TORCHWOOD: CoE Episode 1...Spoilers
Jul. 8th, 2009 11:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rabid1stDO NOT...I repeat...DO NOT spoil me for episodes 2, 3, 4 or 5. I have only seen the first episode.
The following is about the press preview version of Children of Earth which means Part ONE only!
Under the cut we go...
I found it as compelling and spooky as I was supposed to find it.
Like I told my buddy, Kes, I did not expect to be disappointed by Russell's opening episodes. You don't get disappointed in RTD's first shot across your bow. It wakes you up and makes you start thinking. He's a master at ratcheting up the tension and throwing all the spooky stuff out for us to ponder. What is going on? We ask. This must mean something. Oh, I wasn't expecting that! Neato!
No...if we are going to be disappointed it will be in the final episode not the first one.
And as expected, I wasn't the least little bit disappointed.
I was, however, a little miffed from a Doctor Who Journey's End standpoint...because here we visit some very familiar ground. Here we have the ordinary people who reject the extraordinary because extraordinary people are dangerous and different. The head scratching idea that is selfish to express love if you are really very different from one another. Some of my friends have found it ironic that a gay writer would reject the unusual relationships so fully. Yet, my gay male friends have often expressed a deep despondancy about growing old and being denied love because they are no longer pretty boys. Males, in general, place a very high priority on the visual aspect of sexuality...and on the sexual aspects of relationships.
Sorry, guys, I hate to generalize, but it is true. And I suppose the resolution of this mini-series will help answer a lot of questions about where RTD stands on these issues. Are we useless as we age? Unlovable? Simply not worth the trouble or unable to keep up with the greater universe? Are ordinary humans too insignificant to matter in the long run? Is the most, the best, we can hope for an awareness of how insignificant we are as we touch the hem of some long lived "God"'s robes?
And should we be forever separated from species far grander than ourselves, simply because we will one day disappear from THEIR lives? I have pondered this idea...because truly we all live with the concept...we will die and other people will go on. But isn't it better that the people going on truly know us...remember us? And if those people were to live for centuries...so much the better. When Gwen was conducting her recruitment interview, I considered the suicidal Christian lady and I was reminded of the many sad victims of limited belief systems I've encountered, too. But then, I was also reminded of RTD and how he isn't really presenting his own beliefs as very eye-opening.
My companion was also struck by this...I don't want to call it hypocrisy, yet...let's call it a "narrow viewpoint to the text." My SO mentioned, for example, the apparent distrust of NHS and secret and shady government types doing mysterious things to the citizens. Yet, our heroes are shady, secret government operatives doing mysterious things...retconning people...lying about their business. It is rather like the pot and kettle scenario to expect us to accept that the heroes are working only for our good and the "bad guys" who are just as sneaky are not. It is a little like...Jack is making a good decision here...because he's Jack. The Doctor will be proven right in leaving Rose and wiping out Donna's mind...because...he's the Doctor and he's always right. We will simply write it that way...and it will become true.
Of course, I have hope that this isn't the same scenario all over again...where Jack and company will prove right because...well...they are the good guys and their actions are not ever questioned. I like to think that Jack's family will learn to savor the time they have with him. And I hope that human people will discover that while we aren't whiz-bang aliens, our lives are NOT insignificant. Not in some new age affirmation way...where we stand up and say "Gosh, I AM important!" But in a fully acknowledged way. This is a slight variation on the theme RTD has put forward so far...so far...he's been saying it is OKAY, even beautiful to be even the tiniest part of a greater life.
Looked at from that angle, it's wonderful just to have traveled with the Doctor for a time. Yes, acceptance of your smaller life is a step in the right direction, but I'd like to have RTD take the full plunge and admit that it is possible people really ARE NOT insignificant. That we can have a positive impact on the magnificent whole.
