I think I…like Torchwood?
Finally managed to get some thoughts together on Torchwood -- DW pushes me out of lurkdom once again!
I guess when your expectations are low, a show doesn't have to go too far to exceed them. And my expectations certainly couldn't have been lower after season 1 of Torchwood, which left me disgusted with all the characters except Jack, and even he was pushing it with the grim moping and general incompetence. But season 2 really seems to be off on the right track. It definitely helps that I've become such a desperate Who addict that I'll take any little hit that feeds the addiction, of course - and I think it also helps that as I care less, I'm pretty much unspoiled for Torchwood. If only I could remain that way for Doctor Who itself...
What really made the season opener work for me was that Captain Jack seems much closer to his characterization on DW. I love that Jack was fun, finally, on his own show. The transition as a result of resolving his differences with the Doctor works for me. I mean, yeah, it's pretty hard to believe that Jack spent his year-that-wasn't dreaming of getting back to the team of incompetents that KILLED HIM in last season's finale. But then, Jack's always had a pretty skewed and forgiving view of these folks. What I can totally buy into is that Jack has finally stopped waiting for the Doctor to fix him and now living his life with a purpose -- that he's found not only direction, but faith in himself and, unjustified though it was by last season, his team. I really love Jack -- I love that he started off as a stereotypical charming rogue and has become a more complex character due to the Doctor and his experience of immortality, but he's definitely a work in progress still. There seems to be a fandom tendency to view Jack as sort of a voice of wisdom and I just don’t think he is all that wise, yet. He’s way more thoughtful then he started out, but he’s still not all-knowing or even particularly moral. And I really like that. I also like that they're playing both the Jack/Ianto and Jack/Gwen relationships. The skewed power dynamic between Jack and Ianto makes it a little disturbing, but less so since Ianto's surprise personality development in the following episode. And I like Gwen and Jack and their whole almost but not quite tease -- the one thing I don't like is Gwen's attitude towards Rhys. This guy seems pretty great, and Gwen seems to value him only for the occasional coffee break away from her real life at TW. Which is fine, but she shouldn't be marrying him when she can't even tell him where she works. Now that's a skewed power dynamic.
I enjoyed James Marsters' Captain John quite a bit -- I'm glad it looks like he's going to recur. I loved the scene of John talking to Jack's dead body -- good stuff. His murderous lack of impulse control, among other things, made him a fun antagonist for Jack and the team, and I must admit, I laughed at the poodle bit. It was also nice to see the whole group functioning like a team as opposed to a bunch of people who hate each other and themselves, which was the impression they gave most of the time in the first series. Although again, not especially competent, particularly Gwen -- don't turn your back on him! You were warned! The one bit that really bothered me was the continuation of Tosh's interest/crush on Owen. I mean -- why? He's such an ass. Kind of tolerable in the now functioning ensemble, but as a romantic interest? Noooooo. And does everyone have to be matched up with someone else on the team? Tosh is one of those characters that I almost like -- for one thing, she was the only character who convinced me she liked what she did at Torchwood during the first series. But her interest in Owen after being the subject of some of his more abusive remarks is a big turn-off.
So overall, a pretty good start that focused on Jack, the character I like. I wondered how the next episode would go, without the drama of Jack's return and the fun violent porn between Jack and John. Turns out, I liked Sleeper better. It was like watching a good TV show -- even though it was Torchwood!
First of all, how great was the actress playing Beth? I so loved her. She was incredible -- I was completely drawn into her story and her defense of her humanity, her love for her husband, her horror at realizing her existence was a lie. That actress made me feel more in one episode than Freema Aygeman did in a season of Doctor Who -- where was she when they were casting a new companion? Beth was stripped down and raw and just incredible. The only thing I really disliked about the episode was the end -- I really wanted them to succeed in putting Beth in storage so she could return when and if the actual invasion occurred. On the one hand, I admire Beth's guts in wanting to die as a human rather than live as something else that could hurt the people she loved -- but the whole suicide by Gwen was pretty predictable, and for once it would have been nice to end TW on a note of hope, that someone could be saved. Plus, I just wanted to see Beth again.
But there as a lot else I really enjoyed. Ianto, for one -- suddenly, he's got an actual personality! And it's a good one! He's all dry and witty and making fun of Jack's bedside manners -- awesome. Suddenly, Ianto is 100x more attractive, and Jack and Ianto doesn't look like Ianto is so desperate that he'll take whatever Jack chooses to give. New favorite non-Jack character. Tosh got to be professional and good at her job, and the whole team was working well together. I especially loved the interplay between Jack's determination to go however far he had to go to get answers, and the rest of the team, particularly Gwen, questioning his methods and his approach. I like that balance, and it's one I think Torchwood needs, given their apparent freedom from the rule of law. Jack needs to be able to push in defense of the planet, but the others need to hold him back when necessary too. I do think Torchwood's lack of outside restraint in general is not good, simply because they so often don't know what they're doing. I guess the question is, who is qualified to provide oversight? Finally, while I am curious as to how Cardiff got to be the central point of an alien invasion (I don't see how this one was Rift-related), I guess I can handwave it that this cell was just activated prematurely due to Beth being taken off-line and there are a hell of a lot more of them out there throughout the rest of the world. Although if that's the case, the odds don't look good come invasion time.
So kudos to the Torchwood folks. Two episodes in, and I like their show, and I'm looking forward to next week's Tosh-centric episode. It's pretty surprising.
