Torchwood 1x07, Further Thoughts
Nov. 27th, 2006 09:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fangrrl_squeesSpoilers below.
I've slept on it and this episode has grown on me, which is a change from past trends in which the majority of my opinion gels in the first viewing.
Technically, it was another excellent episode - better than some, in my opinion. The visual f/x were just right, and the use of editing and layered VO to illustrate the effect of unrestrained mind-reading was very well done.
I know that comparisons to a certain episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer are inevitable, but I don't think that's entirely fair. When you've got the premise of compelled telepathy - or as near to it as to make no difference - certain motifs are always going to pop up. What's the cliche? An eavesdropper never hears anything good about themselves.
I think the eps went further into Buffy territory with the mythology reference, and even that's an understandable overlap. If you need to share information to your audience, especially if there's a bit of an indirect slant to it, allude to the classics.
Despite my general kvetchery that Torchwood - the Cardiff unit, at least - seems to be more about crisis containment and cleaning up their own messes, rather than "protecting humanity from aliens", I really enjoyed the fact that the humans were the center of this story, and the alien rather secondary. Shunting Mary's rantings offscreen - visually and audibly - during the climactic scene at The Hub was a lovely illustration of that point. Moreover, Tosh's eavesdropping continues building on events and themes established in earlier episodes, and that ongoing continuity makes me happy.
I'm a little vexed at Gwen and Owen's utter lack of subtlety. I don't know about y'all, but if I had two co-workers who were sniping ferociously at each other one week, and then playfully teasing the next, with the significant mention of a snog in between, I'd put two and two together right quick. Initially, I thought perhaps Gwen and Owen had decided that as a liaison would be very difficult to hide - and contrary to establishing trust within the team - perhaps they had decided to be open about it (or more open, at least) around Jack, Ianto and Tosh, trusting them not to go blowing the whistle because they're decent human beings and/or realize they can't discuss the situation without potentially creating far more curiosity about Torchwood itself. Neat, thought I, an example of how Gwen and Owen both trust their fellow team-mates, and it's something that, in a weird, back-handed way, could help bring the team a little closer together - another shared secret, but not one on which the fate of the world (or at least Cardiff) hangs.
But then Owen got all snarly and resentful at the end of the episode and so much for that theory. At least Gwen seemed to have her head on straight, which was a pleasant surprise.
This wasn't a story about alien tech - or aliens - wreaking havoc, but about people. For once, that came through loud and clear. Maybe I'm just a bit slower than most. Yeah, yeah, all stories are about people at the end of the day, but some stories are more deftly told than others. And I thought this one was pretty dam' deft. Not only were previous threads/situations referred to, but seeds are clearly being planted for futuretrain wrecks plots.
No smoldering Jack-Ianto glances though. Boo. But I'll gladly accept Barrowman's unusually consistent performance - consistent and with some moments of rather well-done subtlety, no less - in lieu of said smoldering.
In fact, with the exception of Mary - who, I must suspect, was merely following directions - I think the entire cast turned in a good performance. Relatively restrained (compare Tosh's angry tears to Ianto's set-chewing hysteria of Cyberwoman), layered and just, y'know, well done. The cast seemed to really click for this one.
My only grumble would be that the whole Mary-screwing-over-Tosh was so clearly projected, from last week's trailer, onwards that there was no surprise and no suspense. I was just waiting for them to get on with it. Then again, as that aspect of the plot was telegraphed in letters ten feet high as soon as Mary appears on the construction site where the body was found, the eps didn't spend much time dwelling on it. Dear Viewer, you can clearly discern that this hawt blonde person has her own motives in mind and they're bound to run contrary to whatever makes for a quiet life for Tosh. Please don't expect any more than that from the character, because screwing with Tosh is all she's here for. Kthxbye. or something to that effect.
Why eat human hearts? Why the fuck not, I guess. A skosh more reasoning would have been nice but, again, it wasn't vital. Why? Because the alien's motives were not at the heart (ahem) of the story. She could have been peeling chihuahuas for all that it mattered.
