Today marked three consecutive days of breaking four miles on my treadmill session. Barely. I had a fantasy that it would also be the day I finally hit the 50 lbs lost mark, but alas that was not to be. Maybe tomorrow. At this point I am walking at 4.4 miles per hour, in a few more days I will try bumping up to 4.5. Apparently the crossover point between walking and jogging happens somewhere around 5 miles per hour. By the time I hit the Fifth Doctor I expect to be jogging for at least some portion of my workout every day, which is a daunting thought.

Speaking of daunting thoughts, today's viewing came to the dramatic crux of the entire story - "...if someone who knew the future pointed out a child to you and told you that that child would grow up totally evil, to be a ruthless dictator who would destroy millions of lives, could you then kill that child?"

Let's talk about that.

Genesis of the Daleks - Parts 5 & 6

The final stretch of this amazing story contains several points where a person is given the opportunity to commit genocide, either in reality or as a thought exercise. At one point the Doctor asks Davros the theoretical question, "..if you had created a virus in your laboratory, something contagious and infectious that killed on contact, a virus that would destroy all other forms of life, would you allow its use?"

"Yes," Davros chillingly replies. "Yes. To hold in my hand a capsule that contains such power, to know that life and death on such a scale was my choice. To know that the tiny pressure on my thumb, enough to break the glass, would end everything. Yes, I would do it! That power would set me up above the gods."

At another point, the Doctor has set explosive charges in the nursery containing the genetically modified mutants that will become the Daleks, and then finds himself standing with Sarah Jane and Harry contemplating whether he has the moral right to commit genocide, and whether he could live with that decision. He is spared from that choice by the timely arrival of someone declaring (prematurely, as it turns out) that Davros has been defeated.

Yet again, in a debate between Davros and all of the surviving scientists and military leaders, Davros offers them a self-destruct button that will destroy all of the existing Daleks and Dalek embryos, but it would also kill every living person in the bunker outside of that room. Nobody elects to press the button.

Over and over again, genocide is offered as an option, and consistently the only person who eagerly embraces the idea is Davros himself. 

Ultimately the nursery is destroyed along with the rest of the bunker, but the Doctor does so with the full knowledge that Davros is still alive along with several of his early prototype Daleks. He also does so with the assertion that, as evil as the Daleks are, their very existence will also lead to some good as well. 

The kicker to the story, of course, is that the Daleks themselves rebel against Davros. He may be their creator, but he is in their worldview by definition an inferior creature who must be exterminated. They even apparently kill him, although obviously he returns in later stories so his death is somewhat exaggerated.

This is easily the boldest, most mature and challenging story in the show's history to date. Even discounting for giant mutant clams, it depicts the stark reality of war in a way unlike anything before it. Sure, Davros is pure evil, but the interesting thing is that both the Kaleds and the Thals are presented in a manner which is in some ways flattering and in some ways damning to both sides of the conflict. Aside from the insane genocidal machinations of Davros himself, and the knowing devotion of his second in command, most of the characters are presented in very realistic shades of gray.

One other interesting thing about the story - the eventual leader of the Thal resistance to the Daleks (after the majority of the population of the Thal city has been destroyed) is a young woman. Whatever criticisms Doctor Who may deserve for having clueless female assistants who exist primarily to scream, be kidnapped, and ask the questions that are needed to allow the Doctor to provide story exposition, the truth is that throughout the show's history there is a strong and repeated tendency to show women in traditionally-male leadership positions. Soldiers, politicians, scientists... repeatedly the show presents women who are intelligent and strong, and not just in a token Danger Girl kind of way. 

So that's a wrap for the last Dalek story that I have any real eagerness to watch. Tragically, from here on out it's all downhill for the Nazi Pepper Pots.

STATS:

Doctor(s): Fourth
Companion(s): Sarah Jane Smith, Harry Sullivan
Episode(s): Genesis of the Daleks - Parts 5 & 6
Steps Walked: 7,495 today, 1,360,208 total
Distance Walked: 4.03 miles today, 674.64 miles total
Weight: 259.98 lbs (five day moving average), net change -47.32 lbs