fangrrl_squees | Torchwood - Further Thoughts on the Last Three Episodes

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Torchwood - Further Thoughts on the Last Three Episodes

I desperately want to squee about the season ending for Torchwood but, dammit, I've been too busy for re-viewing the episodes. Even with them crammed onto my iPod (thank you, interwebz) I've only gotten through the first half of Captain Jack Harkness.

However, I've already had a few thoughts, so let's at least get them down for posterity.

Combat
Almost completely pointless, until the last 60 seconds.

That's not to say that it didn't have some entertaining moments, but I think they were utterly inadvertant on the producers' part. Nihilistic Realtor Boy (as I have mentally dubbed whatsisname) had me hooting with laughter on a regular basis. There were moments where he almost - but alas, not quite - pulled off 'Creepy and somewhat mysterious' but, most of the time, he just struck me as pretentious and boring. Oops.

Owen was, go figure, the most interesting thing about the eps - in between his fits of glooming about Diane, that is. I'm glad his heart got broken, really, I am, but it's all getting laid on a bit thick, now.

I'm not baffled as to why Owen studied the Weevils - he's a physician, he's curious and the Weevils are an endemic problem in Cardiff, apparently. Naturally he's going to study 'em. Now, as to his behavior at the very end of the eps, I'm torn between "attempting to communicate" and "just plain losing it". Answers on a postcard, please... I'm hoping for the former but given the occasional clangers this show has dropped, who knows?

Captain Jack Harkness and End of Days

Loved the dance hall. Loved it. Couldn't believe that it hadn't been stripped by looters and wasn't full of crack addicts, but still loved it. I liked the premise that snagged Jack and Tosh - if the rift is a space/time event, then surely when something major like having it ripped open, occurs, there's going to be ripples both in the future and in the past. The shift that occurred in the dance hall was, methinks, an effect of the rift being opened, several hours later. Like the aftershock for a quake but, er, before... Anyways.

The story of CJH was entertaining enough. Having the principals end up on the bad end of some rift activity was long overdue, and I liked the twist of having Jack run into the person who's identity he stole. Yes, there was much "Awwing!" by the fangrrl during various bits, but that's because she's a silly sentimentalist at heart. As I (and rpg!Jack) keep telling people, all cynics are romantics - it's why they become cynics.

I believe that the "Sunnydale Effect" goes strong in Cardiff. That's my story as to why Jack-and-Jack weren't lynched on the spot, and that's all I have to say about that aspect of the plot, for the moment. I'm still deciding if it was valuable to the story or mere titallation.

I very much liked the fact that this eps (and also Combat) allowed Tosh to show off her brains and resourcefulness a bit, although she's still perilously close to being stuck in the operating the teleport/hailing-frequencies-open role. But, er, can someone tell me why Torchwood felt the need to build a rift manipulator? Given how it operated, my money's on it being one of Jack's schemes to find the Doctor - and I'm sure turning the blasted thing on is exactly what brought the TARDIS to the Hub.

BTW, has anyone else managed to reconcile the continuity of CJH and The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances? It's not ringing true for me. Then again, I really should quit trying to apply logic to time-travel SF.

So... Jack keeps telling Gwen to stay human (live vicariously much, Jack?) but then cheerfully pushes the team into situations where, y'know, humanity's kind of challenged. You could call it plot-producing tension - or hypocrisy. I think Jack doesn't realize how vastly hypocritical he is, at times. He's too wrapped up in whatever is going on in his head and trying to live up to some (probably impossible) standard he set for himself after meeting the Doctor to notice the impact his so-called leadership is having on the team. Needless to say, I love this stuff. Let's not even get into how quickly Mr. Teamwork, Mr. With-Me-Or-Against-Me bailed the scene when the TARDIS showed up...

I think End of Days would have been much stronger had they had the nerve to tie Abbedon in a bit more firmly with references to Legion from The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit but, aside from one line of Belis' dialogue that was, I think, directly lifted, it was a bit of a tease.

Devil worshippers looking to end the world for no very good reason? *shrug* Typical old-school DW bad-guy if you ask me, so whereas I'm a little disappointed by the not-very-original direction, I'm not all that surprised, either. There's only so many motives for world-threatening antagonists. Honestly, I'd have settled for something more intimidating, operating on a smaller scale.

