Contributor: Bronzethumb
Written by Toby Whithouse
Directed by Saul Metzstein
Series 7 is three for three, as “A Town Called Mercy” continues the run of ambitious and entertaining episodes and distinguishes itself through a loving homage to the spaghetti westerns of old. It never gets too intrusive or silly, and it never loses that fun “Doctor Who” tone even while getting into some deeper and darker aspects of the characters.
The Doctor, Amy and Rory drop in on the titular Mercy, a small Wild West town that’s been besieged by “the Gunslinger”, a mysterious cyborg armed with futuristic weaponry. The Gunslinger is demanding the townsfolk turn over “the alien doctor”, but it turns out the Doctor is only the most recent alien to pay a visit to Mercy, and there’s more to this other alien doctor and the Gunslinger than meets the eye.
It seems like a very simplistic plot, recalling the base under siege trope that was so popular in the show’s early years and gets pulled out every now and then during the revival. But there are also some twists and turns, and a brilliant moral complexity that ties into the genre homage that’s central to the episode. “A Town Called Mercy” is a fantastic example of a Western, in the story and the presentation. It knows the tropes and hits them all, but rarely with a wink or a parodist style; instead, it gives all these elements a touch of humor or a link to the emotional and character arcs. The result is an episode that plays the Western tropes very straight, but is never boring or silly.
Director Saul Metzstein embraces the iconography of the Wild West, from the scenic shots of Spain that border on pornographic to the slow, deliberate pace of the big showdowns, focusing on each little development in turn and building the tension to unbearable levels. It helps that the production team actually filmed in Spain, where many of the classic Westerns were filmed, and brought in the charmingly authentic drawl of Farscape’s Ben Browder to play Isaac the marshal.
The reason this episode is such a success is that it uses the Western elements to tell its own story, rather than wallowing in the homage. The tale of the Doctor and Jex, played to understated, nebbish perfection by Adrian Scarborough, is wrought with more emotion and complexity than probably anyone suspected. It recalls series 5′s “Amy’s Choice” by holding up a mirror for the Doctor, someone he can challenge as a way of challenging and examining himself.
The previews for this episode show a lot of questionable and seemingly-out of character activities on the Doctor’s part, but Toby Whithouse takes him on a real journey so that when these big moments hit, we believe he’s been pushed to the breaking point, to the absolute emotional limit where the Doctor is capable of just about anything. Matt Smith is brilliant, giving a performance that’s big and subtle all at once. And Andrew Brooke is surprisingly effective as the Gunslinger, who becomes a genuine character over the course of the story.
The whole “Doctor Who” team has pulled together a truly amazing episode, full of humor and excitement and great performances, creating an end product that barely edges out “Asylum of the Daleks” for this year’s top spot. Fans of Westerns won’t be disappointed, and neither will those hoping for a great character story.
Score: 8.5/10