Doctor Who: A Town Called Mercy Review

So if the first episode of this season was DW's equivalent of Alien, and last week was it's Snakes On A Plane, that would make this it's Cowboys and Aliens. My only question now is whether or not there's gonna be a homage to Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanomo Bay. Import questions, people.

No spoilers, don't worry.

So, after last week's sort of let-down Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, the Doctor is saddling up and going to the wild, wild, west. Specifically Mercy, Texas (I think it's supposed to be Texas, anyway). He, Amy, and Rory land in Mercy, which is being menaced by a alien-cyborg-cowboy-assassin who's holding the town hostage until they give him the alien doctor.

I'm gonna go right out and say it: this episode was awesome. The Doctor in a stetson AND riding a horse? Nerdgasm, man. Right from the get-go they're in the old west (they skipped the Doctor picking the Ponds up this time, thank God. We just assume he popped them to take them on vacation), and the action begins. And I mean action in more ways then one: yes, there were some 'splosions, and guns (and weird laser-things) are fired (Amy with a gun, man), and that's always welcomed, but aside from that, stuff happens. Doctor and company quickly find themselves in a moral dilemma a la Batman, which the Doctor takes a surprising side in. The Doctor seems to have been going kind of dark ever since AOTD, and this week really shows that. I know that there's mixed feelings about when the Doc goes dark (and how 11 seems to do it a lot more then 10), I personally am one of the people who like it just because I like what it does to the character, and in this one he's terrifying. Let's just say that he's reminded of something he did that wasn't proud of (the actual words are never said, but longtime fans will get it).

So, the occasionally-appearing dark side of the Doctor makes another round this week, easily being the best part of the episode, with Smith absolutely nailing it, and Amy taking the opposite stance, doing a convincing job of showing WHY the Doctor needs his companions. I won't even tell you what Rory does. All the guest stars this week were spot on, and made it even more awesome. And then there's the directing, which was fantastic. I think they shot this episode in Spain, and the town really does look like the old west, which was, well, necessary. And this, and the scared town, I forgot to mention that but they were cool, is all just backdrop to showdown at the end that was nothing short of epic. Toby Whithouse wrote this episode, and this is up there for him. I can't decide if this is his best episode (I'm still partial to School Reunion myself), but definitely up there.

The only part of the episode I actually didn't like, and I know that this is gonna sound really nit-picky, was the voice-over at the beginning and end of the episode. I don't know why, I just didn't like it. I've said I have mixed feelings about voice-overs in the past, and this is and example of why.

Overall, this was a great Who-episode and an awesome homage to classic westerns, I had a lot of fun with it, you guys should to0.

Final Rating: 88%