Bilis was fab. That's how you do slightly-camp evil, kids. Alas, CGI Abbedon evoked no fear and only had me shouting Gojira! at the screen.

I'm still processing how I feel about the last few minutes of the eps - aside from yelling "Oh, come on!" at the Snow White/Sleeping Beauty moment. I might be a closet romantic, but some things are just a bit too schmaltzy - so I'm not going to talk about that, just yet.

Given that CJH/EoD were written with the supposition that one season was all Torchwood was going to get, the story - and Jack's departure - make a lot of sense. Throw a biblical-style world-eating type threat onto the screen, have the team save the world and give Jack an out which allows the crew to use him in Doctor Who, regardless of if there's a second series of Torchwood or not. Go out with something big. I get that. But, dammit, it just didn't feel big. For all of the foreshadowing - from They Keep Killing Suzie, onwards - I was left a bit cold by a) the threat b) the resolution of same c) the aftermath.

Come to think of it, I'd have skipped the Sleeping Beauty moment and done something more like: Jack (apparently) dead on slab, cut to the team up in the board room looking puzzled as they hear TARDIS noises, team rushes down to main area of Hub to investigate only to discover that Jack's body is gone and the mysterious noise with it. Oh well.

Overall (Spoiler Free)

A shaky start, given that the quality of the stories ranged from Cyberwoman to Countrycide¹ - but with solid enough moments to make me willing to watch the second season.

Inconsistent stories aside (pls hire me as your continuity maven, kthxbye) it can't be denied that the look of the show is quite good, particularly when they lay off the CGI, and I think the city of Cardiff should be paying some sort of service fee to the crew's location scouts. Aforementioned CGI - and Lisa's 'costume' - aside, I've never been disappointed by the production design or photography of the show.

I'm a bit narked at RTD and the publicity machine playing up the mysteeeeerious Weevils, and there being precious little in the way of payoff - especially given that the series was written and shot before they knew if there was going to be a second season. So, whatever payoff we were supposed to expect, we apparently got it. Some mystery. And they weren't terribly scary, either... Again, they looked fab, a lovely bit of prosthetic makeup, but a lot of work seems to have gone into something largely marginalized by the show.

I will cheerfully admit that I went into the show with low expectations and was therefore easy to please. I was a wee bit worried that it was going to be The Sexual Misadventures of Captain Harkness but, as it turned out, it was so not that, that I found myself rather missing it. I know that a lot of fans have complained about Jack being very unlike the persona we saw in Doctor Who but I haven't had as much difficulty as some in accepting that. Characters change. Sometimes they change a lot, especially when going from "Plucky sidekick for three episodes" to "Ostensible lead for a full season" - but a little more innuendo would have been nice.

Speaking of transitions, I think Barrowman did a passable job, bearing in mind the music-theater background. It's a whoooole different style of acting and I can't imagine that the move is easy. Given that there were some moments where I thought Barrowman was spot-on (as opposed to rather wooden, or over the top) I'm optimistic that as long as he keeps working on his craft, his performance will improve. In the meantime, lightening Jack up just a tad will go far. Comedy comes a lot easier to Barrowman, methinks.

Yeah, yeah, I'm a very forgiving viewer. There's two reasons for that.

1) Nothing disgusts me like a bile-spewing "fan". If all you're going to do is complain, why are you watching the show? I'm not talking about the folks with the occasional grumble - such as myself and many of my pals - but the fans who seem to delight in tearing a show apart, bitterly complaining how it'll never compare to its predecessor, or to the last season, or that other show down the road. Many of them seem to do it out of a sheer love of complaint. Fans like that give the rest of us a bad name and I don't want to risk association with them.

2) It might have been a while since I've done any, but I understand media production, warts and all. Between the film degree, the writing, the vicarious kick I get out of reading about actors' discussing craft, directors' directing, etc, etc, I like to think I've a pretty realistic idea of what goes into the stuff that entertains us an hour a week. Frankly, given some of the behind-the-scenes mayhem I've witnessed in my limited experience, I'm sometimes amazed that anything gets done (I have the same opinion of the local hospitals, btw). Even the crappiest tv-sitcom is the culmination of a shitload of hard work by a lot of people. Knowing that has put a bit of tolerance in my soul, it seems...

