Torchwood S2
I just caught up on about 3 weeks worth of Torchwood... I'm really enjoying all of the episodes so far. The team has a much more 'team-y' dynamic and the characters are actually being given a lot more character. All of the plots are well handled and interesting. I haven't had any opportunity to talk about any of the episodes so far, so I think I'll do some review-ettes.
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Loved James Marsters in the episode, even though he was just playing a much more amoral Spike. The blowfish demon alien had a great design and the plot was interesting enough, especially when the episode did a lot of re-establishing of the characters and their arcs. The continuity between TW & DW is a bit weird in that Captain Jack left for the Hub during the day in TLotTL and turns up at night in this episode. I suppose you could fanwank that the Torchwood team was out on a mission when Jack returned and that he went looking for them but it's still a bit strange.
Sleeper
Beth's actress *quick Google* Nikki Amuka-Bird does a great job in this episode. I liked that the characters didn't have any Plot-Induced Stupidity (i.e. Owen connecting the flashing lights to Beth straight away) and that they all got their moments. Thank god they gave Ianto a role beyond standing there and looking pretty. His wisecracks are pretty within character (helpful that they didn't really give him any in S1) and are always amusing. They almost OD'd on them this episode but it was worth it for "Let's all have sex.""And I thought the end of the world couldn't get any worse."
To The Last Man
A nice Toshiko episode but a bit predictable. I felt for Tommy but the episode didn't seem to have any sense of danger. We got to see a bit of development on the Owen/Tosh front (Towen? Toshen?) which was nice. The idea that the 'ghosts' saw Gwen as a ghost felt a bit 'The Others' but was a cool idea. Overall, more of a character piece than plotty central. I felt like Anthony Lewis (Tommy) had problems acting beyond scared or concern. When Tosh kissed him he looked more scared than in love. I love how they just setup the whole 'brave, handsome hero' thing just to screw us over later on. I kinda wondered why Tommy wasn't wondering where Suzie was since one year ago would've been shortly before Gwen joined the team. It would've been amusingly awkward; "She shot herself in the head. But she got better. And then we shot her fifty more times. And then she didn't."
Meat
Love that they finally decided to involve Rhys in the central plot. Poor old Kai Owen just kept on getting token 'Rhys calls Gwen' scenes every few episodes to remind us of his existence. The space whale meat was a good plot but I felt that the design wasn't alien enough and was too obvious a parallel to a whale. Eve Myles did some good acting this episode and her argument with Rhys felt very much real. I actually liked her weird fist balling because it felt realistic if a little strange. I was surprised at how many shots there were of the space whale, as they normally limit the number of CG shotsin an episode. It was a very nice use of effects. I agree with Gwen's decision not to retcon Rhys and felt the episode was much better with that scene. It also means that Rhys can have more of a role in the series beyond being very very annoying.
Adam
Loved the plot to this episode. I didn't even notice how similar it was to Buffy's 'Superstar' because they handled it in a much different way. The direction and editing of the episode was great, especially for all of the memory modification scenes. Getting some of Jack's backstory was great and the concept of Adam was great. Jack could've just left a note saying that their memories were wiped to remove a threat instead of leaving himself and everyone else in the dark. I like that everyone got a role in this episode and had their own interesting plot lines. Turning the tables on Owen with Tosh was interesting and the Rhys/Gwen story explored their relationship very well. The weird ass group scene where they remember defining moments was good sans Jack's comments. Those were just bizzare. The door's left open to Adam's return since Rhys still has an unretconned memory of him (albeit a terrible short one) that could keep him alive.
Reset
Wooh! Martha's back! When I first heard about this plan I was so psyched. The whole plot to this episode was brilliant and showcased how good Torchwood can be. I felt the direction of the episode was a bit off kilter. There were some funky screenwipes and cuts. The plot seemed a bit more DW-ish, probably to ease the little kids into the more mature explicit world of Torchwood. The Mayflies were beautifully realised and the concept behind them was interesting. I did have trouble with the destruction of the plant, since they could've saved the aliens before doing that. Owen's death really shocked me and it was a rather daring move on the part of the writers. It feels kinda cheap that they just so happen to have a replacement doctor in Martha for the time being.
