Not loving it
I'm saying no... and what follows are some remarks I need to make about Miracle Day including ep 6, so Brits don't be spoiled. And I'm not being positive, so if you don't want me hating on your show, don't read. Just expressing my feelings and wondering if anyone feels the same way. Again, warning, negative flow of thoughts....
I have loved the set up. Great idea and in the first episode, very well executed. But I wish they'd get on with the actual story, as the characters have no mystery or intrigue. Nice bit of chemistry between Esther and Jack which is sweet. But otherwise, nothing there to ignite a fangirl's imagination.
Gay sex. I love gay sex. I write gay sex. I do gay sex. Gay sex, any sex, yay. But it would be nice to see something loving and tender. The sex scenes in ep 3 I found to be utterly gratuitous. It was childish, basically. Like saying WE CAN SHOW GAY SEX SO HA! Without actually working out if it did anything for the story. Which it didn't. Both sex scenes could have been suggested and the point/plot points could have been made just as well.
Guys get to have sex whilst girls walk through the night crying and quoting poetry. Great! (sarcasm)
Then the horror starts with the death camps and yet again, RTD's imagination goes to the worst of humanity. All Gwen cares about is her dad. We've seen Gwen crying over her dad and her baby. Jack tearful after the barman sex. Rex crying when he meets his dad. Esther always crying. And that's just episode 4. I guess the show is now for people who have no imaginations.
What happened with the doctor was well set up and genuinely shocking and sad. Except for the way Rex is one of the most wanted men and he's hanging around talking into the camera. Crap and fake. Totally unbelievable that anyone in that situation would a) take their eyes off their surroundings to have their face on camera (for what???), B) be in the open air behind a module c) speaking aloud. Covert? No. Bad creative choice. You would film and talk, totally unnecessary to have your face on camera. Sorry but I found this so amateur and untruthful! A shitty gimmick.
Then, Gwen risking everything, to save her dad. I suppose it's in character to do what she feels like doing. Just find it hard to respect characters that are supposed to be in a position of integrity and leadership (where is Laura Roslin!) and they just act selfishly or impulsively. But that is Gwen all over, and the Torchwood team never were able to put aside personal feelings; often causing the disasters they subsequently had to avert (but it was cute back then!).
AS IF she would have answered the phone at LAX as Gwen Cooper. AS IF she would have had a stronger reaction to Jack's name than her baby's (I didn't believe her reaction at all).
Dialogue bad and unnatural. One example: "You obviously know who I am or you wouldn't be here. The question is, who are you?" Who says 'the question is' before asking a direct question? You don't narrate your own conversation. Jeez. (Unless you're the Doctor and you're being smarmy).
And as much as I love the actress and find the character endearing, I wish they'd give Esther something else to do other than crying. And crying. And crying. In every single episode. (I thought her sister was the one who couldn't cope) But if they don't, they could at least ensure there's continuity in the scenes where her mascara is running/not running/everywhere/nowhere/all over her face.
Really necessary for Jack to explain what he meant to the waiter? Waiter that dumb? Audience that dumb? You. Me. And the coat. OH! Now I get it. Fuck's sake.
I will watch every episode because as I writer I want to know how it ends. But surely it isn't right that I don't care about any of the characters. It just isn't my kind of show anymore. I miss the magic and the mystique of Cardiff Torchwood, however imperfect it was. Such a shame they threw out the baby with the bath water. And the rubber duck. And the tub. And the bathroom.
I don't want to be a downer for anyone enjoying the show. But as a fan who adored what the show was, I'm trying to come to terms with it. I wanted to believe it would be a success out here. I'm shocked that the team of Russell, Julie and Jane have allowed this show to become so bland, so dull, so SLOW, so spelt out and obvious. The actors are doing some lovely work but I feel like this could have been 5 episodes and done and dusted rather than snippets of plot interlaced with uninteresting people having emotional breakdowns. Just RTD pressing as many buttons as he can again, and calling it drama. However, that could mean it appeals to a larger (mainstream) audience and the show survives, unlike Firefly.
Argh! Right. I'm done. I won't say another word. I will watch it to see how they wrap it up but if I hate it I will keep it to myself. I honestly hope some people are enjoying it. I'm just finding it fascinating how a show with so much magical promise, with chemistry most production teams would kill for, has found its way here. A lesson for some of us, perhaps.
I am now going to read a Jack and Ianto fic, which I haven't done in a long time, to remind myself of what it was like to have the suggestive, the mystique, the magic... to care about the characters. To wonder about them. To see each episode as a further exploration of these human beings. To have stories which illuminate the characters, rather than seeing each character become a static point, mere devices, for a story that exists only to examine the hopelessness of human existence. As if Children of Earth didn't cover it. Is RTD sick in the head?
