The difference? Now the writers *know* their show sucks.
Oh, all right. My entire FL is infected with the brain-sucking Torchwood slug; looks like it got me too.
Torchwood 2x01:
* My first thought is that I'm worried for the poor fish. Did we ever figure out if Torchwood goes after aliens who are actually threatening, or just assumes that all aliens are inherently threatening? Wonder what would happen if they encountered the Doctor when Jack wasn't around. Would these people be any different than Yvonne Hartman?
* Haha, they're totally screwed without Jack. Ianto's cute, though. If you tied me down and forced me to choose a favorite Torchwood character (I guess the Doctor's severed hand doesn't count anymore since he took it back) I'd eventually break down and confess that it's Ianto. Which still doesn't mean that I actually like him.
* I like the lighter-hearted tone. As least they're not expecting us to take this crap seriously.
* Jack chose team Torchwood over THE DOCTOR. I know it's required for meta reasons and was already revealed in Doctor Who, but after seeing more of the first season of Torchwood I take this as proof that Jack has LOST HIS FUCKING MIND.
* Aww, look, it's School Hard Spike! Except he's all withered and wrinkly and brown now. :( I don't think that Marsters is a versatile actor, but he could do this part in his sleep.
* I can't resist a good Star Wars reference. Goddammit, Torchwood, you'd better not be trying to make me actually *like* you.
* Oh, all right, the slash scene is awesome. I just hate that it's on such a sucktastic show.
* Having the characters make constant references to how pretty they all are is not going to actually convince me that any of them are pretty. (Okay, Ianto. And maybe Jack in a boring Hollywood way.)
* Oh, you're not falling for that "dying promise" crap, are you? (Oh, good, they're not. I'll add this to the "improvement" column.)
* "No one else will have me"? Gwen, wtf, you just lost 50 points in my book. Poor Rhys. He doesn't deserve to get swept up in this Torchwood nonsense.
* Jack, you're such a whore. Also, I feel like the show is shoving the attractiveness of Gwen down our throats, because there's really no explicable reason why Jack would be so drawn to her.
* Ah, there's the Gwen I know. Back to being an idiot. John didn't even have to *do anything* to distract her.
* Ewww, is Owen flirting with Tosh? Why is everyone in this show such a whore? I know it's like, crazy fanservice insanity, everyone shipped with everyone, but I just have this quaint idea that there ought to be something that grows organically from the character relationships rather than just trying to shove in unearned UST everywhere. It's like the writers drew character names at random from a hat and decided to ship them based on that.
* Apparently while Jack was spending a year tied up and tormented by the Master, he was actually having extended fantasies about fucking everyone on his team. Jack, have you ever met *anyone* that you didn't want to sleep with?
* Aww, Jack asking Ianto out was sweet. (My shallowness on display: I don't mind the "everyone is a whore" thing when it brings together the only two characters I find attractive.) And don't tell me they didn't totally know that they were re-using a line from Doctor Who. "Are you asking me out on a date?" And he is! My slash goggles tell me that this is even more support for Doctor/Master as canon.
* Ianto is not cute enough to be called "eye candy." Part of the problem with this show is that they cast a bunch of unattractive people, wrote boring characters, and expect our main interest to be in their sex lives.
* "We should be out there among the stars, claiming them for our own"? Hahaha they are so ripping off Doctor/Master. This whole thing is just the subtext of the Doctor/Master relationship made text, except without any of the depth of feeling or awesomeness of acting. I WANT THE DOCTOR AND THE MASTER TO KISS LIKE THIS! IT IS COMPLETELY UNFAIR.
* Awww, he's like the most annoying whiny ex *ever*.
* Owen, why not just go to the hospital? It can't be that hard to get out of there. Also, John, you are the worst shot ever. (I guess you could fanwank that John didn't want to irreversibly kill any of them, just in case Jack decided to join him.)
* Whoa, the team did something competent. I think Jack accidentally came back to the wrong universe; we're in Bizarro!Torchwood, where the team solves problems instead of creating them.
* Is it wrong that as soon as John swallowed the key, I would've killed him, cut out the key, unlocked Gwen, and dumped his corpse in the rift?
* A poodle? Man, it's not just Jack; people from the 51st century will fuck anything.
* Grey? Oh, that's cool. (Actually cool, not sarcastically cool.) It's smart for them to have a mystery that people who watch Doctor Who don't already *know*.
* Ewww, Martha. You think they'll give her another dimension for her new show? I don't think she'll ever be a three-dimensional character, but two dimensions would be better than one.
* Hey, I just realized that Owen didn't spew anything gratuitously nasty, unfunny, and sexist for an *entire episode*. They really are in Bizarro!Torchwood.
* Okay, at least the tone is much lighter. I'm glad they're having fun with all the stupid shit their characters do, instead of being grim and serious about it. But it's still like all the annoying technobabble and pointless side characters of Doctor Who, with sex added and interesting characters and plots removed.
* Weirdly, I'm worried that all this Torchwood-watching is going to negatively impact my viewing of Doctor Who. Thus far I've glossed over pretty much all of DW's flaws, but now that I know how these writers are likely to screw up, I think they'll be a lot more noticeable.
Oh well; as long as they've got David Tennant, I'll be enjoying myself. Now that's eye candy.
