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sua_laySo this is the way I start the fandom year 2007; with a rant about Torchwood. Yes, a rant, and it's not all high praise. Oh, and beware the spoilers...
1. Sci fi action vs. character drama.
As a sci fi show, Torchwood is rather... blah. Sure, they have the whole alien thing, but they don't really do anything with it. It's more of an office drama, really. We have Gwen trying to fit in a new workplace and then see a fucked up group of people who are supposed to work together when everyone has so many secrets they can barely exist in the same room at the same time.
There are loads of good ideas, like the ghost machine and the faeries, and those two episodes did seem to have solid stories. Killing Suzie again was also excellent. But sometimes I had the feeling that the characters (and the writers) were just milling around, trying to figure out what was cool.
Some of the so called continuity also pissed me off. Character development kinda happened and then kinda didn't, and somehow most of the episodes felt like the characters were just wandering around aimlessly.
Also, can you please save some drama to the second season too? I mean, Gwen has the shock of realizing aliens exist and the whole mess with her bf and Owen. Tosh has the drama of being a nonentity no one really knows. Owen is a slut and then falls in love and is an ass. Iantoblubbers his way through the whole season loses his gf and then doesn't really do anything except tries to stop people from doing this and that, failing miserably.
We'll get to Jack later on.
2. Look! We're so adult! And queer!
After a few episodes I was willing to smack the idiots who write this show. Subtlety really isn't their strongest thing, and I don't really like being hit in the head with a two by four every damn week.
Yes, I like boys kissing boys and girls kissing girls as much as any other perv. That doesn't mean I'm all yay about the constant kissing and mauling that just seemed to exist there with no real basis.
At least Gwen seems to be mostly straight. The others... Well, like I said, Owen is a slut. Ianto is either a whatever guy or just has a thing for Jack. Tosh's only romantic interest in the show's been her computer console... er.. I mean a horny alien woman.
The only character whose forays into queerdom I like is Jack. He really seems like he's omnisexual, and has great chemistry with about everyone.
Was almost ready to toss the show and then they showed us episode 5, Small Worlds, that had drama and action and sci fi and none of the forced queer stuff. So they can do things right.
3. And yet it's a Doctor Who spinoff.
So we should all just resign to it being silly at times? Er...
I like the fact that though the Who references are rarely what I'd call subtle (and don't get me started on the whole Torchwood angle in season 2 of Who), they are there for a reason.
The one straight (ha ha) reference to Who is of course Lisa the Cyberwoman. It was a good idea but fell kind of flat due to some illogical thingsand Ianto's constant blubbering.
4. Characters.
I know it's good to have controversial characters who look like genuine human beings, but come on! They could have cut the wangsty angst a bit. Also, even though the mob mentality came off well in the final episode, 3/5 of the Torchwood Three operate mostly on their emotions any given moment. I wouldn't trust my toaster on these guys and they are our last defense?
Please!
The characters are also all broken in a way that annoys me, mostly because we've just seen the first season, all of 13 episodes, and it just felt rushed. Start small and build, people!
5. Jack.
Okay, I can't be anywhere near objective here. I adore that guy.
I like the way he's still human, even though he can make all the hard decisions and is willing to be the one who actually says what to do. He's a legend, and it's nice to see that legend kind of fall; how everyone seems to see him as larger than life, and then he's really not.
About Jack and the others... Like I've said before, it's funny to watch a show without any desire to slash any of the characters together.
- Jack and Gwen: it's a nice combination of mentor/student and a loner finding someone who might listen. I'm really glad they didn't go for the romance here. He has other things in mind and she's got Rhys. And Owen. And Rhys. Slut.
- Jack and Tosh: I was actually amazed of how much I liked the insights Tosh has on Jack and the fact that it's Tosh who goes back in time with him in Jack Harkness.
-Jack and Owen: lalalalalaa. Tension, yes, but what kind of tension? There's so much hostility brewing there that it's almost hot. :D
- Jack and Ianto: Okay, so it's kind of fuzzy what the relationship between those two is. Owen's comments about wet dreams and part time shag *cough* hints there's something, but I'm sorry I just can't stand Ianto.
6. All that said, I'm actually looking forward to season 2. :D
*sigh*
Of course I also have to ramble about these:
1x12 Jack Harkness
- good sci fi plot with the temporal stuff and the same place different time effects. am all shocked.
- Toshiko was cool in this one! yay!
- most of the stuff was kind of obvious from the beginning, including Bilis. creepy looking sod, he is.
