fangrrl_squees | Torchwood: Further Thoughts on Countrycide

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Torchwood: Further Thoughts on Countrycide

Man, this is going to be tough to focus on with the James Bond theme bouncing around inside my skull... Spoilers follow, of course.

Technical bits, first:

Production values: excellent.
Writing: much better than I expected when I saw Chibnall's name on the credits. Mind you, having low expectations means one is easy to please...
Pacing: very good. Kudos to the editor(s) on that one.
Characterization: Also good, although some of that characterization vexed the hell out of me, but that's just a matter of personal taste.

The Nitty Gritty

The learning curve for a new show is steep and unforgiving. Sci-fi audiences are usually the most tolerant of a new show's glitches, but we're just about at the midpoint of Torchwood's season, and so the gloves are starting to come off, with even the most forgiving of fans. It's a good thing that Countrycide is as strong as it is. If something like Cyberwoman had occupied this slot, I doubt we'd see episode seven.

The story was, in it's way, nothing new. Psychotic humans prove that they can be scarier and nastier than anything the rift could produce, laced heavily with homage to classic horror film. Granted, it sometimes crossed the line from homage to just plain derivative but my expecations of television in general are so freakin' low that I'll accept derivative, if it's well done - and it was.

I'm a big fan of man-as-the-monster. The first rule of horror is that the source of horror must be something familiar. As PJ O'Rourke put it, it's got to be mom eating snakes in the living room. Aliens eating up the local human populace wouldn't have nearly the same impact. Unfortunately, I think a lot of that impact was undermined when one of the culprits stated his 'reason' for acting as he did.

A quick tangent re: psychopaths and why killing might be perceived as a happy-making thing. A pressure builds up in the mind of this sort of person, and killing - ritualized or otherwise - releases it. That release can be a euphoric relief, as anyone who's ever suffered through severe anxiety knows. Give that inner anxiety a butcher's cleaver and remove any vestige of conscience, and you've got a pretty good simulacrum of a psychotic murderer. So I've no objection to "Because it makes me happy" being cited as a killer's motivation.

'Scuse me. Psychopaths are some of my favorite bad guys, and I get really annoyed when I see them misinterpreted. Torchwood ain't gonna win any awards for versimilitude - they overplayed it for telly, of course - but I still thought they did a pretty good job, given the context. However, spelling out the motive like that removed a lot of the terrifying mystery associated with the killers. Leave 'em mysterious and let Gwen remain frustrated. I quite understand her desire to understand, because anyone who's witnessed that kind of horror is going to want to find a reason for it, to figure out some sort of why so that they can begin to process what happened. But whilst most tele/screenplay stories are about the resolution that our daily life so often lacks, I really think that Chibnall should have left Gwen in doubt and confusion. It would have been good for her and, I think, made her decision at the end of the episode even more plausible. People make really bad decisions when riddled with doubt and anxiety...

So, the story was a classic tale, pretty well presented. I could have skipped the homage to the semi-clad woman running like hell through the woods, but what can ya do? If you're going to do an homage, you've gotta include the slobbering psycho chasing the pretty girl, as vexing as it is. Why we didn't see terrible things happening to Ianto is, of course, obviously attributable to the fact that the (generally) het male audience doesn't want to see that. Which is a shame, because the chasing-of-Tosh bit broke the well-established suspense with two minutes of eyeball-rolling. It was all a bit jarring, alas. But quickly forgotten and done with, thank god.

It was an ensemble story, which I enjoyed. You don't see ensemble shows much, any more. The writers and the audience find it so much easier to focus on a single star. The unfortunate downside of an ensemble of half a dozen characters is that it feels like someone gets shorted every episode. But Chibnall did his best to pack in something for everyone. The early scene of the team members talking about their most recent snog was brilliant. It gave us a glimpse into everyone's character - just a peek - that carries tons of implications. Jack's dodging the questions, Owen's stirring up the shit, Ianto's angry - and thank god for that, I hate it when characters recover from major trauma in a week - Gwen is still the clueless noob putting her foot in it and Tosh... well, Tosh is lonely, I think, which is a good setup for next week's episode, it seems.

