Torchwood: Children of Earth, Day One (SPOILERS)
Right. Still trying to remember how to breathe properly. I'm getting there, and I've more or less stopped the nervous shaking, but I've still got goosebumps.
Okay.
Things I liked about this episode:
1) Gwen. GWEN!!! So much love for Gwen. Even when she was just sitting outside talking to Rupesh she was gorgeous. Her little speech about feeling small in the universe, being bloody terrified but loving it all the same...♥ (Yeah, she's my favourite character. Surprised?) And I bloody love her freckles.
I know, probably not the first thing some of you lot would have picked out, but still. There'll probably be someone who thinks her characterization was off, but I can't see it, I can't. And anything that could possibly have annoyed you: the high-pitching screeching has gone, the making puppy eyes at Jack has gone (more on that later), the treating Rhys badly has gone - every real reason that I can see her even slightly pissing you off, has gone.
Oh yeah, completely forgot about the pregnancy bit, ROFL. I absolutely adore her reaction. She's gonna be the best mum in the world. :D
2) The plot. I already knew that I love political thrillers, so the Home Office stuff, the PM refusing to take responsibility, all of that = MEGA AWESOME. Really interested to see how that develops. And from the trailers I also expected Mr. Frobisher to be a villain, for some reason. Turns out I really like him. Hope he does something suitably heroic by the end. (Now that I've said that, he's probably gonna die.)
ETA: And uh, Frobisher WAS A villain, it just seems that while I was typing this I sorta forgot that HE WAS THE ONE WHO SIGNED OFF ON TW'S DEATH WARRANTS. D:
Secondly, I DID NOT SEE RUPESH COMING. I was totally unconcerned by Jack's multiple shootings (you know, as you do, another day on the job for Jack, ladeedah - which probably says a lot about me) and stood there (yes, stood, I was on my feet clutching a cushion to my head by this point) saying over and over again "Why him?" I genuinely believed he was just another smart, curious citizen deciding to have a sniff around, just like Gwen. Yep, I'm also naive. ;)
Thirdly, was not expecting the children to stop and start again. Fully expected them to be under the whole time.
Fourthly, I did not guess about the bomb. Stupid me, I know. I was convinced that they'd taken something out of Jack's stomach, for some reason. I thought he was gonna go dashing heroically about, and then suddenly realise he'd lost his spleen or something. IDEK. (Btw, what exactly is a spleen? Can someone tell me where in the body it is and what it's for? Also, I like typing the word spleen. It's fun to roll around on your tongue. SPLEEN. Spleen. Spleen.)
Fifthly, I'm slightly in love with the pacing in this episode. The characters sit around and have ACTUAL CONVERSATIONS a bit more than we're used to on Torchwood, but even in those (relatively) quiet moments there's something really interesting going on. Eve was absolutely right when she described it as a rollercoaster - it really does go: slightly scary kids. normal. slightly scary kids again. normal. scary Jack shooting. happy pregnancy moment. OH GOD THE HUB IS BLOWN UP. Up. Down. Up. Down. Up. Down. HOLY HELL HUGE GREAT STEEP G FORCES. (No sex jokes, plz.)
3) Lois. I was already egging her on as she hacked into that woman's Level Two account again. I get the feeling I'm really going to like her. Also, blonde woman has psychic training! I loved that bit. Way to be clever though. :P Go to all the trouble of getting your order on psychic paper and forget that you've given the new girl the password so she can find out from an email! LOL. Security fail.
4) Jack/Ianto. LOTS of shippy stuff here. Ianto both made my heart melt again and got on my nerves a tiny bit. But more about him later.
I loved the two of them acting all fake!sad about their "neighbour" and then getting to work as soon as the curtains were closed - they make such a great team. Not so sure what the scene about them sitting in the Plass was for though, seemed a bit pointless to me. Can someone explain to me what the point of that was?
And the kiss! I was too panicky to even really notice the kiss because I was like FFS IANTO GET OUT, but it was spectacular. So desperate and shit-I-need-you.
5) Woman with guns, shot Jack and Rupesh? Ought to know her name, can't remember it right now. ETA: Agent Johnson. I probably shouldn't even like her let alone find her hot, as she's clearly the villain of the piece (other than the Alien Threat, of course). But I do. So there you are. I am fully aware that tomorrow she's gonna be brutally torturing Jack and attempting to kill my precious Gwen and Ianto. I'm kinda looking forward to the cat and mouse chase.
