his previous persona was dark and broken. Rose really taught him to live again -- that there were things worth living for. And the world...well, the world didn't seem to like that idea, considering how much Ten's had the emotional stuffing beat out of him. And I think he and Nine are alike in a sense that death and destruction...they can't bear it. They have a strong drive to save (especially Ten) and if they can't save people...well, they can't bear it.
And yet even after his rage after what the Daleks have done ("genocide", as he puts it), Ten still goes to Dalek Caan and tries to save him, if only to prevent another genocide. Because he doesn't want to relive the Time War again. And because he's just that kind. Even when the Master's hurt him, for example, he continues to love him and want to help him. It's really why I love Ten -- not because of his looks, but because of what's inside. Because inside...well, he is beautiful, I think. He really is.
Hell, even the reason he helps Sec is noble, even though what he's doing is shady at best and morally reprehensible at worst. Because he genuinely believes Sec is capable of redemption. The Doctor's Wide Eyed Idealist nature -- on the one hand, it's a wonderful thing, but on the other hand, that can be part of what makes him so terrifying on occasion. Still, it's really not idealism itself that is dangerous -- only what one does with it.
And then there's the matter of Dalek Sec. I think he was definitely the selling point for this episode -- going from this clinical Dalek creature to discovering his humanity. When he first speaks with the Doctor in his hybrid Dalek form, he speaks of the human race as...well, very Dalek. (Which...yeah, some of us can have these qualities, but...) Nearing the end, he starts to eschew Dalek ideals, and even start to suggest Davros was wrong the whole time (which...I think that might be why New York was so freezing outside. Hell just froze over. :P). He even goes so far as to sacrifice himself if only to save the Doctor's life -- something a Dalek would not normally do, sacrifice themselves to save a seemingly inferior being, or an enemy (granted, Sec didn't think of the Doctor as his enemy. The other Daleks did). I also liked earlier, when he said that Solomon died bravely, and when he told Thay about how brave humanity really was.
While we're on the subject, Solomon! ;.; Seriously, that was just devastating. Expected (I know my mom and I both said "They don't [have any]" when Solomon was trying to appeal to the Daleks' sense of compassion *) but devastating. Solomon was awesome. He was nice, reasonable, brave, A Father To His Men, a good speaker...seriously, I was really sad to see him go.
Other stuff I liked included the Doctor cooking up a cure for Laszlo and him and Tallulah getting to live a relatively good life with Tallulah in Hooverville. And Martha and The Doctor's talk on the way back to the TARDIS about Tallulah and Laszlo, as well as the Doctor calling back to the Statue of Liberty like he did at the beginning of "Daleks in Manhattan". And Martha finding a way to shock the pig slaves, and the Doctor getting in the way of the lightning strike. Honestly...that was a damn good episode. Seriously.
* And to be fair, I don't think he really knew what the Daleks were capable of. On the plus side, I at least have a new phrase: "having the compassion of a Dalek". What do you guys think? :)
Overall? Loved it. Definitely recommend. :)
