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Re-watching CoE.
Darcy was away during Torchweek (and I cannot tell you how grateful I was, he's not exactly a TW fan), but, although he *hates* it when I talk about TV shows, when he called up and asked how things were during that week I could never stop myself from going 'Torchwood OMG!'. My flailing and 'It totally grew up and became AWESOME' [not literal quote] obviously made him curious, so Tuesday night he said 'Fine, put it on then'. We watched Day 1 and... he was impressed. Impressing Darcy, I should point out, is NOT EASY since he is The Ultimate Arbiter on what constitutes Good and Worthwhile Storytelling. (I should probably explain that he studied English at uni, did half a MA in Aesthetics [couldn't afford the other half] and wants to make films for a living one day - he actually knows what he's talking about.) Then last night we watched Day 2 and 3 (after finishing Day 2 he was all 'Keep going! I'm interested now!'), and I'm guessing we'll do Day 4 and 5 tonight.
Now re-watching is... I don't know how to describe it. Days 1 and 2 are just wonderful and quite light-hearted really. The Jack-in-a-concrete-block is so very ridiculous and Torchwood-esque that it doesn't fail to make me grin (Look! It is my show, really!), and you can see everything being slowly built up - my admiration for the writing shot up yet again.
But then comes Day 3. And I thought, when I first watched it, that the slowly building sense of dread in the pit of my stomach was just there because I didn't know what was coming. But now I DO know, and it still feels just as awful... despite (because of?) everything being so darn low-key. It's incredible. And I'm not entirely sure how I'll deal with Days 4 and 5 - I mean, I know what'll happen, but seeing it all unfold, seeing how the story narrows, and then narrows again, how every choice, every action will help set in place the tragedy... I think I'll be a wreck. (Watching Ianto, Steven, Frobisher's daughters, Jack... fuck.)
Darcy commented (during Day 2, I think) that it was a bit dark, even for Torchwood. I had to fight very hard to not to go 'Oh, you have NO IDEA, THIS IS *NOTHING*!
Hold me?
ETA: Since I'm here, two thoughts:
1) So, Ianto's death made me cry like no other TV death, ever. But... I can't help but be somewhat pleased that if he *had* to die, then he died during primetime on BBC1 with a HUGE audience share. Someone commented that they found it somewhat satisfying that the politicians on CoE watched this big gay tragic love scene... well so did great swathes of Britain. Ianto will be remembered as Jack's [AWESOME] lover for a long time, I hope. :)
2) During Jack's flashback in 'Fragments' we saw this:
JACK: Alex, listen, it's gonna be OK.
ALEX: No. It's not. It's really not. I looked inside. (Locket. He closes his fist on it.) It showed me what's coming. They were mercy killings. It was the kindest thing I could do. So none of us see the storm. I'm sorry I can't do the same for you. 21st century, Jack. Everything's gonna change. And we're not ready. (Gun to forehead.)
I always wondered what he saw... because despite the Master, nothing really struck me as horrific enough for such drastic action. For me, the 456 provide a satisfactory answer - I'm guessing he saw the taking of the 10% of the children. The 'we're not ready' hints at Torchwood's failure and the mercy killings of course tie in beautifully with CoE (there is a part of me that's almost happy that Ianto didn't live to see what Jack did - you know?). Anyway, I think it works.
(I like meta, have you noticed? Being rational helps stop the heartache.)
Now re-watching is... I don't know how to describe it. Days 1 and 2 are just wonderful and quite light-hearted really. The Jack-in-a-concrete-block is so very ridiculous and Torchwood-esque that it doesn't fail to make me grin (Look! It is my show, really!), and you can see everything being slowly built up - my admiration for the writing shot up yet again.
But then comes Day 3. And I thought, when I first watched it, that the slowly building sense of dread in the pit of my stomach was just there because I didn't know what was coming. But now I DO know, and it still feels just as awful... despite (because of?) everything being so darn low-key. It's incredible. And I'm not entirely sure how I'll deal with Days 4 and 5 - I mean, I know what'll happen, but seeing it all unfold, seeing how the story narrows, and then narrows again, how every choice, every action will help set in place the tragedy... I think I'll be a wreck. (Watching Ianto, Steven, Frobisher's daughters, Jack... fuck.)
