torchwood, "dead man walking"
I don't know whether they owe Joss Whedon royalties or an apology. Tons of plot points were stolen from BtVS and AtS, and not one of them got better in translation. Mythology is not something Torchwood should try anyway; the world of Who and Torchwood is basically a science fiction world, not a fantasy world, and previously when Torchwood has tried to get mythic (e.g. "Small Worlds" and "End of Days") it's resulted in awkward, sometimes laughable episodes. Alien tech and the Grim Reaper are just not mixy things, I'm afraid.
Besides that fundamental problem, the episode also had truly hideous writing: repetitive and full of info-dumps. (Twelve dead people! Yes, twelve! If there had been thirteen, death would have roamed the world forever! Wait, Gwen, tell us again how many is the dangerous number? Is it thirteen?) The special effects were cringeworthy too, especially Owen's battle with the CGI skeleton and the early stuff with funhouse mirrors and circling cameras.
And incidentally, whoever the hell wrote this mess: the big pandemic of the Black Death happened in the fourteenth century, not the fifteenth. Maybe somebody should have had Gwen google that.
P.S.: Does that fact that I wanted cancer!moppet to die make me a terrible person? Frankly, the presence of an adorable cancer!moppet in the episode makes me long for the unrelenting grimness of S1.
*****
Besides that fundamental problem, the episode also had truly hideous writing: repetitive and full of info-dumps. (Twelve dead people! Yes, twelve! If there had been thirteen, death would have roamed the world forever! Wait, Gwen, tell us again how many is the dangerous number? Is it thirteen?) The special effects were cringeworthy too, especially Owen's battle with the CGI skeleton and the early stuff with funhouse mirrors and circling cameras.
And incidentally, whoever the hell wrote this mess: the big pandemic of the Black Death happened in the fourteenth century, not the fifteenth. Maybe somebody should have had Gwen google that.
P.S.: Does that fact that I wanted cancer!moppet to die make me a terrible person? Frankly, the presence of an adorable cancer!moppet in the episode makes me long for the unrelenting grimness of S1.
*****