All of this rather reminds me of my work in the funeral business. One of the worst parts of the job was dealing with the funeral of a toddler or stillborn child. Inevitably someone would say, "What a waste. Why bring a life into the world and have it mean nothing." And I would quietly look at the family, their deep and abiding grief and wonder how this lost life could be considered wasted and not meaningful. In a way, the meaning was distilled by the short span of contact with others. Every ripple of contact with a lost child resonates for years in the lives of those left behind.
Anyway...it's personal philosophy, really...but I think if you believe that even the slightest contact with the Doctor would change a person forever. Then, why can't the brief contact he or Jack have with the fading life of loved ones, be meaningful for them? I was happy that Jack was portrayed as "at mom's funeral"...as if he did stay with his beloved. And I have hope, as I said, that Jack's family may accept him again after this series is over.
I think we can judge some of RTD's attitude about the eventual Pony off of this miniseries. Because he is visiting the same basic idea of an immortal Jack and mortal loves and how hard it must be. Here we also see the point I was making about the Doctor and Rose's grandchildren...they would drift away and the explanations given to added family, son-in-laws, etc. would be more like...this is my uncle or my cousin, the Doctor. There is also the idea that if the humans can deal with growing old...why is it that the long-lived guy...who should have seen it all by now, doesn't realize he will only truly suffer for a few years. Humans remain vital into their eighties if they are in good health. Healthy people decline suddenly. So, really, you need to accept they get wrinkly and bit slower and then deal with maybe 2 or 3 years of infirmity. Ten years of truly slower living in a thousand! How hard would that be?
If Jack can live with the loss after fully committing to people...knowing they will die before him...then the Doctor is even more of a coward for abandoning Rose. And really, I wonder if Jack will understand that decision. I can imagine him being very angry about it. What makes ME angry is the subtext that nothing people do matters. Rose's search for the Doctor, her devotion to him, the happiness she could bring into his life over a lifetime shared...none of that matters...because one day she will be gone and he will be alone again. I don't buy into that philosophy. I mean, one day, the Doctor will be gone, too. So, maybe he should just stop helping people now.
Oh, but, while we are on the subject of how you treat your loved ones...exposing your grandson to experiments probably isn't the grandfatherly way, Jack. *Smacks Jack on the wrist for that.
Now...Ianto...not gay...just gay for Jack. Okay, we all understand that one. But, it caused my SO to roll his eyes and say, "Puh-leez!" I liked their couple confusion. Ianto was very cute as he tried to wrap his mind around what was happening to him. Again, we speak to that spell that seems to come over the Doctor's companions...that sense of being in the presence of something more powerful than yourself. But, again, I question if that is what we should present. Is it love...or some sort of mesmerizing worship RTD is showing us? Let's hope it is love. Certainly, one of the joys of Jack is he really lets you feel the love. Maybe Ianto is an alien spy, which I always hope. :grin: No, now we've met his family. Of course, he could be a foundling of some sort. His family surprised me. He's obviously worked to iron the Estate out of his starched butler suit.
I was also surprised by the Owen-like doctor (No, I'm not going to even TRY to spell his name) shooting Jack. That was lovely. I like surprises. The bomb...while somewhat interesting...didn't surprise me at all. Well, it did...just a bit...because it makes blowing Jack to kingdom come rather anticlimactic. I still hope to use an atomizer on him at some point...see what happens then. Bombs...for all of their undeniable power...will only damage his flesh...and he should reset afterward. I did wonder if RTD means to use this sort of damage to work toward the idea of Jack wasting away someday. That doesn't really fit with the idea of him as a "fixed point in time and space."
Oh, and after Jack was shot...I thought about the person who asked me why Jack's clothes never seem to be damaged by whatever happens to him. It could be that he's surrounded by Bad Wolf energy...and everything is protected in that little pocket of time. He didn't seem to have any blood on or holes in his clothes later when he's hugging people. Of course, that could just be the BBC censors at work.
