Torchwood - Ep 4 Review
This was the one. This one finally really got me.
It wasn't perfect...
1. Why was the cyber conversion unit so throughly hooked up? If Ianto wanted to heal her, why set up the big cutting thing..?!!
2. Okay, let's just ignore reality generally shall we?
3. 45 second door opener maguffin? See previous point about reality.
4. Rod things that do something with the power.. maybe I just didn't understand what they were supposed to be doing or, alternatively, see point 2 again.
5. Occasionally wooden acting... Jack and Owen are the major culprits, partly thanks to some clunky dialogue put in their mouths.
6. Some of Jack's dialogue is just painful, even beyond the clunky.
7. Little glittery knickers?!! The cybermen were in a hurry to make any kind of conversion from humans so they could fight the Daleks but they had time to create a new fashion trend? See point 2.
But there was a lot of good stuff.
1. Ianto. Turns out he's a prat but I felt his pain.
2. Excellent pacing throughout. Loved the inter-cutting at the beginning between the unfolding drama at the hub and the gang out on the town. Good juxtaposition (I just like getting to use "juxtaposition" in a sentence! *wink* )
3. Little glittery knickers! I want to be thin enough to do that outfit at a con!
4. The gang generally. They're really starting to come together as a unit.
5. Jack not getting deleted. I laughed my head off when he got back up the first time. May not have been the right reaction to the drama of it but it was good for me.
6. Nice keeping it centered on the hub so much. It's a cool set and enclosed enough to make it good and tense.
7. Apparently the on set nickname for the pterodactyl is Myfanwy. I love the pterodactyl and using it against Lisa had a certain style to it (although it was also rather shocking).
8. The Jack/Ianto confrontations.
9. Gwen/Owen's reactions to their snog. Priceless. That could easily become a very interesting relationship.
10. The bolt-through-the-head make up job. We had to lean closer to the screen for a better look because it was so good.
I didn't like Jack's attitude to the cyberwoman. I'm a big believer in the general concept of redemption and seeing him write the idea off so absolutely worried the heck out of me. Another sign of his current lack of humanity or an understanding of the reality of the situation regarding cybermen and a desperation to save his team? I felt it was really not clear whether we were supposed to side with Jack's attitude or Ianto's on that. Of course that could be just me but I felt that they were trying to say, er, something... possibly about terrorism/the nature of the "enemy" and given RTD's stated anti-war opinions and that they've been apparent in Doctor Who before I'm a bit confused by what message we're supposed to have taken away from this... if any. There is also the fact that Torchwood fired on the retreating Sycorax in TCI. That was most definitely presented as wrong but the mentality of destroying the enemy aliens as a given was mirrored here by Jack.
Other people have complained about the stupidity of Jack letting Ianto stay on but Jack was there when Suzie fell apart and heard everything she said. She killed herself in front of him. Maybe he feels guilty about that. Perhaps before that Jack would have kicked Ianto right out the door. Ianto was rather pointed about how Jack wasn't interested in his life. Two team members have "betrayed" Torchwood now in a short space of time. Jack has to be astute enough to realise that maybe he's the problem because he's not seeing their pain and not getting their trust or loyalty. Add to that Ianto's questioning him about not ever loving someone enough to break the rules for them, maybe that hit home and that made him give him another chance. Besides, what else does Ianto have now? Jack does know what's it like to lose people you love. Ianto was a grief-stricken fool perhaps, but not a bad person. He might hold it against Jack personally (and maybe even deservingly) that he didn't try to help Lisa but I doubt he's going to let the rest of the team down again now. He seemed genuinely horrified that he'd risked their lives. I can fanwank Jack wanting Ianto to stay on very easily.
It wasn't perfect...
1. Why was the cyber conversion unit so throughly hooked up? If Ianto wanted to heal her, why set up the big cutting thing..?!!
2. Okay, let's just ignore reality generally shall we?
3. 45 second door opener maguffin? See previous point about reality.
4. Rod things that do something with the power.. maybe I just didn't understand what they were supposed to be doing or, alternatively, see point 2 again.
5. Occasionally wooden acting... Jack and Owen are the major culprits, partly thanks to some clunky dialogue put in their mouths.
6. Some of Jack's dialogue is just painful, even beyond the clunky.
7. Little glittery knickers?!! The cybermen were in a hurry to make any kind of conversion from humans so they could fight the Daleks but they had time to create a new fashion trend? See point 2.
But there was a lot of good stuff.
1. Ianto. Turns out he's a prat but I felt his pain.
2. Excellent pacing throughout. Loved the inter-cutting at the beginning between the unfolding drama at the hub and the gang out on the town. Good juxtaposition (I just like getting to use "juxtaposition" in a sentence! *wink* )
3. Little glittery knickers! I want to be thin enough to do that outfit at a con!
4. The gang generally. They're really starting to come together as a unit.
5. Jack not getting deleted. I laughed my head off when he got back up the first time. May not have been the right reaction to the drama of it but it was good for me.
6. Nice keeping it centered on the hub so much. It's a cool set and enclosed enough to make it good and tense.
7. Apparently the on set nickname for the pterodactyl is Myfanwy. I love the pterodactyl and using it against Lisa had a certain style to it (although it was also rather shocking).
8. The Jack/Ianto confrontations.
9. Gwen/Owen's reactions to their snog. Priceless. That could easily become a very interesting relationship.
10. The bolt-through-the-head make up job. We had to lean closer to the screen for a better look because it was so good.
I didn't like Jack's attitude to the cyberwoman. I'm a big believer in the general concept of redemption and seeing him write the idea off so absolutely worried the heck out of me. Another sign of his current lack of humanity or an understanding of the reality of the situation regarding cybermen and a desperation to save his team? I felt it was really not clear whether we were supposed to side with Jack's attitude or Ianto's on that. Of course that could be just me but I felt that they were trying to say, er, something... possibly about terrorism/the nature of the "enemy" and given RTD's stated anti-war opinions and that they've been apparent in Doctor Who before I'm a bit confused by what message we're supposed to have taken away from this... if any. There is also the fact that Torchwood fired on the retreating Sycorax in TCI. That was most definitely presented as wrong but the mentality of destroying the enemy aliens as a given was mirrored here by Jack.
Other people have complained about the stupidity of Jack letting Ianto stay on but Jack was there when Suzie fell apart and heard everything she said. She killed herself in front of him. Maybe he feels guilty about that. Perhaps before that Jack would have kicked Ianto right out the door. Ianto was rather pointed about how Jack wasn't interested in his life. Two team members have "betrayed" Torchwood now in a short space of time. Jack has to be astute enough to realise that maybe he's the problem because he's not seeing their pain and not getting their trust or loyalty. Add to that Ianto's questioning him about not ever loving someone enough to break the rules for them, maybe that hit home and that made him give him another chance. Besides, what else does Ianto have now? Jack does know what's it like to lose people you love. Ianto was a grief-stricken fool perhaps, but not a bad person. He might hold it against Jack personally (and maybe even deservingly) that he didn't try to help Lisa but I doubt he's going to let the rest of the team down again now. He seemed genuinely horrified that he'd risked their lives. I can fanwank Jack wanting Ianto to stay on very easily.