June 19: "The Making of the Gunslinger" / "A Town Called Mercy"

The episode's prequel gives us a look into how exactly the "Gunslinger" came about, with Kahler scientists and doctors (including Dr. Kahler-Jex) augmenting him under the false pretext of being "selected for peacekeeping missions on off-world colonies".  It's interesting because it gives us a look into Kahler-Jex's thought processes before any regrets subsequently appeared, and it gives us a good lead-in for "A Town Called Mercy".

One thing I keep forgetting to mention is how the title sequence has been changed.  A re-tinted time vortex (now in frankly hideous shades of blue and green), new font for the credits, and a slightly different logo -- no more DW TARDIS, and in fact a slight alteration for the logo every time thus far to reflect that particular episode: bronze with Dalek bumps for "Asylum of the Daleks", green scales for "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship", and this time, a rough woodgrain pattern for "A Town Called Mercy".  Yes, 46 years after The Gunfighters, it's time for Doctor Who to tackle another Western.

It helps that it looks utterly gorgeous.  They've gone off to Almería, Spain, where an awful lot of Westerns have been filmed (include Sergio Leone's Man with No Name trilogy²⁴⁰), and the result is fabulous.  No soundstage or Cardiff locations substituting for the American West here; instead we get beautiful landscapes and a convincing frontier town.  And they've even gotten some American actors to help sell things (instead of the more typical practice of having British actors fake a Transatlantic accent), which is nice.

Kahler-Jex prepares to be killed by the Gunslinger. ("A Town
Called Mercy") ©BBC

But what's also interesting about "A Town Called Mercy" is the moral arguments that pervade the piece.  Kahler-Jex is a war criminal, but one who's attempted to atone in some small way for his crimes, helping the town of Mercy with a cholera outbreak and rudimentary electric light and heat.  It seems in some ways that Kahler-Jex wants to put the actions he performed during his war behind him, that he's unhappy about the choices he's made ("You think I'm unaffected by what I did?" he says.  "That I don't hear them screaming every time I close my eyes?"), but as the Doctor points out, "You committed an atrocity and chose this as your punishment ... but justice doesn't work like that.  You don't get to decide when and how your debt is paid."  But then the Doctor is hardly blameless -- he's willing to hand Kahler-Jex over to the Gunslinger, to be the judge and jury, ready to turn him over to the executioner.  (Admittedly, this is apparently because Kahler-Jex gets under the Doctor's skin -- "Looking at you, Doctor, is like looking into a mirror, almost.  There's rage there, like me.  Guilt, like me.  Solitude.  Everything but the nerve to do what needs to be done.  Thank the gods my people weren't relying on you to save them" -- but it's still a surprising decision.)  Rory is on the Doctor's side, so it's up to Amy to stop him:

AMY: This is not how we roll, and you know it.  What happened to you, Doctor?  When did killing someone become an option?
DOCTOR: Jex has to answer for his crimes.
AMY: And what then?  Are you going to hunt down everyone who's made a gun or a bullet or a bomb?
DOCTOR: But they keep coming back, don't you see?  Every time I negotiate, I try to understand.  Well, not today.  No.  Today, I honour the victims first.  His, the Master's, the Daleks', all the people who died because of my mercy!
AMY: You see, this is what happens when you travel alone for too long.  Well, listen to me, Doctor.  We can't be like him.  We have to be better than him.

(from The Doctor Who Transcripts - A Town Called Mercy)

And fortunately Amy is able to bring the Doctor back to sanity -- Jex should face justice, but that doesn't mean vigilante justice.  It's not their place to try Kahler-Jex, but it is their place to keep the inhabitants of Mercy safe.  ("This is their home, not the backdrop for your revenge," the Doctor tells the Gunslinger later.)  This does mean that the ending of the episode sags ever so slightly (as people in the town disguise themselves as Kahler-Jex by painting the tattoo on their faces, to confuse the Gunslinger long enough for Kahler-Jex to escape) but it's frankly done so well up to this point that it's easy to forgive.

"A Town Called Mercy" is a surprisingly nuanced episode, interested in examining the moral dilemmas it presents and unwilling to provide any genuinely easy answers -- even Kahler-Jex's "escape" at the end is by committing suicide, enough of a coward to not simply hand himself over to the Gunslinger and unwilling to see another group of people caught in the crossfire.  It's a thoughtful episode, nicely introspective but with enough excitement to keep things moving.







²⁴⁰ A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.