I've heard some grumbles about the Owen/Gwen scene in the woods, ranging from "See, he is a rapist!" to "So implausible!" to which I respectfully ask the critics to shut it. Based on past experience, I can assure you that a fella may act as Owen did and not be a rapist. Highly-charged hormone-wise, yes. Probably fond of a D/S dynamic, certainly. But not necessarily a rapist. Frankly, I thought the scene was hawt, but I'm a kinky little Brit with a thing for toppy, dirty-talking men so, yeah, it hit my buttons and I'm biased. (Sorry if that was TMI)

However, I will agree that Owen is a manipulative fuckwit because if anyone here thinks that he didn't consider every ramification of his telling the team about making out with Gwen, then you're mistaken. Force the issue into the open as Gwen has been avoiding discussion, put her in a situation where you can tell her how very much you want her, and see what happens. At worst, get a knee to the groin and go on with life. Well, more like: get covered in bbq sauce and fed to Myfanwy, but I don't think Gwen would go that far.

Yeah, I've joined the Owen's a bastard, but he's my kind of bastard camp.

Hasn't anyone told the team that splitting up the party is always a bad idea? But it's vital to get the story moving, so...

I agree that the idea that the psychonutters had been clearing out the village every ten years was utter BS. Calling it the Harvest was melodramatic twaddle, also, but - hello? - these aren't rational, balanced folks here. Combine that with the ritualism so beloved of a certain type of psychonutter and the melodrama not only makes sense, but it's practically mandatory. So, it's another thing I found a bit jarring, but I could forgive it, accept it and go on.

It seems that Tosh is a bit of a danger junkie, herself. I think that anyone who lasts with Torchwood has to be an adrenaline addict in one way or another. No wonder Jack's stuck around with it. If anything's gonna give an immortal guy a thrill...

Ianto was a bit of a big girl's blouse in this one but, again, I thought it was quite plausible. Call him what you like, he's essentially the office secretary/logistics chap, right? He drives the car, makes the coffee, serves up the ~~humanmeat sandwiches~~ hamburgers... Well, I can't help imagine how I'd react to being in a basement and facing probable (and certainly unpleasant) death and I think he held up rather well, honestly. I'd be blubbing on the floor and gibbering, meself. Ianto's not really trained for this sort of thing - at least, that's the impression I got. If anyone on the team is not a danger junkie, it's Ianto - but I think that's going to change. Between the trauma of losing Lisa and yet another look twixt him and Jack, I think there are some rather significant paradigm shifts in that lad's immediate future.

At one point or another, everyone on the TW team was scared, and I liked that. They were in a goddamn scary situation. The pacing of the story was, generally, very good, and the fear and the tension kept climbing and I was quite engaged by it until... until...

Until Deus Ex Machina Taxi¹ crashed through the wall like the Kool Aid man. Bugger.

I can't say I was surprised. I looked at the clock and thought "five minutes to go and no hint of a way out. This isn't going to end well" and it didn't. I had an easier time buying into torturer!Jack than I did sharpshootin'cavalry!Jack and that's saying something, as I didn't really buy into torturer!Jack at all - and I really wanted to. It fits in with a lot of the meta I've created for rpg!Jack, you see, and so I'd be tickled pink to see it justified. But anyways...

(That reminds me, we've had no indication, one way or another, if Jack is still missing those three years of his memory. For all we know, he's recovered it in the meantime, between Satellite 5 and now. Hm. Hmm.... Gotta file that away for TW!rpg!Jack.)

The ending was a collapsed souffle and, I'm going to say it again, a distinct downside to the one-story-per-episode format. I think some of the DW stories have suffered because of it, and I think TW suffered from it here, too. Well, that and/or lazy writing. I'd have been much happier if Tosh/Owen/Gwen/Ianto had sunk a meathook in the back of the psychonutters - y'know, go down towards their level to take them out - and have Jack arriving a day late with the cavalry routine, but I guess that was too much to ask for. Sigh.

