Continuing the new feedback feature here on Blogtor Who, you can leave your comments regarding the story that aired tonight – The Curse of the Black Spot. Feel free to post your thoughts, theories and ratings. But PLEASE, no SPOILERS for future episodes. Use the Comments button below.
RELATED POSTS
The Curse of the Black Spot audio commentary
The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon – What Did YOU Think?
DWO WhoCast #192 review [SPOILERS!]
The Curse of the Black Spot – episode section
Pretty good, but disappointed not to see a parrot.
Rather confusing. A tad boring. But nevertheless, enjoyable.
Is anyone else so over the endless "deaths" of Rory. He is lost & returned multiple times during season 5 (Ep. 7: Amy's Choice; Ep. 9: Cold Blood) and now they're at it again in season 6 (Ep. 3: Curse of the Black Spot). The emotional impact of his "death" is fading and is starting to feel like a bad joke. Please choose: either he's gone for good, or here to stay. Note: this is not a jab at A.D. but at the writers / producers.
Rather disappointing in-filler, not exciting enough nor funny enough, kind of stuck between two stools. A strange diversion from the series storyline which we all have a huge craving to appease. It was rather back to a series 5 type story, hopefully next weeks will return to the more convoluted, mysterious and gripping type from episodes 1 & 2.
Kinda feel it may have been in the wrong place in the series per the above comment, but I still really enjoyed it. Love a good pirate story and it was well executed, with nothing to moan about except the lack of anything REALLY amazing.
Loved it – witty script – endearng tale – wonderful performances. Love Doctor Who – whether it be funny, sad, serious, frivolous, deep, light, filler, for fandom, for the masses – indeed however it might manifest itself. It's not that I am indiscriminate – I do induldge in favourite moments and there are some episodes I might prefer over others but generally I find the more I watch an episode the more I see in it. Plainly and simply I just love the show and The Doctor entirely captivates me. This begun in my childhood with the Jon Pertwee; RTD enticed me back with his wonderful stories & Nine (Chris Eccleston) brought my childhood dream back to life with panache and gusto; I totally fell in love with Ten and will remain in love with him always; and now Eleven, so superbly performed by Matt Smith, has me glued to the screen and indulging in repeat visits to iPlayer. Like I said, I love the show.
Did I miss the part when the Siren took the Boatswain?
I remember Toby cut his hand, then the other pirate grabbed the keys and ran out, shot at the Doctor and Avery then was taken by the Siren himself. But back in the powder room the Boatswain's gone and doesn't return until appearing on the spaceship at the end. So did it go by in a flash or is that a plot hole?
Nope, you didn't miss it, as it didn't happen.
I wasn't a big fan of this episode actually. The story was not interesting and seemingly pointless, especially when compared to the treat we've had over the past two weeks. I couldn't get into the plot, the Siren, or the captain.
The only thing I enjoyed about this episode was Rory. Arthur Darvill has such a strong sense of who Rory is that it delights me to see him in each episode. Even if the Rory/death thing has happened twice previously, it's a testament to Darvill's acting that I was upset each time Rory gasped for air.
I enjoyed it, but it really didn't take our characters anywhere they haven't been before. For a filler episode it was a lot better than "Victory of the Daleks" , but not as good as "The Beast Below".
I really liked this episode, it was quite enjoyable, with just a couple niggles…
Apparently that one pirate that Toby sliced got Siren'd off screen or something, cause he just vanishes, not to show up til the group shot at the end. Also, why did the drag Rory into the TARDIS before CPRing him? And why couldn't the TARDIS medbay help him out at all? We know it has one, from the Silurian 2-parter last series.
Nothing special this week.
Whoops, posted my comment before I had typed my name …
I was extremely disappointed this week – especially after such a gripping, chilling two parter. I honestly didn't see the point of this story, am becoming tired of Rory's constantly "dying" and found the entire episode tedious – although, as a fan of 30 years, I sat through it anyway in the hopes that it would improve. Sadly it didn't.
Perhaps the scriptwriters thought that we might want a break from the edge-of-the-seat tension of . I, for one, most certainly did not.
