Torchwood finale

[erastes]

So no Deus Ex Machina *sniff*

But so much wonderful, harrowing, amazing, brave stuff.

At one point I actually wanted to turn it off, it was so harrowing. Jack's face at the end nearly broke my heart, and RTD did the PERFECT ending leaving it all completely up in the air, and open to John Barrowman's agent negotiations!!!! I think the Americans will be quite shocked, because the rule is You Don't Kill Kids!! Oops, sorry, we do! Didn't anyone ever see that film where Hitchcock blew up a beautiful child AND HIS PUPPY???

I can't even list what was marvellous, because imho - it all was. That's all. If they do no more, that'll be fine, because that was a Good High.

The reasons why the 456 wanted the kids? Jawdroppingly ghastly.

It reminded me of the early Quatermass series, which I found incredible scary, probably doesn't equate and if I saw that now I probably would laugh, but it had the same impact on me.

The ending reminded me in a wrongful giggly way of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, I'm sorry, but I bet I'm not the only one.

Oh - and the reason for the Passenger Alien at least was explained. Shame they didn't have 6,000,000 of them in stock, the 456 would have liked them .

Comments

[muridae-x.livejournal.com]

The whole thing strongly reminded me of Quatermass too. Someone gave me the DVDs for Christmas, so when I've unscrambled my brain a bit I think I'm going to watch some episodes over the weekend and see how they compare.

I still remember Quatermass and the Pit scaring the bejeezus out of me the last time I saw it, but am hazy on whether that was the Hammer film adaptation or not.

But back to Torchwood - it was riveting throughout. I know that it was based on an idea that RTD had for a standalone mini-series, which he then just shoehorned Torchwood into, but it was good, tense, edge of the seat television that transcended the science fiction trappings that would probably make some of the mainstream audience look down on it. It's probably the best drama I've seen so far this year.

The death list is just appalling, but I think it was just part and parcel of the way they kept on raising the stakes. And the guest cast were marvellously good at selling it.

Knowing Jack, he's got his towel tucked in one of the pockets of that greatcoat.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Couldn't agree with you more!

And how lovely to see you pop up on my friends list again after all this time!! I have Severus, Minnie, Andromeda, the Lestrange Brothers and Voldie from AS now, and Lucius of course. It's almost time for a reunion!

[muridae-x.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Remembering how some of those characters interacted, that'd be one scary reunion. :-)

Work gobbled up a lot of my life for a while - I don't think there's any way I could find the time to RP to that extent now! - and I somehow missed the point where you did your LJ name switch and never got around to backtracking. So, blame me popping up on this week's Torchwood run - I've been poking around on friendsfriends, hungry for more commentary on it.

[annebrooke.livejournal.com]

Hmm. As I've just commented elsewhere, it was a totally magnificent political fantasy drama (and probably the best ever thing comedy actor Peter Capaldi - John Frobisher - has ever done), but it wasn't Torchwood. After Episode One (which was perfect), the scriptwriters sadly forgot the first rule of scriptwriting - always keep to the heart of your story. They've produced something wonderful, but not under the remit they should be writing for. Ah well.

Axxx

[leatherdykeuk.livejournal.com]

It was magnificent. Very well dealt with, though I would have preferred a more plausible use for the children.

Frobisher killing his family reminded me of 'The Mist'

and yes, I loved Jack's electronic thumb ;)

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I don't know - I don't agree with series having a certain expectation; and to me it's always been this way from the very moment that Susie shot Jack in the head. I've seen several people say "it's not Torchwood" and haven't really seen what they meant. It looks to me that it's always been heading for exactly this ending -- either this, or the Doctor swarming in and closing it all down in cold, implacable anger.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Do you mean the drug thing? That made my hair literally stand on my head! And yes, heh. I would love to have seen a towel sticking out of his pocket but that would rather have taken the edge of that scene. :D What a blooming shame they didn't have 6M of the passenger aliens.

[annebrooke.livejournal.com]

I quite understand and I'm not saying it was bad. It was very good. Yes, Ianto should have died - the scriptwriters weren't doing that relationship very well at all (no consistency, no heart) and obviously had no idea what to do with it. They needed people who can write M/M normal relationships and had none on board! As that was the case, we were best off without him. It was also interesting that even though I love Ianto, I didn't feel at all upset he was gone as by then the whole series had gone off the rails so much that it no longer felt right anyway.

