Well that was a bit better. After two episodes that I didn’t think were the best of Moffat’s era, we got a story that improved on what was lacking in the last two: proper time to get to know characters and emphasise with them; an interesting baddie; and a well-developed moral dilemma for the Doctor, even if it did get a bit wibbly wobbly timey wimey with Matt Smith’s Doctor flitting between his opinions.
In ‘A Town Called Mercy’ we got a beautifully realised American West town under bright blue skies and an interesting set of characters, even if the arrival of them at the town was glossed over quite quickly with a oh-by-the-way moment of the TARDIS going wrong.
The opening Terminator-style shots of the robot killing the man was well done and the Cyborg itself well realised and realistic in an episode where real effects were done instead of CGI – though the creature of the week – Kahler Jex – was clearly just human with an elaborate tattoo - though the slow disappearing and re-appearing of the Cyborg approaching the town was quite creepy in its effect.
The moral dilemmas of the episode was where the episode excelled with The Doctor, seemingly becoming more and more the justice-giver like a geeky Judge Dredd, with Amy this time acting like his moral conscience. The exploration of morals and how characters can be grey rather than black and white was well realised but it did get a bit samey as the Doctor kept changing his opinions.
The final third of the episode was perhaps not as strong as the opening but overall it was my favourite of the three episodes thanks to its interesting plotting and more time given to explore the characters and feel for them – characters such as the Marshall and the young lad keen to stand up to make a decision, in stark contrast with the hefty introductions of last week’s episode.
Hopefully next week’s episode will continue this trend of increasing returns.
7/10
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