Messed up HTML there somehow! Of course I was referring to The impossible Astronaut/Day Of The Moon!
I too noticed that a pirate disappeared, either this is a plot hole error, or it something akin to the silence of last year. Also the 'nurse' re-appears in this episode, which is slightly weird.
Also dragging rory to the tardis was i think another way to ensure the Siren did not interfere. Bit annoyed that the Doctor just stood there, and did not help Amy revive Rory. All in all it felt like a re- mix of the empty child/doctor dances.
It might just be me have a thick moment but (a) could a 17th century pirate really pilot a spaceship? Come on … and (b) How come the pirate crew were all resurrected at the end? Did the siren release them? If so, why? And if her job was to fix humans, how come she didn't release the ones with tiny cuts as soon as they were 'fixed'. Confused ….
Not sure why everyone is getting upset about Rory's repeated "deaths" after this episode when he didn't actually die in it. Companions are always in mortal danger, it's part of the job description. You might as well complain about Rose repeatedly "dying" in Bad Wolf/Idiot's Lantern/Doomsday.
It wasn't a great episode, but it wasn't horrible either. I guess I was hoping for a little more humor or a little more tension, instead it kind of rode the middle line. Ah well, not every episode can be a perfect 10.
http://nomorebutteredscones.blogspot.com/2011/05/doctor-who-curse-of-black-spot.html
It has its moments, but fails to offer anything that we haven’t already seen (often multiple times).
I really liked it. It's kind of cool to see the Doctor around pirates and there's still this strange medical scan of Amy.
Not a very good episode. Stuck it for about 15 minutes 10 at the beginning and five at the end. saw some terrible acting. Matt Smith is pretty hopeless as the Doctor. He didn't seem to be doing much in the pieces watched. All the episode was a cross between Pirates of the Caribbean and R.L.Stevensons Treasure Island. Black spot and where was Blind Pugh?
Eh.
All I found interesting were the Amy/Rory bits. There are so many silly plot twists excused by technobabble to keep me interested. The whole side story with the captain and his son I thought would have been a very powerful and impactful side story had the Siren actually killed the son. Obviously the story didn't go that way but that bit really caught me.
There were so many plot holes it was just a big joke though.
Also I'm starting to hate how EVERYTHING must have some kind of alien explanation. Sometimes, this episode particularly, it just seems gimmicky.
Perfect set up for a Captain Henry Avery spin-off…
A solid 'meh' here, I'm sorry to say. There were so many things that could have been cool, but just weren't.
A few thoughts that came up during the episode, in no particular order:
* Salt water? Nobody shed a tear, then.
* Attacking through reflections/mirrors felt like an attempt to run with Moffat's stock-in-trade of making the mundane creepy (killer statues, flesh-eating shadows) but fell flat, not least because it was handled very inconsistently.
* "Don't go on deck, the Siren will attack you if you do!" A couple of minutes later: me and the captain will just stand out here and have a chinwag, then.
* If the ship's utterly becalmed, why are there waves in all model shots? (See also: inconsistent handling of reflections)
* The alien sickbay: someone's been watching Coma recently, huh?
* Eyeballs. They're pretty damn reflective things, aren't they?
* Sorry, no, I'm not accepting that "a ship's a ship" to the extent of a 17th-century pirate intuitively piloting an alien interstellar starship. The internet: "It's just a book." Formula 1 racecar: "It's just a cart."
* Wait, seriously, the TARDIS doesn't have a defibrillator on hand?
* Ugh. Liquify effects on faces: please stop using them. They NEVER look good.
* Matt Smith's being exceptionally goofy in this one. Too much for me, and I think he's an astounding Doctor.
* Dialogue in general is weak, lots of tell-don't-show and repetition.
* That said, the wordless exchange between Avery and Toby over the mother's death was very well done.
Perfectly enjoyable – and forgettable; warmed-up leftovers that definitely recalled The Doctor Dances among others. The 'You can't tell him'/'Oh Amy' coda felt really shoe-horned in to remind us of the arc plot – as if we needed reminding! Almost all my favourite stories of the past seven years have been Moffat's, but as show-runner he seems to be more guardian of plot cleverness than the tone. I wonder if he's more reluctant to rewrite other writers' work than RTD was, or he's just not as good at it. I thought Victory of the Daleks was fairly terrible, and the Silurians double was pretty ho-hum, as was this one. I'm more hopeful about next week's – fingers crossed!
