So my thoughts on yaoi. I mean Torchwood. Wait, isn't that the same thing?

[clo_again]

First thought, immediate thought: next season is going to suck.

- They killed Owen and I get that, even though they dismally wasted the whole Owen-is-a-zombie angle. He was a dead man walking and his death by radiation, while so harsh, had a poetry, with the means and his backstory. I like poetry. It makes up for a lot.

- Tosh's death had a distinct lack of poetry. There was no sense to killing her at that point. Have her survive and be terribly angst-ridden; now that's interesting. Have her hate Owen's replacement (if it is Martha, I may have to bury Russell T. Davis alive for nine hundred TWO THOUSAND years, christ that was some bad math. I blame trying to type and eat chicken wings at the same time). Tie in her backstory in next series with her demanding to leave when her five year contract ends. People have lived for days with untreated gunshot wounds to the stomach; not that it matters in TW but it was entirely feasible for her to survive and I have to point out that, along with Ianto, she formed the part of Torchwood that was actually vaguely competent. While not having the Samantha Carter School of Deus Ex Machina present next series may make them work harder on plot, this is Torchwood and I suspect their plots may just become even more unbelievable.

- They killed Tosh instead of Gwen. There are no words for how much I hate them for this, because Gwen is so incredibly irritating now that even my traditionally-oblivious father is commenting on it. If they'd killed Gwen now I'd have said "Oh clever Torchwood, you were making here annoying so you could kill her off! I love you! I must pre-order the third series immediately because it will be genius!"

But they didn't, leading me to conclude that they really don't know how annoying Gwen can come across. They had her being all outraged over Jack and flinging herself on him, when it was Ianto's outrage and desperation that really rung true, yet it wasn't given anything like the same attention or screentime. I'll stop myself before I rant on this anymore, because I could, endlessly. Their idolisation of Gwen as a character when she really does nothing to deserve it is grating horribly at this point and it horrifies me that we have at least another series of it to come, possibly without the mitigating influence of other likable characters like Tosh and Owen. If this becomes the Gwen-and-Martha-mooning-over-Jack show, I will have to bury everyone involved with Torchwood alive an for a lot longer than nine hundred TWO THOUSAND (I was still eating chicken) years.

- The general plot was interesting. I love that it was Jack's brother behind it all, because I did not see it coming and the subtly and hilarity of James Marsters and the flashback of Jack (though dammit they should've shown him being dug up).
-- I don't like that they went the Angel route and effectively blew up the city. Oh and a nuclear power plant. And yet, they didn't do the obvious and blow up the Hub, jesus Torchwood. It was a nifty opportunity to work new features into the set for the third series but no. Also, blowing up Cardiff sets the series firmly in the realms of 'this is not our reality' and while that's never been so much of a question with this universe (see Doctor Who's various Christmas specials) there's a certain laziness to setting it firmly in a fictional reality where you can blow up an actual city without consequences. Having to work under the radar and having to have the characters struggle to 'keep the lid' on it all and out of the public eye is really more impressive than just blowing up the city. But then, this is Torchwood and I shouldn't expect anything but laziness.

Because this is a lazy show. It makes me sad. But at the same time, they did not kill Ianto or James Marsters and in fact so much as said he'd be back next series which gives me hope. Sort of. I still can't see how anything they could possibly gain from Tosh's death will outweight what they've lost.

(Also, this damn well better not mean we don't get action figures of Tosh and Owen. Then I will be furious.)

I guess I'm kind of- ambivalent about this. As an episode, there were things I liked and that's a bigger step for Torchwood than for other shows. I loved Ianto's desperation, even if it was criminally underplayed. I loved Tosh's gut-wrenching "Because you're breaking my heart." I loved that it was Jack's brother and how that tied in to the rest of the series. But the things I didn't like, I hated. Really hated and I'm struggling to reconcile the two. I think it needs rewatching when I don't have the parents in the room, chattering away and being bloody irritating.


edit: My header hasn't been showing up all night. It's really annoying. Gr, argh LJ.

Comments

[thinkpink20.livejournal.com]

If this becomes the Gwen-and-Martha-mooning-over-Jack show, I will have to bury everyone involved with Torchwood alive - I'm so utterly with you on that point that I'll grab a spade and help you dig. Seriously.

*sigh* Who knew the Torchwood writers were so shit? :(

[make-a-move.livejournal.com]

I agree with everything you said about Gwen. I can't stand her in the slightest. I can't believe they killed Tosh instead of her :(

I'm sure Eve Myles is a lovely woman in real life, she certainly comes aross that way, but the person she plays is awful.