Torchwood changes I would like to see
Some Torchwood stuffed popped into my head as I was studying and I've decided to make a litany of complaints I have for the show to improve on. As the season winds down and there are wild, unsubstantiated rumors of major overhaul for the series (god knows why, it doesn't need a major makeover), I thought I may want to write about a few things I've seen on the show that I would like to change:
(Beware of vague spoilers thru 2x09)
1. No more Jack/Gwen. Please. It's really annoying. It's inconsistent how it's portrayed and it makes the characters look bad. Both of them. I have a suspicion that there are writers who want to push for Jack/Gwen and others who don't. So there is a constant fighting to insert Jack/Gwen scenes between the Gwen/Rhys and Jack/Ianto scenes.
As a result, we get weird character developments which makes little sense.
Fandom isn't fighting over the relationships because it is torn between pro-Jack/Gwen vs. anti-Jack/Gwen, it's torn because of the mixed signals the writers have put up for the ship (or lack thereof).
2. Get a series BIBLE. Seriously. This was one of the best things about the new Battlestar Galactica series. The head writer had a simple bible and made sure there was character consistency and an overall storyarc pushing the character developments forward. We could see people developing relationships, changing and IT MADE SENSE. Sure, we had shipper wars, but it made more sense than "gee, I thought Jack liked Ianto, oh wait, he made eyes at Gwen, oh wait, Gwen loves Rhys but she loves Jack....wait---WTF?!". There are far more WTF moments in Torchwood than in many other series, and not in the good way either.
I know that RTD mentioned he doesn't like having a series bible because he wants to make it up as he goes along but it makes for schizophrenic writing. Sure, it's easier on the writers to not have to be consistent from episode to episode, but it's bad for the series. Really, that makes sense doesn't it? The more effort you put into writing your stories, the better it is. Just writing whatever strikes your fancy from episode to episode makes the writers look like hacks.
3. This relates to #2. Get a continuity guy whose job is to maintain, you know, continuity. The writers need to realize that being a scifi show, people ARE going to nitpick the series to death and therefore, the writers needs to make sure they can defend the character and story continuity or they'll look like idiots whose fans know the series better than the writers.
4. Do something better with Tosh. Or at least get her better storylines than pining for guys she can't have or having tragic affairs. It gets old. Why did we have back to back episodes of teary eyed Tosh with her doomed loves? Again, it's like the writers don't talk to each other. Each comes in with similar or dissimilar ideas and go at it without consulting or even WATCHING THE PREVIOUS EPISODE. Maybe watching the previous episode should be made mandatory for the writers.
5. Give Ianto a better place in the sun. The guy barely gets any screen time most episodes. He is an interesting character who gets less screen time than Rhys (who is far more boring IMHO).
6. For a show that prides itself on being sexually adventurous, it certainly has a old fashioned view of gay and straight relationships. The show has so far portrayed one decent gay relationship (Janto) but it is shown almost solely within a sexual context. There is no depth. The message which the writers seem to imply is that gay relationships are all about the sex. Where's the love? I know they are trying to put that relationship in the back and let it slowly simper, but it comes out looking underdone most of the time.
7. Please learn to avoid writing Mary-Sues. I know nothing about Martha before she came in. I have seen a few episodes of Doctor Who, but prefer Torchwood. For the uninitiated, she was written as a complete Mary-Sue. The many comments I have seen from people who liked her character were from Doctor Who fans who watched her in the other series and looked at her guest appearance as a reunion of old friends. Sorry, as a non-Doctor Who fan, all I saw was a friend from Jack's past with whom everyone took an instant liking to, who can do no wrong and who ends up saving the day, sucking all the airtime out of the main characters (sounds like every crappy Mary Sue fanfic I've ever read!).
8. Do something about Gwen. I don't care for her character, but the writers can try to make her interesting. Even poor Tosh had interesting storylines (if a bit redundant). Gwen is suppose to be the 'heart' of the show, but she does nothing for me. I know people like Rhys because they think he's cool, but I groan everytime I see Gwen and Rhys onscreen because it's such a boring pair. Plus it's just sucking more time out of other characters. We see so freakin' much about Gwen and her schizophrenic love life. The entire bizarre Gwen triangle makes no sense, really sucks the airtime from other more worthwhile character developments and it's boring. Please, writers, do something interesting with Gwen like you've done with Owen.