- captains Jack Harkness. the real one was awesome with his good looks and sad eyes. our Jack was awesome as well, knowing exactly what was going to happen and unable to stop any of it. our Jack's reactions to the real Jack were also very nice, you could see the sadness and the longing there.
- the queer thing... for once I loved it. absolutely loved it! the real Jack was so confused about it all and couldn't really take what was offered... then the way he walked across the room to our Jack and just took his hand and our Jack went like it was the most natural thing in the world. loved it. totally loved it. then cringed at the cheesiness, but loved it anyway.
- do I even have to mention the kiss? the first tease of a kiss was good, and was screaming 'go back!' at our Jack, and was all yay when he listened. :D the kiss was really a kiss, and the way they both just stood there breathing each other in after it was fucking hot.
- the music with the hint of the Doctor Theme was great. :D
- liked most of the episode. Owen was a brat and actually rooted for Ianto to shoot him. of course even though he did shoot, he kind of botched it up, so whatever. but Owen's nasty words were great.
1x13 End of Days
Okay, after watching this ep, there are two equal thoughts in my head:
OMG what crap and OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG!
- the plot was sadly rushed, even though it was continuation of the previous episode.
- can someone please slap Owen. hard. or actually can someone slap the writers? his character development these past few episodes has been totally annoying. his breakdown, shooting Jack in the head and then crying on his shoulder when he's revived after everything was cool, though.
- how stupid are these people? like... they believe an obvious bad guy, rush into things, kill their leader and act like utter twats. nice.
- liked the way some of the things got said that should have been said ages ago. especially Jack's comments on Gwen being all worried about Rhys and still shagging Owen. :D also liked the way she punched him.
- the monster was just silly. OMG the Mill, what's wrong with you? should have been all meep and all I could do was laugh so hard I almost peed in my pants. not good at all.
- the music in most of the episode was horrendous. please, don't do that again! once again, the Doctor Theme was the best thing. very sad.
- Gwen's reactions to Rhys's death were awesome. good acting there. also, I really like Rhys. *giggles* he still should have stayed dead...
- so Jack kissed Ianto. yeah, it was kinda cute (except for the whole eww Ianto) but it wasn't hot. so there. I liked the way he kissed Owen's head while Owen was crying too.
- the comment about the right kind of doctor made me wobbly lipped. was already sighing happily when the hand started to glow and by the time the Tardis sounds appeared, was practically jumping up and down grinning like an idiot.
Like I said, can't wait to see the next season. Also, am looking forward to seeing Doctor Who season 2. *smile*
1. Sci fi action vs. character drama.
As a sci fi show, Torchwood is rather... blah. Sure, they have the whole alien thing, but they don't really do anything with it. It's more of an office drama, really. We have Gwen trying to fit in a new workplace and then see a fucked up group of people who are supposed to work together when everyone has so many secrets they can barely exist in the same room at the same time.
There are loads of good ideas, like the ghost machine and the faeries, and those two episodes did seem to have solid stories. Killing Suzie again was also excellent. But sometimes I had the feeling that the characters (and the writers) were just milling around, trying to figure out what was cool.
Some of the so called continuity also pissed me off. Character development kinda happened and then kinda didn't, and somehow most of the episodes felt like the characters were just wandering around aimlessly.
Also, can you please save some drama to the second season too? I mean, Gwen has the shock of realizing aliens exist and the whole mess with her bf and Owen. Tosh has the drama of being a nonentity no one really knows. Owen is a slut and then falls in love and is an ass. Ianto
We'll get to Jack later on.
2. Look! We're so adult! And queer!
After a few episodes I was willing to smack the idiots who write this show. Subtlety really isn't their strongest thing, and I don't really like being hit in the head with a two by four every damn week.
Yes, I like boys kissing boys and girls kissing girls as much as any other perv. That doesn't mean I'm all yay about the constant kissing and mauling that just seemed to exist there with no real basis.
At least Gwen seems to be mostly straight. The others... Well, like I said, Owen is a slut. Ianto is either a whatever guy or just has a thing for Jack. Tosh's only romantic interest in the show's been her computer console... er.. I mean a horny alien woman.
The only character whose forays into queerdom I like is Jack. He really seems like he's omnisexual, and has great chemistry with about everyone.
Was almost ready to toss the show and then they showed us episode 5, Small Worlds, that had drama and action and sci fi and none of the forced queer stuff. So they can do things right.
3. And yet it's a Doctor Who spinoff.
So we should all just resign to it being silly at times? Er...
I like the fact that though the Who references are rarely what I'd call subtle (and don't get me started on the whole Torchwood angle in season 2 of Who), they are there for a reason.
