Torchwood Season 2 -- Episode 1

[rabid1st]

What I've read. What I've heard. What I know.

So...Spoiler Alert...and under the cut we go...

Managed to see episode 1 on my whirlwind trip through the low country of Scotland...and...this is what I have to say about it.

It is no secret that I love Captain Jack. But for the most part (last season) I hated his show. I found the Torchwood team to be a load of whining wankers. Not just no fun...but gratingly annoying. All that pomp and circumstance about how tormented they all were left me completely unmoved. Far from jumping on the Ianto/Jack bandwagon or thinking Owen was bad boy cool...instead, I felt that Ianto was a prat of the first order and looked to be sweating too much and the fellow who played Owen couldn't act his way through a cat food commercial. Jack looked like he had something up his behind the whole season...and wasn't enjoying it. And Gwen...oh...don't start me on Gwen and her wide-eyed wonder.

This season...so far...much...MUCH better. It had it's bad moments...James Marsters (and his character) was too cliched for me. I saw him do it on Andromeda. But I thought Ianto rocked. I loved the silver tray for the weapons. Carry on, Ianto! :hee: And the whole business in the office. My heart didn't pitter-pat when Jack did his "I came back for you (looks at Ianto)...all of you." Because...again...too, too cliched. But the whole asking Ianto out on a date...lovely...it made me think they really could have a quasi-gay leading man who actually had a realtionship with another man as part of a show. This is something that...so far...hasn't happened.

I liked Gwen because she wasn't so hesitant this season. None of that "I'm confused about why I'm here" diffidence from her this time around. Of course, she spent a good portion of the time paralyzed. Perhaps I feel it did her character some good. :grin: And so on to Owen. I canNOT believe I liked Owen in this. I despise Owen. And not in a good way...but in a "the sound of his whining voice gives me stomach cramps" way. But suddenly...I find I liked his dialing back the sleaze and talking to Tosh about a real woman. I'm not as excited as Tosh was about this...because I feel that Owen's idea of a "real woman" will have fake breasts...but still...it made a good break from the endless unfunny joke of his existence last year.

So...overall...good start for Torchwood. Jack isn't quite BACK (to his Doctor Who S1 self...I mean)...he's still carrying the scary secrets around...but that could give him some depth if it's handled with less of the sledgehammer approach. And, at least, there is some light around his edges at last...some hope and devil-may-care-ness. They need to get some Government bosses in for him to rebel against. Yes, I know that would be cliched, too, but Jack is a rebel at heart. Look how great he was with the tiny rebellion against Gwen's rule! Of course, it was a forgone conclusion that Gwen's rule was going to fold and Jack would take over again.

And sure enough...there he was, striding along at the front of the phallynx of Torchwood's closing sequence. But...still...nice to have the team showing some backbone and less annoying character of their own. I'll be looking forward to the American debut and more of S2.

Rae

Comments

[binah1013.livejournal.com]

I agree with a lot of what you wrote. My first impression was that it was cheesy in a fanficcy way, but fun. I rolled my eyes at how the show seemed to be pairing everyone up. And even re-creating Jack/Gwen when it seemed to be dropped last season. But all the characters seem to be less emo, so that's a bonus.

I didn't watch Andromeda, so I felt Marsters was just basically retooling Spike for the 52nd century. But his role worked for me.

I guess the con-man phase of Jack's life was more significant than most suspected. How bad is the company you keep when murder rehab is bandied with humor? They are obviously going to make Jack's missing memory a theme.

Overall, a good start.

[wickedgillie.livejournal.com]

I have to say, I am so relieved to hear that I am not the only one who loathes Owen and thought Ianto was a prat. While I didn't hate S1, I didn't really care about it in any kind of meta way. It was purely a diversion, and on rare occassions, an enjoyable diversion. And given the lack of anything terribly new on the telly, I have been looking forward to s2 on BBC-A, although with some trepidation because I was worried it was going to get even worse.

[sensiblecat.livejournal.com]

JM certainly rocked. I haven't seen him before and I think he out-strutted Jack, quite an achievement, that! Smashing up the entire bar seemed a tad gratuitous, though. And there was some atrocious writing in the opening scene. Talk about the heavy hand of exposition. Thy name is Blowfish.

