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Torchwood 2x07
So I finally watched 2x07 of Torchwood.
I'm writing this review before reading anyone else's episode reaction, because I want to try to give an uninfluenced opinion.
I have to say, I loved it. I mean, yeah, WHAT THE FUCK, but still. They had something there. It was totally unpredictable. Completely out of the left field. It left you flailing at the screen and wondering what sort of drugs the writers were on when they came up with this, but still, it was exciting.
It seemed like it was way too much for 45 minutes. But now that I think about it, this rushing through events did something for the ep, too. I mean, if I'm going to go all meta on this, then I'll go all the way and start interpreting the ep (which is never a good idea, I know, but I can't really help it): we had Owen dying in 2x06 - suddenly, out of the blue, zap, he was dead. Okay, so it wasn't all that unexpected for those who were spoiled for the episode, but let's try to see this from the Torchwood team's viewpoint. All the excitement about the alien bugs and Martha and all that shit, and then, suddenly, Owen was shot and died.
So they return to the Torchwood hub, lay Owen out on the autopsy table, and everybody thinks they know what's gonna happen next. Autopsy, then off Owen goes into the fridge.
Next thing they know is Jack barging in and telling them that nope, that's not what's gonna happen. He goes off on one of his seekrit missions, that apparently has something to do with Owen, but that he of course tells them nothing about, then comes back with the glove. Ten minutes later Owen is sitting up and talking. Then Weevils start acting out of control, then all this freakish stuff about Owen puking beer all over the cell and speaking in tongues happens, and then the grim reaper shit starts unfolding, and even Jack doesn't know up from down anymore. All the team can do is hold on for dear life and hope everything will somehow turn out okay.
And the same thing applies to the audience. You don't know what's gonna happen next. All you can do is continue to watch, chew on your nails, give uncomfortable laughs at the freakish but comical situations, be grossed out by the weird things, and in the end throw your hands up and loudly yell WHAT THE FUCK?
If I may take this one step further along the I've-no-idea-what-I'm-talking-about-but-I'm-pretending-it's-meta line, then we could bring the theme of the episode into this, which is, obviously, death. Death is something everybody thinks they know stuff about. Death is what happens when you stop living. And when it's happened, then there are certain well-known and well-established rituals that will be carried out, and that is how we deal with death. The rituals can differ from society to religious congregation to other groups, but there's nobody on this planet who doesn't associate certain specific rituals with the occurrence of death.
But that actually means that we don't know shit about death. All we know stuff about is all the rituals we packed around it. Death itself is inexplicable. It might be terrible, or horrifying - or it might not. We don't know. That skeleton thing in the gray smoke, that wasn't exactly terrifying, was it? When it crept down those stairs towards Owen, it looked wrong. That's not what death is supposed to look like. Well, it sort of is, but then, it also isn't. It was too small. Too obscure. Too weird. Over too quickly.
I guess what I'm trying to say is this: the second Jack barged through those curtains telling his team not to touch Owen, he'd disturbed the ritual of dealing with death, and nothing was certain from that point onwards. Nothing was predictable anymore. And that was also the impression the audience got. Nothing was the way it was supposed to be. Just like Owen being shot. If you strip that occurrence of all its rituals, then you realize how bizarre an occurrence it actually is. Not exactly tragic, not exactly infuriating, not exactly saddening, but just... bizarre. Like the Death that entered the world through Owen in this episode. Like everything that happened in this episode.
...
Please, ignore me. This is a load of BS. It's late, and I can't even really formulate coherent sentences anymore, let alone think straight. Also, I tend to read too much into TV shows. Funny how that works; I've never really been able to read anything into the sort of literature that only makes sense if you read stuff into it. But blabbing on about the (non-existent) deeper meaning of TV shows? I can do that.
I'm writing this review before reading anyone else's episode reaction, because I want to try to give an uninfluenced opinion.
I have to say, I loved it. I mean, yeah, WHAT THE FUCK, but still. They had something there. It was totally unpredictable. Completely out of the left field. It left you flailing at the screen and wondering what sort of drugs the writers were on when they came up with this, but still, it was exciting.
It seemed like it was way too much for 45 minutes. But now that I think about it, this rushing through events did something for the ep, too. I mean, if I'm going to go all meta on this, then I'll go all the way and start interpreting the ep (which is never a good idea, I know, but I can't really help it): we had Owen dying in 2x06 - suddenly, out of the blue, zap, he was dead. Okay, so it wasn't all that unexpected for those who were spoiled for the episode, but let's try to see this from the Torchwood team's viewpoint. All the excitement about the alien bugs and Martha and all that shit, and then, suddenly, Owen was shot and died.
So they return to the Torchwood hub, lay Owen out on the autopsy table, and everybody thinks they know what's gonna happen next. Autopsy, then off Owen goes into the fridge.