...Bloody hell, I'm messed up! Has anyone seen my morals? Anyone? I last saw them hanging out with my common sense and my only remaining brain cell. No? Well, keep an eye out, won't you.
6) The bit where we learn that TW's searches are being monitored. That's really scary, as it's usually the other way around. And TW have no idea. Presumably they will now know about Gwen's pregnancy as well. Bloody hell. :O
7) Gwen/Rhys. Rhys is so awesome, rattling off his ideas about the Alien Threat without even being asked. And they're house hunting! :D 'Bout bloody time! Gwen's line about going into England, and having had all her injections made me sporfle, even though I'm English and probably should have been offended or something, because I think it's wonderful how patriotic the Welsh are.
8) THERE WAS NO CHEESY NEWS BROADCAST WITH . That was getting so old on Doctor Who, I'm really glad they didn't do it again.
9) Fuck I can't think of a nine. I just really need to bring this up to a nice round ten.
10) Not a lot of Gwen/Ianto interaction, but this was made of win:
IANTO: I lost the car.
GWEN: 'Kay, sure, whatevs.
XD
Oh oh oh! And:
JACK: I want you to look up blah-blah-blah.
GWEN: There's a computer there, do it yourself!
IANTO: Haha!
O.T.3 <3
Things I did not like about this episode:
1) OH HAI NEVER BEFORE SEEN FAMILIES OF JACK AND IANTO. We'll just use this opportunity to force down your throat yet again that Jack is immortal and has been putting it about quite a bit over the years. It makes him less iconic hero and more desperate loner. Plus, the grey hair thing just made me desperately sad. What happened to him being a FIXED POINT IN TIME anyway? Not supposed to change at all, y'know? Not physically.
2) Ianto. I probably ought to be more sympathetic, but his whole identity crisis thing did not do it for me. How long have he and Jack been together? Fragments would suggest ever since he joined TW; They Keep Killing Suzie seems like the first real time in S1; in End of Days the kiss suggests they are very close; one assumes that around the time of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang or slightly after they had their first proper date; by Adam Ianto pretty much seems devoted to Jack; by Adrift they are familiar enough with this 'arrangement' (if, indeed, they are not yet calling it a relationship) to be playing sex games in the Hub. (Jantoers, feel free to give me more info and/or speculation on this.) How long has all that taken? I'm not an expert on these timelines, but I'd guess around two years? And it's been longer than that since he joined TW. So why, Ianto, why, 'cause I mean you're a clever man, you're a really clever man, in fact I'd call you a genius except I'm in the room, why have you not come to terms with this yet? Why the hell is it freaking you out so much? I felt really sorry for Jack when he had to keep asking Ianto what his problem was. :(
Having said that, it was very interesting to finally get an insight into how they both see each other. And though frustrating, he was still adorable with his family. Those kids were really ungrateful though, just grabbing the notes out of his hand. I admit, I don't see my Grandad all that often, and every time I see him he gives me a tenner too, but I still give him a hug and a kiss for it. Those kids are gonna grow up with no manners whatsoever. *is grumpy old person all of a sudden*
ETA: Huh. Seems I saw this completely the opposite way round to the rest of fandom. It seemed to me like he was uncomfortable about the world couple being used in relation to them, not that he was super happy about it and was prodding Jack to go 'YAY IANTO WE ARE. I LOVES YOU!' Hmm. Make of that what you will.'
3) Children not scary enough. I wanted to be really scared by them. I am expecting them to be scarier later on. In this one the PM refusing to take responsibility, the Jack!deaths and Rupesh is evil! and OMG THE HUB IS GONNA BLOW parts were more scary than the aliens. Give me scary aliens, plz? Is that too much to ask?
