BWW Recap: Journey 'Into a Dalek' with DOCTOR WHO

On tonight's episode of "Doctor Who" we journey "Into a Dale," with the Doctor and Clara, meet Danny Pink, and get confused by Missy, yet again! Be careful if you haven't watched tonight's episode, because below are some major SPOILERS.

The second episode of the 8th season opens with a downed ship in space calling out for the "Aristotle" to help. Before the ship is about to be destroyed, the pilot, Journey Blue, is saved by the doctor and transported into the TARDIS. The Doctor brings Journey back to the Aristotle, but the crew is about to kill him for coming aboard until Journey tells them he is a doctor. They then inform The Doctor that there is a patient that needs attending. While walking through the ship, The Doctor notices their nano-scaler, which militarizes living matter allowing doctors to go into the patients. They then bring the doctor to the patient, who is an injured Dalek!

We then cut to Coal Hill School, where Clara works. We are introduced to Danny Pink, a new teacher at the school and a former soldier. A glimpse into his past is given when a student asked him if he ever killed a civilian, and he sheds a tear and changes the subject. Clara and Danny are introduced and after quite an odd exchange Clara invites the socially awkward Danny to get a drink with her.

So a happy Clara walks back into her room and is greeted by the sight of coffee, and The Doctor. Only, The Doctor is three weeks late on the coffee he was supposed to fetch her in Glasgow-a classic Doctor move. Clara notices that he seems off and asks him what's the matter. The Doctor, visibly shaken, asks Clara for the truth, but that he's terrified of her answer. He goes on to say, "Clara be my pal, tell me, am I a good man?" and a hesitant Clara answers, "I...don't know." Which, at this point, is something a lot of us fans are asking about our new Doctor.

We jump back to the previous scene where The Doctor first encounters the injured Dalek. When the Doctor asks the Dalek why it needs his help, it responds, " All Daleks must die. I will destroy the Daleks." Wait, what? A Dalek that's...good? If The Doctor was interested before, he definitely is now. The Doctor brings Clara aboard the Aristotle and they join the crew and prepare to go inside the Dalek. The two of them, along with Journey and two other crewmembers go into the nano-scaler and are shrunken down, Magic School Bus style. They end up in the "most dangerous place in the universe," inside of a Dalek.

The Doctor starts talking to the Dalek, who he names "Rusty." (Remind anyone of our old friend Handles, the Cyberman head?) Ross, one of the soldiers from the Aristotle, shoots his grappling hook into the Dalek, which triggers the Dalek's antibodies to come and destroy the foreign threat, which in this case is them. The antibodies then come and surround Ross, and The Doctor gives him something that he says will help him, but Ross is still killed by the antibodies. The Doctor then says that what he gave Ross will help them find where they send his remains so that they can go there to stop the antibodies from finding them. Whoa. This scene really shocked me because The Doctor was so casual about letting Ross die. Usually when someone is going to die and there is no way to stop him, The Doctor tries something anyway. This time he had no trouble letting Ross die if it helped the rest of them escape. Weird, right?

The episode continues with The Doctor realizing that it's a radiation leak that is causing Rusty's injury. Rusty tells him that when he watched the birth of a star he realized that live prevails and that there is beauty, which was what caused him to become "good." The Doctor then finds the leak and patches it up. A few moments go by with no response from Rusty, until he says that "the malfunction is corrected," and follows that with a few lines of "Exterminate!"

The Doctor is upset, claiming that Daleks can never be good, to which Clara slaps him and says that, contrary to what he thinks, they learned that a good Dalek is possible. The Doctor snaps into action and realizes that the radiation allowed Rusty to expand its consciousness, and that Clara needs to go where it's memories are stored and recreate the moment where the star is born so that The Doctor can show Rusty something to change it's mind and become good again.

The other soldier brought along, Gretchen, sacrifices herself to get Clara to the place where the memories are stored. She shoots her grappling hook, triggering the antibodies. Just as we think she is dead, she finds herself with... Missy?! At this moment I bet you all were just as confused as I was. How was Missy able to transport Gretchen there? Is she connected to the Doctor somehow? Tell us, Moffat, and tell us soon!

Okay, short rant aside, back to the rest of the episode: Clara and Journey make it to the room, and Clara realizes the lights in the panel that are off are the suppressed memories, so she goes inside to turn them back on. She is able to get all the lights on, triggering the memory of the star being born. Rusty's mind has been open, so The Doctor connects his mind with Rusty's, showing him the universe. Rusty, however, only sees The Doctor's hatred of the Daleks as good, causing him to want "Death to the Daleks." So Rusty kills all the other Daleks on the ship and The Doctor, Clara, and Journey are able to return to the Aristotle. Rusty sends a retreat signal to the Dalek ship and says he's going to leave and go with them. The Doctor is upset and says to Rusty, "You looked inside of me and saw hatred, that's not victory," to which Rusty tells him that The Doctor is a "good Dalek."

Journey Blue runs after the Doctor and Clara as they are leaving and asks if she can go with them. The Doctor says, that although she seems good enough, he wishes she "hadn't been a soldier," and then he goes into the TARDIS and leaves. Poor Journey.

The Doctor brings Clara back to school, and before she leaves Clara tells The Doctor, You asked me if you were a good man, and the answer is 'I don't know.' But, I think you tried to be and I think that's probably the point," which is definitely a recurring theme for The Doctor.

This was a great episode of Doctor Who, in my opinion. The story was different, and I liked the new twist on the Daleks. Danny Pink seems like he's going to be a great addition to the show. I like that they are giving him a dark past, but also making him quite nervous and silly, especially around Clara. I'm also quickly becoming a Clara fan. They have given her such great confidence and strength, and I really love how she speaks her mind and isn't afraid to get angry with The Doctor. I can't wait to see her character grow even more this season.

With two episodes under his belt, Peter Capaldi is playing The Doctor brilliantly. His protrayal of The Doctor feels very effortless, and he is very fun to watch. I am quite curious to see where The Doctor is headed this season, though. Letting Ross die and being called a "good Dalek" usually aren't things you'd associate with The Doctor. The notions of "darkness" and moral ambiguity have continued in this episode, which, to me, means we are headed for an even very dark finale.

Finally-I have to mention it one more time before I go-what is the deal with Missy?! I can't figure out if she is good or bad. I also don't know if she's even real, or if she's apart of The Doctor somehow? I just don't know! I hope we get some information on her soon, because it's driving me crazy!

Next week's episode of "Doctor Who" promises Robin Hood and a lot of excitement, so make sure to tune in next Saturday! And check back with me after for another recap, and don't forget to leave your comments! 'Til next time!

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