Saving the Daleks: A Review of ASYLUM OF THE DALEKS

(Going to try to keep this spoiler free)...

So we're now into Season 7, after all the hype, the delayed announcement of the broadcast date, a slight sense of disappointment on my part (thanks, evil cable company, for pulling BBC America just before a group viewing had been scheduled)....and it begs the question: was Asylum of the Daleks worth it?

Answer - yes. It's a striking debut - it helps that the credits have been redone in a more century-friendly font, and the pre-credit sequence...well, it's engaging.

It's also probably one of the best Dalek reinventions since 2005's Dalek - instead of the usual Daleks-are-about-to-exterminate-the-heck-out-of-everyone-and-the-Doctor-stops-them plot, they're a little bit more....mischievous about it. There's an agenda, a mission....and they send the Doctor, Rory, and Amy to fulfill it.The episode is filled with a very clever homage to classic Who, and quite honestly, is downright chilling in places.

There are also some slight plot twists which I won't get into, but let's just say...it makes for some intriguing television. New Who has never been known for avoiding emotional complications about the TARDIS, but while Davies' time have seen some smug acceptance and excessively romanticizing TARDIS couples (I'm looking at you, Tenth Doctor and Rose Tyler), Amy and Rory's relationship has a greater sense of realism about it. (And no, you don't have to have seen Pond Life in order to understand the context).There's also a clever linguistic clue that pays off in dividends.

In addition, there's another aspect that's been written about in online, and by the time you read this, you know it. Let's just say that many may assume that there's a timey-wimey solution, when there may be just a more simple solution to that problem.

My only beef (and the closest I'll come to a spoiler) - Doctor Who? Really, Mr. Moffatt? Can't you just let those subplots go?

But all in all, a very auspicious start that doesn't have the overt overlapping plotlines of last season....but which shows promise.