Torchwood, Doctor Who, and a long drive to nowhere
Torchwood: I've read some of the reviews out there on lj, and for the most part, they've harshed my glee, so I'm ignoring them from now on. I do have to make the declaration that I love this show probably far more than most of the people on my flist, so I'm far less critical than most when it comes to the episodes. I loved season one and I loved season two. So, that's that.
Watching Exit Wounds I cried a few tears at the end, mostly because of Tosh's heartbreaking goodbye video, but since I'd foolishly let myself be kinda spoiled about the possibility that Owen and Tosh would not be back next year, I wasn't shocked or surprised at their deaths. Just sad. I really like all the characters, and I worry about who they'll bring in to replace Tosh and Owen.
The only real complaint I have about Exit Wounds is that I'm not sure they could have found a worst actor to play Gray/Grey (however they're spelling his name). He brought absolutely nothing to his role so I never really felt his pain. I think it would have been better if they'd split this arc into three episodes and given us more info on Gray and his fate in the hands of the creatures. Or in lieu of that had hired a better actor. Because I didn't feel Gray's damage, I didn't really feel Jack's grief as much, even though JB was marvelous in his grief/guilt. The burying alive was sufficiently horrendous, and just adds more to Jack's boatload of fucked-up emotional baggage. How he didn't go insane in the nineteen thousand years he was buried is beyond me.
I loved the scene of Gwen taking over and sending out the police to try and restore calm. She has far more strength than she gives herself credit for although the boys know it. I loved their pride in her. I'm so glad that, so far, TPTB are keeping Rhys alive. He grounds Gwen in a way that no one else can, and keeps her in the real world in a way that none of the others have.
I read a few complaints about Marster's performance, and, again, I'm out of step with the crowd because I liked John a lot more last night then I did in BBKK because James was not playing him so Spike-like. I like James's characters to not be all the same, and I felt more sympathy and empathy for John when I was watching last night than I had in the first episode he appeared in. I hope since he survived Exit Wounds and is going on walkabout on Earth, he pops up again next season for an episode or two. Or three.
I do think the episode could have been more smoothly written, because while I mourned the loss of Owen and Tosh, I felt nothing but irritation for Gray. All in all, though, I enjoyed Exit Wounds, but, damn, I'm going to miss Tosh and Owen.
Doctor Who: Good news, Donna didn't drive me batshit insane last night. CT downplayed her nicely so she didn't get on my last nerve. This gives me hope for future episodes. My one big worry is that, from the look on her face as she stood in the Tardis doorway on the street, is that they are going to have her fall for the Doctor and that will just blow.
As for the episode itself, it was very cutesy. I wasn't wild for it, but it was okay as a way to reintroduce Donna and hook her up with the Doctor. And if anyone wanted to give me a pill that would fairly painlessly take two pounds of fat away a night and convert it into cute little fat babies, I'd take the damned pill and be happy for it. As long as the pill did wear off after three weeks, it sounds like a great deal to me. *g*
I'm intrigued, of course, about Rose showing up and then disappearing, and since I'm completely unspoiled, and wish to remain so, I'll look forward to see where this arc is going.
So, I'm hopeful that Donna will work out for me as the new companion. She showed more depth of emotion with her granddad than I would have given the character credit for based on The Runaway Bride. I'm cautiously optomistic.
And now, my story about my failed attempt to get to my great-nephew's wedding. First of all, a word of caution. If you are planning a driving trip to someplace fairly out of the way, don't rely on Google driving directions. They suck a total and complete amount of suck.
I don't know about the rest of the state, but northeast Ohio is made up of thousands of tiny villages and hamlets and farms and fields and wild woodlands. My great-nephew, in the tradition of my oldest brother's family, decided to get married in one of these damned tiny hamlets that can only be gotten to by driving windy, poorly maintained county roads. Since I had no idea how to get to the tiny hamlet in question, I googled driving direction. It led my mother and me onto a windy county road that twisted and turned its way through woods, past abandoned and working farms, over hill and dale and right up to a washed out bridge where the road dead-ended. Period. End of road. No detours. No getting there from here. I drove for several miles on surrounding county roads that seemed to just go on and on with no end in sight. I did find one road that instead of going straight on until morning actually turned into other roads, but I never once saw a sign that looked liked the road I was looking for and my mother was getting more and more tired and nervous, so I turned around and gave it up.
I tried calling my brother on his cell, but I either didn't get cell service or only got his voice mail. I later learned that the tiny hamlet in question didn't have cell service, so I was screwed anyway.
It was a disappointment for my mother, but she was happy to get out and go on a drive and see something other than the nursing home, so that was a plus. My wasting many gallons of very expensive gasoline in a futile attempt to get to the wedding was most assuredly not a plus.
If you're all wondering why I didn't get directions from my family? I think they write the driving directions for Google. Seriously, they stink at giving driving directions.