I have loved the set up. Great idea and in the first episode, very well executed. But I wish they'd get on with the actual story, as the characters have no mystery or intrigue. Nice bit of chemistry between Esther and Jack which is sweet. But otherwise, nothing there to ignite a fangirl's imagination.
Gay sex. I love gay sex. I write gay sex. I do gay sex. Gay sex, any sex, yay. But it would be nice to see something loving and tender. The sex scenes in ep 3 I found to be utterly gratuitous. It was childish, basically. Like saying WE CAN SHOW GAY SEX SO HA! Without actually working out if it did anything for the story. Which it didn't. Both sex scenes could have been suggested and the point/plot points could have been made just as well.
Guys get to have sex whilst girls walk through the night crying and quoting poetry. Great! (sarcasm)
Then the horror starts with the death camps and yet again, RTD's imagination goes to the worst of humanity. All Gwen cares about is her dad. We've seen Gwen crying over her dad and her baby. Jack tearful after the barman sex. Rex crying when he meets his dad. Esther always crying. And that's just episode 4. I guess the show is now for people who have no imaginations.
What happened with the doctor was well set up and genuinely shocking and sad. Except for the way Rex is one of the most wanted men and he's hanging around talking into the camera. Crap and fake. Totally unbelievable that anyone in that situation would a) take their eyes off their surroundings to have their face on camera (for what???), B) be in the open air behind a module c) speaking aloud. Covert? No. Bad creative choice. You would film and talk, totally unnecessary to have your face on camera. Sorry but I found this so amateur and untruthful! A shitty gimmick.
Then, Gwen risking everything, to save her dad. I suppose it's in character to do what she feels like doing. Just find it hard to respect characters that are supposed to be in a position of integrity and leadership (where is Laura Roslin!) and they just act selfishly or impulsively. But that is Gwen all over, and the Torchwood team never were able to put aside personal feelings; often causing the disasters they subsequently had to avert (but it was cute back then!).
AS IF she would have answered the phone at LAX as Gwen Cooper. AS IF she would have had a stronger reaction to Jack's name than her baby's (I didn't believe her reaction at all).
Dialogue bad and unnatural. One example: "You obviously know who I am or you wouldn't be here. The question is, who are you?" Who says 'the question is' before asking a direct question? You don't narrate your own conversation. Jeez. (Unless you're the Doctor and you're being smarmy).
And as much as I love the actress and find the character endearing, I wish they'd give Esther something else to do other than crying. And crying. And crying. In every single episode. (I thought her sister was the one who couldn't cope) But if they don't, they could at least ensure there's continuity in the scenes where her mascara is running/not running/everywhere/nowhere/all over her face.
Really necessary for Jack to explain what he meant to the waiter? Waiter that dumb? Audience that dumb? You. Me. And the coat. OH! Now I get it. Fuck's sake.
I will watch every episode because as I writer I want to know how it ends. But surely it isn't right that I don't care about any of the characters. It just isn't my kind of show anymore. I miss the magic and the mystique of Cardiff Torchwood, however imperfect it was. Such a shame they threw out the baby with the bath water. And the rubber duck. And the tub. And the bathroom.
I don't want to be a downer for anyone enjoying the show. But as a fan who adored what the show was, I'm trying to come to terms with it. I wanted to believe it would be a success out here. I'm shocked that the team of Russell, Julie and Jane have allowed this show to become so bland, so dull, so SLOW, so spelt out and obvious. The actors are doing some lovely work but I feel like this could have been 5 episodes and done and dusted rather than snippets of plot interlaced with uninteresting people having emotional breakdowns. Just RTD pressing as many buttons as he can again, and calling it drama. However, that could mean it appeals to a larger (mainstream) audience and the show survives, unlike Firefly.
Argh! Right. I'm done. I won't say another word. I will watch it to see how they wrap it up but if I hate it I will keep it to myself. I honestly hope some people are enjoying it. I'm just finding it fascinating how a show with so much magical promise, with chemistry most production teams would kill for, has found its way here. A lesson for some of us, perhaps.
I am now going to read a Jack and Ianto fic, which I haven't done in a long time, to remind myself of what it was like to have the suggestive, the mystique, the magic... to care about the characters. To wonder about them. To see each episode as a further exploration of these human beings. To have stories which illuminate the characters, rather than seeing each character become a static point, mere devices, for a story that exists only to examine the hopelessness of human existence. As if Children of Earth didn't cover it. Is RTD sick in the head?