Rae
hoping to see more of the episodes soon. Remember DON'T SPOIL ME! I didn't even watch the previews for "Next Time" on this one. And I always watch those.
The following is about the press preview version of Children of Earth which means Part ONE only!
Under the cut we go...
I found it as compelling and spooky as I was supposed to find it.
Like I told my buddy, Kes, I did not expect to be disappointed by Russell's opening episodes. You don't get disappointed in RTD's first shot across your bow. It wakes you up and makes you start thinking. He's a master at ratcheting up the tension and throwing all the spooky stuff out for us to ponder. What is going on? We ask. This must mean something. Oh, I wasn't expecting that! Neato!
No...if we are going to be disappointed it will be in the final episode not the first one.
And as expected, I wasn't the least little bit disappointed.
I was, however, a little miffed from a Doctor Who Journey's End standpoint...because here we visit some very familiar ground. Here we have the ordinary people who reject the extraordinary because extraordinary people are dangerous and different. The head scratching idea that is selfish to express love if you are really very different from one another. Some of my friends have found it ironic that a gay writer would reject the unusual relationships so fully. Yet, my gay male friends have often expressed a deep despondancy about growing old and being denied love because they are no longer pretty boys. Males, in general, place a very high priority on the visual aspect of sexuality...and on the sexual aspects of relationships.
Sorry, guys, I hate to generalize, but it is true. And I suppose the resolution of this mini-series will help answer a lot of questions about where RTD stands on these issues. Are we useless as we age? Unlovable? Simply not worth the trouble or unable to keep up with the greater universe? Are ordinary humans too insignificant to matter in the long run? Is the most, the best, we can hope for an awareness of how insignificant we are as we touch the hem of some long lived "God"'s robes?
And should we be forever separated from species far grander than ourselves, simply because we will one day disappear from THEIR lives? I have pondered this idea...because truly we all live with the concept...we will die and other people will go on. But isn't it better that the people going on truly know us...remember us? And if those people were to live for centuries...so much the better. When Gwen was conducting her recruitment interview, I considered the suicidal Christian lady and I was reminded of the many sad victims of limited belief systems I've encountered, too. But then, I was also reminded of RTD and how he isn't really presenting his own beliefs as very eye-opening.
My companion was also struck by this...I don't want to call it hypocrisy, yet...let's call it a "narrow viewpoint to the text." My SO mentioned, for example, the apparent distrust of NHS and secret and shady government types doing mysterious things to the citizens. Yet, our heroes are shady, secret government operatives doing mysterious things...retconning people...lying about their business. It is rather like the pot and kettle scenario to expect us to accept that the heroes are working only for our good and the "bad guys" who are just as sneaky are not. It is a little like...Jack is making a good decision here...because he's Jack. The Doctor will be proven right in leaving Rose and wiping out Donna's mind...because...he's the Doctor and he's always right. We will simply write it that way...and it will become true.
Of course, I have hope that this isn't the same scenario all over again...where Jack and company will prove right because...well...they are the good guys and their actions are not ever questioned. I like to think that Jack's family will learn to savor the time they have with him. And I hope that human people will discover that while we aren't whiz-bang aliens, our lives are NOT insignificant. Not in some new age affirmation way...where we stand up and say "Gosh, I AM important!" But in a fully acknowledged way. This is a slight variation on the theme RTD has put forward so far...so far...he's been saying it is OKAY, even beautiful to be even the tiniest part of a greater life.
Looked at from that angle, it's wonderful just to have traveled with the Doctor for a time. Yes, acceptance of your smaller life is a step in the right direction, but I'd like to have RTD take the full plunge and admit that it is possible people really ARE NOT insignificant. That we can have a positive impact on the magnificent whole.
