S7E3: A Town Called Mercy (SPOILERS)

Why do I feel like I've seen the Gunslinger on Red Dwarf?

I didn't understand what was up with the boundary the Gunslinger put up around town. Why didn't he just walk or teleport in to shoot Jex? Why try to starve the town into giving him up when nobody could've stopped him & he didn't want to hurt the townsfolk anyway?
It was cool that the Doctor actually saw Jex experimenting on his own people rather than just hearing about it. That made his rage more believable. It was even better that Jex was repentant even though he was apparently a war hero to his own kind. That was an interesting quandrary of whether Jex should be killed as punishment or be allowed to atone for it by helping Mercy.
The reolution to this ethical dilemma was a bit of a disappointment. When Jex kills himself, nobody wins because the Gunslinger doesn't get revenge & the Mercy loses its most helpful citizen. I think it could've been a more dynamic ending if the Doctor (or Amy & Rory) taught Jex & the Gunslinger to coexist with each other. I get that Jex had to die because his scientific & medical advances didn't mesh with the historical period, but having a alien cyborg marshall is equally problematic.The Gunslinger becoming the sheriff just because he had nothing better to do felt a bit hokey, especially since it didn't look like Mercy was a town that actually needed a cyborg to protect it from attackers. It might've been better to have a really downer ending with the Gunslinger offing himself because he couldn't have closure & had to live as something he hated. I felt the conclusion was too simplistic for such a deep conflict.

Either way, I'm looking forward to a figure of the Gunslinger to go with my Stetson Doctor.

I have a season pass for the show on iTunes, so I can see the uncut HD version I can't watch on BBC America. Anyway, this episode features a little prequel called "The Making of the Gunslinger" - although you'd probably want to watch it AFTER seeing the episode, which might be why they called it a "featurette" instead of a prequel.

Had a blast watching. Nothing spectacular but enjoyable. I got what I was expecting. Voted okay.

SeaDevil wrote:

That's 3-for-3 this series so far for me. Quite a switch from the past few years.

Agreed!

Evil Monkey Pope wrote:

I didn't understand what was up with the boundary the Gunslinger put up around town. Why didn't he just walk or teleport in to shoot Jex? Why try to starve the town into giving him up when nobody could've stopped him & he didn't want to hurt the townsfolk anyway?

The Doctor asked him and the Gunslinger mentioned something about innocents may get hurt if he tried that. This was his least violent way to force the people of Mercy to throw out Jex on their own.

Evil Monkey Pope wrote:

It was cool that the Doctor actually saw Jex experimenting on his own people rather than just hearing about it. That made his rage more believable. It was even better that Jex was repentant even though he was apparently a war hero to his own kind. That was an interesting quandrary of whether Jex should be killed as punishment or be allowed to atone for it by helping Mercy.

I loved Matt's acting as he watched those scenes and listened to the screams....very chilling.

Evil Monkey Pope wrote:

The reolution to this ethical dilemma was a bit of a disappointment. When Jex kills himself, nobody wins because the Gunslinger doesn't get revenge & the Mercy loses its most helpful citizen. I think it could've been a more dynamic ending if the Doctor (or Amy & Rory) taught Jex & the Gunslinger to coexist with each other. I get that Jex had to die because his scientific & medical advances didn't mesh with the historical period, but having a alien cyborg marshall is equally problematic.The Gunslinger becoming the sheriff just because he had nothing better to do felt a bit hokey, especially since it didn't look like Mercy was a town that actually needed a cyborg to protect it from attackers. It might've been better to have a really downer ending with the Gunslinger offing himself because he couldn't have closure & had to live as something he hated. I felt the conclusion was too simplistic for such a deep conflict.

Maybe no one has ever found Mercy because the Gunslinger keeps them away! I think they may have wrote themselves into a corner, and letting him live as sheriff was the best they could think of. This is one of my big disappointments in the story. The ending was a little obvious.

I just don't like the horse thing. It is just too silly. Speaking baby is one thing, but a horse is an animal, I am not sure that they could communicate even with a Timelord......unless the horse was Shadowfax or Mister Ed, of course.

Ronpur wrote:

I just don't like the horse thing. It is just too silly. Speaking baby is one thing, but a horse is an animal, I am not sure that they could communicate even with a Timelord......unless the horse was Shadowfax or Mister Ed, of course.

I think it's the start of a new trend....

jonwes wrote:

I have a season pass for the show on iTunes, so I can see the uncut HD version I can't watch on BBC America.

Actually the BBCA premiere broadcasts are uncut. Then all the airings that follow that are cut. I didn't know this myself until I started watching their airings this season.

kcooper76 wrote:

jonwes wrote:

I have a season pass for the show on iTunes, so I can see the uncut HD version I can't watch on BBC America.

Actually the BBCA premiere broadcasts are uncut. Then all the airings that follow that are cut. I didn't know this myself until I started watching their airings this season.