In a season where it seems every episode promises something spectacular, "Curse" is something of a let down. Perhaps this is simply a breather before we go speeding onto further revelations concerning River's identity, who the little girl is, Amy's pregnancy, and just what that creepy cyborg woman is who keeps checking on Amy?
Having said that, there is nothing really bad with this weeks offering, although it does seem like something we've seen before. Very old school Who in concept and execution. Could very easily see Doctor #5 having this adventure…
Dull.
I found this to be a very weak episode. It had potential. Good opening but around the swordfight, it just dropped right off the "believable" scale, even for someone quite used to suspending disbelief to the level required by Doctor Who.
Why did one of the pirates engage with Pond, knowing that the slightest nick marked him for death. Why did the pirate captain recognise his son, who has never met him and did not introduce himself. Why did the Doctor, Amy, and Avery not get transferred to the sick bay like all the others?
But most importantly, what kind of fancy technology can create a semi-sentient, automated sick bay whose response to minor injury is to sedate the patient permanently? Can ruscicitate a drowning victim, but only so long as he's hooked up to the machine? Can keep said drowning victim alive (apparently without actually removing the water and restoring lung function), but can't save her original crew? Uses lethal force to sterilise?
And while we're at it, when did having a ring on your finger become the universal sign for "I can take responsibility for this one?"
There's just too many plot holes for the story to work.
And then the doctor says typhoid will kill the boy if he's removed from the machine. Here's a tip, time lord, typhoid's a bacterial infection. Go pop through to the 20th century and pick up some antibiotics.
I honestly think this episode was kind of a throw away, with the only real point being to explain the "two universes at the same point in space/time" arc, which is how they are going to explain the AMY pregnant – non-pregnant mystery (I'm just guessing, but I think I'm right). It was enjoyable, but not one I will watch again very much. Although Karen Gillan looked good as a pirate, I would have rather seen Alex Kingston as one – can you imagine the dialogue for that!!!
Inconsistent, rushed, and more plot holes than usual (leeches? In the bilges of a ship sailing in salt water? Really?).
The story was too easy, when i saw the spacecraft i was able zu tell the rest of the story.
However its made 4 the american market, so stories have to become more easy.
I thought it was very formulaic and pretty boring. Quite a disappointment after the epic two-parter. The majority of the story felt like someone had written it for little kids and not for the whole family to enjoy (yeah, pirates are cool, but if the story isn't intersting that won't save the episode either).
The ending was stupid and cringe-worthy contrived drama. Everyone KNOWS Rory won't just die like that. So stop using his death as a plot point. (I also find him to be a boring character, but that's for another post)
So… you can see, didn't really like it much. It felt like a filler that solely tried to hinge on the fact that there were pirates involved.
I thought it was alright, and I did actually like it. It was definitely a filler episode though, and did suffer a bit switching from Pirate Ship to spaceship. But overall, a fun little tale, if a little let down by the ending a tad. To give it a score, 6 or 7 out of 10.
Is it just me or is it kind of annoying that the Doctor seems to just invite any one into the Tardis now?
I'm glad Rory was never my nurse, cos he didn't teach Amy mouth-to-mouth rescusitation very well. I'm surprised he was actually revived with that half hearted attempt. And Amy DID give up! tsk tsk!
This was the weakest episode so far, more like a time filler while they get ready for more interesting stuff.
I was really dissapointed when the 'Siren' turned out to be just a piece of tech. Only thing that kept me intrigued during the episode was how they were going to explain that ancient myth, and I liked the spooky otherworldliness of the Siren. And then to find out that it was just some faulty programming…
I think this episode was even worse than any of the slightly weaker episodes of the last series. It was neither very exciting nor was it funny enough to make up for that and turn a blind eye to the numerous plot holes.
And this says me who usually turns a blind eye to anything Who related.