If it had kept remotely close to the Torchwood ethos (which I maintain it didn't, not after Ep 1), then Steven would have found out that he does have some of his grandfather's DNA and come to life again - that would have been immensely creatively satisfying and set up a whole new set of ramifications with Jack exploring his family role - as Gwen explores hers. As it was, they simply blew the whole concept out of the water and I'd actually be glad if it doesn't come back.

Deep deep sigh - a magnificent non-Torchwood programme, but sadly a Torchwood failure ...

Axxx

[ejab62.livejournal.com]

Oh, wasn't it impressive?! I refuse to feel ashamed by saying I cried a bit at the end. Jack's pain was too much to even see almost!
After Yanto was killed, I feared that they all would die because it felt like they were stearing towards a final end for the series.
(You mean it will depend on negotiations with Barrowman's agent? Really?)
And then the boy... It takes courage to write a storyline like that since people prefer a happy end. This makes it so much stronger because of the impact.
Needing the children as drugs... No complicated reasons or anything; just a kick. Wow.
Woud love to have the series continued but on the other hand; how can you possibly top this?!

[ejab62.livejournal.com]

Oh, wasn't it impressive?! I refuse to feel ashamed by saying I cried a bit at the end. Jack's pain was too much to even see almost!
After Ianto was killed, I feared that they all would die because it felt like they were stearing towards a final end for the series.
(You mean it will depend on negotiations with Barrowman's agent? Really?)
And then the boy... It takes courage to write a storyline like that since people prefer a happy end. This makes it so much stronger because of the impact.
Needing the children as drugs... No complicated reasons or anything; just a kick. Wow.
Woud love to have the series continued but on the other hand; how can you possibly top this?!

[rwday.livejournal.com]

Now that I've seen it, I can make actual informed comments, not just OMG, I can't believe they killed (name deleted to keep spoilers out of the comments).

I thought it was excellent all the way through - the actors' performances were perfect, especially the guy who played Frobisher and his secretary - she was so utterly perfect in her role, it could have been written for her. The drama was intense but not (IMO) over the top, which it very easily could have been. Watching the scene where the politicians chose how to handle the selection of children, all I could think was 'yes, that's how they'd do it exactly.' Which is sad.

As to the death, I got a comment on my post that it was an example of the gay=dead thing you do often seem to see, but I don't view it that way. I don't think there was any way that character could have avoided being in that situation without being OOC, and for Jack to have saved him would have been a deus ex machina and totally unrealistic. The 456 had to do something awful to prove their power - I think his death was a foregone conclusion the minute Jack decided to stand up to them.

Sorry to go so long here, but I was just incredibly impressed by the whole thing.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Hey, your comments are never too long.

I also loved how we never saw the alien, and the hitting the glass and the pus was never explained.

I don't see that as being The Dead Gay either. Just about everyone in the series was bisexual, after all. Ah. Yes. well. oops.

And Ianto wanted him to stand up, he knew his life wasn't worth a damn, and yet he was still brave as a button. (loves him)

I don't understand the "but it wasn't torchwood" comments I've seen all over the place, as it seemed it was actually the best one they have done.

[rwday.livejournal.com]

I'll have to go look for some of those 'not Torchwood' comments, because I agree with you. This is the series, as you pointed out elsewhere, that killed off a team member in the first episode. Jack has always been amoral (or more appropriately, beyond human morality) - his actions in 1965 and his action in sacrificing that particular child were completely in character. Nothing in CoE seemed un-Torchwood to me, more like Torchwood X 100, more intensely Torchwood.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Nod nod - and the "Look what I became" from jack - which has been foreshadowed by the Doctor, because he hates the idea of TW - and by Rhys, noting how Gwen was changing - Torchwood ruins lives, and has never done anything but.

[rwday.livejournal.com]

It's very interesting because in the Doctor and Jack you have two characters who are essentially immortal, and their immortality has taken them in very different philosophical directions. Despite being incredibly old, the Doctor has this sense of hope and optimism and faith in humanity that Jack doesn't have. No rose colored glasses on him. He's almost an anti-Doctor.

Of course, part of that could be because the Doctor mostly always leaves his companions before he has to watch them die and get old. Or it could be because Dr Who is at least in part still a kids' show and Torchwood is definitely NOT.