The one straight (ha ha) reference to Who is of course Lisa the Cyberwoman. It was a good idea but fell kind of flat due to some illogical things
4. Characters.
I know it's good to have controversial characters who look like genuine human beings, but come on! They could have cut the wangsty angst a bit. Also, even though the mob mentality came off well in the final episode, 3/5 of the Torchwood Three operate mostly on their emotions any given moment. I wouldn't trust my toaster on these guys and they are our last defense?
Please!
The characters are also all broken in a way that annoys me, mostly because we've just seen the first season, all of 13 episodes, and it just felt rushed. Start small and build, people!
5. Jack.
Okay, I can't be anywhere near objective here. I adore that guy.
I like the way he's still human, even though he can make all the hard decisions and is willing to be the one who actually says what to do. He's a legend, and it's nice to see that legend kind of fall; how everyone seems to see him as larger than life, and then he's really not.
About Jack and the others... Like I've said before, it's funny to watch a show without any desire to slash any of the characters together.
- Jack and Gwen: it's a nice combination of mentor/student and a loner finding someone who might listen. I'm really glad they didn't go for the romance here. He has other things in mind and she's got Rhys. And Owen. And Rhys. Slut.
- Jack and Tosh: I was actually amazed of how much I liked the insights Tosh has on Jack and the fact that it's Tosh who goes back in time with him in Jack Harkness.
-Jack and Owen: lalalalalaa. Tension, yes, but what kind of tension? There's so much hostility brewing there that it's almost hot. :D
- Jack and Ianto: Okay, so it's kind of fuzzy what the relationship between those two is. Owen's comments about wet dreams and part time shag *cough* hints there's something, but I'm sorry I just can't stand Ianto.
6. All that said, I'm actually looking forward to season 2. :D
*sigh*
Of course I also have to ramble about these:
1x12 Jack Harkness
- good sci fi plot with the temporal stuff and the same place different time effects. am all shocked.
- Toshiko was cool in this one! yay!
- most of the stuff was kind of obvious from the beginning, including Bilis. creepy looking sod, he is.
- captains Jack Harkness. the real one was awesome with his good looks and sad eyes. our Jack was awesome as well, knowing exactly what was going to happen and unable to stop any of it. our Jack's reactions to the real Jack were also very nice, you could see the sadness and the longing there.
- the queer thing... for once I loved it. absolutely loved it! the real Jack was so confused about it all and couldn't really take what was offered... then the way he walked across the room to our Jack and just took his hand and our Jack went like it was the most natural thing in the world. loved it. totally loved it. then cringed at the cheesiness, but loved it anyway.
- do I even have to mention the kiss? the first tease of a kiss was good, and was screaming 'go back!' at our Jack, and was all yay when he listened. :D the kiss was really a kiss, and the way they both just stood there breathing each other in after it was fucking hot.
- the music with the hint of the Doctor Theme was great. :D
- liked most of the episode. Owen was a brat and actually rooted for Ianto to shoot him. of course even though he did shoot, he kind of botched it up, so whatever. but Owen's nasty words were great.
1x13 End of Days
Okay, after watching this ep, there are two equal thoughts in my head:
OMG what crap and OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG!
- the plot was sadly rushed, even though it was continuation of the previous episode.
- can someone please slap Owen. hard. or actually can someone slap the writers? his character development these past few episodes has been totally annoying. his breakdown, shooting Jack in the head and then crying on his shoulder when he's revived after everything was cool, though.
- how stupid are these people? like... they believe an obvious bad guy, rush into things, kill their leader and act like utter twats. nice.
- liked the way some of the things got said that should have been said ages ago. especially Jack's comments on Gwen being all worried about Rhys and still shagging Owen. :D also liked the way she punched him.
- the monster was just silly. OMG the Mill, what's wrong with you? should have been all meep and all I could do was laugh so hard I almost peed in my pants. not good at all.
- the music in most of the episode was horrendous. please, don't do that again! once again, the Doctor Theme was the best thing. very sad.
- Gwen's reactions to Rhys's death were awesome. good acting there. also, I really like Rhys. *giggles* he still should have stayed dead...
- so Jack kissed Ianto. yeah, it was kinda cute (except for the whole eww Ianto) but it wasn't hot. so there. I liked the way he kissed Owen's head while Owen was crying too.
- the comment about the right kind of doctor made me wobbly lipped. was already sighing happily when the hand started to glow and by the time the Tardis sounds appeared, was practically jumping up and down grinning like an idiot.
Like I said, can't wait to see the next season. Also, am looking forward to seeing Doctor Who season 2. *smile*
