Revolution of the Daleks
Jan. 2nd, 2021 09:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
daibhidcWell, that went better than I anticipated.
I had two main trepedations going in: I'm still not at all sure how I feel about this Timeless Child business, and I wasn't very keen on the new Dalek design, which struck me as trying too hard.
The former is only mentioned in one scene, where it's pointedly not dealt with, so my trepedations about it are mostly deferred to the actual series, and the latter, well, once I saw them in context "trying too hard" is exactly what a Dalek designed by Not Trump as a security drone should look like. And then they all get exterminated by the ...not "classic", classic Daleks are grey and blue. The bronze ones. So that's all right; there isn't even going to be an awkward "we are going to quietly downplay these until we get to the point we can pretend it never happened" period, like there was with the New Dalek Paradigm.
With those problems out of the way, it was a pretty good story. As someone who has occasionally wondered if Chibnall entirely gets what (in my opinion) Doctor Who's politics should be, I was very happy to see a story with the message that a society obsessed with "security" at all costs is going to end up with Daleks. And that Trump is lying scum who will betray anyone for a momentary advantage.
Because I'm a sucker for continuity references, I also liked the Doctor's cellmates ("I forgot you were there" is a solid gag, albeit one that only lands if you remember what a Silent is), the digital gun, and namechecks for Rose and Gwen. And some good characterisation for all the regulars, with Ryan and Graham not rejoining the Doctor behing foreshadowed, and Yaz continuing also being foreshadowed a bit, rather than just being assumed.
(I've said for ages that in adventure genre TV you always know the main characters are going to win; the suspense is how. But it's amazing how differently a raid on a Dalek ship plays if you know the two characters who can be killed also happen to be played by actors who are leaving the series...)
Speaking of "trying too hard", I loved Yaz's comment to Jack about needing praise, because frankly his initial appearance here, and indeed his cameo last season, was very "Look, it's Captain Jack! Isn't he amazing?" so it's nice to see a character comment on it. And this isn't coming from a dislike of Jack as a character, but he does get a bit tiring sometimes.
Things I wasn't so keen on: The reprise of "Dalek mutants are still dangerous without their casings" from "Resolution". Honestly, I thinks it makes more sense if they're not -- the casing is there because Daleks are fundamentally terrified of the universe. And while "You're too clever. This is why people hate experts" is a solid line for a Trump expy, it would land better if he didn't happen to be right. And then he sleazes his way out of it. I assume he'll get his comeuppance in the series proper, especially since by that point, a Trump expy will be entirely irrelevent. (I hope.)
(ETA: Something my sister pointed out that didn't occur to me: apart from her quiet talk with Ryan, the fam seem very uninterested in where the Doctor actually was and how long she was there, as opposed to complaining about how long she'd been away.)
(ETA: It's also just occurred to me there's not really a revolution of Daleks as such in this episode. But that's pretty standard for "Randomwordion of the Daleks" titles, really.)
All in all, I feel cautiously optimistic for what happens next.
I had two main trepedations going in: I'm still not at all sure how I feel about this Timeless Child business, and I wasn't very keen on the new Dalek design, which struck me as trying too hard.
The former is only mentioned in one scene, where it's pointedly not dealt with, so my trepedations about it are mostly deferred to the actual series, and the latter, well, once I saw them in context "trying too hard" is exactly what a Dalek designed by Not Trump as a security drone should look like. And then they all get exterminated by the ...not "classic", classic Daleks are grey and blue. The bronze ones. So that's all right; there isn't even going to be an awkward "we are going to quietly downplay these until we get to the point we can pretend it never happened" period, like there was with the New Dalek Paradigm.
With those problems out of the way, it was a pretty good story. As someone who has occasionally wondered if Chibnall entirely gets what (in my opinion) Doctor Who's politics should be, I was very happy to see a story with the message that a society obsessed with "security" at all costs is going to end up with Daleks. And that Trump is lying scum who will betray anyone for a momentary advantage.
Because I'm a sucker for continuity references, I also liked the Doctor's cellmates ("I forgot you were there" is a solid gag, albeit one that only lands if you remember what a Silent is), the digital gun, and namechecks for Rose and Gwen. And some good characterisation for all the regulars, with Ryan and Graham not rejoining the Doctor behing foreshadowed, and Yaz continuing also being foreshadowed a bit, rather than just being assumed.
(I've said for ages that in adventure genre TV you always know the main characters are going to win; the suspense is how. But it's amazing how differently a raid on a Dalek ship plays if you know the two characters who can be killed also happen to be played by actors who are leaving the series...)
Speaking of "trying too hard", I loved Yaz's comment to Jack about needing praise, because frankly his initial appearance here, and indeed his cameo last season, was very "Look, it's Captain Jack! Isn't he amazing?" so it's nice to see a character comment on it. And this isn't coming from a dislike of Jack as a character, but he does get a bit tiring sometimes.
Things I wasn't so keen on: The reprise of "Dalek mutants are still dangerous without their casings" from "Resolution". Honestly, I thinks it makes more sense if they're not -- the casing is there because Daleks are fundamentally terrified of the universe. And while "You're too clever. This is why people hate experts" is a solid line for a Trump expy, it would land better if he didn't happen to be right. And then he sleazes his way out of it. I assume he'll get his comeuppance in the series proper, especially since by that point, a Trump expy will be entirely irrelevent. (I hope.)
(ETA: Something my sister pointed out that didn't occur to me: apart from her quiet talk with Ryan, the fam seem very uninterested in where the Doctor actually was and how long she was there, as opposed to complaining about how long she'd been away.)
(ETA: It's also just occurred to me there's not really a revolution of Daleks as such in this episode. But that's pretty standard for "Randomwordion of the Daleks" titles, really.)
All in all, I feel cautiously optimistic for what happens next.
