TV Series > Doctor Who - Season: 06 > The Curse of the Black Spot

This episode continues, what seems like, a new darker Doctor Who. There are still a few jokes and wacky behavior, while keeping with what seems to be a new trend, scary creatures that will haunt children's nightmares. I'm not complaining about the change myself, as I am really enjoying them, but it really drives the series away from being a show the whole family can enjoy.

One thing that this episode did great, was providing a new spot for people that have never watched Doctor Who, to learn what this series is about, and how the technology works. I have to credit the writers for figuring out a way on how to explain the essence of space and time travel to a 17th century pirate captain. Even someone like me who, has followed the series since it rebooted, understands how things work better thanks to this episode.

The story in this episode was fantastic. This is the first episode in a long time that I found that it could stand alone in the series, without having to rely on the season's story arc. There were only a few very short bursts of something that past episodes were needed to understand, but they didn't tell us anything new. Viewers who missed the last two episodes should be able to follow this episode without any questions about what happened in the past. The massive plot twist towards the end was very well done. It was not just well done and well placed, but it also kept viewers wondering what was next.

The characters seemed well done, even the characters that will only be here for the episode. This is a refreshing change as I found many of the one-episode characters in the past seemed very shallow or, in some cases, seemed like they were average joe's who never acted before in their life. A huge kudos goes to Hugh Bonneville, who played as Captain Henry Avery, as he fit in the changing roles perfectly.

Amy and Rory didn't have too much to do in this episode except for being part of the story, other than a bit at he beginning and then towards the end of the episode. For the most part, they seemed to have as much screen time and the pirates. Rory especially seemed to be just an extra, being dragged along through the episode with very little to do. I am surprised that, as companions go on this series, he seems often to be in the background of the story, never really contributing too much. He seems to be the "Redshirt" of this current Doctor Who series; if they need something bad happen to someone, it happens to him.

The Doctor basically ran the whole show solo this episode. While his companions were back in the sidelines helpless, he was constantly devising new ideas, often scrapping ones he made earlier in the progress. The event in the Tardis with Captain Avery was great to see as it we haven't seen something like this from the series in a long time. I'm not crazy about the ending basically being a repeat of last episodes ending, but I guess they needed to tie it in somehow.

Overall it was a fantastic episode that almost anyone would enjoy. If you haven't watched a doctor who episode before, this would be the great place to begin.