Torchwood CoE
Jul. 11th, 2009 02:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ziasudraSo I finally had time to sit down and did a marathon watch of Torchwood...
...and I liked it. I thought the script was brilliantly written, the pacing was just right, the acting was superb, and the whole ethical/moral dilemma played out really well in a "hypothetical but something I can see happening behind closed doors of high governmental meeting" sort of way. And as far as the resolution goes, it's probably one of the tamest (and thus most "believable") of RTD's usual over-the-top finales yet.
I truly believe if there was an alien threat to earth and only the world leaders know about it, that negotiations for the least damaging "solution" would not be as far-fetched as we'd think. That discussion among the council of taking away the least privileged children destined to fill jail cells? Is a chilling scene that takes a lot of guts and honest looks in the mirror to be included. It's one of the reasons why I like sci-fi type shows so much. I appreciate being unflinchingly reminded of how very human we all are, but reminded in a way that dampens the hurt to our egos because having an alien threat somehow makes things more foreign, more distant.
So overall, for a five-day coherent story, kudos to the production team.
Perhaps I should mention that I'm not emotionally invested in Torchwood characters. I've always loved Jack, but for the Torchwood team, Owen was easily my favorite character and, well, he's not around anymore. I'm sad for the end of the Torchwood team, but not devastated by it.
Anyway, Jack. I really liked the fact that he is the anti-hero that we can still love. Learning about his past goes hand-in-hand with digging up all the dredge that comes along with it -- the horrible stuff he's done in the past, the way he's required to keep repeating history in choosing between the difficult and the hard. This is a Jack that is not "safe." For once, I believe that his many years have finally weighed down on him, so much so that he can no longer hide behind his happy-go-lucky facade unless he takes a really, really long vacation in another planet very far away. This is also a Jack whom I could believe when he said he would always remember Ianto. It would take a very special person many years from now to get Jack to love again. As much as I think the scenario of Ianto's death was unnecessary (what were they trying to do in talking with the 456 anyway?), the way it played out -- as a stark reminder of the mortal vs. immortal, of the two of them having shared far too few years together -- gave me a lot of food for thought. We really can't prepare for the last goodbye. Death happens and it can happen NOW and one moment I can be happy that Jack has found someone to love, and the next moment I would wonder why he allows himself to love when he knows it will never end well.
Jack was forced to play the Doctor when the Doctor isn't around to save the world. But he's not the Doctor, so he saved the day as how Captain Jack has always done it -- getting things messy and seeing everything go wrong in the process. We see Jack simultaneously at his finest and his worst, and I love him for it.
This five-day miniseries seems very much like Torchwood's last hurrah to me. I'm glad I get to say farewell to a series while feeling very satisfied. I'm aware a lot of Torchwood fans don't feel the same way, so I consider myself fortunate that, for a final burst of light before the stage light dims forever (I doubt there'll be a Season 4), I get to truly say that RTD and his team did well with their exiting act.
...and I liked it. I thought the script was brilliantly written, the pacing was just right, the acting was superb, and the whole ethical/moral dilemma played out really well in a "hypothetical but something I can see happening behind closed doors of high governmental meeting" sort of way. And as far as the resolution goes, it's probably one of the tamest (and thus most "believable") of RTD's usual over-the-top finales yet.
I truly believe if there was an alien threat to earth and only the world leaders know about it, that negotiations for the least damaging "solution" would not be as far-fetched as we'd think. That discussion among the council of taking away the least privileged children destined to fill jail cells? Is a chilling scene that takes a lot of guts and honest looks in the mirror to be included. It's one of the reasons why I like sci-fi type shows so much. I appreciate being unflinchingly reminded of how very human we all are, but reminded in a way that dampens the hurt to our egos because having an alien threat somehow makes things more foreign, more distant.
So overall, for a five-day coherent story, kudos to the production team.
Perhaps I should mention that I'm not emotionally invested in Torchwood characters. I've always loved Jack, but for the Torchwood team, Owen was easily my favorite character and, well, he's not around anymore. I'm sad for the end of the Torchwood team, but not devastated by it.
Anyway, Jack. I really liked the fact that he is the anti-hero that we can still love. Learning about his past goes hand-in-hand with digging up all the dredge that comes along with it -- the horrible stuff he's done in the past, the way he's required to keep repeating history in choosing between the difficult and the hard. This is a Jack that is not "safe." For once, I believe that his many years have finally weighed down on him, so much so that he can no longer hide behind his happy-go-lucky facade unless he takes a really, really long vacation in another planet very far away. This is also a Jack whom I could believe when he said he would always remember Ianto. It would take a very special person many years from now to get Jack to love again. As much as I think the scenario of Ianto's death was unnecessary (what were they trying to do in talking with the 456 anyway?), the way it played out -- as a stark reminder of the mortal vs. immortal, of the two of them having shared far too few years together -- gave me a lot of food for thought. We really can't prepare for the last goodbye. Death happens and it can happen NOW and one moment I can be happy that Jack has found someone to love, and the next moment I would wonder why he allows himself to love when he knows it will never end well.
Jack was forced to play the Doctor when the Doctor isn't around to save the world. But he's not the Doctor, so he saved the day as how Captain Jack has always done it -- getting things messy and seeing everything go wrong in the process. We see Jack simultaneously at his finest and his worst, and I love him for it.
This five-day miniseries seems very much like Torchwood's last hurrah to me. I'm glad I get to say farewell to a series while feeling very satisfied. I'm aware a lot of Torchwood fans don't feel the same way, so I consider myself fortunate that, for a final burst of light before the stage light dims forever (I doubt there'll be a Season 4), I get to truly say that RTD and his team did well with their exiting act.
