Doctor Who 6.3: The Curse of the Black Spot

[selenay]

Pirates! How can Doctor Who go wrong with pirates? It can't!


This year, I've done very well at avoiding most spoilers so I had no idea we were getting a pirate episode until last week's trailer. What a great surprise!

Firstly, any episode that has Amy in pirate gear waving a cutlass is going to be awesome. Who can resist pirate!Amy? She even swung over the deck on a rope, doing sword-fighty things! I did rather love that she fought exactly like someone who had never held a sword before. It would have been rather disconcerting to suddenly discover that she's an amazing fencer with no hint of it before. That entire scene was so much fun, with the Doctor walking the plank and mocking the pirate laugh and Amy saving everyone. I loved it :-)

Someone on my Twitter commented that the music was very Pirates of the Caribbean and I have to admit, there were a few moments in the episode where I just knew that someone had loved that film and wanted to remake bits of it. Thankfully, it was also rather Doctor Who as well :-)

Loved the "Yo ho ho, or do people not say that anymore?".

It was rather creepy, although not completely terrifying. I'm sort of glad that the pirate captain's addiction to gold and piracy wasn't cured by his encounter with the Doctor. I love my show, but every now and again it gets a little redeemy...

I totally called that the boy was dying when I saw him. That nasty cough rather gave it away.

This being Doctor Who, I knew that the siren would have to be some kind of alien and her 'victims' weren't dead but I definitely did not guess what she actually was. Nicely done, Doctor Who. She did look rather amazing and the nasty red version of her was rather creepy.

Yes, I did cheer a bit at the final pirate scene, with them riding off into the nebula with their new ship to do whatever 17th century pirates do with a space ship in another world :-)

Nice to get a few hints at the ongoing story. That woman in the window - what is she? And what did she do? Can I assume that Amy has been implanted with something and that's why she's possibly pregnant, possibly not? It's all very intriguing!

Also, loved the Ponds toddling off to bed. It's rather sweet and domestic, but also sad to see the Doctor left alone in the console room and shut out of some aspects of life on the TARDIS. I think this may be the first real hint we've had at what normal life is like in transit and it's both lovely and a little bittersweet. Aw, Doctor.

Next week is Neil Gaiman's episode. So. Damn. Excited!

Comments

[fyrdrakken]

I did like that the alien turned out to be a holodoc in a neigboring dimension, and that it ended with the pirates voyaging through the stars, embarking on a new life.

I'm hoping the ongoing story goes past the face at the window and the Doctor fretting over the TARDIS' inconclusive pregnancy test soon enough.

I've been enjoying the spoilers (at least up until we get to people who have actually seen the ep air -- which basically means being a bit cautious about Twitter on Saturday afternoons when the Brits and early-downloaders have seen it and I'm waiting on BBC America) but for the Neil Gaiman ep I've decided I don't want to know any more before I see it. I didn't even watch the trailer on the end of the last episode. (Though I suspect I'll see it in commercials on BBCA this week anyway.)

[selenay]

I did like that the alien turned out to be a holodoc in a neigboring dimension, and that it ended with the pirates voyaging through the stars, embarking on a new life.

I loved that resolution to everything. It was just right :-)

I'm hoping that we get a partial resolution to some of the ongoing story before the mid-season break, they have to do it, but I suspect that they'll leave us on a cliff-hanger over some aspec of it.

I'm trying hard to be spoiler free as much as possible because I love the surprise of seeing what happens. If I know that an episode will contain x or y plot element or scene, I'll be looking out for it rather than getting surprised and left on the edge of my seat. I somehow avoided all the spoilers that said the Eccleston regeneration would be at the end of Parting of the Ways and it's still one of my favourite mouth open, OMG they did that? moments of the new series.

[wadjet-theperv.livejournal.com]

Sounds brilliant! I bought the audio story read by David Tennant (with Rose in it) called The Resurrection Casket. I've often thought I'd like to see that done as an episode. That was all about pirates and I loved the whole premise of it.