Oh, I guess I meant "uninterrupted" rather than "uncut" because, since natural breaks aren't built in, the commercial breaks can feel a bit disruptive and i think it can sometimes impact my enjoyment a tiny bit.

Ronpur wrote:

I just don't like the horse thing. It is just too silly. Speaking baby is one thing, but a horse is an animal, I am not sure that they could communicate even with a Timelord......unless the horse was Shadowfax or Mister Ed, of course.

sometimes, paticularly with the horse i think hes just messing with people but thats just how it could appear. lol

This is the very first time (apart from NEW series 1 episode 1) that my dad called me and said "have you seen Dr. Who yet... it was brilliant" and he has watched Dr. Who on and off since 1963!

I liked him talking to Susan because they didn't overuse the gag like Stormaggeddon. I also believe an adult horse would be able to communicate more intelligently with him than a wee baby.

So the Doctor Speaks

Baby
Horse
and Ex Fiance a language all her own

I had the Chance to watch this again. Anyone think a Certain Doctor has some Anger Management Issues?

So I think Amy was right the more he travels Alone the worse his temper gets but i think thats because he is 1200 and has seen more than most. I am seeing more and more of the 9th , 10th Doctors Anger in Him. TURN TO The DARK SIDE....DO WHAT MUST BE DONE LORD DOCTOR.
*Star wars reference could not be helped due to lack of sleep

One thing I liked was he Used the Masters name in his Rant.

I wasn't thrilled with the implication that the Doctor is a good guy because he has humans with him. When he travels alone, without humans to soften him, he becomes more like the average human... vindictive and vengeful.

I prefer to think the Doctor is the one who would influence him companions, not the other way around.

Calixar wrote:

I wasn't thrilled with the implication that the Doctor is a good guy because he has humans with him.

The Hartnell run kind of proves that. The Doctor didn't "soften" until he'd traveled with others besides Susan for awhile.

It's why the Doctor likes Humanity so much - they made him a better person.

Huh... yeah. I can see that. Good point.

I enjoyed it. Western anything is sorta pizza to me though - I always enjoy it.

I really liked the idea of the town saving an alien who in turn provides them with advanced medical care, lights, and air conditioning. Excellent concept.

I agree that Rory and Amy didn't need to be there and that I feel like we've said goobye to them more times than David Tennant.

Overall I thought it was very good. Great morality questions at play, and it goes back to what Smith said in one of those little segments in his first season. When he looks at a star, he just sees a ball of burning gas. He's been traveling so long, he loses perspective. Also, it goes back to his God Complex, where he automatically thinks it's his responsibility to put things right, as judge and jury. I was shocked at Solomon's fate last ep, and I am glad that they addressed it here.

Like Donna said, sometimes he needs someone to stop him.

Awesome ep.

Am I the only one who thought this episode was very Doctor Who does Back to the Future 3??

jonwes wrote:

kcooper76 wrote:

jonwes wrote:

I have a season pass for the show on iTunes, so I can see the uncut HD version I can't watch on BBC America.

Actually the BBCA premiere broadcasts are uncut. Then all the airings that follow that are cut. I didn't know this myself until I started watching their airings this season.

Oh, I guess I meant "uninterrupted" rather than "uncut" because, since natural breaks aren't built in, the commercial breaks can feel a bit disruptive and i think it can sometimes impact my enjoyment a tiny bit.

Ohh. Yeah, you're right. The breaks are usually very awkward because there's rarely an indication.

Well, it was an OK episode to me. Not bad, but nothing memorable. I just read an article where the writer said this could have been a Stargate or Star Trek episode, and I know some Doctor Who fans got upset with that statement, but I would have to agree. I've seen the 'I'm a changed man' routing done a hundred times, the villain not actually being a true villain, etc. Nothing new, but it was still well done.

Ben Browder was great, and I thought it was sad they had to kill him off. Would have been funny seeing a Western Sheriff traveling in the Tardis with the Doctor.

Out of the 3 so far, I liked Dinosaurs the most, well, because it had Dinosaurs in it. I dread the 'Power of 3', but will still watch it.

As far as the Doctor getting mean without companions, I actually like that characterization. The first Doctor was that way, Ten became that way after Donna, even Six turned into the Valeyard after Peri (Retro Spoilers). The Timelords did seem to be mean and vindictive, so perhaps that is why he surrounds himself with humans, to try to distance himself from what his people are really like?

Gallifreys Loss wrote:

Am I the only one who thought this episode was very Doctor Who does Back to the Future 3??

Well, no train or Delorian or Mad Dog Tannen, but it was set in the Old West! But, yes, BTTF3 did cross my mind as I watched it.

Ronpur wrote:

Gallifreys Loss wrote:

Am I the only one who thought this episode was very Doctor Who does Back to the Future 3??

Well, no train or Delorian or Mad Dog Tannen, but it was set in the Old West! But, yes, BTTF3 did cross my mind as I watched it.

There were a couple scenes that were almost direct rips of scenes in BTTF3. The bar scene is the one that stands out the most.