Since I got to see a couple more episodes from Doctor Who Season 3 on Friday night, I thought I'd post my first impressions.

Usual disclaimer applies: I'll try not to spoil major plot points, but if you don't like knowing anything about the setting or plot or villain, you might want to skip this if you haven't seen these episodes.

Gridlock. Gridlock was good fun, and a nice departure from other recent episodes. It seems like an episode that will reward a second viewing, and I suspect my feelings on it might change substantially on second viewing. On a first viewing, it felt like an episode that threw a lot of ideas at you, but didn't really take the time to explore any of them deeply.

The good. Cat nuns with guns. Let me say it again: Cat nuns with guns! Action! Weird people stuck in traffic! Gratuitous return of the Macra. (Dude, I don't even remember the Macra. That is old skool.) Martha giving the Doctor flak about him lying to her. Martha in general.

The meh. The emotion vendors were interesting, but it sort of felt like an idea that didn't go anywhere. (Or at least, not anywhere more interesting than "Drugs are bad." Just because it's family television doesn't mean it needs to be an afterschool special.) I'd been spoiled on the Face of Boe's message, so my reaction to that was, "Great, now we've got that overwith. Let's get on with it."

Other thoughts. The parallels between Martha's experiences in this episode and Rose's experiences in The End of the World are interesting. Martha realizes at one point that the Doctor is a complete stranger to her - the same way Rose did. Martha pushes the Doctor to tell her about his past, the way Rose did in The End of the World. And both episodes end with the Doctor telling Martha/Rose about the Time War and being the last of his kind.

I'm guessing that Russel T. Davies knows exactly what he is doing here, and that a close comparison of the parallel moments would probably tell you something about the differences between Rose and Martha and their respective relationships with the Doctor. I think I'd need another viewing and some more thought to really analyze those. (One obvious difference: the Doctor stonewalls Rose initially when asked about his past; he outright lies to Martha at first. Hmmm. And this guy is the hero of the show. Geez.)

Daleks in Manhattan. This is part one of a two parter, so it's hard to have a complete reaction. I wanted to like this more than I did, but I still think it qualifies as a good Doctor Who "romp". I liked the 1930s New York setting, the showgirls, the Empire State building.

There's plenty of excitement. I like the interaction between Tallulah and Martha. The head foreman guy who's working for the Daleks is a bit cartoony for my taste - his eventual fate would have been more chilling if you'd actually cared about him a bit.

But, really, this episode is about the Daleks. I had a moment during this episode where I caught myself thinking, "This is not the Dalek from Dalek." It can't be, of course. It's hard to do the Daleks right, because they are implacable, nearly unstoppable killers, and the trick is to come up with some way for everyone else in the story to stay alive until the Doctor can stop them. The easy but dangerous way to do this is to have the Daleks be up to some dastardly plan that keeps them too busy to get out there and do what they do best, which is exterminate the hell outta everyone. The problem is that the plan had better be good, or the Daleks just look stupid. At this point in the story, I'm not convinced that the Dalek plan is that good.

I almost have a horrible feeling that part two is going to end with Dalek Caan turning to the camera and grating, "And we would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for that meddling Doc-tor!"

Still, there was one particularly fine Dalek moment: Dalek Sec, observing that there are billions of humans and, at present, only 4 Daleks, asks, "If we are superior, why are we not victorious?" Daleks are usually so thoroughly convinced of their own greatness that you can't help but sympathize when they begin to question it.

Of course, I'm guessing that all of Dalek Sec's existential angst is just gonna get him exterminated in part two. But we'll see.