Looking for explanations
There had been a lot of discussion about Torchwood and especially COE which were lately stirred by the announcement of season 4. A lot of people seem to think if one isn’t overly exited about this prospect one shouldn’t consider oneself a fan at all. I prefer a more critical approach. Alone the fact that after a year I still talk about COE should tell how much a care. There are especially two things which bother me most (along a long list of others) in the script of COE and that makes me think RTD is anything but a gifted writer, because this things are essential to the whole story and they are just not working for me. If someone can explain them away I’m willing to listen.
The bomb: It has a radius from a mile. Jack may be 100 meters beneath ground zero. Gwen and Ianto are hardly 200 meters away from the centre of the explosion. But they only get a scratch. How could that be? I can’t remember any hint that the hub has a special force field or special walls which could absorb such an energy. Ianto and Gwen should be death, the whole plass a mess. The show would be over before it begins.
So why making it anyway a bomb of this power? 10 or 100 meters radius would have had the same effect on Jack. Of course the reason was to destroy the whole team and it’s base. But how could Johnson be sure Gwen and Ianto would be with him and the bomb would explode inside the hub? Jack could have been elsewhere as he exploded causing a lot of civil victims, not to mention a lot of questions afterwards. The others could have been away and been very suspicious about what had happened if suddenly their base was destroyed. And then there is the question what would average people think if suddenly their is a big hole in the middle of Cardiff? That should awoke way too many question that a secret operation could allow it to happen.
To play it save Johnson should have kept Jack captive after she shot him (bomb him on same military base if she wanted to try how he survives this), trap (and probably kill) Gwen and Ianto separately and then go to the hub and destroy it from inside. I’m sure she could find a way in. Of course it would not have looked near as spectacular on screen like the bombing. So the mere effect was set over a logical and believable plot in my eyes.
I also still lack the answer to the question why Torchwood should been infiltrated by Rupesh anyway as this was clearly set up before the 456 made contact. After all Torchwood was and is a organisation of the crown. Government going against it wouldn’t that qualify as mutinity towards her majesty? Torchwoods purpose was to protect Earth from aliens wouldn’t it be the first source one should count on when a problem arrives instead of destroying it?
The Killing: In 1965 aliens contacted government. I think it is save to assume only the most trustworthy persons where involved and anything was kept pretty much under wraps. So government trusted them back then, government trusted them for nearly 45 years. Why should government suddenly loose this trust? If they hadn’t trusted the people completely wouldn’t they have them killed in 1965 or somewhere between then and now? Just in order to play it safe?
Why by all means should people who have served the crown for nearly half a century, were sworn to loyalty and confidence suddenly should become traitors at all? People which must be at least in their late 60ties, retired in honour. I can’t imagine that anyone of them would alert the media or the citizens, especially not as one then had to explain his/her own involvement and wouldn’t probably not look that good either.
And even if someone speaks. Who would listen, who would believe? Even assuming that in the Whoniverse people are more alert, probably even used, to aliens it still would sound odd. Some tabloid may print it but that’s nothing government couldn’t easily explain away. We’re so sorry to see this very honoured former general has got Alzheimer’s or something like that.
And Jack, why should he speak? He would need to explain how he could be involved in something which should have taken place before he even was born. He for sure has no interest to tell people he is an immortal time traveller from the 51th century.
Besides this the moment the death order was giving no one involved in 1965 could possible made a connection. Kids back then obviously didn’t talk strangely. And that was all someone outside government would know. As the thread of the 456 returning was immanent all the time one should think government would have came up with better plans then just killing old witnesses. Not to mention that the most stupid thing you can do at this moment is destroy this organisation which was built to protect Earth from aliens.
With erasing the problem of old victims, which in truth never was one, a new problem arrives, the killers. Johnson and her team may not know why they are kill the people but at least she know who gave the order. Wouldn’t there be a risk that someday she can count one and one together and would ask questions or even tell what happened? Was Frobisher to kill her himself as last person on the list?
I’m willing to think the worst of politicians and governments but nobody giving so stupid and completely irrational orders like Frobisher would have made it in this position.
The basics of the show, the events which set the whole thing in motion just aren’t working for me. And that’s nothing you can explain away with the SF-aspect in it. Of course SF is never completely logical. But those two aspects are deeply human, set in today’s Earth so they need to been logical, reasonable and explainable.
Of course you can say it’s just fiction and TV and I so it’S different then real life wholeheartedly would agree if not RTD himself had over and over again emphasized how realistic Torchwood was meant to be. But you can’t use reality only when it suites you aka to explain character deaths but for the rest of the show you ignore it. If RTD wanted COE to be realistic he would have needed to come up with other and better plot devices.
