How Torchwood told loyal fans they don't give a crap about them, or why series 3 was not good
I was hoping I cooled off and I'd end up skipping the last Torchwood rant that was boiling in me, but RTD just couldn't help himself and he ended up pissing me off all over again with his new interview. So here it is.
( Torchwood series 3 spoilers, obviously. )
( Torchwood series 3 spoilers, obviously. )
Comments 27
(The comment has been removed)
Torchwood is pretty much done. Might as well stick a fork in it.
Reply
(The comment has been removed)
To be honest, I've had enough of Rusty for a while now - he thinks he's too awesome for his own good really.
Ditto to all this. He destroyed Doctor Who for me, got me to start hating Rose, made me despise Ten, I'll never get over what he did to Donna. I'm just waiting for the Moff to come back and fix things somewhat. Or at least - not to fuck it up even more.
I've seen the set photos, it looks really cool for now, without bringing up any spoilers here. :)
Reply
Yes to all of the above.
The beginning looked promising but it all went downhill pretty soon. It felt like a very depressing episode of Doctor Who that just wouldn't end. And frankly, I don't think it was great storytelling, it was just more serialized than usual.
Also, it pisses me off how RTD & certain fans think it was so "brave" of them to kill off so many cast members. I don't get it. Getting rid of everything the fans loved about the show is brave?
The TW I knew and loved ended with 2x12. I don't even acknowledge any of this fuckery.
Reply
Also, it pisses me off how RTD & certain fans think it was so "brave" of them to kill off so many cast members. I don't get it. Getting rid of everything the fans loved about the show is brave?
I also don't get it. That's what I hate about US television. The cheap shocks at the end of each season "*gasp* they killed someone off!"
Write a decent story and you won't need to kill anyone just to get a reaction out of the audience. *shrug*
The TW I knew and loved ended with 2x12. I don't even acknowledge any of this fuckery.
Agreed.
Reply
Reply
I think a lot of us feel the same, but are too pissed to put any energy in expressing it or are way beyond caring. I was hoping someone else would write it, but damn, that utter fuckery of an interview just enraged me all over again and I couldn't get up until this was written. lol
I honestly have never before seen a show give suck a blatant, bolded, in giant sparkly all caps letters "FUCK YOU" message to fans. O_o
The mind boggles.
(Haha, is that me and S?)
Hah, yes! :D
I love how you two picked up on it right away.
Reply
On the other hand, if I were to write SV fic, but kill off Clark and Lex from the start and introduce many new characters, I shouldn't label it SV fic, because it wouldn't be SV at all. So there are really two ways to think about it.
I'm not sure which one makes more sense, just thinking aloud actually.
Reply
It's probably more rewarding for a writer to create something new than to play in the same sandbox over and over again.
But that's the thing, when did RTD get bored? He OKed TW stuff (did he?), but he was busy with DW. He wasn't the one running day to day stuff, Chris was.
Plus, if you're bored with the show, retire the show or find someone else to run it.
You can't force the guy. So what should he do? Please the fans, or have fun himself and make something new? I can understand it in some way. You can't at all?No, I can't. Like I said, he had options for other Torchwood branches, if he wanted to play with new toys but still in the same sandbox, to borrow the metaphor from you ( ... )
Reply
It was just a wild guess from me. I was just thinking that if I personally would get the chance to make something new in lieu of doing what I did before, I don't know what I would have chosen.
Plus, if you're bored with the show, retire the show or find someone else to run it.
I was thinking you would say that, because I thought so too. It's a good argument, I agree.
No, I can't. Like I said, he had options for other Torchwood branches, if he wanted to play with new toys but still in the same sandbox, to borrow the metaphor from you.Hee, I thought you wouldn't be persuaded so easily. :) It probably is just more convenient to play with the old characters than to do something completely new. No, but anyway, I understand perfectly what you mean. It's a bit like demanding a present back, changing it and giving it back and not expecting people to look at you funny. Of course it's your present to begin with, but there is a reason people say you can't take a present back. Sorry, I should just ( ... )
Reply
Bottom line is, people didn't expect much - just consistency and some respect for established characters. We got neither.
It doesn't matter who created it - it's out there, you're not writing for yourself, you've shared your work with public for two years - you can't expect them not to notice a sudden rewrite, or drastically change that makes no sense.
Reply
While I don't agree with your final sentiment on CoE ('cause I loved it), I do agree with some points:
- it was very different from the previous seasons, and I expected the light & camp stuff we've had before as well, because that's what I enjoyed before. However, I also liked the darker road they took, but I can totally understand if you don't like that Torchwood, a.k.a "campy, fun show we loved because of the campy, fun aspects" went there ( ... )
Reply
*breathes after reading it all*:)
It was quite long, wasn't it. Eep.
However, I also liked the darker road they took, but I can totally understand if you don't like that Torchwood, a.k.a "campy, fun show we loved because of the campy, fun aspects" went there.
I just think they dealt with darker aspects better before. We had Jack give away that little girl in Small Worlds, sit with the guy while he killed himself in Out of Time, Owen died, Tosh & Owen died, and so on - yet Torchwood still managed to keep its distinctive style, personality and mood [with the camp & fun on top of all that] throughout. And that was severely lacking in series 3.
- The reason why Ianto went in with Jack was indeed stupid, but part of the fun for me has always been how incompetent TW is, tbh. (though it wasn't so much fun this time:( )But usually when they charge in somewhere they don't have much time to prepare ( ... )
Reply
- You mention the characters acting OOC, and I've seen this mentioned before. Could you explain that some more? To me, I felt like watching the exact same characters as before, if not grown up a bit.There were just some things that didn't sit well with me, and felt out of place, didn't fit with the characters where we left them when we last saw them ( ... )
Reply
Leave a comment