Anyways, that's me done for the day. More some other time.

¹ - I'm aware of the irony in that statement.

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Remember: Bilis is an evil gay!

I found him more 'camp' than 'homosexual' but I can cocede that it's often a very fine hair that's being split.

Hehe. (You have seen the Declassified, yah? I so need to make an icon that says "evil gay" and a pic of Bilis that morphs into a pic of JB that says "good gay". Heh.)

Actually, I haven't seen the Declassified. I don't think I've seen any of them past the first two, usually 'cos they were offered by users only as torrents bundled with the eps and when I've already got the eps via MU or yousendit...

Would you like to see the rest of them? It can be arranged if you do.

Oh yes, indeed I would! :)

Working on it. You should have emails in a couple of hours.

Ah, I highly recommend seeing the Declassifieds! (And my "evil gay" comment would be far funnier. I think. Hee.)

Sort of Quentin Crunch.

While Barrowman has done a lot of musical theater, he also did a few stints of television (relatively good, I hear) and movies (terrible) here before ending up on Doctor Who

Fair point, but this is his first go-round as a lead on a telly-based project, right?

(and oh gods, yes, some TERRIBLE movies)

Central Park West was an ensemble cast.

And, lo, I must admit my igorance because I've, er, never heard of it. *red face*

It was a short-lived (2 seasons? Or one and a part) nighttime soap.
Central Park West

He was also in "Titans" by Aaron Spelling, which didn't even last a season.
Titans

Neither was a real lead, but both are considered "starring roles" by the folks who categorize these things.

Come to think of it, I'd have skipped the Sleeping Beauty moment and done something more like: Jack (apparently) dead on slab, cut to the team up in the board room looking puzzled as they hear TARDIS noises, team rushes down to main area of Hub to investigate only to discover that Jack's body is gone and the mysterious noise with it. Oh well.

Oh, that would have been so much nicer. Although we wouldn't have gotten the Jack/Ianto kiss that way.

I think that's a very fair review really.

I only loose patience with the show when it comes to the writing as considering RTD's background I expected far better, but as the season progressed it did improve somewhat and so I'm hoping for big things next time.

I think that's a very fair review really.

Aww, thankyer!

I've not seen you hanging about around here before, have I? Welcome!

And your icon makes me squee with delight. Wherever did you find it?

I forget I'm afraid, but if you want it go ahead as it's completely snagable love.

And thanks for the welcome. I'm not the greatest of Torchwood fans I'm afraid, but as I said I'm hoping for better to come.

*rummages through your profile* Aha! You're a member of

dw_cosplay. We'll get along just fine. ;)

(I'm

britgeekgrrl in another skin)

PS - I've linkhopped from your profile to the site for backlash-uk.org and, damn, that's an ugly (proposed) law they're fighting. Damn, I thought all the Puritans had left for America, long ago? ;)

You'd think wouldn't you!

Yeah, I belong to the cosplay com even though I haven't posted there.

I used to work on 'Classic Who' years agao, so that's where my particular interest in the show comes from.

I don't mind lurkers. I lurk on a few communities, myself. :)

*oozes envy at the CV* :-D

Since I'm lazy and unlikely to post commentary in my own journal, I'd like to comment on two things.

One, I agree the whole "Jack is dead" thing would have been much better in your version. The whole Christ parallel thing (women waiting faithfully at the tomb for something to happen, Owen as Judas (albeit forgiven), Jack welcomed back to life with minimal disbelief only to be assumed bodily into "heaven" after a short measure...) was waaaaaay too OTT for this lapsed Catholic. But, yes, the Jack/Ianto kiss was really prettily played. Still, I'm not sure it was worth it.