I guess when your expectations are low, a show doesn't have to go too far to exceed them. And my expectations certainly couldn't have been lower after season 1 of Torchwood, which left me disgusted with all the characters except Jack, and even he was pushing it with the grim moping and general incompetence. But season 2 really seems to be off on the right track. It definitely helps that I've become such a desperate Who addict that I'll take any little hit that feeds the addiction, of course - and I think it also helps that as I care less, I'm pretty much unspoiled for Torchwood. If only I could remain that way for Doctor Who itself...
What really made the season opener work for me was that Captain Jack seems much closer to his characterization on DW. I love that Jack was fun, finally, on his own show. The transition as a result of resolving his differences with the Doctor works for me. I mean, yeah, it's pretty hard to believe that Jack spent his year-that-wasn't dreaming of getting back to the team of incompetents that KILLED HIM in last season's finale. But then, Jack's always had a pretty skewed and forgiving view of these folks. What I can totally buy into is that Jack has finally stopped waiting for the Doctor to fix him and now living his life with a purpose -- that he's found not only direction, but faith in himself and, unjustified though it was by last season, his team. I really love Jack -- I love that he started off as a stereotypical charming rogue and has become a more complex character due to the Doctor and his experience of immortality, but he's definitely a work in progress still. There seems to be a fandom tendency to view Jack as sort of a voice of wisdom and I just don’t think he is all that wise, yet. He’s way more thoughtful then he started out, but he’s still not all-knowing or even particularly moral. And I really like that. I also like that they're playing both the Jack/Ianto and Jack/Gwen relationships. The skewed power dynamic between Jack and Ianto makes it a little disturbing, but less so since Ianto's surprise personality development in the following episode. And I like Gwen and Jack and their whole almost but not quite tease -- the one thing I don't like is Gwen's attitude towards Rhys. This guy seems pretty great, and Gwen seems to value him only for the occasional coffee break away from her real life at TW. Which is fine, but she shouldn't be marrying him when she can't even tell him where she works. Now that's a skewed power dynamic.
I enjoyed James Marsters' Captain John quite a bit -- I'm glad it looks like he's going to recur. I loved the scene of John talking to Jack's dead body -- good stuff. His murderous lack of impulse control, among other things, made him a fun antagonist for Jack and the team, and I must admit, I laughed at the poodle bit. It was also nice to see the whole group functioning like a team as opposed to a bunch of people who hate each other and themselves, which was the impression they gave most of the time in the first series. Although again, not especially competent, particularly Gwen -- don't turn your back on him! You were warned! The one bit that really bothered me was the continuation of Tosh's interest/crush on Owen. I mean -- why? He's such an ass. Kind of tolerable in the now functioning ensemble, but as a romantic interest? Noooooo. And does everyone have to be matched up with someone else on the team? Tosh is one of those characters that I almost like -- for one thing, she was the only character who convinced me she liked what she did at Torchwood during the first series. But her interest in Owen after being the subject of some of his more abusive remarks is a big turn-off.
So overall, a pretty good start that focused on Jack, the character I like. I wondered how the next episode would go, without the drama of Jack's return and the fun violent porn between Jack and John. Turns out, I liked Sleeper better. It was like watching a good TV show -- even though it was Torchwood!
First of all, how great was the actress playing Beth? I so loved her. She was incredible -- I was completely drawn into her story and her defense of her humanity, her love for her husband, her horror at realizing her existence was a lie. That actress made me feel more in one episode than Freema Aygeman did in a season of Doctor Who -- where was she when they were casting a new companion? Beth was stripped down and raw and just incredible. The only thing I really disliked about the episode was the end -- I really wanted them to succeed in putting Beth in storage so she could return when and if the actual invasion occurred. On the one hand, I admire Beth's guts in wanting to die as a human rather than live as something else that could hurt the people she loved -- but the whole suicide by Gwen was pretty predictable, and for once it would have been nice to end TW on a note of hope, that someone could be saved. Plus, I just wanted to see Beth again.
But there as a lot else I really enjoyed. Ianto, for one -- suddenly, he's got an actual personality! And it's a good one! He's all dry and witty and making fun of Jack's bedside manners -- awesome. Suddenly, Ianto is 100x more attractive, and Jack and Ianto doesn't look like Ianto is so desperate that he'll take whatever Jack chooses to give. New favorite non-Jack character. Tosh got to be professional and good at her job, and the whole team was working well together. I especially loved the interplay between Jack's determination to go however far he had to go to get answers, and the rest of the team, particularly Gwen, questioning his methods and his approach. I like that balance, and it's one I think Torchwood needs, given their apparent freedom from the rule of law. Jack needs to be able to push in defense of the planet, but the others need to hold him back when necessary too. I do think Torchwood's lack of outside restraint in general is not good, simply because they so often don't know what they're doing. I guess the question is, who is qualified to provide oversight? Finally, while I am curious as to how Cardiff got to be the central point of an alien invasion (I don't see how this one was Rift-related), I guess I can handwave it that this cell was just activated prematurely due to Beth being taken off-line and there are a hell of a lot more of them out there throughout the rest of the world. Although if that's the case, the odds don't look good come invasion time.
So kudos to the Torchwood folks. Two episodes in, and I like their show, and I'm looking forward to next week's Tosh-centric episode. It's pretty surprising.