Torchwood POV-character ponderings

[black_eyedgirl]

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

Comments

[pontisbright]

I've long wondered about the West Wing episode 1 as the ultimate in pilot episodes, and how it dispenses so brilliantly with that tired 'I am new, introduce me' formula - and whether other series would really benefit from flinging you straight into the mix. Hadn't thought about the specific SF angle on that, but since I was already pretty sold, that's just grist to the mill.

I could spend days pondering this one - but I do think the heavy-exposition approach with 'Everything Changes' (however much I like the episode, and Gwen as a character) could have been passed over in favour of a 'here is Team Torchwood' style episode without losing all that much - and potentially gaining a good deal. Given how flaky and 'human' the rest of them are, we hardly need Gwen as the 'human' element: given how readily Rhys got written out of a big chunk of the series, it's hard to buy 'Gwen is changed by her experiences' as the central story of the show - and wouldn't we all have preferred 'Jack is a big immortal mess' to have been the central story anyway?

I'm hopeful that S1 Torchwood is the Beeb's equivalent of S1 Angel: a spin-off trying to find its way, messing up, and being kicked into far better shape with the aid of experience. But that still makes s1 a bit of a missed opportunity :(

[black_eyedgirl]

could have been passed over in favour of a 'here is Team Torchwood' style episode without losing all that much
Exactly - if we saw them 'on the job' as it were, how much effort would it take to at least set up who our main characters are? Owen-as-doctor, Ianto-as-glorified teaboy (*hugs Ianto*), Tosh-as-tech!girl, Suzie-as-2IC, Jack-as-boss. Which is, pretty much, what ep1 of West Wing does. Or a lot of the early but not pilot eps of Firefly for that matter - mention enough that the audience knows who everyone is, without losing your plot, and without exposition dump.

Given how flaky and 'human' the rest of them are, we hardly need Gwen as the 'human' element:
*g* Too true. I suppose the contrast is meant to be Gwen at the beginning thinking they've all been down there too long, with Gwen at the end and the retcon etc. But I don't think Tosh, Ianto, or even Owen are as 'alien' as Gwen seems to think. They seem to me just humanly screwed up, with the added problem of being able use alien tech to try, badly, to make their lives better. And 'Jack is a big immortal mess' sounds like a great central story to me :-)

and being kicked into far better shape with the aid of experience. But that still makes s1 a bit of a missed opportunity :(
I'm sure S2 will be a lot tighter, cause experience always helps. But yeah, it is a little disheartening that the show turned from "I'm watching this because it should be good, and it sometimes is" to "this can't possibly end now" in the last two episodes... :-(