All of this rather reminds me of my work in the funeral business. One of the worst parts of the job was dealing with the funeral of a toddler or stillborn child. Inevitably someone would say, "What a waste. Why bring a life into the world and have it mean nothing." And I would quietly look at the family, their deep and abiding grief and wonder how this lost life could be considered wasted and not meaningful. In a way, the meaning was distilled by the short span of contact with others. Every ripple of contact with a lost child resonates for years in the lives of those left behind.
Anyway...it's personal philosophy, really...but I think if you believe that even the slightest contact with the Doctor would change a person forever. Then, why can't the brief contact he or Jack have with the fading life of loved ones, be meaningful for them? I was happy that Jack was portrayed as "at mom's funeral"...as if he did stay with his beloved. And I have hope, as I said, that Jack's family may accept him again after this series is over.
I think we can judge some of RTD's attitude about the eventual Pony off of this miniseries. Because he is visiting the same basic idea of an immortal Jack and mortal loves and how hard it must be. Here we also see the point I was making about the Doctor and Rose's grandchildren...they would drift away and the explanations given to added family, son-in-laws, etc. would be more like...this is my uncle or my cousin, the Doctor. There is also the idea that if the humans can deal with growing old...why is it that the long-lived guy...who should have seen it all by now, doesn't realize he will only truly suffer for a few years. Humans remain vital into their eighties if they are in good health. Healthy people decline suddenly. So, really, you need to accept they get wrinkly and bit slower and then deal with maybe 2 or 3 years of infirmity. Ten years of truly slower living in a thousand! How hard would that be?
If Jack can live with the loss after fully committing to people...knowing they will die before him...then the Doctor is even more of a coward for abandoning Rose. And really, I wonder if Jack will understand that decision. I can imagine him being very angry about it. What makes ME angry is the subtext that nothing people do matters. Rose's search for the Doctor, her devotion to him, the happiness she could bring into his life over a lifetime shared...none of that matters...because one day she will be gone and he will be alone again. I don't buy into that philosophy. I mean, one day, the Doctor will be gone, too. So, maybe he should just stop helping people now.
Oh, but, while we are on the subject of how you treat your loved ones...exposing your grandson to experiments probably isn't the grandfatherly way, Jack. *Smacks Jack on the wrist for that.
Now...Ianto...not gay...just gay for Jack. Okay, we all understand that one. But, it caused my SO to roll his eyes and say, "Puh-leez!" I liked their couple confusion. Ianto was very cute as he tried to wrap his mind around what was happening to him. Again, we speak to that spell that seems to come over the Doctor's companions...that sense of being in the presence of something more powerful than yourself. But, again, I question if that is what we should present. Is it love...or some sort of mesmerizing worship RTD is showing us? Let's hope it is love. Certainly, one of the joys of Jack is he really lets you feel the love. Maybe Ianto is an alien spy, which I always hope. :grin: No, now we've met his family. Of course, he could be a foundling of some sort. His family surprised me. He's obviously worked to iron the Estate out of his starched butler suit.
I was also surprised by the Owen-like doctor (No, I'm not going to even TRY to spell his name) shooting Jack. That was lovely. I like surprises. The bomb...while somewhat interesting...didn't surprise me at all. Well, it did...just a bit...because it makes blowing Jack to kingdom come rather anticlimactic. I still hope to use an atomizer on him at some point...see what happens then. Bombs...for all of their undeniable power...will only damage his flesh...and he should reset afterward. I did wonder if RTD means to use this sort of damage to work toward the idea of Jack wasting away someday. That doesn't really fit with the idea of him as a "fixed point in time and space."
Oh, and after Jack was shot...I thought about the person who asked me why Jack's clothes never seem to be damaged by whatever happens to him. It could be that he's surrounded by Bad Wolf energy...and everything is protected in that little pocket of time. He didn't seem to have any blood on or holes in his clothes later when he's hugging people. Of course, that could just be the BBC censors at work.
Rae
hoping to see more of the episodes soon. Remember DON'T SPOIL ME! I didn't even watch the previews for "Next Time" on this one. And I always watch those.