I'm not sure how I feel about heartless!Jack. On the one hand, bossy brutal (good-looking) men are kinda hawt1. On the other hand, this is Jack and, once again, one must sigh mournfully and wonder what happened to the fun-loving conman. Not that I'm angry about it, mind you, change is good for characters and give me lots of fun stuff to meta about (and fic about, and rpg about...) but Jack's been making an awful lot of arbitrary, heartless decisions that tend to conclude with people dead or maimed and I'm not sure how this is going to impact the team over time. Well, clearly, it's hardly going to foster trust and good feelings. Ianto's clearly still pissed about what happened to Lisa. Gwen was shocked by Jack's readiness to kill the perps in Countrycide. Tosh certainly didn't seem too happy about Jack's decision to vaporize Mary. Let's see, that just leaves Owen out of the directly impacted by Jack's rather direct method of problem solving club. I wonder if that'll be changing, soon? Hmm. Hmmm....
(And I'm still grumbly that Jack couldn't do a better job of consoling Tosh. I know, I know, yet another sign that he's alienated (ahem) from humanity but, dammit, that doesn't mean I have to like it)
So, it might not have been Torchwood Defends Earth against Alien Menace, but I think it was an excellent episode, nonetheless. I might be inclined to edge my opinion up to an 8 out of 10.
Coming up soon: Why fangrrl fervently believes that Jack/Ianto bondage does not feature Ianto as the one getting tied up. Yeah, those two are eating my brain again - like I'm complaining. Weirdly enough, though, noodling on that dynamic (Happy Place) and explaining to Ianto why edge play is a bad (if hawt) idea (Very Happy Place) helped me figure out an entirely non-naughty follow-up to Honesty as a Blunt Instrument. I've got a half-baked outline scrawled down. I'll try to draft it tonight when I get sick of sewing...
PS. Anyone else out there really disturbed by Ianto's stomach full of rats metaphor? Brr!
1 - Oh, don't tell me you're surprised by that. I've a (classic) James Bond fixation fer Crissakes.
I've slept on it and this episode has grown on me, which is a change from past trends in which the majority of my opinion gels in the first viewing.
Technically, it was another excellent episode - better than some, in my opinion. The visual f/x were just right, and the use of editing and layered VO to illustrate the effect of unrestrained mind-reading was very well done.
I know that comparisons to a certain episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer are inevitable, but I don't think that's entirely fair. When you've got the premise of compelled telepathy - or as near to it as to make no difference - certain motifs are always going to pop up. What's the cliche? An eavesdropper never hears anything good about themselves.
I think the eps went further into Buffy territory with the mythology reference, and even that's an understandable overlap. If you need to share information to your audience, especially if there's a bit of an indirect slant to it, allude to the classics.
Despite my general kvetchery that Torchwood - the Cardiff unit, at least - seems to be more about crisis containment and cleaning up their own messes, rather than "protecting humanity from aliens", I really enjoyed the fact that the humans were the center of this story, and the alien rather secondary. Shunting Mary's rantings offscreen - visually and audibly - during the climactic scene at The Hub was a lovely illustration of that point. Moreover, Tosh's eavesdropping continues building on events and themes established in earlier episodes, and that ongoing continuity makes me happy.
I'm a little vexed at Gwen and Owen's utter lack of subtlety. I don't know about y'all, but if I had two co-workers who were sniping ferociously at each other one week, and then playfully teasing the next, with the significant mention of a snog in between, I'd put two and two together right quick. Initially, I thought perhaps Gwen and Owen had decided that as a liaison would be very difficult to hide - and contrary to establishing trust within the team - perhaps they had decided to be open about it (or more open, at least) around Jack, Ianto and Tosh, trusting them not to go blowing the whistle because they're decent human beings and/or realize they can't discuss the situation without potentially creating far more curiosity about Torchwood itself. Neat, thought I, an example of how Gwen and Owen both trust their fellow team-mates, and it's something that, in a weird, back-handed way, could help bring the team a little closer together - another shared secret, but not one on which the fate of the world (or at least Cardiff) hangs.
But then Owen got all snarly and resentful at the end of the episode and so much for that theory. At least Gwen seemed to have her head on straight, which was a pleasant surprise.