4) NOT ENOUGH GWEN/JACK! shackupinthehub text me afterwards to say that there was lots of Gwack (*shudders* I hate that smush name.) in this ep, and I was surprised because I didn't see any. *cries* The only moments I could see were:
a. The part where he put his hand over hers on the scanner (and really, if he was still madly in love with her I think he would have been a tad more upset that she's having a baby with Rhys), and that was extremely brief because seconds later we realize that Jack has a FUCKING BOMB IN HIS BELLY.
b. The part where he lifts her bodily up the stairs by the ribcage (prolonged contact in area close to her boobs! that's all I've got!). And blimey, Barrowman, swing Eve about like a cat why don't you? She's preggers, doncha know. ;)
c. "I can't just run, Jack!" showing she doesn't wanna leave him. Which says...not much at all, really.
That was ALL I got, seriously. Not. Enough. I was at least expecting a joyful hug with the pregnancy news. Ianto was cute and surprised, though. :)
5) Evil cliffhanger is EXCELLENT WRITING, but not good for my stress levels. You should have seen how much I was shaking. So almost getting a heart attack definitely goes on my list of BAD THINGS.
Things I did not understand:
1) How does a coachful of kids in 1967 lead to every kid in the world being affected? Surely those 30 or so kids can't have procreated THAT MUCH that their genes have been passed on and spread to every kid in the world? And what where they doing out there in the dark in the first place? Who sent them? Why wait 40+ years before finally using the kids to take over? HOW the hell did Clem escape? And what purpose can he serve now?
2) How do the deaths and disappearing bodies at the hospital tie in? They weren't all killed and used as a story by Rupesh to lure TW in, were they? So, experiments by the 456, testing how successful a possession would be (that would account for the weird thing Jack pulled out of the guy's chest) when they eventually take over the world? Or another secret evil government scheme? And why were all the victims male?
3) Why bring Jack and Ianto's families in now? It surely can't just be to bring home the message that when it's your own kids affected, it means srs bzns. Are they going to play some important role in the story? Are they going to get picked off one by one by the government as they try to kill TW? Is Jack secretly pregnant and they need the families around so they can help plan the Jones and Harkness wedding? :P
4) HOW THE FUCK IS JACK SUPPOSED TO SURVIVE THAT?
...And it is now...*squints at screen* 1.25 in the morning. Blimey that took me a while to write.
And I still have to go see what the rest of you thought about it. No sleep for me tonight, no siree!
Anyway, I think it's safe to say that I liked it, and that I was not in the slightest bit disappointed. Now I just have to psych myself up to go through it all again tomorrow! Woohoo!
Okay.
Things I liked about this episode:
1) Gwen. GWEN!!! So much love for Gwen. Even when she was just sitting outside talking to Rupesh she was gorgeous. Her little speech about feeling small in the universe, being bloody terrified but loving it all the same...♥ (Yeah, she's my favourite character. Surprised?) And I bloody love her freckles.
I know, probably not the first thing some of you lot would have picked out, but still. There'll probably be someone who thinks her characterization was off, but I can't see it, I can't. And anything that could possibly have annoyed you: the high-pitching screeching has gone, the making puppy eyes at Jack has gone (more on that later), the treating Rhys badly has gone - every real reason that I can see her even slightly pissing you off, has gone.
Oh yeah, completely forgot about the pregnancy bit, ROFL. I absolutely adore her reaction. She's gonna be the best mum in the world. :D
2) The plot. I already knew that I love political thrillers, so the Home Office stuff, the PM refusing to take responsibility, all of that = MEGA AWESOME. Really interested to see how that develops. And from the trailers I also expected Mr. Frobisher to be a villain, for some reason. Turns out I really like him. Hope he does something suitably heroic by the end. (Now that I've said that, he's probably gonna die.)
ETA: And uh, Frobisher WAS A villain, it just seems that while I was typing this I sorta forgot that HE WAS THE ONE WHO SIGNED OFF ON TW'S DEATH WARRANTS. D:
Secondly, I DID NOT SEE RUPESH COMING. I was totally unconcerned by Jack's multiple shootings (you know, as you do, another day on the job for Jack, ladeedah - which probably says a lot about me) and stood there (yes, stood, I was on my feet clutching a cushion to my head by this point) saying over and over again "Why him?" I genuinely believed he was just another smart, curious citizen deciding to have a sniff around, just like Gwen. Yep, I'm also naive. ;)
Thirdly, was not expecting the children to stop and start again. Fully expected them to be under the whole time.
