S07E01 - "Asylum of the Daleks" - Discussion Thread

[EvilSpaceAlien]

I just finished watching the episode, and I quite enjoyed it.

Some thoughts:

Spoiler

-Egggggssterminate.
-That whole nano-cloud things are pretty damn creepy, nice job by the Moff with coming up with that idea.
-I pretty much expected the Ponds to get back together by the end of the ep. A pretty interesting revelation that Amy is unable to bear any children following what happened at Demon's Run, though.
-I was really surprised at seeing Jenna-Louise Coleman in this episode, since pretty much everyone expected to first see her in the Christmas special. And with the way things were left at the end, I really wonder how the Moff will work her into the storyline, though it'll most likely be a lot of timey-wimey. Though considering that we've been told that her character was supposed to be named Clara, and she called herself Oswin in this episode, it might be something completely different.
-I'm not sure how I feel about all the Daleks' memory of the Doctor being erased. It might make for some interesting stories and make things feel more fresh again, but yeah, I'm just not sure.

 

[Joelist]

I also quite liked it.

The pacing was good, tone and mood were quite suitably creepy and performances were good all around.

I agree the nanotechnology was a good new riff on the Daleks as was the concept of the Asylum. Also the look into the psychology of the Daleks was cool. Having the Daleks lose their collective memory of the Doctor kind of goes nicely with what Moffat started at the end of the last season - the Doctor has indeed gotten too famous and the combination of his faked death last season and the happenstance here wiping the Dalek memories takes two big steps towards disposing of the whole "Doctor Who the famous hero" thing.

 

[shavedape]

Well, as I stated earlier I'm tired of the Ponds -- they're boring. When their story line ends I'm sure they will be happy and healthy and will go off to have a big family and all that. It's pretty obvious, at least to me.

As for the new chick, I think she will do well. She's got good delivery on lines and seems like she will be a challenge for the doctor.

I also liked that they kept this episode brief and contained. I'm so tired of multi-episode story arcs. Yes, yes, they have arcs going already but at least this episode had a beginning, a middle and an end. I hope they keep this up for the season.

Oh -- and who didn't figure out the twist ahead of time??? It was kind of telegraphed I thought. I didn't hate it, but I did feel it was a bit insulting to my intelligence.

 

[Joelist]

Well we already know Amy paid a price for what happened last season - River is going to be the only child Amy and Rory can have. As to the Pond's, yes their time has come to leave - they had a good run of three years but the time has come for a change.

Was it telegraphed that the trapped girl was a Dalek? Kind of, but it didn't really detract from the episode. Her suppressing the memory of the Doctor from the Dalek's by jacking into their common telepathic stream was not telegraphed however. Basically, in conjunction with the "death" of the Doctor last season we are going to a backstory model that is a lot like the earliest seasons of the show where the Doctor was unknown - and it is a good thing. Russell T Davies "Doctor Who the lonely legendary god" understory was annoying and ultimately created problems all the time in stories, so I am glad Moffat is fixing it.

 

[shavedape]

Well we already know Amy paid a price for what happened last season - River is going to be the only child Amy and Rory can have. As to the Pond's, yes their time has come to leave - they had a good run of three years but the time has come for a change.

Was it telegraphed that the trapped girl was a Dalek? Kind of, but it didn't really detract from the episode. Her suppressing the memory of the Doctor from the Dalek's by jacking into their common telepathic stream was not telegraphed however. Basically, in conjunction with the "death" of the Doctor last season we are going to a backstory model that is a lot like the earliest seasons of the show where the Doctor was unknown - and it is a good thing. Russell T Davies "Doctor Who the lonely legendary god" understory was annoying and ultimately created problems all the time in stories, so I am glad Moffat is fixing it.

If it means they're going to give the Daleks a rest for awhile I'm all for it. :daniel_new_anime021