Torchwood POV-character ponderings
So I was thinking, as you do, about some of the criticisms levelled at Torchwood. Specifically the one more personal to those of us who are fans of the show, but still feel the need to point out that Countrycide/Random Shoes/Small Worlds/pick your episode, aren't what we call intelligent science-fiction.
I was thinking about Gwen. Not Gwen's personality, or why we like or dislike her, because that's a whole other argument. But Gwen-as-route-into-the-show, which a lot of people seem to have disapproved of. Specifically that, as most people watching would be either Dr Who fans or sci-fi fans, we didn't need a route into the show. We're accepting of aliens, of mysterious tech, of secret organisations, and we don't need an 'ordinary' person to explain it all for us. To be blunt, we like our secret organisations cool and mysterious, and we're perfectly fine if no one ever acts baffled or shocked by the things they deal with. And if they must be shocked, then the effect is far better if it's Jack that's surprised, because if Jack thinks it's scary, then it really must be.
So I was thinking - what would be the effect on the show if our POV-character was killed off in the first episode? In other words, if Suzie had done what she meant to do, and after all that getting-to-know-you stuff, Gwen died? (Again, this is not a reflection on Gwen herself/Eve's acting, I like both). Because the big shock of the first episode is Suzie dying. The character we've seen in all the previews, in all the promo stuff RTD did, even the interviews Indira Varma did. Would it have been more of a shock if Gwen had died? And as we're all sitting there gasping, Team Torchwood shrugs, puts her body in the morgue, and goes on with their business? Would it have been cleverer/bolder/darker? Would it have made fans feel like they couldn't trust RTD? (see: why Jack wasn't killed off in the first episode of Lost). Would it have left us adrift in the world of Torchwood? Would this have been a bad thing?
Now, most shows I can think of off-hand have some kind of audience-avatar character/ characters meeting for the first time (Buffy, Firefly, Dr Who, The 4400, Futurama, Life on Mars, S60) Or else the plot starts with such a universe-altering bang that there's plenty of excuse for exposition/"somebody tell me what's happening" (Battlestar, Heroes, Lost, also The 4400). There are, no doubt, procedurals that maybe don't follow this formula, (though some do) but of all the big serials I can think of, only The West Wing really doesn't. It has one of those once-in-a-lifetime type pilots that sets up every character, in the middle of a term, without an outside character.
But the West Wing has plenty of expositioning, a feature which Donna was burdened with for a lot of the early seasons. How would that have worked in Torchwood? Would it have been possible to explain the rift/weevils/Torchwood's reason for existence, without someone to explain it to? Would it have been possible to explain it all to our-POV character in the first episode and then kill her off? Would we all have been screaming at RTD by this point? Part of me thinks "man, that's dark" and part of me thinks it would have been kind of cool. A sort of Random Shoes equivalent, with the added shock value, with the fun-benefit of a "this is what Torchwood does to people" sub-thread.
I'm just curious. The structure of starting a new show interests me, and Torchwood is more interesting than most given that SFX thinks it's "the most controversial show they've covered." So I was wondering what other people might think. What would have changed about the show without a audience-POV character? Would you have gone off the show if that had happened?
I was thinking about Gwen. Not Gwen's personality, or why we like or dislike her, because that's a whole other argument. But Gwen-as-route-into-the-show, which a lot of people seem to have disapproved of. Specifically that, as most people watching would be either Dr Who fans or sci-fi fans, we didn't need a route into the show. We're accepting of aliens, of mysterious tech, of secret organisations, and we don't need an 'ordinary' person to explain it all for us. To be blunt, we like our secret organisations cool and mysterious, and we're perfectly fine if no one ever acts baffled or shocked by the things they deal with. And if they must be shocked, then the effect is far better if it's Jack that's surprised, because if Jack thinks it's scary, then it really must be.
So I was thinking - what would be the effect on the show if our POV-character was killed off in the first episode? In other words, if Suzie had done what she meant to do, and after all that getting-to-know-you stuff, Gwen died? (Again, this is not a reflection on Gwen herself/Eve's acting, I like both). Because the big shock of the first episode is Suzie dying. The character we've seen in all the previews, in all the promo stuff RTD did, even the interviews Indira Varma did. Would it have been more of a shock if Gwen had died? And as we're all sitting there gasping, Team Torchwood shrugs, puts her body in the morgue, and goes on with their business? Would it have been cleverer/bolder/darker? Would it have made fans feel like they couldn't trust RTD? (see: why Jack wasn't killed off in the first episode of Lost). Would it have left us adrift in the world of Torchwood? Would this have been a bad thing?
Now, most shows I can think of off-hand have some kind of audience-avatar character/ characters meeting for the first time (Buffy, Firefly, Dr Who, The 4400, Futurama, Life on Mars, S60) Or else the plot starts with such a universe-altering bang that there's plenty of excuse for exposition/"somebody tell me what's happening" (Battlestar, Heroes, Lost, also The 4400). There are, no doubt, procedurals that maybe don't follow this formula, (though some do) but of all the big serials I can think of, only The West Wing really doesn't. It has one of those once-in-a-lifetime type pilots that sets up every character, in the middle of a term, without an outside character.
But the West Wing has plenty of expositioning, a feature which Donna was burdened with for a lot of the early seasons. How would that have worked in Torchwood? Would it have been possible to explain the rift/weevils/Torchwood's reason for existence, without someone to explain it to? Would it have been possible to explain it all to our-POV character in the first episode and then kill her off? Would we all have been screaming at RTD by this point? Part of me thinks "man, that's dark" and part of me thinks it would have been kind of cool. A sort of Random Shoes equivalent, with the added shock value, with the fun-benefit of a "this is what Torchwood does to people" sub-thread.
I'm just curious. The structure of starting a new show interests me, and Torchwood is more interesting than most given that SFX thinks it's "the most controversial show they've covered." So I was wondering what other people might think. What would have changed about the show without a audience-POV character? Would you have gone off the show if that had happened?