Television: Torchwood, mostly (1x07 -- Greeks Bearing Gifts)

[butterfly]

I am currently filled with very little but yay for Prison Break (the one exception being my dislike of the whittling down of the female roles from last year). I'm excited and interested about what'll be happening starting January 22. But while I adore the show, I find that I don't feel very fannish about it -- not the way I do about Supernatural (Numb3rs, the other 'brothers' show, also fills me with a non-fannish level of glee). I just want to... watch and enjoy. House, Boston Legal, and Bones are similarly non-fannish sources of delight for me.

Torchwood, on the other hand, I feel very fannish about (along with Doctor Who, Battlestar Galactica, the Stargates, Supernatural, and Smallville). Now that Tosh has had an episode all her own, I feel confident in saying that I find all the characters to be interesting. I really enjoyed this episode, Torchwood's take on the mind-reading staple of sci-fi/fantasy. Some people mentioned that that it felt too similar to Buffy's Earshot, but I found them to be vastly different, partly because of the choice of character -- Buffy is a much-beloved character in her own show, while Tosh is the mildly ignored character of a show that isn't about her. Also, the breaking point is different -- in Buffy, the noise of all of the people became overwhelming, while in Torchwood, it was the darkness of most of the thoughts around her that was overwhelming Tosh.

As for the other characters, I found Gwen and Owen both delightful and slightly horrifying. Mostly because they weren't acting as if they were 'having an affair' -- they acted like they were flirting and having the start of a relationship. Only in the very end, when they knew that Tosh had been reading their thoughts, did we see them reacting towards the fact that Gwen is still in a relationship with another man. I really do hope that Gwen breaks up with Rhys, because she's clearly emotionally invested in this thing with Owen (as is he), so she's hurting all three of them as long as she keeps this up. I used to be more... rigid about affairs but boundaries shift when understanding is gained. Still... Gwen should end things with somebody as soon as possible, and she seems to be happier with Owen now. And I love the way she mocks him. He needs some good teasing in his life.

I found Jack extremely interesting in this episode -- loved how he twigged to the mind-reading and loved him both for doing what he needed to do and for comforting Tosh afterwards (and, yes, he definitely did what he needed to do -- Mary was actively threatening one of his people and she'd been a mass murderer for decades, which Jack would have figured out when Owen called him, because he's smart like that... plus, she confessed. I have no issue with Jack sending her to the sun. It's not like she was hiding the crazy, manipulative murderer bits of herself.).

Liked the two tiny glimpses we got into Ianto's mind. He's all emo and doesn't want anyone he cares about to get hurt again! It makes me want to ship him with Tosh (I would ship him with Jack, but he's still hung up on the Doctor and Rose, so it wouldn't work in the long run)

Apparently there is going to be one episode of Supernatural in all of December. On the 7th, I think. I'm both looking forward to it and yet also sad about the three weeks of December in which there will be no Supernatural at all. Woe!

Comments

[rathanylakan.livejournal.com]

I really liked how Tosh could not read Jack's mind. That was creepy. I love Torchwood. The plots tend to be a bit sippy, but I love the characters. Mostly, I love Jack :) I can't wait for the next episode. The preview looked good.

[jic]

Tell us about the sippy-sappy-soppy thing, eh?

[rathanylakan.livejournal.com]

Gah, by 'sippy' I meant 'dippy'. I am distracted by finals and being a scatterbrain. The whole 'sexy cyberwoman' thing kinda made me want to bash my head into a wall.

[jic]

So is the sippy-sappy-soppy thing giapet's?

[rathanylakan.livejournal.com]

Ummmm... I can see her using consonance like that, but I don't recall her saying that.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

I definitely agree that the characters are better than the plots. Luckily, I always care more about the characters anyway, and I'm more apt to notice slips in characterization than slips in the plot.

Jack is fantastic and lovely. I was also very intrigued by the fact that Tosh couldn't read his mind. And their scene at the end was really sweet.

[beck-liz.livejournal.com]

The thing that got me about Jack sending Mary into the sun was not that he did it. I have no problem with his actions. It was his reaction after Tosh questioned him about it. Wow. So very fierce.

Also, the other thing I noticed? When he and Tosh are chatting on the bench outside at the end? She's talking about how the necklace could tear down governments or wipe out armies, and Jack looks away and he has the most interesting expression on his face. He looks... amused. I'm trying to figure out what's going through his head there.

I had heard about SPN; have we heard anything about Smallville's schedule? I wonder if it'll be the same. *sigh* I'll miss both of them.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

The thing that got me about Jack sending Mary into the sun was not that he did it. I have no problem with his actions. It was his reaction after Tosh questioned him about it. Wow. So very fierce.

Very protective, I thought. Mama Bear-eske. And his attitude here reminded me a bit of when he was pissed off and trying to help the people of the Game Station who were refusing to admit that the Daleks existed.

Also, the other thing I noticed? When he and Tosh are chatting on the bench outside at the end? She's talking about how the necklace could tear down governments or wipe out armies, and Jack looks away and he has the most interesting expression on his face. He looks... amused. I'm trying to figure out what's going through his head there.

Hmm. I'm definitely going to need to rewatch that bit and see what I think.

I had heard about SPN; have we heard anything about Smallville's schedule? I wonder if it'll be the same. *sigh* I'll miss both of them.

Yeah -- it looks like Subterranean is airing on the 7th and then they're taking a break for the rest of December. I'll definitely miss SV, too.