The
American bastardisation of what could have ended up as a British drama classic
if left be, has come to the end of its first series as a coalition between two
sides of the Atlantic Ocean. My initial reaction, as I stated in my blog
"Americanised; Synonyms: Bastardised", which was written three
episodes into the series, was not a positive one. I thought the series was slow
to start and felt it had been somewhat ruined and therefore, disappointed with
the whole thing. I hoped that it would pick up with excitement and the usual
Torchwood charm which previous fans loved, but were my hopes fulfilled?
Yes
and no. Some episodes were fast paced and exciting, and others, continued to be
slow and rather boring. Some episodes were created to purely create a back
story, or to create an emotional connection with a new or departing character.
Some episodes seemed to be there purely as an afterthought to bridge a gap.
However, there were the odd episodes that managed to grip you tightly by the
attention strings and not let you go until the credits began to roll. The
reason for this inconsistency seems to be because different writers wrote
different episodes. Although top-guy Russell T. Davies wrote the series, he
actually only wrote the opening and closing episodes for the series.
One
of the major problems with the series was the characters. Captain Jack Harkness
(John Barrowman) is undoubtedly the main character of Torchwood, and has been
from day one. Without that character in the story, it cannot work. Jack has not
had the role in this latest series that he should have had. He has been put
second behind new American characters. The writers have assumed that we care
about these new American members, so attach personal storylines and tragedies
to them. These don't really work purely because we have not had time to get to
know them. The character of Gwen has been somewhat underestimated this series
too, with her not being used to her full potential, and only a handful of times
does she seem to fully be the strong, independent character who we knew in the
previous series. She still has those personal stories, which are there to help
the audience relate to the consequences of Miracle Day however, but her strong
character is under minded as a result.
Another
reoccurring character who I'm not sure if we were supposed to despise or
sympathise was Oswald Danes; a convicted felon who had been given the death
penalty for murdering a young woman, but had survived. First we hated him. He
was taking advantage of miracle day. Then he got shafted by the system that was
using him, and he regularly got beaten up for no reason. Then he became selfish
again and blackmailing people. Then be became a hero, before showing his true
colours before finally dying. I have no idea what the writers’ purpose for that
character was, and therefore, far too confusing.
We
only have one episode out of the ten, which I feel felt like an original
Torchwood episode. That was episode 7: "Immortal Sins". It was by far
my favourite episode. The episode consisted of flashbacks of Jack's life, and whilst in the present; he is being taken
hostage by Gwen. The episode contains the only contact we have with an alien in
the entire series. It is the only episode that seems to actually fully except
that Jack is gay, and takes full advantage of that. Those are the four
ingredients to a great, original Torchwood episode: Jack, Gwen, Aliens and
outlandish gay scenes, and guns if you wish to garnish it off with a fifth
ingredient. Davies seems to have completely sold out on those ingredients,
which he could once put together brilliantly, just so he can have larger
popularity state-side and have more money to play with.
The
series itself has been over stretched too, which has completely weakened the
series storyline. If we hark back to the previous series of Torchwood: Children
of Earth, the storyline was squeezed to just five episodes. This series was
stretched to 10 episodes, and as a result, some episodes have no purpose at
all. Take the second episode where Jack and Gwen are being deported to the
America in the plane flight. That flight lasted the entirety of the episode,
with no relevant events actually occurring. All that footage could have been
chucked in the bin, and it would have made no difference at all to the series.
Those sorts of episodes, as a result, just seem to be irrelevant and an
afterthought. Once again, you would have never had that with the older series
of Torchwood. Every episode was exciting and gripping with an alien who
promised to spark imagination and enjoyment, and maybe even an orgasm or two.
The
lack of any aliens is the biggest crime for this series. Torchwood was once
full of aliens. It was an extension of Doctor Who and all of their aliens, and
sometimes they would overlap too. Now, they both seem like completely different
shows which have nothing in common. They were once such close friends, but now,
over time they have fallen apart and now keep very distant from each other.
They still remember each other occasionally, but otherwise, contact between
them is zilch. They have lost each other’s numbers and have no desire to get
back into contact. Torchwood has changed into something different since the
contact was lost, and that is shown in the lack of any alien action.
So
how could they have improved the series? Aliens and more of Jack. Two simple
requests, yet for some reason the writers decided to completely overlook them.
I was so very disappointed in the ending when the event turned out to not be of
a result of an extra-terrestrial being, but instead to be of ordinary, boring,
bastard human beings. It was such a cop-out for Torchwood and Russell T.
Davies. It certainly is no longer
Torchwood, but instead another spin-off going under the same alias.
Then
take the series cliff-hanger. Rex, the black American, is now like Jack:
indestructible and can now live forever. That is the biggest mistake of them
all. The entire dynamic of the show has been altered. One of the great things
about Jack is how individual he is from every other character on the show.
Changing that, I think, will be the death of Torchwood. The next series could
very well be its last, but maybe that isn't such a bad thing. It is painful
watching Torchwood going through this painful change. Injecting American blood
into something which is distinctively British through and through is causing
vital organs to stop operating, and the entire body will slowly die, even if
they do inject more of Jack's Miracle, life saving blood into it...
No comments:
Post a Comment