Fourthly, I did not guess about the bomb. Stupid me, I know. I was convinced that they'd taken something out of Jack's stomach, for some reason. I thought he was gonna go dashing heroically about, and then suddenly realise he'd lost his spleen or something. IDEK. (Btw, what exactly is a spleen? Can someone tell me where in the body it is and what it's for? Also, I like typing the word spleen. It's fun to roll around on your tongue. SPLEEN. Spleen. Spleen.)
Fifthly, I'm slightly in love with the pacing in this episode. The characters sit around and have ACTUAL CONVERSATIONS a bit more than we're used to on Torchwood, but even in those (relatively) quiet moments there's something really interesting going on. Eve was absolutely right when she described it as a rollercoaster - it really does go: slightly scary kids. normal. slightly scary kids again. normal. scary Jack shooting. happy pregnancy moment. OH GOD THE HUB IS BLOWN UP. Up. Down. Up. Down. Up. Down. HOLY HELL HUGE GREAT STEEP G FORCES. (No sex jokes, plz.)
3) Lois. I was already egging her on as she hacked into that woman's Level Two account again. I get the feeling I'm really going to like her. Also, blonde woman has psychic training! I loved that bit. Way to be clever though. :P Go to all the trouble of getting your order on psychic paper and forget that you've given the new girl the password so she can find out from an email! LOL. Security fail.
4) Jack/Ianto. LOTS of shippy stuff here. Ianto both made my heart melt again and got on my nerves a tiny bit. But more about him later.
I loved the two of them acting all fake!sad about their "neighbour" and then getting to work as soon as the curtains were closed - they make such a great team. Not so sure what the scene about them sitting in the Plass was for though, seemed a bit pointless to me. Can someone explain to me what the point of that was?
And the kiss! I was too panicky to even really notice the kiss because I was like FFS IANTO GET OUT, but it was spectacular. So desperate and shit-I-need-you.
5) Woman with guns, shot Jack and Rupesh? Ought to know her name, can't remember it right now. ETA: Agent Johnson. I probably shouldn't even like her let alone find her hot, as she's clearly the villain of the piece (other than the Alien Threat, of course). But I do. So there you are. I am fully aware that tomorrow she's gonna be brutally torturing Jack and attempting to kill my precious Gwen and Ianto. I'm kinda looking forward to the cat and mouse chase.
...Bloody hell, I'm messed up! Has anyone seen my morals? Anyone? I last saw them hanging out with my common sense and my only remaining brain cell. No? Well, keep an eye out, won't you.
6) The bit where we learn that TW's searches are being monitored. That's really scary, as it's usually the other way around. And TW have no idea. Presumably they will now know about Gwen's pregnancy as well. Bloody hell. :O
7) Gwen/Rhys. Rhys is so awesome, rattling off his ideas about the Alien Threat without even being asked. And they're house hunting! :D 'Bout bloody time! Gwen's line about going into England, and having had all her injections made me sporfle, even though I'm English and probably should have been offended or something, because I think it's wonderful how patriotic the Welsh are.
8) THERE WAS NO CHEESY NEWS BROADCAST WITH . That was getting so old on Doctor Who, I'm really glad they didn't do it again.
9) Fuck I can't think of a nine. I just really need to bring this up to a nice round ten.
10) Not a lot of Gwen/Ianto interaction, but this was made of win:
IANTO: I lost the car.
GWEN: 'Kay, sure, whatevs.
XD
Oh oh oh! And:
JACK: I want you to look up blah-blah-blah.
GWEN: There's a computer there, do it yourself!
IANTO: Haha!
O.T.3 <3
Things I did not like about this episode:
1) OH HAI NEVER BEFORE SEEN FAMILIES OF JACK AND IANTO. We'll just use this opportunity to force down your throat yet again that Jack is immortal and has been putting it about quite a bit over the years. It makes him less iconic hero and more desperate loner. Plus, the grey hair thing just made me desperately sad. What happened to him being a FIXED POINT IN TIME anyway? Not supposed to change at all, y'know? Not physically.