Darcy commented (during Day 2, I think) that it was a bit dark, even for Torchwood. I had to fight very hard to not to go 'Oh, you have NO IDEA, THIS IS *NOTHING*!
Hold me?
ETA: Since I'm here, two thoughts:
1) So, Ianto's death made me cry like no other TV death, ever. But... I can't help but be somewhat pleased that if he *had* to die, then he died during primetime on BBC1 with a HUGE audience share. Someone commented that they found it somewhat satisfying that the politicians on CoE watched this big gay tragic love scene... well so did great swathes of Britain. Ianto will be remembered as Jack's [AWESOME] lover for a long time, I hope. :)
2) During Jack's flashback in 'Fragments' we saw this:
JACK: Alex, listen, it's gonna be OK.
ALEX: No. It's not. It's really not. I looked inside. (Locket. He closes his fist on it.) It showed me what's coming. They were mercy killings. It was the kindest thing I could do. So none of us see the storm. I'm sorry I can't do the same for you. 21st century, Jack. Everything's gonna change. And we're not ready. (Gun to forehead.)
I always wondered what he saw... because despite the Master, nothing really struck me as horrific enough for such drastic action. For me, the 456 provide a satisfactory answer - I'm guessing he saw the taking of the 10% of the children. The 'we're not ready' hints at Torchwood's failure and the mercy killings of course tie in beautifully with CoE (there is a part of me that's almost happy that Ianto didn't live to see what Jack did - you know?). Anyway, I think it works.
(I like meta, have you noticed? Being rational helps stop the heartache.)
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It's not "my" Torchwood they've killed, it's Torchwood in total. Unless they just make a completely different show and stick the same name on it (or franchise it, horribly) it's gone.
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My guess would be a different show, but with the same name. The thing is that Torchwood was Jack's show, but I can't see how they'd get him back. Unless they did Victorian Torchwood, or something like that. Right now, it's just gone. (And I'm trying to focus on Eleven and the show that WILL go on!)
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And I'm keen for Eleven as well!
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As far as I can tell, RTD sees TW as a show that can be anything he wants it to be (regular TV series, event TV, radio plays, books, comics...), so... *shrugs* It's his baby, I guess he can do what he wants.
And I'm keen for Eleven as well!
I LOVE the fact that the whole of fandom is currently discussing the pros and cons of bow ties. *is impatient*
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Re: bowties... I KNOW!! Also, I have seen at least ten discussions about the fact that "braces" and "suspenders" are trans-Atlantic synonyms :)
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You know, I don't think that there's anything RTD can do to ever top what Joss has been doing to Buffy in 'season 8'. It's like they're on opposite paths - RTD started with crack in TW and then went onto *awesomeness*, and Joss started with greatness and then descended into such depths that I left him a long time ago. If RTD slips... well, such is life. I never expect guys like him to make the choices I would. (When they do, I'm always happily surprised. *g*)
Re: bowties... I KNOW!! Also, I have seen at least ten discussions about the fact that "braces" and "suspenders" are trans-Atlantic synonyms :)
Heeee! I even mentioned it to Darcy, and he was all 'Bow tie? He's gay.'
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I didn't even finish reading them. What a bunch of crap.
And you know... Joss Whedon DOES have that thing where there's a massive fanbase who will watch his show even if its abysmally crap and he destroys the characters they love. But he fucking earned that shit.
It could be argued that CoE was RTD earning his stripes, but I don't think he's there yet. Too many of even the most hardcore fans are still too willing to go "Oh well, we had a good run" and turn off the telly if "future Torchwood incarnation X" turns out to be rubbish and/or not the show they/we want to see.
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Hmmm. I definitely see your point, but s8 is (IMHO) one of the most perfect examples of 'why people shouldn't be allowed to do whatever they like' (Star Wars prequels also fall into this category, although less so. A lot fo Lars von Triers' stuff too) - BtVS was so much *more* than just Joss (he had the vision, but he couldn't have done it without all the other writers, directors, actors etc etc) Ditto RTD.
Too many of even the most hardcore fans are still too willing to go "Oh well, we had a good run" and turn off the telly if "future Torchwood incarnation X" turns out to be rubbish and/or not the show they/we want to see.
Very true. But I'm not sure he cares about the fans...
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