I've known about the Gwen/Owen thing since before the show began, so I was utterly unsurprised about their hooking up at the end of this eps, nor by the reasons cited by Gwen for making what is sure to be A Very Bad Decision. But, again, it's plausible. Imagine if you couldn't talk about your job, at all, to your significant other. I don't know about you lot, but I'd probably burst at the seams - or blow all confidentiality.It's an interesting thing to note that Gwen has chosen to take on another confidant/lover, rather than blowing said confidentiality to Rhys. It says something about her values, but I'm not entirely sure what. That she'd rather keep secrets from Rhys - and risk breaking his heart - than threaten Torchwood? That she's sublimating her own streak of danger-junkie into an affair with a manipulative, egocentric co-worker? That she's simply bereft of common sense? I dunno. But I like it. The decision makes sense, in a way, and it sets the stage for all sorts of frightfully lovely awfulness, down the road.

This was a better eps of Torchwood, and if the rest of the season can match it, I'll be more optimistic about its chances for a second season. At the moment, I don't think the show is going to make it, which is a shame as I think it really needs the whole season to finish the shakedown and could turn into something far more solid and consistently entertaining. And it's blasphemy to say so, but if Barrowman's performance remains erratic, the advantage of an ensemble cast is that you can always change out the de-facto lead. I love Jack, I really do, but Barrowman's still finding his feet and occasionally overplaying it by an order of magnitude. Please, John, please oh please, keep it scaled down for the small screen. Whilst I'm sure Owen could carry the series, I think a recast would mean handing it off to Gwen and, oh god, she's too bland. I like her a lot, but she's still strictly second-banana material, character-wise...

¹ - Here to take your plot home any time of day or night. That's their company motto.

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Frankly, I thought the scene was hawt, but I'm a kinky little Brit with a thing for toppy, dirty-talking men so, yeah, it hit my buttons and I'm biased.

We are really so very similar, I'm beginning to think we were separated at birth :D

Have you seen Casino Royale, yet?

When you have/do, I'll ask you if you found a certain scene as guh! as I did (no, it doesn't involve a partially clothed/nekky Daniel Craig. He's fully clothed, in fact) and if you agree then, yeah, I think it's time to get the DNA tested... ;)

Not yet - need to sort a sitter and cash so it may have to wait until next Thursday when I get paid.
"Goldeneye" story for you though, the bit in the Russian Baths, that then leads onto the fight with Xenia. In that first week I went to see the film with two separate blokes, and at exactly the same point in that sequence they turned to me and said "stop it, I can hear what you're thinking..."

I swear I wasn't doing anything...

Once we've compared Casino Royale, we can get on to "why Jason Bourne is sexy when he fights with a knife"...guh!

*lol* Xenia was a bit OTT for my tastes, but dig that outfit! ;)

And as for Jason Bourne with a knife... *Mmm, happy place*

But give me The Professor (Clive Owen's character), any time. ;)

You make tons of good points as always. The ending was definitely a case of how the hell do I get them out of this on the writers part. And I was cringing about the voice-over at the end as v-os are rarely a good thing, but it could have been much worse.

Also, Jack lost two years of memory not three. Sorry. :)

Y'know, after the first 12 months, who's counting? ;)

I like that icon you're using, btw.

I like that icon you're using, btw.

Thanks, I made it myself. You can use it if you'd like. There are several variants over on my lj.

But whilst most tele/screenplay stories are about the resolution that our daily life so often lacks, I really think that Chibnall should have left Gwen in doubt and confusion.

I can't argue with your reasoning, but I did love the moment when the killer said "It made me happy", and the difficulty Gwen had in dealing with that. It was a strong moment on several psychological levels, and creepy too, even if just because it was so convincing and realistic.

Jack's dodging the questions, Owen's stirring up the shit, Ianto's angry - ...- Gwen is still the clueless noob putting her foot in it and Tosh... well, Tosh is lonely

Very good summary. I would add that Ianto is still hurting, and Gwen is looking for something she hasn't found - answers? Easy explanations? Acceptance?

.It's an interesting thing to note that Gwen has chosen to take on another confidant/lover, rather than blowing said confidentiality to Rhys.