Two, I think I have figured out what is "wrong" with Tosh's character. Maybe it was the emphasis on her Japanese background in the last two episodes, but Tosh is clearly supposed to be a Magical Girl of the anime persuasion. She's good-hearted, naive, pretty but not stunning and thinks everything can be solved if we all just pull together and try harder. *emphatic nod* She needs a Destiny, a macguffin only she can use (maybe with transformation sequence) and possibly a mysterious and maybe-villainous love interest... (kind of like her spotlight episode, actually, now that I think of it, complete with doomed crush.) Trouble is, Gwen is spending too much time acting like the Magical Girl of the series (even though you could argue that Jack has the Destiny, the Magical Healing Kissu Powah and his pick of love interests, villainous and otherwise) and this leaves no room for Tosh to really grow into her role as sweet nougat moral center of Torchwood. (Because, really, for all the talk of Gwen being the "human" one of the group, she's a really fucked up human where moral choices seem to be concerned.)

Okay, I lied. Three things. Don't you think Owen:Jack::Avon:Blake?

Y'know, I didn't even *see* the Christ parallel until I encountered it on the comms. That's what I get for being an unread atheist whatsit, I guess. And now, having had seen it spelled out, I'm banging my head against the keyboard. My version: so much better. ;)

Two: I agree with you - Tosh could and should be the - how'd you put it? - sweet nougat moral center of the crew, temptation to abuse mind-reading aside, that is... During EoD, I muttered darkly about Jack asking Gwen to be all humane and wonderful shortly before she DOSES RHYS WITH RETCON. Proof once again, ladies and gents, that working for Torchwood *will* fuck you up. Or maybe she was always like that, and we didn't know but, gee, somehow I doubt it. (and, of course, I totally forgot to mention that in the first post. Oops)

Tosh is certainly, I think, the smartest of anyone on that team. Mad rift equations, leet tech wrangling, the occasional pig autopsy, etc, etc. She could probably run the show far better by herself. Well, maybe Myfanwy for company... ;)

Three: I think that's overstating it a bit, particularly as I think Jack has done quite a few things (and would still do them, if pressed) that would have Blake's panties in a wad of moral outrage... Oh dear. I just imagined Burn Gorman in *that* Avon costume. I think I just bust a seam from holding in laughter at the office.

I'll probably get flamed by certain 'shippers for this, but Torchwood could give Gwen the heave-ho and I wouldn't miss her. I like her, up to a point - and even her apparent descent to the Dark Side is somewhat interesting and, I suppose, a good reflection of the effect Torchwood is having on her - but I wouldn't miss her if she was gone. The show doesn't *need* an Everyman To Explain The Plot To. God knows, it's not like the plots are too terribly complex, or make any sort of logical sense most days, anyway...

Tosh and Ianto learn from their mistakes. Owen and Gwen don't, really.

Tosh and Ianto are trying to climb out of the holes they've dug for themselves. Owen and Gwen are deluding themselves that digging deeper will improve things.

Jack has already pulled the dirt over himself.

Excellent point. And that "pulling the dirt over" encapsulates everything that has bothered me about Jack. He's so convinced he's dead, he's not really trying anymore, is he? Gwen, who seemed set up to redeem him, just sort of sunk in the quagmire next to him, didn't she?

I think Owen may not have given up struggling against the darkness. His "Dances with Weevils" moment really could be the thing that pulls him out of his navel-gazing funk. (And, for the record, I believe it was a result of his study of the Weevils, not some mystical Weevil-bite energy transfer.)

I'm not sure that he's convinced he's dead, but he is convinced that his past is incredibly horrible (he might be right) and that he's ultimately a danger to the normal people around him (again, he might be right).

And he's definitely convinced there's something wrong with his continuing existence. We really don't know what kind of exams or diagnostics that he might have gone through back in the 500th century after he came back to life, or what they found. We also don't know if he fell through the rift by accident, or if he was trying to find it.

He's convinced there's something wrong with his continuing existence AND he's decided there's nothing he can do about it (without the Doctor.) It keeps his character too static for my tastes. Inertia is boring. It would be far more interesting to me if he kept throwing himself against the wall (however pointlessly) instead of just quietly brooding about it. Jack's far more interesting when he's throwing himself headfirst into the impossible last stand.

