Torchwood 1x03 & 1x04
I have to start my explanation of the coming thoughts with a sort of prologue. I entered the sci-fi genre the way I think many people do, through Stark Trek. My brother controlled the remote and I had to sit through The Next Generation, not that I minded. We only had two channels and only one would have something good on. Anyway, I loved Captain Picard, who was always level-headed and always championed the ethical way. He was idealistic and so was the philosophy of TOS. It was rare that you'd ever see a main character jeopardize the greater good for true love. That would be unforgivable and Captain Picard would slam your ass down in a verbal tirade worthy of Shakespeare. So coming off that, watching Torchwood can be a strange experience. When the greater good is put at risk for idealistic individual notions then I have to say "What a bunch of fucktards!"
And that's not to say that I don't love the show because I do. Torchwood works in a different sphere of idealism where individual desires sometimes override the bigger picture. I have to say I wasn't as sympathetic to Ianto as others seem to be. He saw what the Cybermen did and his denial about Lisa was frustrating. There seems to be a thing with most of the characters except Jack, where they just can't seem to get over themselves enough to care about the bottom line of their jobs. The people in Torchwood are an irresponsible bunch. They're not the enlightened duty driven humans of TOS and that's scary, and dare I say a little bit too real.
Speaking of irresponsible, can I say how stupid it was for Gwen to bring the alien device home in "Ghost Machine". She was there when Suzie shot herself. She saw how heavy things could get when work was taken home. So she got to watch cute little memories of her and Rhys. It's a slippery slope. Gwen already has a history of messing up so she should be a little bit more careful. I still don't hate her, though. Her cuteness immobilizes me.
I'm still not hating Owen either. He's growing on me like fungus. He may be an arrogant prick, but "Ghost Machine" showed that he does have some deep reservoir of feeling.