Sarah -
Did you know there was a prequel for this episode?
Harry -
Well how about that. Thank you for sharing, Sarah. I just watched that prequel for the first time, twelve years after it was broadcast, somewhere.
That clip was useful because it immediately spoke to one of the things that bothered me as I rewatched "The Curse of the Black Spot". For the first little while in this story, no one was remarking on why there seemed to be no wind or waves despite everyone standing on the deck of a ship. Eventually we find out that the ship has been in waters becalmed for eight days. Viewers who caught that prequel would have known right away.
One of my pet peeves of the Moffat era is just this, the pervasiveness of teasers, prequels, and mini-episodes that fans had to keep an eye out for. Here in the year 2023 everything worth knowing is transmitted almost instantaneously to people who want to know. But even in 2014, these things were not universally accessible, demonstrated by the fact that I just learned of the above prequel for the first time. I am not a troglodyte, I'm certain!
Anyway, that was very useful.
Sarah -
Pirates on a spaceship! Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?
Harry -
Absolutely!
Sarah -
The Doctor turns up ready for pirate hijinks, but the pirates are in no mood for Yo Ho Ho-ing as they’re being picked off. When a member of the crew is injured, a black spot appears on their hand and the siren entices them with her song and appears to kill them by disintegration.
It’s not the best time for the TARDIS Team to turn up on the ship in response to a distress call, which wasn’t sent by the pirates. It’s the plank for the Doctor and Rory and the scullery for Amy, which I assume includes “all other duties as assigned.” Being the general badass she is, Amy is having none of this and mounts an attack on the pirates to save her men. In the ensuing sword fight, Amy draws blood from small cuts from a pirate and Rory. The pirate tells Amy that she’s killed him, while she mocks him for being a baby. The siren turns up and the Team sees why the pirates are so afraid. Amy realizes Rory is next and restrains him from getting to the siren.
Harry -
Sirens and pirates, two things that go great together in stories. This being a story in the Moffat era, things take an unusual turn. The green glowing siren was wonderfully eerie, and her method of disintegrating the marked men was sudden and brutal.
Amy in her pirate gear is definitely my lasting image from this story, and the sword fight is really the only action scene in the whole story, but her kickass swashbuckling ended up getting Rory killed.
Sarah -
Poor Rory. Traveling with the Doctor can be stressful and potentially dangerous, but I don't think any companion has suffered as much as Rory.
Harry -
I'm pretty sure it's a thing that Rory keeps dying in this series (Moff you maniac!). He doesn't die at first, as everyone scrambles below decks to escape the siren. It's a ship under siege! Take cover!
Everyone holes up in a cabin and we meet a stowaway, the pirate captain's young son. He divulges some of the captain's backstory while the Doctor works out how the siren is making herself appear -- not through water but through reflections. That was a bit of a stretch but nicely explained the becalmed waters that were bugging me.
The Doctor slips into the TARDIS to try and puzzle things out, but it goes haywire and takes off, stranding everyone aboard.
Meanwhile, Amy experiences another baffling moment when the woman from the previous story appears through a sliding hatch again. I remember being freaked out and totally compelled by these weird David Lynch moments as the season went on.
Sarah -
I expect we’ll see her a lot this season.
I didn’t remember much about this story so it was a surprise when the siren turned out to be a doctor who had been removing the injured pirates to her hospital spaceship.
Harry -
It was a great twist.
Sarah -
Rory, who was drowning when he was transferred to the sickbay, was connected to life support. Amy tried to remove him from life support, but the doctor siren wouldn’t allow it until Amy agreed to accept responsibility. The Doctor and Amy remove him from the sickbay and rush him to the TARDIS, where Amy begins CPR and the Doctor... just stands by.
Harry -
Amy doing everything in her power to save Rory and becoming increasingly distraught as the agonizing seconds ticked by -- that was one of the most intense scenes in the entire New Who era.
Sarah -
But, as ever, Rory survives as do all the pirates, who sail off in the hospital ship. The TARDIS team wishes them the best and set off to new adventures.
Harry -
After Rory's near-death and Amy's trauma, I think we were all ready to rush to the happy ending. There wasn't much action to this story, mostly everyone dashing from one part of the ship to another with long sections of dialogue in between. The pirates didn't do any pirating. The Doctor did jack squat to save Rory which I'm hoping he'll be called out on later. Overall, kind of a meh experience, this one.
Sarah -
Apparently, the episode was meant to be later in the series. I doubt it would have been any better later.
Harry -
Best Line:
Wounded Pirate: "You have killed me!"
Amy: "No way, it’s just a cut. What kind of rubbish pirates are you?"
Favourite Moment: when the siren first emerged.
Lasting Image: Amy with her pirate hat and sword.
5/10
Sarah -
Best Line:
Amy: Easy, tiger. Goodnight, Doctor.
Doctor: Goodnight, Amelia.
Amy: You only call me Amelia when you're worrying about me.
Doctor: I always worry about you.
Amy: Mutual.
Favorite Moment: Amy swings on a rope to save Rory and the Doctor
Lasting Image: Totes on Amy’s pirate kit!
5/10
Our marathon continues with Story #216: The Doctor's Wife...