One niggle - assuming the TW team were outside the inner circle of The Year That Never Was, I'd have thought Jack had been away days rather than the months it would have taken to build up the team's resentment.

And you're in Scotland - so close, and I never knew! (I'm in Manchester)

[keswindhover.livejournal.com]

I thought the various budding/hinted at relationships made no sense at all - certainly compared to what everyone was up to last season.

But they are crowd pleasers - and RTD seems to have taken the task of making the show fun to watch, instead of a dreary angst-laden bore, very seriously. Good snarky dialogue, jokes and in-jokes, men kissing, cowboy western pastiche, lots of action.

Keep it up, boys.

[psubrat.livejournal.com]

It had it's bad moments...James Marsters (and his character) was too cliched for me. I saw him do it on Andromeda.

::cough::agree completely::cough::

[auntiesuze.livejournal.com]

Alrighty...just watched it so I can read n' comment now! :D

I agree...if this is any indication of how the season will go, I'll be MUCH happier than last year. There was so much I didn't like in the first season and I really *wanted* to like it, you know? But I wanted to kill Owen in every single episode, Ianto had a few moments but mostly was either useless or a nonentity, and I got *SO* sick of Gwen's googly eyes (I swear, she must have gone to the Ally Walker school of acting).

There was a certain cheeziness to this episode, but it was in a fun way, not an "oh my god this is HORRIBLE" way. I loved the bar scene. What can I say? Throw in some rousing music and a combo of men kissing and punching each other and you've got me. ;)

But I think the most impressive thing was the change in the team. Jack is no longer all mopey/lookettmeI'mallangry and more like his DW self (yea!), Owen was FAR less annoying (almost human...I guess shooting him a couple of times did him some good! lol), Ianto had some great bits (love the snarky Ianto and the silver tray for the weapons was just priceless), Gwen had more purpose and focus (and a gorgeous right hook), and Tosh didn't need much tinkering, but she's coming across as even more smart and capable than before.

I have to give the writers and producers credit. They looked at the first season and took the feedback and tried to fix the things they knew were wrong (I've even read as much in an article somewhere). Jack's disappearance ended up being a great excuse to give the team a chance at cohesion, putaside their petty issues, and step up to do the job. So, Jack's happier and a bit more open (I don't mind him having secrets - makes things more interesting), and the team is functioning 100% better. Good all around. *thumbs up*

James...*laughing*...yeah, that's kind of his standard English bad boy. But I like it. He's ridiculous, but fun. And can you believe he's in his mid-40s? Damn, he looks good. I guess I didn't realize he was going to be in more than one episode. Neat!

I *am* curious about the little carrot they dangled in front of us at the end. Gray? Was that the name? I was having a bit of trouble understanding what he said there. Looked like a lost kid...and Jack did mention way back when that he never wanted to be pregnant again...hm.... *hears a thousand mpreg fics exploding into being*

Ack. I still need to review the last two chaps of Disheveled for you! I don't know where the hell the time keeps disappearing to!

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

Oh...I should just remain quiet until you review. And you should...you know...because the Beta Babes have Chapter 25. There is a slight delay of their game...but most have promised to get it to me by tomorrow night.

Then you will be 3 chapters back...and probably you will just give up in despair. :grin:

As for James...yes, I was a bit hard on him in this...but I've seen that scene done with Angel so many times...you would not believe it. And the character he did is from Andromeda...a direct lift of that one. Still, he looks mighty good...I will give him that. And he wasn't out classed in the acting by anyone in this group. I don't know if that's says much for him though...still...yes...okay...he looked good.

I, too, am curious about Gray...Jack's son...maybe...could be. It does seem to be a boy taken from him. There is the reference to his friend taken from him, too. But a son would be cool. And give the show a way to address some of the DW roll over of ideas. I said somewhere...Gwen having settled for marriage with Rhys pretty much takes a Rose/Mickey wedding off the books. And that's all to the good.