This wasn't a story about alien tech - or aliens - wreaking havoc, but about people. For once, that came through loud and clear. Maybe I'm just a bit slower than most. Yeah, yeah, all stories are about people at the end of the day, but some stories are more deftly told than others. And I thought this one was pretty dam' deft. Not only were previous threads/situations referred to, but seeds are clearly being planted for future
No smoldering Jack-Ianto glances though. Boo. But I'll gladly accept Barrowman's unusually consistent performance - consistent and with some moments of rather well-done subtlety, no less - in lieu of said smoldering.
In fact, with the exception of Mary - who, I must suspect, was merely following directions - I think the entire cast turned in a good performance. Relatively restrained (compare Tosh's angry tears to Ianto's set-chewing hysteria of Cyberwoman), layered and just, y'know, well done. The cast seemed to really click for this one.
My only grumble would be that the whole Mary-screwing-over-Tosh was so clearly projected, from last week's trailer, onwards that there was no surprise and no suspense. I was just waiting for them to get on with it. Then again, as that aspect of the plot was telegraphed in letters ten feet high as soon as Mary appears on the construction site where the body was found, the eps didn't spend much time dwelling on it. Dear Viewer, you can clearly discern that this hawt blonde person has her own motives in mind and they're bound to run contrary to whatever makes for a quiet life for Tosh. Please don't expect any more than that from the character, because screwing with Tosh is all she's here for. Kthxbye. or something to that effect.
Why eat human hearts? Why the fuck not, I guess. A skosh more reasoning would have been nice but, again, it wasn't vital. Why? Because the alien's motives were not at the heart (ahem) of the story. She could have been peeling chihuahuas for all that it mattered.
I'm not sure how I feel about heartless!Jack. On the one hand, bossy brutal (good-looking) men are kinda hawt1. On the other hand, this is Jack and, once again, one must sigh mournfully and wonder what happened to the fun-loving conman. Not that I'm angry about it, mind you, change is good for characters and give me lots of fun stuff to meta about (and fic about, and rpg about...) but Jack's been making an awful lot of arbitrary, heartless decisions that tend to conclude with people dead or maimed and I'm not sure how this is going to impact the team over time. Well, clearly, it's hardly going to foster trust and good feelings. Ianto's clearly still pissed about what happened to Lisa. Gwen was shocked by Jack's readiness to kill the perps in Countrycide. Tosh certainly didn't seem too happy about Jack's decision to vaporize Mary. Let's see, that just leaves Owen out of the directly impacted by Jack's rather direct method of problem solving club. I wonder if that'll be changing, soon? Hmm. Hmmm....
(And I'm still grumbly that Jack couldn't do a better job of consoling Tosh. I know, I know, yet another sign that he's alienated (ahem) from humanity but, dammit, that doesn't mean I have to like it)
So, it might not have been Torchwood Defends Earth against Alien Menace, but I think it was an excellent episode, nonetheless. I might be inclined to edge my opinion up to an 8 out of 10.
Coming up soon: Why fangrrl fervently believes that Jack/Ianto bondage does not feature Ianto as the one getting tied up. Yeah, those two are eating my brain again - like I'm complaining. Weirdly enough, though, noodling on that dynamic (Happy Place) and explaining to Ianto why edge play is a bad (if hawt) idea (Very Happy Place) helped me figure out an entirely non-naughty follow-up to Honesty as a Blunt Instrument. I've got a half-baked outline scrawled down. I'll try to draft it tonight when I get sick of sewing...
PS. Anyone else out there really disturbed by Ianto's stomach full of rats metaphor? Brr!
1 - Oh, don't tell me you're surprised by that. I've a (classic) James Bond fixation fer Crissakes.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-11-27 08:52 pm (UTC)It's a strange fandom, Joss is kind of like a God to them...well us. Cause I'm a total Buffy fangirl and I admit that I hold Buffy to to high of a level a number of the time.
But at the same time, I didn't really see this episode as a total rip off of Earshot so I'm not complaining. There have been a number of other references that I think were far more Buffyish that nobody seems to have really picked up on. So maybe that's just me.
no subject
Date: 2006-11-27 09:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-27 09:16 pm (UTC)And don't argue with the crazy fangirls. Trust me, it'll break your brain. Them leaving the fandom probably isn't a bad thing.
no subject
Date: 2006-11-27 09:18 pm (UTC)