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usuallyhats
Here is a Torchwood reaction post! It be full o' spoilers for all the episodes.
- My main reaction after Day Five finished was: "Well. Huh. That... well. That happened." I'm still not really sure what I think of it, to be honest. All I really wanted was for Gwen and Rhys and the baby to be ok, and I got that, so... I don't know. I find it hard to judge things like this as I am not a fan of The Bleak, and always end up over- or under-compensating for the "not to my taste" factor. Overall I'm going to go for "good but flawed" with a side order of "I'd be quite content if I never watched it again, tbh."
- I was talking to my mum on the phone the other day about the possibility of a season four and she said that she thought Martha Jones would come back and take over. Do want, though I would be happy with Gwen in charge. They could recruit Johnson and Lois Habiba (assuming someone remembered to let her out of her cell), and also Mickey and any other companions they can lay their hands on. (You know who's from this time period. ANJI KAPOOR, THAT'S WHO. Admittedly I'm not sure she'd be terribly keen on the idea of moving to Cardiff to fight aliens, but I think she and Gwen would get on rather well.)
- If the 456 could control children that easily, why did they need them to be rounded up? Couldn't they have just made them walk to the collection place thingy?
- Frobisher killing his family and himself? NO. I really really hated that. I get that it was supposed to be a contrast to what Jack did, but it's just not something I want to see. He decided that they'd be better off dead and didn't give them any say in the matter, but it's ok! He's A Good Man! I know this because everyone kept telling me.
- Hey, it's Nick Briggs! On my telly! And he has lines! EVIL lines, but there you go, and he does them very well.
- Poor Ianto. I must admit his actual death scene left me rather cold - I blame the waily soundtrack lady and the general feeling of "how many clichés can we possibly cram in?" - but the scene after, with Gwen, made me cry. Possibly this is due to Eve Myles being awesome. Speaking of clichés, I liked that they took a storyline that heterosexual couples often get and gave it to a gay couple, but on the other hand that leaves us with yet another doomed gay relationship, which is rather fail. (See also Tosh/Mary, that couple from The Unicorn and the Wasp etc.)
- Hurray for Bridget Spears bringing down the PM with the Contact Lenses Of Ming. (Seriously, how many people have worn them now? I don't wear contact lenses myself but I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that swapping them around willy-nilly is not a good idea.) Not so keen on the fact that the woman who seemed to be taking over was the one who came up with the "let's feed the disadvantaged children to the aliens" plan in the first place. Couldn't we have had one glimmer of hope?
- I liked the scenes with the cabinet discussing what to do, very chilling, and also great in terms of "this is what sci-fi can do" - taking a thought experiment and making it real, making it matter. Though I could have done with more discussion on the ethics of killing off a huge number of children to save the world before they got into the mechanics of it.
- Argh, Gwen's voiceovers. I really hate the idea of the Doctor as a God, as some kind of ultimate moral authority who sits in absolute judgment over everyone. (Is there another 'e' in judgment? Firefox says no but Firefox is American.) Especially given what a git the Doctor himself can be. I am also officially squicked by the idea that some people don't deserve to be saved, and that a whole population can be condemned by the actions of some of its members.
- I am a bit surprised that no-one at any point noticed Lois jotting things down and went "hang on, I am not sure this is a meeting we want to have a record of."
- Little things I liked: the bit where Our Heroes recreated The Real Hustle and the fact that Jack nicked a flashy car whilst Ianto spent his ill-gotten gains on loo roll, coffee and changes of clothes. And Rhys writing "Hub 2" on the wall was ♥
- I enjoyed the scene with Johnny rallying the estate to fight back; that was a rare moment of faith in human nature, and it was good that PC Andy got a moment of win (though I am a bit worried about what may have happened to him - don't take your flak jacket off when you're about to attack the actual army, fool!). I am a little skeptical that none of the soldiers rebelled; they can't all have had children for the government to threaten, surely? Unless they were handpicked for that reason, which would have taken ages.
- ARGH, JACK. I feel sorry for what he went through but sadly I sort of don't like him any more. He couldn't have said something reassuring to Stephen? Just a quick "don't be afraid" or something so he didn't have to die alone, terrified and confused? Not to mention ditching poor Gwen, leaving her to deal with the loss of another friend (Ianto seemed to know her home phone number off by heart in part two, so I am assuming they were fairly close, though it would not be out of character for Ianto to have memorised a selection of important phone numbers, in case of emergency) and decide what to do about Torchwood, only to nip back and confirm that yes, he is off for good. I thought we'd got rid of "woe is me, I am so angsty D: D: D:" Jack at the end of Last of the Time Lords.