Rae

[auntiesuze.livejournal.com]

I'll try to review tomorrow night - but this weekend, definitely. Poke me about finishing my fic, too, please?

Nope, no giving up. I actually have thought about what I wanted to say about these two chapters...I just need to sit down and put it into some coherent form. ;)

Which friend is this? I can only think of the kid that he signed up for the military with, and he was killed (in front of Jack). I like the idea of a son (biological or some sort of foster or mentor thing) for Jack. Losing him would have had a profound impact on him. And we still don't know what's up with the whole missing two years, so...loads of possibilities.

I'll believe the Gwen/Rhys marriage when I see it, but I don't believe a Rose/Mickey marriage is in the cards. It would be far too cruel to bring Mickey back into the mix - Rose finally let him go (after all the yo-yoing) and treats him as a friend. I don't want any backtracking there!

[beck-liz.livejournal.com]

I'd have thought Jack had been away days rather than the months it would have taken to build up the team's resentment.

I'm running with the assumption that the Doctor pulled one of his, "All right! I'll have you back 3 hours after you left... Whoops. I meant 3 months. Sorry?"

[webeh.livejournal.com]

I remember thinking in season one that Torchwood caused more trouble than they prevented. The members had access to all this alien technology and they abused it for their own selfish reasons. On top of all, they couldn't even get along well enough to form a properly functioning team.

From the one episode I've seen, it seems like everyone has grown up a bit. Gwen's more confident, Owen's acting less like a @$$ (RTD screwed up the character monumentally early in season one with that spray *coughDateRapeDrugcough*), Ianto seems to be less tolerant of other people's s**t, and Tosh looks a bit more outgoing. All in all, I'm looking forward to this season if the writing can maintain itself.

Side note, I'm still waiting for Tosh to kick major physical butt. I think everyone else had their chance to do so already.

[webeh.livejournal.com]

Also, I think at this point Rhys/Gwen as a couple are still more believable than Mickey/Rose. Gwen's at least somewhat happy with Rhys, whereas Rose met someone new and can't go back anymore. Besides, I secretly think Mickey's with that pretty blond guy from the season two finale.

But, poor Rhys. I still don't think Gwen's all in the relationship. The show either has to work hard to show that he's the right guy for her or break them up.

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

I think that Mickey/Rose was established as non-existant in a number of places. But really...in the very first episode. She says "Thanks" and he says "For what?" and she says, "Exactly." In other words...thanks for nothing. And Rose tells us over and over again...nothing happened in her life before the Doctor. She wasn't in love with Mickey...ever. She comes to see him as a wonderful man by Doomsday...but that's because she's grown into a woman and can appreciate much more in other people.

There is absolutely no chance she would go to Mickey in Pete's World. Mickey would have less of a chance than a random fellow...because Rose does care for Mickey and wouldn't want to encourage him when she would never be able to give him what he wants.

Rhys on the other hand seems to provide a lot of what Gwen needs. Jack and company provide excitement but not the fulfillment that the Doctor provided Rose. Rose was deeply fulfilled in her relationship with the Doctor...lacking only family ties. And I honestly think...since she placed him above her family ties...that he would have given her those eventually.

Rae

Pokes you about your fic

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

Finish it! What seems to be the trouble?

Oh, I know...perhaps the problem is you have something hanging over your head...like...reviews you mean to do first.

:BWAHAHAHA:

Sorry, no...go work on your fic. I will go work on mine. I will post. Perhaps you will post, too. And then...then, my cyber-buddy...we could read and review one another.

Rae

Re: Pokes you about your fic

[auntiesuze.livejournal.com]

Oh, it's just my usual mental block about trying to finish a fic. One chapter fics I can generally do, but anything longer than that and I have a horrible time with it. But since I just have this last chapter to go, all I need to do is just sit down and *DO* it. God, it's like trying to make myself do homework all over again... ;D

I'm going to grab something to eat, then go do your reviews, take a break, and then finish my fic either tonight or tomorrow (thank you, MLK, for the extra day off!)

[webeh.livejournal.com]

Speaking of Rose, I found a music video you might like. See?

I can't believe I forgot how much fun her and the Doctor used to have...