Quick Torchwood Musings

[lyore]

Finally finished watching Torchwood. I have lots of thoughts, but I think I'll need to watch it again to get it all sorted out (oh gee, what a shame).

So for now, all I will say is - while both 1x12 and 1x13 showed some of the... patchiness, for want of a better word, of many of the other episodes, there were some absolutely heartrending moments in there. And leaving it with an ending like that, when they didn't know if there was going to be another season? That's nothing short of evil.

While there's a lot to say about the first season of TW, I think the thing I've found most interesting is the portrayal of Jack's morality. Throughout the entire season, Jack seems to have a very well developed (although unconventional) sense of right and wrong, as well as a marked 'end-justifies-the-means' mentality. Jack's sense of morality is probably worth a post by itself, but what's worth noting here is that while the authors have been somewhat... loose about the maintaining the continuity of the characters motivations, they've been constant about maintaining this, even when it clashes with the normal expectations of a heroic leading man. If they can just can work this sense of continuity into other aspects, then the next season of Torchwood will have the potential to be truly amazing.

Comments

[deirdre-c.livejournal.com]

Yes. I still have to watch the finale, but I agree with your observation that the "patchiness" is the one thing that keeps the show from absolute perfection. I think they must not have a Kripke-type with a unifying vision, because the characters really are all over the place.

I pretty far out on the fringes of TW fandom, if only because I'm still catching up, but I imagine the character continuity problems have been moaned about AT LENGTH among the fen. *nods*

[lyore.livejournal.com]

You'd think RTD would be the one providing the vision, but from what I've seen, I think it's more of a 'this is the mood, and these are the themes, off you go and write an episode'. Things which seem more central to the 'idea' of Torchwood (or perhaps, things which are more central to distinguishing it from Doctor Who) stay fairly constant, but the details and some of the characterisations are all over the place. Ah well.

And to be perfectly frank, from what I've seen most of the fen are more interested in squeeing about all that kissing and shagging that is going on :)

But then again, like you, I've been staying away from the in-depth character analysis and meta until I could get to the end of the season. Looking forward to reading some hardcore meta now I've caught up.

(And your icon is so cute!)