Minor rant about recent Doctor Who (Curse of the Black Spot)

[derry667]

Mostly, I'm loving the new series of Doctor Who. I even liked most of the last episode.

But there is one thing about it that I really need to get off my chest.

Comments

[goldvermilion87]

HAHA!

So, I was watching this with a friend, and she was complaining too. I didn't complain, but I was quite quite underwhelmed.

Still. I LOVE RORY!

(Don't know if that makes it better or worse...)

[derry667]

Only my utter love of Rory allowed me endure that scene.

In my head, I've edited to include more competent mouth-to-mouth technique by Amy, the Doctor doing the chest compressions and about 30 more mins of CPR before Amy dissolves into desperate tears.

There. All better. ;-)

[goldvermilion87]

Yes. That is much better.

They just gave us a precis of the actual scene to keep it within the 45 minute time limit.

(Actually, in all seriousness, I've been noticing a trend towards unnecessary medical gruesomeness in some BBC television, so I'd rather have a poor CPR scene than another detailed look at someone's insides!)

[leoraine]

Lol, exactly my reaction! I couldn't help but think that the Tenth or even the Ninth Doc would be taking some action. Doing the chest compression and breathing at the same time isn't fun and usually if there are two people available to do it in the field, they both do it.

And giving up after few minutes? Duh. While I love this and the last season, I think Moffat is doing a great job with it, this episode had some of the most unrealistic moments I've seen in Doctor Who. I get it that Amy is more into action now than the Doc himself, but come on, at least be consistent and don't let her be a wuss when saving Rory!

[leoraine]

Though, I must add that the scene with Amy wielding the sword and frowning upon how weak and whiny were the pirates when she just scratched them, that was perfect:-)

[derry667]

I don't think it really relates to which Doctor was involved. To be honest, I would think that the erratic and hyperactive Eleven would seem more likely to jump head first into doing something first and asking questions later than either of his predecessors.

But, in the end, it just boils down to a really crappily written H/C melodrama scene. Like something out of REALLY bad fanfic. Honestly, I kept thinking was there no one in the crew or cast that had ever done a first aid course and could have quietly tapped them on the shoulder and pointed out how utterly awful it was.

After thinking on it some more, I think that the writer deliberately wanted to have only Amy and not the Doctor as well doing the CPR and that was what the ridiculous "Why do I have to be the one?" question was all about.

And that's even more irritating because, as far as I can see, he deliberately structured the scene to have the Doctor and Amy suddenly turn in feeble idiots in order to "up the drama".

And, adding to my frustration, is the fact that I can

[gaffer42]

BAD director! (slaps newspaper on floor in front of directors' nose) BAD director!

Ahem. Also bad writer. And - but likly not so much an issue, since she has to do what the director tells her to do with the words the writer wrote - bad actress!

OMG. I literally squirmed in irritation through that scene. Big D howled. He'd be ded, ded, DED, ded. And what's with the dramatic pause? And she barely did one full cycle... **deep breath**

OK. Every series is entitled to a blip, right? NEXT!

[derry667]

I don't tend to hold the actors too accountable in this situation. Although it is true that actors often "research" their roles (and, seriously, how hard is it to google "CPR technique"?), it seems very clear that most of the bad technique was script-driven. If anyone should have taken an executive decision to fix the inadequacies, it should have been the director.

But let's leave that all behind us. The next ep is almost ready for me to watch.

And NEIL GAIMAN!!! SQUEEEEEEEE!!!!!

[sholio]

HAHAHAHAHA. We just watched that episode, and, uh, yeah. SO BAD. Like you said, it was just like something out of a really bad fanfic! I'm all for some Rory h/c, but it's hard to get into the emotions of the moment when all I can do is laugh.

[derry667]

Yeah. Part of the reason I was so miffed might have been that they SQUANDERED a prime chance for me to enjoy some Rory H/C. The man deserves a good dose of comforting every now and then, but between the cringing and snorting in disbelief I really just couldn't get into it either.

But need to look forwards, not back.

I have such high hopes for the next ep (almost ready to watch) that I almost fear being disappointed.

But NEIL GAIMAN writes DOCTOR WHO!!!!!

Oh, PLEASE let it be all it could possibly be...