Evolution of the Daleks

Dear Gary—

“I feel humanity,” Sec the human Dalek says. “I feel everything we wanted from mankind, which is ambition, hatred, aggression, and war. Such a genius for war.”

This is the problem with Evolution of the Daleks. Daleks are pure hatred, aggression, and war. (The only one of the four that perhaps is lacking is ambition; ambition hints of emotion which is alien to a Dalek; and ambition implies there is something greater to strive for, yet Daleks already view themselves as supreme.) With such a statement Sec is granting supremacy to the human race. With such a statement Sec is devaluing Daleks. With such a statement Sec is clearly defining himself as insane (relative to a Dalek).

I can accept that Sec is insane; the problem is that neither the show nor the Doctor treats him as such. In fact the Doctor turns mad scientist to aid and abet Sec in his scheme of turning the human bodies he has in storage into a hybrid race. This is not like the Ninth Doctor’s allowing of the Gelth to inhabit corpses. This Tenth Doctor is playing Igor to Sec’s Frankenstein to turn stolen human beings into monsters. The Doctor is taking Sec at his word that the bodies before him are irretrievably lost as humans. He is taking Sec at his word that he wants elements of the human heart injected into the gene feed (the same Sec who had extolled the virtues of mankind’s genius for war). He is taking the Cult of Skaro at its word that they will allow this transformation.

Don’t get me wrong. An insane Sec evolving before our eyes is fascinating. His response to Solomon’s stirring speech; his ability to admire the subtler aspects of humanity; his mix of emotions upon witnessing Solomon’s extermination; his emerging philosophies on what it means to be Dalek; all of these are intriguing to watch. But it doesn’t change the fact that Sec is unstable; that Sec is still essentially a Dalek who has been altered with the human template of the ruthless Diagoras; his mindset is evolving, but that is no guarantee that he is seeing the light as the Doctor would wish.

The Doctor looks at this new Sec and hope stirs in him. In a flash the Doctor places his trust in this madman, based on the flimsy evidence that a Dalek has changed his mind. (“Daleks never change their minds.”)The Doctor has some serious blinders on.

 “That is incorrect.” The remaining Cult has no such blinders. They know that Sec is insane. That is the saving grace of Evolution of the Daleks. And that’s rather scary—that the Daleks know better than the Doctor. “You are no longer a Dalek,” they tell Sec. Sec being chained by the rest of the Cult is inevitable, and shame on the Doctor for not being more perceptive. “You told us to imagine,” the Daleks tell Sec, “and we imagined your irrelevance.” That is a perfect summation. In the grand Dalek scheme of things Sec is irrelevant.

Sec is not a Dalek and the human Daleks are not Daleks. They are not even scary. Sec rhapsodizes about the human knack for survival, which I guess is true in the Doctor Who universe, but in the Doctor Who universe they are also the perpetual dupes. The insane Sec might not see this, but the rest of the Cult surely does; I can’t imagine why they accommodate Sec for as long as they do. The most bizarre element to the whole thing is the desire to return to the flesh. The Dalek metal casing is one of their strongest assets. Why would they abandon their armament so readily? I can’t even think why Sec would view this as beneficial, except that Sec is insane. The resulting army of automatons marching through the sewers is both comical and pitiful; they do not strike terror in the heart.

Just as a side note here—where did the Daleks get all of the high tech equipment and weapons in 1930 Manhattan?

Most of the genre mash ups from the previous episode have been abandoned for this action packed conclusion. It is heart pounding and tension laden as per usual, but doesn’t quite mask the questionable actions of the Doctor or the ‘because we say it is so’ science. However it is sufficiently entertaining and the cast, both regular and guest, are engaging.

Martha especially shines. I love that the Doctor trusts her to work out what to do on her own; and I love that she does exactly that. Martha plays detective, first determining where the action is taking place, how to get in, and what the Daleks are up to. And then, with their backs to the wall and death by pig slave seemingly inevitable, Martha comes up with her ingenious scheme to electrocute their attackers (never mind that it is all too convenient and the timing in particular highly questionable).

Ultimately, though, it is all rather mundane. Because Daleks are Daleks and not Secs; and automatons are automatons and not Daleks. It all boils down to the Doctor racing against the clock to avert disaster; not quite succeeding but succeeding enough to buy some time for a final confrontation; a dramatic speech by the Doctor; a shoot out; and finally an emergency temporal shift to ensure that there will be Dalek episodes in the Doctor Who future. (“Oh yes, one day.”) There is just enough to enjoy but not quite enough to satisfy.

Lastly we have “the pig and the showgirl” ending. Laszlo and Tallulah are two of the brightest spots in both episodes of this two part story. With a fully equipped genetics laboratory courtesy of the Daleks, the Doctor is able to save Laszlo from his brother pig slaves’ fate. His fate is tragic nonetheless; doomed to be forever an outcast and a freak. Frank has finagled a home for him in Hooverville, but what will happen to him once this short lived camp is gone? I envision a life of circus sideshows for our poor hero and I can’t help thinking that somewhere out there in the Doctor’s universe the TARDIS could take him (and Tallulah if she so desires) someplace where he would be welcome; or someplace where he could be restored to his human condition; or at the very least someplace where some serious plastic surgery could be performed. Last but not least, Laszlo (and Tallulah if she so desires) could join the Doctor and Martha as TARDIS companion(s). None of these options are even considered. The Doctor and Martha leave making their “pig and the showgirl” jokes as though this is the best that life has to offer the star-crossed lovers.

Personally I would love to have them join the TARDIS crew. I like Martha, but really the whole unrequited crush theme is getting stale. The show could use a dose of “the odd pig slave Dalek mutant hybrid” and a dash of “three Ls and an H” Tallulah to liven things up.

Ah well, another opportunity lost. Best not to dwell on the would’ve, could’ve, should’ve Gary . . .