9. Show more of Jack's adjustment or maladjustment to the 21st century. He's been taken back 3000 years. His morals are different from ours. He can't die. He has to regress and live like the native. All these things must be putting stress on him. Give him a few character moments where he's annoyed at the fact he has to cook from a stove everyday because in the 51st century, instant hot delicious food is available---you know, those little things which reminds us he is not from this era. More importantly, show that there is a 51st century man still living in that lovely body of his.Also, I think the Janto relationship could be given more openness than just a few sexual innuendos.
There's also that continuity problem with Jack. He's cold and ruthless one episode, warm and fuzzy the next. It's like the Jack/Gwen thing---certain writers have differing views on what he wants to do and they write accordingly. It makes for character inconsistency and makes him appear bipolar. Kind of reminds me of how St: Voyager was written for most of its run.
10. More major storyarcs. Torchwood, as a British series, has the immense advantage of planning and writing an entire season from the get-go. Why not earn their keep and spend some time planning a whole storyarc? The Owen storyarc has always been good. Why can't they do the same for the other characters? Better yet, why don't they do the same for the entire season? If season 2 is about the Gray reveal, then they should try to put little hints of it throughout the season. This direction is where a lot of good scifi has gone towards and it makes for more engaging viewing since we get a season long story in installments. Again, this would take planning and keeping an eye on continuity. I'm starting to think the writers don't want to do anything that requires them to have to read/watch the previous guy's work.
Some comments regarding things I disagree with fandom on:
---I think Barrowman's acting is on par with what the character calls for. Jack is a theatrical guy. Therefore Barrowman plays him as such. In fact, I think everyone's acting on the show is on par with what is expected.
---I dislike Rhys, not his character per se, but because everytime he's onscreen, I know it's going to be about Gwen and her boring relationship with Rhys, and more time sucking scenes which could have been used on the MAIN characters.
---The show needs more character development. I like the less 'alien-of-the-week' episode. I like that the show is centered on characters and emotions rather than on explosions and lots of running around. Last season really suffered from too much action and not enough downtime. I think this season has the right balance for it. But the writers need to know that character development and character centered episodes does not mean turning the show into a soap opera.
Don't get me wrong. I enjoy the series thus far, but I think, as a show in its sophomore year, the writers need to start amping up the show if it wants to continue to engage its audience. Don't take the list of criticism as hatred or dislike for the series, on the contrary, I enjoy it enough to want to spend time pondering how to make it better (and it gets me out of studying for an hour hee hee).
Ok, that's all I can think of...for now. :~)
(Beware of vague spoilers thru 2x09)
1. No more Jack/Gwen. Please. It's really annoying. It's inconsistent how it's portrayed and it makes the characters look bad. Both of them. I have a suspicion that there are writers who want to push for Jack/Gwen and others who don't. So there is a constant fighting to insert Jack/Gwen scenes between the Gwen/Rhys and Jack/Ianto scenes.
As a result, we get weird character developments which makes little sense.
Fandom isn't fighting over the relationships because it is torn between pro-Jack/Gwen vs. anti-Jack/Gwen, it's torn because of the mixed signals the writers have put up for the ship (or lack thereof).
2. Get a series BIBLE. Seriously. This was one of the best things about the new Battlestar Galactica series. The head writer had a simple bible and made sure there was character consistency and an overall storyarc pushing the character developments forward. We could see people developing relationships, changing and IT MADE SENSE. Sure, we had shipper wars, but it made more sense than "gee, I thought Jack liked Ianto, oh wait, he made eyes at Gwen, oh wait, Gwen loves Rhys but she loves Jack....wait---WTF?!". There are far more WTF moments in Torchwood than in many other series, and not in the good way either.
I know that RTD mentioned he doesn't like having a series bible because he wants to make it up as he goes along but it makes for schizophrenic writing. Sure, it's easier on the writers to not have to be consistent from episode to episode, but it's bad for the series. Really, that makes sense doesn't it? The more effort you put into writing your stories, the better it is. Just writing whatever strikes your fancy from episode to episode makes the writers look like hacks.
3. This relates to #2. Get a continuity guy whose job is to maintain, you know, continuity. The writers need to realize that being a scifi show, people ARE going to nitpick the series to death and therefore, the writers needs to make sure they can defend the character and story continuity or they'll look like idiots whose fans know the series better than the writers.
4. Do something better with Tosh. Or at least get her better storylines than pining for guys she can't have or having tragic affairs. It gets old. Why did we have back to back episodes of teary eyed Tosh with her doomed loves? Again, it's like the writers don't talk to each other. Each comes in with similar or dissimilar ideas and go at it without consulting or even WATCHING THE PREVIOUS EPISODE. Maybe watching the previous episode should be made mandatory for the writers.