I hate to say I agree with you re: Gwen, but I agree with you re: Gwen. Don't get me wrong. I really *like* Gwen. I think Eve is brilliant and I enjoy watching her as an actress, but Gwen's character is an odd mix of Good Girl and Total Psycho that feels odd and inconsistent. If we could get Tosh to take over the Gwen-ish characteristics of being Jack's primary confidant and emotional support (Naoko and John really proved they have some *excellent* chemistry in ep 12) the human face and the moral center of the team, and unexpectedly talented in the crunch, that would give Tosh a *point*. But that would leave Gwen with not much to do but sleep around on Rhys. (yawn.)

One wouldn't have to give Gwen the heave-ho, if one could restructure her role on the team. I'd love to see Gwen take on more of the loose-cannon, wild-eyed mystic idiot-savant. Have her experiences at Torchwood completely break her, maybe, and give her a sort of early-Firefly River vibe. Eve's really magnetic when she's doing the really bizarre crazy shit (wanting to use whatever methods she can to bring people back to life, taking Suzie out of the Hub, shoving people out of the way to open the rift herself, dammit and even following up Eugene's death) and arguing against the inarguable.

Or, maybe give Gwen some intermittent "hey it's great when it works" but mostly pointless talent, like being able to sense incipient rift-quakes or some other spidey-sense that is great for scenery chewing, but messes with her grasp of reality and makes her as much a liability as an asset. As it is, the Gwen we've seen loses all touch with logic the moment she gets emotionally invested in something. That's she's right as often as she's wrong is a bit of a miracle, really. It would be fun to see the rest of the team scrambling to keep her out of trouble. (But she'd have to be useful enough otherwise to justify keeping her around.)

Re: Owen as Avon. Maybe I just want to see Burn Gorman wearing more skin-tight leather. How does a man that funny looking (someone described him as looking like a Canadian from South Park and I nearly died of tea inhalation) manage to be so damned magnetic?

As I'm about to *finally* wade into tonight's Wrestle With Welsh, I'll only address the amusing pithy bit at the end:

Sheer raw charisma. Or something. :)

On the subject of weevils, my Dad was telling me yesterday about how my grandfather had a problem with them in his biscuits when he was on a ship in WWI. Of course it's one of my Dad's favourite stories to tell (as his father bored him with this same story as a child).

Anyways, thankfully the real life weevils aren't as dangerous as their sci fi counterparts.

I agree with what you wrote about Bilis. Hopefully we'll see more of that character. Quite where Jack has gone in the TARDIS remains to be seen! At least they have (finally) (although Rose is now in a parallel dimension) come back and rescued him (although it was never made clear how he got back to the 20th century from when they left him in DW).

As you point out - Torchwood seems to be written as a one series show - but with enough written into the last episode to go to a new series. Do you know if a second series has been confirmed of Torchwood yet?

Yes, it was confirmed just before Xmas. :)

On the would-they-or-would-they-not-be-harmed topic, with Jack and Jack; from my little knowledge of WWII military, there was such a need for people to be in there fighting, that attitudes were a bit relaxed toward gays. The courting/dancing/kissing scenes didn't really trigger a suspension of disbelief for me (okay, maaaybe a little for the kiss in the middle of the dance floor, but I'm thinking a big glowy rift opening and two people walking into it shocked the crowd more than the boys snogging).

Someone posted to

torch_wood about the scene vs the time here. There's also a link in the post to an article by Peter Tatchell, entitled 'When the Army Welcomed Gays', that's really interesting.

(Just smack me if I'm intruding, but I hope I helped. :))

The witnesses could have been as accepting as all get-out of the Jack/Jack moment. Military regulations, however, would have demanded that action be taken. My husband is a 16-yr veteran of the USAF, so I admit I have a harder time overlooking actions that tend to invoke court martials... (god knows, *my* behavior nearly got him in trouble once, and I'm not even enlisted, but my rant about the military justice system is something for another day...) However, I know that's why they call it fiction and not documentary. ;)

I'll check out the article and the continuity post, thanks!

PS - oops, I shoulda checked my login. I'm the OP in another LJ-skin. :)

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Torchwood - Further Thoughts on the Last Three Episodes

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weevils

Re: weevils

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