BTW: This has completely nothign to do with Ianto's death. Even if he would have survived and happily married Jack I still would call it a completely illogical start of the plot therefore the whole thing wouldn't work.
The bomb: It has a radius from a mile. Jack may be 100 meters beneath ground zero. Gwen and Ianto are hardly 200 meters away from the centre of the explosion. But they only get a scratch. How could that be? I can’t remember any hint that the hub has a special force field or special walls which could absorb such an energy. Ianto and Gwen should be death, the whole plass a mess. The show would be over before it begins.
So why making it anyway a bomb of this power? 10 or 100 meters radius would have had the same effect on Jack. Of course the reason was to destroy the whole team and it’s base. But how could Johnson be sure Gwen and Ianto would be with him and the bomb would explode inside the hub? Jack could have been elsewhere as he exploded causing a lot of civil victims, not to mention a lot of questions afterwards. The others could have been away and been very suspicious about what had happened if suddenly their base was destroyed. And then there is the question what would average people think if suddenly their is a big hole in the middle of Cardiff? That should awoke way too many question that a secret operation could allow it to happen.
To play it save Johnson should have kept Jack captive after she shot him (bomb him on same military base if she wanted to try how he survives this), trap (and probably kill) Gwen and Ianto separately and then go to the hub and destroy it from inside. I’m sure she could find a way in. Of course it would not have looked near as spectacular on screen like the bombing. So the mere effect was set over a logical and believable plot in my eyes.
I also still lack the answer to the question why Torchwood should been infiltrated by Rupesh anyway as this was clearly set up before the 456 made contact. After all Torchwood was and is a organisation of the crown. Government going against it wouldn’t that qualify as mutinity towards her majesty? Torchwoods purpose was to protect Earth from aliens wouldn’t it be the first source one should count on when a problem arrives instead of destroying it?
The Killing: In 1965 aliens contacted government. I think it is save to assume only the most trustworthy persons where involved and anything was kept pretty much under wraps. So government trusted them back then, government trusted them for nearly 45 years. Why should government suddenly loose this trust? If they hadn’t trusted the people completely wouldn’t they have them killed in 1965 or somewhere between then and now? Just in order to play it safe?
Why by all means should people who have served the crown for nearly half a century, were sworn to loyalty and confidence suddenly should become traitors at all? People which must be at least in their late 60ties, retired in honour. I can’t imagine that anyone of them would alert the media or the citizens, especially not as one then had to explain his/her own involvement and wouldn’t probably not look that good either.
And even if someone speaks. Who would listen, who would believe? Even assuming that in the Whoniverse people are more alert, probably even used, to aliens it still would sound odd. Some tabloid may print it but that’s nothing government couldn’t easily explain away. We’re so sorry to see this very honoured former general has got Alzheimer’s or something like that.
And Jack, why should he speak? He would need to explain how he could be involved in something which should have taken place before he even was born. He for sure has no interest to tell people he is an immortal time traveller from the 51th century.
Besides this the moment the death order was giving no one involved in 1965 could possible made a connection. Kids back then obviously didn’t talk strangely. And that was all someone outside government would know. As the thread of the 456 returning was immanent all the time one should think government would have came up with better plans then just killing old witnesses. Not to mention that the most stupid thing you can do at this moment is destroy this organisation which was built to protect Earth from aliens.
With erasing the problem of old victims, which in truth never was one, a new problem arrives, the killers. Johnson and her team may not know why they are kill the people but at least she know who gave the order. Wouldn’t there be a risk that someday she can count one and one together and would ask questions or even tell what happened? Was Frobisher to kill her himself as last person on the list?
I’m willing to think the worst of politicians and governments but nobody giving so stupid and completely irrational orders like Frobisher would have made it in this position.
The basics of the show, the events which set the whole thing in motion just aren’t working for me. And that’s nothing you can explain away with the SF-aspect in it. Of course SF is never completely logical. But those two aspects are deeply human, set in today’s Earth so they need to been logical, reasonable and explainable.
Of course you can say it’s just fiction and TV and I so it’S different then real life wholeheartedly would agree if not RTD himself had over and over again emphasized how realistic Torchwood was meant to be. But you can’t use reality only when it suites you aka to explain character deaths but for the rest of the show you ignore it. If RTD wanted COE to be realistic he would have needed to come up with other and better plot devices.
BTW: This has completely nothign to do with Ianto's death. Even if he would have survived and happily married Jack I still would call it a completely illogical start of the plot therefore the whole thing wouldn't work.