- My main reaction after Day Five finished was: "Well. Huh. That... well. That happened." I'm still not really sure what I think of it, to be honest. All I really wanted was for Gwen and Rhys and the baby to be ok, and I got that, so... I don't know. I find it hard to judge things like this as I am not a fan of The Bleak, and always end up over- or under-compensating for the "not to my taste" factor. Overall I'm going to go for "good but flawed" with a side order of "I'd be quite content if I never watched it again, tbh."
- I was talking to my mum on the phone the other day about the possibility of a season four and she said that she thought Martha Jones would come back and take over. Do want, though I would be happy with Gwen in charge. They could recruit Johnson and Lois Habiba (assuming someone remembered to let her out of her cell), and also Mickey and any other companions they can lay their hands on. (You know who's from this time period. ANJI KAPOOR, THAT'S WHO. Admittedly I'm not sure she'd be terribly keen on the idea of moving to Cardiff to fight aliens, but I think she and Gwen would get on rather well.)
- If the 456 could control children that easily, why did they need them to be rounded up? Couldn't they have just made them walk to the collection place thingy?
- Frobisher killing his family and himself? NO. I really really hated that. I get that it was supposed to be a contrast to what Jack did, but it's just not something I want to see. He decided that they'd be better off dead and didn't give them any say in the matter, but it's ok! He's A Good Man! I know this because everyone kept telling me.
- Hey, it's Nick Briggs! On my telly! And he has lines! EVIL lines, but there you go, and he does them very well.
- Poor Ianto. I must admit his actual death scene left me rather cold - I blame the waily soundtrack lady and the general feeling of "how many clichés can we possibly cram in?" - but the scene after, with Gwen, made me cry. Possibly this is due to Eve Myles being awesome. Speaking of clichés, I liked that they took a storyline that heterosexual couples often get and gave it to a gay couple, but on the other hand that leaves us with yet another doomed gay relationship, which is rather fail. (See also Tosh/Mary, that couple from The Unicorn and the Wasp etc.)
- Hurray for Bridget Spears bringing down the PM with the Contact Lenses Of Ming. (Seriously, how many people have worn them now? I don't wear contact lenses myself but I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that swapping them around willy-nilly is not a good idea.) Not so keen on the fact that the woman who seemed to be taking over was the one who came up with the "let's feed the disadvantaged children to the aliens" plan in the first place. Couldn't we have had one glimmer of hope?
- I liked the scenes with the cabinet discussing what to do, very chilling, and also great in terms of "this is what sci-fi can do" - taking a thought experiment and making it real, making it matter. Though I could have done with more discussion on the ethics of killing off a huge number of children to save the world before they got into the mechanics of it.
- Argh, Gwen's voiceovers. I really hate the idea of the Doctor as a God, as some kind of ultimate moral authority who sits in absolute judgment over everyone. (Is there another 'e' in judgment? Firefox says no but Firefox is American.) Especially given what a git the Doctor himself can be. I am also officially squicked by the idea that some people don't deserve to be saved, and that a whole population can be condemned by the actions of some of its members.
- I am a bit surprised that no-one at any point noticed Lois jotting things down and went "hang on, I am not sure this is a meeting we want to have a record of."
- Little things I liked: the bit where Our Heroes recreated The Real Hustle and the fact that Jack nicked a flashy car whilst Ianto spent his ill-gotten gains on loo roll, coffee and changes of clothes. And Rhys writing "Hub 2" on the wall was ♥
- I enjoyed the scene with Johnny rallying the estate to fight back; that was a rare moment of faith in human nature, and it was good that PC Andy got a moment of win (though I am a bit worried about what may have happened to him - don't take your flak jacket off when you're about to attack the actual army, fool!). I am a little skeptical that none of the soldiers rebelled; they can't all have had children for the government to threaten, surely? Unless they were handpicked for that reason, which would have taken ages.
- ARGH, JACK. I feel sorry for what he went through but sadly I sort of don't like him any more. He couldn't have said something reassuring to Stephen? Just a quick "don't be afraid" or something so he didn't have to die alone, terrified and confused? Not to mention ditching poor Gwen, leaving her to deal with the loss of another friend (Ianto seemed to know her home phone number off by heart in part two, so I am assuming they were fairly close, though it would not be out of character for Ianto to have memorised a selection of important phone numbers, in case of emergency) and decide what to do about Torchwood, only to nip back and confirm that yes, he is off for good. I thought we'd got rid of "woe is me, I am so angsty D: D: D:" Jack at the end of Last of the Time Lords.