5. Give Ianto a better place in the sun. The guy barely gets any screen time most episodes. He is an interesting character who gets less screen time than Rhys (who is far more boring IMHO).
6. For a show that prides itself on being sexually adventurous, it certainly has a old fashioned view of gay and straight relationships. The show has so far portrayed one decent gay relationship (Janto) but it is shown almost solely within a sexual context. There is no depth. The message which the writers seem to imply is that gay relationships are all about the sex. Where's the love? I know they are trying to put that relationship in the back and let it slowly simper, but it comes out looking underdone most of the time.
7. Please learn to avoid writing Mary-Sues. I know nothing about Martha before she came in. I have seen a few episodes of Doctor Who, but prefer Torchwood. For the uninitiated, she was written as a complete Mary-Sue. The many comments I have seen from people who liked her character were from Doctor Who fans who watched her in the other series and looked at her guest appearance as a reunion of old friends. Sorry, as a non-Doctor Who fan, all I saw was a friend from Jack's past with whom everyone took an instant liking to, who can do no wrong and who ends up saving the day, sucking all the airtime out of the main characters (sounds like every crappy Mary Sue fanfic I've ever read!).
8. Do something about Gwen. I don't care for her character, but the writers can try to make her interesting. Even poor Tosh had interesting storylines (if a bit redundant). Gwen is suppose to be the 'heart' of the show, but she does nothing for me. I know people like Rhys because they think he's cool, but I groan everytime I see Gwen and Rhys onscreen because it's such a boring pair. Plus it's just sucking more time out of other characters. We see so freakin' much about Gwen and her schizophrenic love life. The entire bizarre Gwen triangle makes no sense, really sucks the airtime from other more worthwhile character developments and it's boring. Please, writers, do something interesting with Gwen like you've done with Owen.
9. Show more of Jack's adjustment or maladjustment to the 21st century. He's been taken back 3000 years. His morals are different from ours. He can't die. He has to regress and live like the native. All these things must be putting stress on him. Give him a few character moments where he's annoyed at the fact he has to cook from a stove everyday because in the 51st century, instant hot delicious food is available---you know, those little things which reminds us he is not from this era. More importantly, show that there is a 51st century man still living in that lovely body of his.Also, I think the Janto relationship could be given more openness than just a few sexual innuendos.
There's also that continuity problem with Jack. He's cold and ruthless one episode, warm and fuzzy the next. It's like the Jack/Gwen thing---certain writers have differing views on what he wants to do and they write accordingly. It makes for character inconsistency and makes him appear bipolar. Kind of reminds me of how St: Voyager was written for most of its run.
10. More major storyarcs. Torchwood, as a British series, has the immense advantage of planning and writing an entire season from the get-go. Why not earn their keep and spend some time planning a whole storyarc? The Owen storyarc has always been good. Why can't they do the same for the other characters? Better yet, why don't they do the same for the entire season? If season 2 is about the Gray reveal, then they should try to put little hints of it throughout the season. This direction is where a lot of good scifi has gone towards and it makes for more engaging viewing since we get a season long story in installments. Again, this would take planning and keeping an eye on continuity. I'm starting to think the writers don't want to do anything that requires them to have to read/watch the previous guy's work.
Some comments regarding things I disagree with fandom on:
---I think Barrowman's acting is on par with what the character calls for. Jack is a theatrical guy. Therefore Barrowman plays him as such. In fact, I think everyone's acting on the show is on par with what is expected.
---I dislike Rhys, not his character per se, but because everytime he's onscreen, I know it's going to be about Gwen and her boring relationship with Rhys, and more time sucking scenes which could have been used on the MAIN characters.
---The show needs more character development. I like the less 'alien-of-the-week' episode. I like that the show is centered on characters and emotions rather than on explosions and lots of running around. Last season really suffered from too much action and not enough downtime. I think this season has the right balance for it. But the writers need to know that character development and character centered episodes does not mean turning the show into a soap opera.
Don't get me wrong. I enjoy the series thus far, but I think, as a show in its sophomore year, the writers need to start amping up the show if it wants to continue to engage its audience. Don't take the list of criticism as hatred or dislike for the series, on the contrary, I enjoy it enough to want to spend time pondering how to make it better (and it gets me out of studying for an hour hee hee).
Ok, that's all I can think of...for now. :~)