She didn't confide in Rhys when she was a cop, either. She not only didn't tell him about her work, she lied to him about what she was doing - telling him, for example, that she hadn't seen the body of John Tucker. In contrast, Rhys talked to her about everything he did at work, and she hardly listened. Interesting dynamics there. But Gwen has been flirting with both danger and infidelity since the show began.

Probably fond of a D/S dynamic, certainly. But not necessarily a rapist. Frankly, I thought the scene was hawt, but I'm a kinky little Brit with a thing for toppy, dirty-talking men so, yeah, it hit my buttons and I'm biased.

Well, I liked it too, and I don't generally much like Owen. But here... he was interesting at last.

It seems that Tosh is a bit of a danger junkie, herself.

I loved that. Tosh gets better all the time.

Gwen and, oh god, she's too bland. I like her a lot, but she's still strictly second-banana material, character-wise...

I love Gwen very much indeed, but I agree. She flips into being the 'weak link' at very little provocation. Her backbone comes and goes with remarkable speed.

Her backbone comes and goes with remarkable speed.

That's a good way of putting it, forsooth.

I'm hoping that in episodes to come she shows more strength of spirit and character, and less dithering and whimpering. Sometimes I love her; sometimes I want to shout at her to 'grow up'.

RTD's Whedonishness just keeps showing through, don't it?

And more all the time!

which is a shame because, all too often, Buffy was the most irritating character on the show!

Granted, the fact that, as a viewer, I let the character get to me meant that I'd made a connection with the show, but when a person is only tuning in to see how JW is giving the FCC the finger *this* week (I mean, really, were they paying attention at all during the whole Spike/Buffy thing?) then something's gone wrong...

Buffy was the most irritating character on the show!

Since I like Gwen, even though I complain about her, I'm willing to cut slack. I don't need her to be perfect. I don't mind when she's an idiot. I just hope the heroic moments increase.

What's the FCC?

Oh, I shouldn't be so harsh, I like Gwen in that she's the Everyperson character on the show, and she's so-very-human (unlike certain other characters, *ahem*) but there are also times I could cheerfully throttle her, y'know? There's idiocy and there's IDIOCY and I sometimes wonder if she knows the difference. Or, rather, I wonder how discerning the writers are being. Sometimes, I think the writing team is effin' brilliant. Other times, I'm mentally writing very narked-off letters...

The FCC is the television regulatory body over here - so they're the ones who dole out the fines and censure when there are wardrobe malfunctions, or too many naughty words in prime time, etc, etc.

I like Gwen in that she's the Everyperson character on the show, and she's so-very-human

I like that. Mostly I find her cute and loveable and wonderful, but I do wish she was braver and more intelligent on a more consistent basis. And had a little common sense. And so on. I don't mind her recklessness, when it isn't stupid.

Sometimes, I think the writing team is effin' brilliant. Other times, I'm mentally writing very narked-off letters...

Agreed. It's those occasional wrong notes.

Thanks for explaining FCC.

Oh yes, very cute and loveable. No argument from me on that.

I like her recklessness, too - it seems to be a prerequisite for being part of the Torchwood team. That and significant gobs of curiosity. Well, *all* characters need to be curious, else they'd never DO anything. :)

And even some of her mistakes are lovely because they're very understandable - tossing the chisel at Owen, etc.

But then she goes all limp and wobbly at the most annoying moments, and I start throwing things at the screen.

But then she goes all limp and wobbly at the most annoying moments, and I start throwing things at the screen.

Also human and fallible, but so very annoying sometimes!

Yeah *sigh* It's a fine line.

ps, that's a hawt Jack icon. *waistcoatluv*

Yes. I never realized I had such a kink for 'period military' till I saw Jack.

I didn't know I had a kink for uniforms, full stop, until I started dating my (now) husband, who was in the US Air Force at the time. Who knew blue wool/poly could be sexy? Rawr! :)

You never know these things till you find out!

There's no resisting it, either.

Indeed not!

Thank goodness.

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Torchwood: Further Thoughts on Countrycide

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