Doctor Who: 6x03 Curse of the Black Spot

[kerravonsen]

I was expecting this to be based on the DW novel "The Resurrection Casket", but it turns out that the only things that the two stories had in common were Pirates, and a "curse of the black spot". Well, I suppose one could have started out with "The Resurrection Casket" and then mangled it and twisted it and thrown out all of the plot and just kept a few of the items, such as the aforementioned pirates, a boy, a dead wife, treasure, and medical technology. But the actual plots and causes of things were quite different.

Which is just as well, really: "The Resurrection Casket" was a crap novel, while the "Curse of the Black Spot" was not crap, at least, not compared to the novel. Which just shows how bad the novel was. This wasn't bad. It had some stupid things in it, but it also had some not-stupid things in it, and some pretties.

Some good bits:
1. Pirates!
2. Amy dressed up as a pirate rescuing the Doctor and Rory!
3. Rory behaving all stupid in the presence of the Siren.
4. I liked the Captain.
5. I like twists where evil things are not evil. The Sorcerer's Apprentice trope is a good one, though if it's overdone one can get tired of it.
6. The fact that the Doctor kept changing his theories in light of new evidence; an application of the maxim "remember what your characters don't know".
7. Pretty Siren is pretty. Ethereal, exotic, elfin.

Some stupid bits:
1. If the TARDIS is taking off for points unknown, you don't abandon ship! Because then the ship might abandon you.
2. If someone is stabilized on life-support, they are no longer drowning!
3. I'm a Nurse! I can teach you CPR in five minutes!
4. If you're going to perform CPR on someone, it's actually easier with two people, one on the mouth and one on the heart. So, Doctor, why were you standing back being useless?

Ongoing Mysteries:
More flashes of Schrodinger's Pregnancy, and the Lady With The Eyepatch (or as others have said, the "female Travis") saying the kind of thing that one might say to someone in labour.

I saw this with my sister - we both hadn't seen it before this time - and it was interesting watching and discussing it with someone who isn't fannish. We were talking a bit about The Day of the Moon, and I mentioned one of my theories, and she said "Oh, I hadn't thought of that." Which makes me realize I'm a Fan, since I sit there and am obsessive enough to think of theories and the evidence that supports them, while she is more content to take it as it comes.

For example, she was certain that Amy had never been pregnant, because Amy said that Amy wasn't pregnant. It never occurred to her, even in an episode where the menace can give post-hypnotic suggestions and make people forget, that Amy might have been given a post-hypnotic suggestion and made to forget.

This is not a criticism of my sister; she enjoys Doctor Who as entertainment, enjoys the surface flash, and more power to her. Me. I am a Nerd. My enjoyment is more complicated.

Comments

[vilakins]

Yeah, the whole drowning bit didn't make sense. Cholera (or whatever the kid had), OK, but that was stupid on several levels: medical, the Doctor not doing anything (surely the TARDIS has medical equipment that could handle a case of drowning or stopped heart/breathing), and (sigh) they killed Rory again.

If she was in another dimension, then the pirates were travelling to an alternate Dog Star. Some people objected to them being able to fly the ship, but I bet it was a lot easier and automated than a sailing ship.

[kerravonsen]

Some people objected to them being able to fly the ship, but I bet it was a lot easier and automated than a sailing ship.

I loved the scene in the TARDIS where Avery was pointing out "steering, compass, telescope...". I think that's evidence enough that he's flexible and imaginative enough to be able to figure out the controls of the starship.
What bothers me about the starship setup is... they don't have any supplies.

[vilakins]

Maybe they did off in storage where we couldn't see them? Or they can get to a planet in a matter of hours. I liked that scene too.

I couldn't see how the kid got on board in the first place though. How did he get to a port where he could stow away? Maybe I missed something.

Amy being a pirate with sword play and swinging on the rigging was so much fun. :-D

[kerravonsen]

Maybe they did off in storage where we couldn't see them?
The original owners of the ship were aliens who had been dead a long time. Even if the supplies weren't spoiled, how do we know that they were even suitable for humans?

