So, I watched the latest Doctor Who episode, “Asylum of the Daleks,” and I was not impressed. I don’t like the direction Steven Moffat is taking the show in. I loved the fifth Series of Doctor Who, but Moffat’s treatment of the show in the sixth series frankly disgusted me. I don’t like his grand universe-saving schemes spanning multiple seasons. I actually preferred Doctor Who as a “monster of the week” show, and the one-off episodes are still my favorites. Moffat has fundamentally altered the character of the show in ways I don’t like. Moffat is trying to make the plots too convoluted, in my opinion, and isn’t always doing it correctly.

This isn’t to say that it’s bad (for the most part); I just don’t like it. So, despite my not being a fan of Series 6, I was willing to give Series 7 a go (and still will). But, from the first episode, my hopes aren’t very high. Moffat wrote the episode himself, so I had been expecting a lot, as he is generally a good episode writer (he wrote “Blink,” after all), but I was again disappointed here.

The Doctor, in the episode, was remarkably devoid of humor, his lines seemed forced, the episode had little context into the events and left me as the viewer lost and confused, and the Daleks acted in a very un-Dalek-like manner. Moffat said he was trying to make them scary again, but he really only made them more laughable, in my personal opinion. He did the same thing with the Weeping Angels in the two-part “Time of Angels” and “Flesh and Stone,” when he made the Angels move and speak, ruining their terrifying nature. The Dalek Parliament’s behavior did the same thing to the Daleks, in my personal opinion.

But the thing that really, really bothered me was Amy and Rory’s relationship. I liked Amy in Season Five. I hate her now; she acts inconsistently and, frankly, is insensitive, whiny, and rather thick. Rory really is the better of the two of them, by far. Very far. Moffat’s handling of their whole relationship annoyed me to an amazing degree, and seemed unnecessary and uncharacteristic.

On the bright side, the twist ending at the end of the show was very, very good and I loved it, even if I felt like it could have been explained and thought out better. In conclusion, I am going to at least finish this Series, but I am wary of it. Moffat has, I think, changed the fundamental nature of the show, which I feel was designed to be episodic, and that his convoluted plots are getting the better of him. Maybe he’ll impress me this Series; who knows. I hope he does.