2) Ianto. I probably ought to be more sympathetic, but his whole identity crisis thing did not do it for me. How long have he and Jack been together? Fragments would suggest ever since he joined TW; They Keep Killing Suzie seems like the first real time in S1; in End of Days the kiss suggests they are very close; one assumes that around the time of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang or slightly after they had their first proper date; by Adam Ianto pretty much seems devoted to Jack; by Adrift they are familiar enough with this 'arrangement' (if, indeed, they are not yet calling it a relationship) to be playing sex games in the Hub. (Jantoers, feel free to give me more info and/or speculation on this.) How long has all that taken? I'm not an expert on these timelines, but I'd guess around two years? And it's been longer than that since he joined TW. So why, Ianto, why, 'cause I mean you're a clever man, you're a really clever man, in fact I'd call you a genius except I'm in the room, why have you not come to terms with this yet? Why the hell is it freaking you out so much? I felt really sorry for Jack when he had to keep asking Ianto what his problem was. :(
Having said that, it was very interesting to finally get an insight into how they both see each other. And though frustrating, he was still adorable with his family. Those kids were really ungrateful though, just grabbing the notes out of his hand. I admit, I don't see my Grandad all that often, and every time I see him he gives me a tenner too, but I still give him a hug and a kiss for it. Those kids are gonna grow up with no manners whatsoever. *is grumpy old person all of a sudden*
ETA: Huh. Seems I saw this completely the opposite way round to the rest of fandom. It seemed to me like he was uncomfortable about the world couple being used in relation to them, not that he was super happy about it and was prodding Jack to go 'YAY IANTO WE ARE. I LOVES YOU!' Hmm. Make of that what you will.'
3) Children not scary enough. I wanted to be really scared by them. I am expecting them to be scarier later on. In this one the PM refusing to take responsibility, the Jack!deaths and Rupesh is evil! and OMG THE HUB IS GONNA BLOW parts were more scary than the aliens. Give me scary aliens, plz? Is that too much to ask?
4) NOT ENOUGH GWEN/JACK! shackupinthehub text me afterwards to say that there was lots of Gwack (*shudders* I hate that smush name.) in this ep, and I was surprised because I didn't see any. *cries* The only moments I could see were:
a. The part where he put his hand over hers on the scanner (and really, if he was still madly in love with her I think he would have been a tad more upset that she's having a baby with Rhys), and that was extremely brief because seconds later we realize that Jack has a FUCKING BOMB IN HIS BELLY.
b. The part where he lifts her bodily up the stairs by the ribcage (prolonged contact in area close to her boobs! that's all I've got!). And blimey, Barrowman, swing Eve about like a cat why don't you? She's preggers, doncha know. ;)
c. "I can't just run, Jack!" showing she doesn't wanna leave him. Which says...not much at all, really.
That was ALL I got, seriously. Not. Enough. I was at least expecting a joyful hug with the pregnancy news. Ianto was cute and surprised, though. :)
5) Evil cliffhanger is EXCELLENT WRITING, but not good for my stress levels. You should have seen how much I was shaking. So almost getting a heart attack definitely goes on my list of BAD THINGS.
Things I did not understand:
1) How does a coachful of kids in 1967 lead to every kid in the world being affected? Surely those 30 or so kids can't have procreated THAT MUCH that their genes have been passed on and spread to every kid in the world? And what where they doing out there in the dark in the first place? Who sent them? Why wait 40+ years before finally using the kids to take over? HOW the hell did Clem escape? And what purpose can he serve now?
2) How do the deaths and disappearing bodies at the hospital tie in? They weren't all killed and used as a story by Rupesh to lure TW in, were they? So, experiments by the 456, testing how successful a possession would be (that would account for the weird thing Jack pulled out of the guy's chest) when they eventually take over the world? Or another secret evil government scheme? And why were all the victims male?
3) Why bring Jack and Ianto's families in now? It surely can't just be to bring home the message that when it's your own kids affected, it means srs bzns. Are they going to play some important role in the story? Are they going to get picked off one by one by the government as they try to kill TW? Is Jack secretly pregnant and they need the families around so they can help plan the Jones and Harkness wedding? :P
4) HOW THE FUCK IS JACK SUPPOSED TO SURVIVE THAT?
...And it is now...*squints at screen* 1.25 in the morning. Blimey that took me a while to write.
And I still have to go see what the rest of you thought about it. No sleep for me tonight, no siree!
Anyway, I think it's safe to say that I liked it, and that I was not in the slightest bit disappointed. Now I just have to psych myself up to go through it all again tomorrow! Woohoo!