*off to scrub the Torchwood out of my brain with some Whofic*
[Cross-posted to InsaneJournal]
Torchwood 2x01:
* My first thought is that I'm worried for the poor fish. Did we ever figure out if Torchwood goes after aliens who are actually threatening, or just assumes that all aliens are inherently threatening? Wonder what would happen if they encountered the Doctor when Jack wasn't around. Would these people be any different than Yvonne Hartman?
* Haha, they're totally screwed without Jack. Ianto's cute, though. If you tied me down and forced me to choose a favorite Torchwood character (I guess the Doctor's severed hand doesn't count anymore since he took it back) I'd eventually break down and confess that it's Ianto. Which still doesn't mean that I actually like him.
* I like the lighter-hearted tone. As least they're not expecting us to take this crap seriously.
* Jack chose team Torchwood over THE DOCTOR. I know it's required for meta reasons and was already revealed in Doctor Who, but after seeing more of the first season of Torchwood I take this as proof that Jack has LOST HIS FUCKING MIND.
* Aww, look, it's School Hard Spike! Except he's all withered and wrinkly and brown now. :( I don't think that Marsters is a versatile actor, but he could do this part in his sleep.
* I can't resist a good Star Wars reference. Goddammit, Torchwood, you'd better not be trying to make me actually *like* you.
* Oh, all right, the slash scene is awesome. I just hate that it's on such a sucktastic show.
* Having the characters make constant references to how pretty they all are is not going to actually convince me that any of them are pretty. (Okay, Ianto. And maybe Jack in a boring Hollywood way.)
* Oh, you're not falling for that "dying promise" crap, are you? (Oh, good, they're not. I'll add this to the "improvement" column.)
* "No one else will have me"? Gwen, wtf, you just lost 50 points in my book. Poor Rhys. He doesn't deserve to get swept up in this Torchwood nonsense.
* Jack, you're such a whore. Also, I feel like the show is shoving the attractiveness of Gwen down our throats, because there's really no explicable reason why Jack would be so drawn to her.
* Ah, there's the Gwen I know. Back to being an idiot. John didn't even have to *do anything* to distract her.
* Ewww, is Owen flirting with Tosh? Why is everyone in this show such a whore? I know it's like, crazy fanservice insanity, everyone shipped with everyone, but I just have this quaint idea that there ought to be something that grows organically from the character relationships rather than just trying to shove in unearned UST everywhere. It's like the writers drew character names at random from a hat and decided to ship them based on that.
* Apparently while Jack was spending a year tied up and tormented by the Master, he was actually having extended fantasies about fucking everyone on his team. Jack, have you ever met *anyone* that you didn't want to sleep with?
* Aww, Jack asking Ianto out was sweet. (My shallowness on display: I don't mind the "everyone is a whore" thing when it brings together the only two characters I find attractive.) And don't tell me they didn't totally know that they were re-using a line from Doctor Who. "Are you asking me out on a date?" And he is! My slash goggles tell me that this is even more support for Doctor/Master as canon.
* Ianto is not cute enough to be called "eye candy." Part of the problem with this show is that they cast a bunch of unattractive people, wrote boring characters, and expect our main interest to be in their sex lives.
* "We should be out there among the stars, claiming them for our own"? Hahaha they are so ripping off Doctor/Master. This whole thing is just the subtext of the Doctor/Master relationship made text, except without any of the depth of feeling or awesomeness of acting. I WANT THE DOCTOR AND THE MASTER TO KISS LIKE THIS! IT IS COMPLETELY UNFAIR.
* Awww, he's like the most annoying whiny ex *ever*.
* Owen, why not just go to the hospital? It can't be that hard to get out of there. Also, John, you are the worst shot ever. (I guess you could fanwank that John didn't want to irreversibly kill any of them, just in case Jack decided to join him.)
* Whoa, the team did something competent. I think Jack accidentally came back to the wrong universe; we're in Bizarro!Torchwood, where the team solves problems instead of creating them.
* Is it wrong that as soon as John swallowed the key, I would've killed him, cut out the key, unlocked Gwen, and dumped his corpse in the rift?
* A poodle? Man, it's not just Jack; people from the 51st century will fuck anything.
* Grey? Oh, that's cool. (Actually cool, not sarcastically cool.) It's smart for them to have a mystery that people who watch Doctor Who don't already *know*.
* Ewww, Martha. You think they'll give her another dimension for her new show? I don't think she'll ever be a three-dimensional character, but two dimensions would be better than one.
* Hey, I just realized that Owen didn't spew anything gratuitously nasty, unfunny, and sexist for an *entire episode*. They really are in Bizarro!Torchwood.
* Okay, at least the tone is much lighter. I'm glad they're having fun with all the stupid shit their characters do, instead of being grim and serious about it. But it's still like all the annoying technobabble and pointless side characters of Doctor Who, with sex added and interesting characters and plots removed.
* Weirdly, I'm worried that all this Torchwood-watching is going to negatively impact my viewing of Doctor Who. Thus far I've glossed over pretty much all of DW's flaws, but now that I know how these writers are likely to screw up, I think they'll be a lot more noticeable.
Oh well; as long as they've got David Tennant, I'll be enjoying myself. Now that's eye candy.
*off to scrub the Torchwood out of my brain with some Whofic*
[Cross-posted to InsaneJournal]