An update, and some Miracle Day thoughts...

[analineblue]

So I'm back at work, finally. I worked from home Monday and Tuesday, and spent pretty much the entire weekend confined to my apartment, so... It's actually sort of nice to be back in the land of the living? My foot is okay, too. Not 100%, but a lot better. I made it to the bus in a reasonable amount of time today, with minimal limping, so... All

Comments

[jupiter_star]

Want to feel even more nostalgic? You totally will when you get to the newest Warehouse 13 episode...Gareth David Lloyd guest stars and basically plays an English, 1800s version of Ianto. (Except with no Jack to flirt with. But still doing his whole, "Not sure what's going on, don't care, kicking ass now" thing)

[analineblue]

Ah, yes! This was actually how I found out about the show in the first place - I'd somehow completely missed it until the news came out that Gareth was showing up in an episode. :D I'm really excited about seeing it, too. I just can't decide if I want to spoil myself and watch his episode now, or wait? ;)

[jupiter_star]

Don't watch it now. Not necessarily because of spoilers (there's only one), but because the one spoiler that is in there makes NO sense without watching season 2. At all. I'd only seen parts of season 2 because it was airing while I was in Glasgow, but I hadn't seen the conclusion of it and even though I was aware who one of the characters was, a bunch of references to things she'd done and their reactions to her made no sense til I went back and watched the last few episodes of season 2. That said, you could totally skip to season 2 without having to worry much about spoilers, THEN go straight to this episode? ^_^.

[eldarwannabe]

I'm glad your foot is getting better! *hug* You should claim an extra chair and prop it up in the office and whenever someone tries to make you walk, you should point at your foot dramatically. :)

In terms of Torchwood, clearly we live in each others brains. Just saying. Because yes, yes, yes and yes.

(Also, you've read the Torchwood Virtual Season on LJ, right? Right?)

But I've been rambling to my poor roommate for a few days (since the last episode, which, yeah...) and I think I'm starting to develop a theory on the differences between Old!TW and Nu!TW (COE is in this weird space all it's own, but regardless).

They switched genres. See, Torchwood S1 & S2 were this sort of campy/pulpy SF, combining lots of different elements in an over-the-top extravaganza. There was a lot of "humans such" message in there, but there was also this subtle message of nobleness from the characters themselves (Tosh in Countrycidee) and even while some people were evil, lots were just living in the dark. But mostly, PULP AND CAMP were everywhere

[analineblue]

I think this is a really good working theory! :) I hadn't really thought about it in terms of genre, but you're totally right. Because some of the elements of commentary were maybe always there, but with Miracle Day, it feels like the focus has completely shifted. It's about the miracle, and the situation, and the reactions, and less about the characters, right? And while I get that they're trying to connect us to the characters by making it personal, and having Gwen's father in the middle of it, and all that backstory with Esther and everything, I still think they're missing the mark. I think the storytelling suffers when your audience isn't connected to what's happening. And that's how I feel. In addition to it just really feeling... like mainstream American TV, which is also one of the things stopping me from feeling involved. It's all this telling, instead of showing, you know? The heavy-handedness that I really don't feel like was there before

[eldarwannabe]

I'm no SF expert, but it's my favorite genre most of the time, and I've been struggling with TW's changes so much these days. (Lots of SF has some commentary in it - there's some on Doctor Who, for example. But some SF is about the story with some commentary, and some is about the commentary in the template of a story. (Ayn Rand? Not necessarily SF, but she's a good example.) The story can still be good, but it's not the point. The characters are just there to move the message along. And that's how I'm feeling a lot here. My connections with the characters aren't organic from the storytelling, it's just how I interact with media

[analineblue]

Ah, Ayn Rand. ;) I LOVE some of her stuff, her characters are so compelling, but then sometimes it just becomes so obvious that the story and the characters and everything are just vehicles to get across a certain point or principle and it just drives me INSANE. As a writer, and a reader, I think... @_@ BUT YES. I do see the connection. :D

[dieastra]

CoE made me a Torchwood fan, I watched the first two seasons afterwards. I admit MD has me not on the edge of my seat without daring to breathe like CoE had. And I am sad about that

[analineblue]

I always think it's interesting to see how people's reactions differ based on what series they watched first. *nod* I'm sure I'd have a slightly different perspective if I'd seen COE first.

And that scene on the plane has been my favorite so far. :) That episode has really been the only one so far that's gotten me really excited, I think.

I am right there with you with so many things you mentioned, too. Wanting to love it, and then being disappointed by the unevenness and by characters doing things that make no sense - ABSOLUTELY. <3 I completely agree about Vera, especially. She comes off as so smart and together and intuitive, and then... She totally loses it, and it feels really out of character to me. I know she's mad and upset and everything, but... Like you said, she knew what she was doing, and it seems odd for her to completely lose her cool like that

[ghibli_chibi]

Welcome back to the land of the living! Glad to hear your foot is almost back to normal and that you're getting better! Hope your weekend goes well :)

[analineblue]

Thanks! :D The weekend was good. :) Aside from a slightly painful attempt to walk along the beach (turns out sand + my foot was not a very good combination?) my foot didn't bother me much at all. ;)

Happy Monday? ;)