I couldn't see how the kid got on board in the first place though. How did he get to a port where he could stow away? Maybe I missed something.
No, you didn't miss anything; it was a plot-hole. Not to mention, how could the kid stow away without knowing that it was a pirate ship, for goodness' sake?

And here's another plot-hole:
Why were Amy, Avery and the Doctor NOT immediately trapped in life-support when they were zapped by the Siren? Instead, they were just left lying on the floor unconcious.

[vilakins]

And I just heard this writer's doing the Sherlock season 2 finale. Sigh. You'd think they'd have learned from the dire middle ep he wrote, and this one.

sisters at the sliver screen

[tamanoilita]

It's nice to know one of the purposes of my sister's trip to Melbourne. It's nice to imagine you both having fannish and nonfannish enjoyment together. We have a similar experience up here when we watch Big Bang or 2NE1 music videos with Lalita. The main thing to be careful of is when the nonfan makes thoughtless downputting criticism, the fan can get offended. Especially because on college most people think it's wierd to be a fan of K-Pop.

Re: sisters at the sliver screen

[kerravonsen]

The main thing to be careful of is when the nonfan makes thoughtless downputting criticism, the fan can get offended.

I don't think that's a case of fan-versus-non-fan - the point I was making is related to where both people enjoy something, but one in a non-fannish (more casual) way, and the other in a fannish (more obsessive) way.
The above is a case where one person enjoys something, and the other person doesn't. In that case, the non-enjoyer is simply being rude.

Re: sisters at the sliver screen

[tamanoilita]

Hurray! this is the first time it worked. I posted a comment and I received your reply by email! The wonders of two-way communication!

[dreamflower]

It was an OK episode, I guess, but I could NOT help thinking, "Hmm...interesting that they are having a pirate-themed Who episode about the same time a new PotC movie is coming out..." Which is NOT something I want to be ABLE to think when I am watching a show. I want to be caught up enough in it that that sort of thing does not occur to me until later!

And the CPR thing really was stupid, especially the "Try for a couple of minutes and then give up and then a few seconds later the person coughs and comes around." It does NOT work that way.

I did like goofy!Rory/jealous!Amy. That was fun. It was great to see Amy being jealous for a change. I like that she's aggressively jealous, whereas Rory's jealousy tends to be passive.

I am beginning to be more and more convinced of my own theory of Amy's pregnancy. I believe that she is. Because I think that Amy is her own mother, and that the child in the moon suit is her...

I know what you mean about your sister. My hubby's like that-- we enjoy stuff together, but he's not inclined to theorize about it either. Except for HP. He's more into HP than I am.

[kerravonsen]

Which is NOT something I want to be ABLE to think when I am watching a show. I want to be caught up enough in it that that sort of thing does not occur to me until later!

Whereas I was watching it and thinking "I wonder how close this plot is going to be to The Resurrection Casket?"

I like that she's aggressively jealous, whereas Rory's jealousy tends to be passive.
I think Rory reacts that way because... his jealousy makes him miserable, because he feels he can't compete with the Doctor at all.

I am beginning to be more and more convinced of my own theory of Amy's pregnancy. I believe that she is. Because I think that Amy is her own mother, and that the child in the moon suit is her...

No, no, that doesn't make any sense to me. We know who Amy's parents are, we've seen her childhood, we know what she looked like as a child. The child in the moon suit is not her.

[dreamflower]

We know who Amy's parents are, we've seen her childhood, we know what she looked like as a child. The child in the moon suit is not her.

Do we, really? When Amelia meets the Doctor, she's living with an aunt, who is NEVER seen. Then all that timey-wimey stuff happens, big bang, changed universe, and poof! now suddenly she has parents and a childhood. But what do we know about those parents? And what if she was adopted? Or what if those parents never existed in the original universe? See, when you go messing around changing universes, anything's possible.

And I know that the child in the moon suit did not look anything LIKE Amelia. But then she regenerated: THAT's when this theory struck me...we certainly did not see what the regenerated little girl looked like...

[kerravonsen]

The thing about Amelia's parents has already been explained: they weren't there in the original timeline because the Crack swallowed them up. Likewise with her aunt. When the Big Bang happened, things that were lost because of the Crack were restored, including Amelia's parents.
At least, that's my understanding.