When I got home, I tried to see if I could find better directions to Tiny Hamlet, and I think I would have done better just following the atlas-like map I found. Of course, there was no guarantee that the roads depicted on the internet map were navigable either.
Watching Exit Wounds I cried a few tears at the end, mostly because of Tosh's heartbreaking goodbye video, but since I'd foolishly let myself be kinda spoiled about the possibility that Owen and Tosh would not be back next year, I wasn't shocked or surprised at their deaths. Just sad. I really like all the characters, and I worry about who they'll bring in to replace Tosh and Owen.
The only real complaint I have about Exit Wounds is that I'm not sure they could have found a worst actor to play Gray/Grey (however they're spelling his name). He brought absolutely nothing to his role so I never really felt his pain. I think it would have been better if they'd split this arc into three episodes and given us more info on Gray and his fate in the hands of the creatures. Or in lieu of that had hired a better actor. Because I didn't feel Gray's damage, I didn't really feel Jack's grief as much, even though JB was marvelous in his grief/guilt. The burying alive was sufficiently horrendous, and just adds more to Jack's boatload of fucked-up emotional baggage. How he didn't go insane in the nineteen thousand years he was buried is beyond me.
I loved the scene of Gwen taking over and sending out the police to try and restore calm. She has far more strength than she gives herself credit for although the boys know it. I loved their pride in her. I'm so glad that, so far, TPTB are keeping Rhys alive. He grounds Gwen in a way that no one else can, and keeps her in the real world in a way that none of the others have.
I read a few complaints about Marster's performance, and, again, I'm out of step with the crowd because I liked John a lot more last night then I did in BBKK because James was not playing him so Spike-like. I like James's characters to not be all the same, and I felt more sympathy and empathy for John when I was watching last night than I had in the first episode he appeared in. I hope since he survived Exit Wounds and is going on walkabout on Earth, he pops up again next season for an episode or two. Or three.
I do think the episode could have been more smoothly written, because while I mourned the loss of Owen and Tosh, I felt nothing but irritation for Gray. All in all, though, I enjoyed Exit Wounds, but, damn, I'm going to miss Tosh and Owen.
Doctor Who: Good news, Donna didn't drive me batshit insane last night. CT downplayed her nicely so she didn't get on my last nerve. This gives me hope for future episodes. My one big worry is that, from the look on her face as she stood in the Tardis doorway on the street, is that they are going to have her fall for the Doctor and that will just blow.
As for the episode itself, it was very cutesy. I wasn't wild for it, but it was okay as a way to reintroduce Donna and hook her up with the Doctor. And if anyone wanted to give me a pill that would fairly painlessly take two pounds of fat away a night and convert it into cute little fat babies, I'd take the damned pill and be happy for it. As long as the pill did wear off after three weeks, it sounds like a great deal to me. *g*
I'm intrigued, of course, about Rose showing up and then disappearing, and since I'm completely unspoiled, and wish to remain so, I'll look forward to see where this arc is going.
So, I'm hopeful that Donna will work out for me as the new companion. She showed more depth of emotion with her granddad than I would have given the character credit for based on The Runaway Bride. I'm cautiously optomistic.
And now, my story about my failed attempt to get to my great-nephew's wedding. First of all, a word of caution. If you are planning a driving trip to someplace fairly out of the way, don't rely on Google driving directions. They suck a total and complete amount of suck.
I don't know about the rest of the state, but northeast Ohio is made up of thousands of tiny villages and hamlets and farms and fields and wild woodlands. My great-nephew, in the tradition of my oldest brother's family, decided to get married in one of these damned tiny hamlets that can only be gotten to by driving windy, poorly maintained county roads. Since I had no idea how to get to the tiny hamlet in question, I googled driving direction. It led my mother and me onto a windy county road that twisted and turned its way through woods, past abandoned and working farms, over hill and dale and right up to a washed out bridge where the road dead-ended. Period. End of road. No detours. No getting there from here. I drove for several miles on surrounding county roads that seemed to just go on and on with no end in sight. I did find one road that instead of going straight on until morning actually turned into other roads, but I never once saw a sign that looked liked the road I was looking for and my mother was getting more and more tired and nervous, so I turned around and gave it up.
I tried calling my brother on his cell, but I either didn't get cell service or only got his voice mail. I later learned that the tiny hamlet in question didn't have cell service, so I was screwed anyway.
It was a disappointment for my mother, but she was happy to get out and go on a drive and see something other than the nursing home, so that was a plus. My wasting many gallons of very expensive gasoline in a futile attempt to get to the wedding was most assuredly not a plus.
If you're all wondering why I didn't get directions from my family? I think they write the driving directions for Google. Seriously, they stink at giving driving directions.
When I got home, I tried to see if I could find better directions to Tiny Hamlet, and I think I would have done better just following the atlas-like map I found. Of course, there was no guarantee that the roads depicted on the internet map were navigable either.