Doctor Who S8E2 - "Into the Dalek" Recap

A rebel fighter named Journey Blue is on board a ship under attack by Daleks. The Doctor gets her out just in time but her brother was killed before he could save him, too. At her request, he returns her to a rebel space station named Aristotle. Journey's uncle, Colonel Morgan Blue is grateful to have his niece back but wants to kill the Doctor to keep the station safe. But upon learning he is a "Doctor," Blue decides the Doctor can help their patient, a war-torn Dalek that has apparently turned good.

Clara is back at Coal Hill School and meets Danny Pink, the new Maths teacher, who is a veteran of the warn is Afghanistan. In his class, we see one of his students ask him if he ever killed someone outside his job, causing a tear to discretely fall onto his cheek. Clara invites him out to a get-together for one of their colleagues but he politely turns her down due to his feeling awkward over his attraction to her. She then catches him berating himself and invites him out for a drink instead which he agrees to. She returns to her office and finds the Doctor waiting for her with coffee that he was supposed to fetch for her three weeks prior in Glasgow. He needs her help and asks if he is a good man. She says she does not know.

They return to Aristotle. Colonel Blue plans to miniaturise the Doctor, Clara, Journey, and two additional soldiers so they can get inside the Dalek and determine what is making the Dalek apparently good, as it has been declaring that Daleks must be destroyed. The miniaturisation is successful and the group are inserted into the Dalek through the eyepiece. They begin exploring but once a soldier shoots a grip hook into the floor, Dalek antibodies are released and he is incinerated.

The Doctor, Clara, Journey, and the soldier head down to Rusty's (the Dalek) waste centre. They find a large crack which is causing the malfunction. The Doctor repairs it with his sonic screwdriver and this restores it to its normal human-killing ways. It goes on a rampage, breaking free from its chains and exterminating rebels.

Clara convinces the Doctor to try to reawaken the Doctor's good side. The extra soldier sacrifices herself to Dalek antibodies while the others head to Rusty's mind. She awakens in "heaven," and is also greeted by Missy, just as the Two-Faced Man was in "Deep Breath."

In Rusty's mind, Clara awakens memories of witnessing the creation of a star. The Doctor enters Rusty's conscious and reminds Rusty of the destruction of Daleks. But Rusty accesses the Doctor's hatred for Daleks and this causes him to begin exterminating fellow Daleks that have begun arriving to the station. The Doctor is emotional over Rusty's seeing the darkness in him.

Rusty stays with the rebels and vows to continue destroying Daleks. Journey asks to come with The Doctor and Clara. He tells her she has a good heart but wishes she wasn't a soldier. The Doctor returns Clara to her office, mere moments after they left. Before leaving, she says that she doesn't know if he is a good man but that he tries to be which is what matters. She then meets Danny, who says he is glad that his being an ex-soldier hasn't scared her off. She says that she is not the one with problems with soldiers.

Doctor Who airs on Saturdays on BBC One.