Next thing they know is Jack barging in and telling them that nope, that's not what's gonna happen. He goes off on one of his seekrit missions, that apparently has something to do with Owen, but that he of course tells them nothing about, then comes back with the glove. Ten minutes later Owen is sitting up and talking. Then Weevils start acting out of control, then all this freakish stuff about Owen puking beer all over the cell and speaking in tongues happens, and then the grim reaper shit starts unfolding, and even Jack doesn't know up from down anymore. All the team can do is hold on for dear life and hope everything will somehow turn out okay.
And the same thing applies to the audience. You don't know what's gonna happen next. All you can do is continue to watch, chew on your nails, give uncomfortable laughs at the freakish but comical situations, be grossed out by the weird things, and in the end throw your hands up and loudly yell WHAT THE FUCK?
If I may take this one step further along the I've-no-idea-what-I'm-talking-about-but-I'm-pretending-it's-meta line, then we could bring the theme of the episode into this, which is, obviously, death. Death is something everybody thinks they know stuff about. Death is what happens when you stop living. And when it's happened, then there are certain well-known and well-established rituals that will be carried out, and that is how we deal with death. The rituals can differ from society to religious congregation to other groups, but there's nobody on this planet who doesn't associate certain specific rituals with the occurrence of death.
But that actually means that we don't know shit about death. All we know stuff about is all the rituals we packed around it. Death itself is inexplicable. It might be terrible, or horrifying - or it might not. We don't know. That skeleton thing in the gray smoke, that wasn't exactly terrifying, was it? When it crept down those stairs towards Owen, it looked wrong. That's not what death is supposed to look like. Well, it sort of is, but then, it also isn't. It was too small. Too obscure. Too weird. Over too quickly.
I guess what I'm trying to say is this: the second Jack barged through those curtains telling his team not to touch Owen, he'd disturbed the ritual of dealing with death, and nothing was certain from that point onwards. Nothing was predictable anymore. And that was also the impression the audience got. Nothing was the way it was supposed to be. Just like Owen being shot. If you strip that occurrence of all its rituals, then you realize how bizarre an occurrence it actually is. Not exactly tragic, not exactly infuriating, not exactly saddening, but just... bizarre. Like the Death that entered the world through Owen in this episode. Like everything that happened in this episode.
...
Please, ignore me. This is a load of BS. It's late, and I can't even really formulate coherent sentences anymore, let alone think straight. Also, I tend to read too much into TV shows. Funny how that works; I've never really been able to read anything into the sort of literature that only makes sense if you read stuff into it. But blabbing on about the (non-existent) deeper meaning of TV shows? I can do that.
no subject
Yes, exactly.
I think what was most disturbing about Owen's death is that is was so absolutely pointless and out of the blue. No one (speaking from the unspoiled/team position) saw it coming, no one was prepared. And I can understand why Jack didn't want to let it go. I mean, who knows how many people he's seen dying and if I was in his position I think I would have tried to "make it right" too. He did it, of course, in his usual 'lets not care about the consequences' way and made everything worse. I sometimes really wish the Doctor would come by and put his head straight. ("Leviten lesen" and all that.)
And yes. Everything was unexpected, because you didn't know what was going on. I mean, yes I knew Owen was Death when his eyes turned black the first time but then again... you never know what's gonna come out of it.
And I really liked the way they went from funny to serious and back again. This way the episode didn't appear too emo/over the top. It made it a bit ridiculous, but not in the 'I don't believe it' sense. More in the 'I can't believe this is happening sense' - the way that the Team must have felt, you know.
And oh dear... talk about tl;dr. Torchwood seems to do that to me. Why? I could talk about it for hours.
*off to study now*
no subject
That'd be nice, if only for the shiny Jack/Ten interaction ;). The Doctor isn't any better, though. He makes it up as he goes as well. It's just that he has about 700 more years of experience ;).
I seriously want a Torchwood/DW x-over ep soon, though. I want the TARDIS landing in the middle of the hub. I can picture that shot in my head.
Yeah, as I said, I though the ep was rather shiny. I'd watch it again ;).
no subject
hehe, yes, true.
I'd watch it again
tonight?
no subject
no subject
okay. ;-)
no subject
While I agree wholeheartedly that would rule, RTD seems pretty staunch against never letting the Doctor be on Torchwood because of his status as a "children's show" (anti)hero or whatever.
I wonder if we could get the Torchwood crew on a Doctor Who episode? *sigh*
P.S. For LULZ, I recently wrote a Martha/Tosh/Ten fic and the TARDIS landed in the Hub in my story. The best part was it landed right by the couch and blocked Owen's desk -- to which he was quite annoyed, but it was funny. Of course, the other funny part was when the Doctor came out of the TARDIS, Tosh and Martha were in the middle of making out on the couch. It was TEH AWKWARD. LOL.
no subject
*facepalm* Sheesh. Better the Doctor on Torchwood than the other way around, I'd say. The kids who don't watch Torchwood will never know what the Doc gets up to when they're not watching him, and the kids watching Torchwood, well, I guess for those all hope is lost anyway xD.
Ahaha I can so imagine the Doctor walking "in" on Martha and Tosh. Esp since the Doctor probably wouldn't even realize how awkward the situation was until Martha would tell him to please turn around and walk back into his TARDIS until she's found her bra xD.