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Loved James Marsters in the episode, even though he was just playing a much more amoral Spike. The blowfish demon alien had a great design and the plot was interesting enough, especially when the episode did a lot of re-establishing of the characters and their arcs. The continuity between TW & DW is a bit weird in that Captain Jack left for the Hub during the day in TLotTL and turns up at night in this episode. I suppose you could fanwank that the Torchwood team was out on a mission when Jack returned and that he went looking for them but it's still a bit strange.
Sleeper
Beth's actress *quick Google* Nikki Amuka-Bird does a great job in this episode. I liked that the characters didn't have any Plot-Induced Stupidity (i.e. Owen connecting the flashing lights to Beth straight away) and that they all got their moments. Thank god they gave Ianto a role beyond standing there and looking pretty. His wisecracks are pretty within character (helpful that they didn't really give him any in S1) and are always amusing. They almost OD'd on them this episode but it was worth it for "Let's all have sex.""And I thought the end of the world couldn't get any worse."
To The Last Man
A nice Toshiko episode but a bit predictable. I felt for Tommy but the episode didn't seem to have any sense of danger. We got to see a bit of development on the Owen/Tosh front (Towen? Toshen?) which was nice. The idea that the 'ghosts' saw Gwen as a ghost felt a bit 'The Others' but was a cool idea. Overall, more of a character piece than plotty central. I felt like Anthony Lewis (Tommy) had problems acting beyond scared or concern. When Tosh kissed him he looked more scared than in love. I love how they just setup the whole 'brave, handsome hero' thing just to screw us over later on. I kinda wondered why Tommy wasn't wondering where Suzie was since one year ago would've been shortly before Gwen joined the team. It would've been amusingly awkward; "She shot herself in the head. But she got better. And then we shot her fifty more times. And then she didn't."
Meat
Love that they finally decided to involve Rhys in the central plot. Poor old Kai Owen just kept on getting token 'Rhys calls Gwen' scenes every few episodes to remind us of his existence. The space whale meat was a good plot but I felt that the design wasn't alien enough and was too obvious a parallel to a whale. Eve Myles did some good acting this episode and her argument with Rhys felt very much real. I actually liked her weird fist balling because it felt realistic if a little strange. I was surprised at how many shots there were of the space whale, as they normally limit the number of CG shotsin an episode. It was a very nice use of effects. I agree with Gwen's decision not to retcon Rhys and felt the episode was much better with that scene. It also means that Rhys can have more of a role in the series beyond being very very annoying.
Adam
Loved the plot to this episode. I didn't even notice how similar it was to Buffy's 'Superstar' because they handled it in a much different way. The direction and editing of the episode was great, especially for all of the memory modification scenes. Getting some of Jack's backstory was great and the concept of Adam was great. Jack could've just left a note saying that their memories were wiped to remove a threat instead of leaving himself and everyone else in the dark. I like that everyone got a role in this episode and had their own interesting plot lines. Turning the tables on Owen with Tosh was interesting and the Rhys/Gwen story explored their relationship very well. The weird ass group scene where they remember defining moments was good sans Jack's comments. Those were just bizzare. The door's left open to Adam's return since Rhys still has an unretconned memory of him (albeit a terrible short one) that could keep him alive.
Reset
Wooh! Martha's back! When I first heard about this plan I was so psyched. The whole plot to this episode was brilliant and showcased how good Torchwood can be. I felt the direction of the episode was a bit off kilter. There were some funky screenwipes and cuts. The plot seemed a bit more DW-ish, probably to ease the little kids into the more mature explicit world of Torchwood. The Mayflies were beautifully realised and the concept behind them was interesting. I did have trouble with the destruction of the plant, since they could've saved the aliens before doing that. Owen's death really shocked me and it was a rather daring move on the part of the writers. It feels kinda cheap that they just so happen to have a replacement doctor in Martha for the time being.