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Last Post Before Viewing "Children of Earth"
I've just been told by the BFF who downloaded the 3ed Season of Torchwood for me that it is burned onto a DVD and I should be getting it today.
I'm so freakin' nervous.
Torchwood, the show and the fandom, take up about the same kind of emotional and cerebral space that I thought would never be able to be shared with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and to a certain extent Harry Potter.
I've been very good about avoiding spoilers, though I watch various communities and blogs who are TW fandomy, I only got tiny details by osmosis and one big something that I hope doesn't mean what I think it means but I'm keeping my mind open to whatever happens in these five episodes.
I'll talk more at length about "Children of Earth" after I've actually viewed them, I'll even write (a) reaction post(s) before I read any other Meta and/or Fic, though I'm really, really tempted.
I think it's fairly clear that when it comes to which show I prefer, it is Torchwood and not Doctor who that stole my heart - though I love the Doctor and his Companions and will regale to anyone who will (or won't) listen about how fucking awesome New!Who is.
Torchwood however, is something else.
****Spoilers for lots of stuff (not including season 3 of TW as I have not seen it yet)****
If I'm going to be really honest, I only started loving Doctor Who after I saw the 1st Season episode titles "The Empty Child" by Stephen Moffat, easily one of the creepiest pieces of television I've ever seen, a brilliant exploration of British history and the introduction of Captain Jack Harkness.
Yes, I very much identified with Jack, the utopian character that he is, his easy going nature and humanising flirtation with the Doctor and Rose - the way he says "Hello" and kisses "Goodbye".
When he died and was resurrected in "Parting of the Ways" I knew he's be back, but didn't know when or how. Throughout the 2nd season of Doctor Who the recurring meme of Torchwood accompanied the Doctor and Rose, much like Bad Wolf did in Season 1 and I knew it would be significant by the end of the season, but I had no idea a spin-off based on the organisation was planned.
This was before I bothered to read anything related to production and not content.
So when Israeli television began to advertise a new BBC action show called Torchwood I was like - "Wait, What?!"
Kept track of everything air dates and lo and behold... there was Jack!
My beloved Jack.
And when he was shot and resurrected again I was taken aback. Immortal? Jack can never be killed off?
The amount of *squee* cannot be described.
And then the rest of the new characters were introduced.
I never got emotionally involved with Suzie, so I hope you'll excuse me if this is the last time I mention her.
Gwen is very nice (in all meanings of the word, which is what make it a bit irritating and obnoxious with her self-righteousness at times) and it was awesome seeing her and the little in joke that crossed over from Doctor Who and the episode with Dickens "The Unquiet Dead".
Owen is the ass, the big meanie with a heart of gold. Despite being an obnoxious bastard you can't help but feel a bit sorry for him, because you know that beneath that façade of irritability and vitriol is a very wounded little boy indeed.
Tosh is such a stereotype in the 1st season it's almost painful. Being the Sexy Asian Technician Girl is such an old trope it put me off for the first few episodes, but her brilliance and emotional intelligence which is far superior to that of the aforementioned obtuse asses was very refreshing. Despite being a bit socially awkward, it came off as self-conciousness and awareness and not something that was inherently wrong in her.
I really miss her.
Ianto. Oh my god, Ianto. Beyond being one of the most beautiful men I've ever seen on television his character is just so yummy. In the first three episodes he's nothing more than a pretty face around the Hub - I was convinced that one of things he did for Jack, other than serve him coffee, was to... well... service him.
The flirtation is there from the very beginning and Ianto is very aware, despite his somewhat restrained manner, that he is attractive (to Jack at the very least). He is very mysterious and up until the end of Season 2 we do not know very much about him, we can only infer a little bit - his obsessiveness is no secret though.
After "Cyberwoman" we get to see something else in Ianto, which develops throughout the Seasons.
There is so much I can say about Jack and Ianto's relationship, about Jack and Gwen's relationship.
But really, I think I'll wait until I have all my canon to do that.
Torchwood was ground breaking in many ways. First of all, having a Queer main character that cannot die. That the gay subtext is, in fact, text is so refreshing.
The Doctor is very campy at times, I mean, Doctor!Tennant can be such a Bitch at times I expect him to have a feather boa along with his Janis Joplin coat and flick it in people's faces. The gay stuff is mainly incidental and part of the background - which is fantastic! There is visibility for all kinds of sexualities and gender variance! - but the Doctor, especially Doctor!Tennant is very Hetero and has a Type (she is Blonde, Pink, Bossy and Clever... notice) and is tolerant of Jack's infatuation with him.
Though my Slash goggles tell me there is more to that tolerance, what we are shown on screen doesn't give a whole lot when it comes to the relationship between the Doctor and Jack.
Except that the Doctor treats Jack like crap for a bit there, something that still irks me and made me think less of the Doctor for that.
Jack is a ground breaking character and his relationship with Ianto is ground breaking in mainstream Sci-Fi, which is notoriously homophobic and doesn't give a whole lot of voice and space for sexual minorities (minorities in general).
Beyond it being beautiful men being sexy with each other, they are both masculine (in very different ways) without being macho, which is very attractive and also a part of a trend in media and cultural image.
My original point was to talk about why Torchwood is such an emotional and cerebral solace for me. Despite the Sci-Fi itself being a bit meh and the utter crackiness of the plot at times (aliens on old film rolls... what?!) the characters are some of the most human I've seen, the relationships between them and the physical and emotional adventure that they go through because of the Rift, which like in Buffy is often metaphorical (and sometimes we are hit over the head with it so that we GET IT) to what is going on in people's lives (Hellmouth Hello).
The Doctor usually doesn't wait around to deal with the Fallout of the disasters that he encounters, Torchwood have no choice but to deal with it and that is the difference.
We see them deal, cry and die.
The Doctor deals by running away and Changing into someone else.
Jack dies but remains the same and has no choice but to carry the memory of what happened and because he does not die, he will not be remembered, memorialised.
Jack is a walking memorial of his life and the lives of others.
He is ultimately tragic and the classic catharsis we (well I) get from watching the tragedy play out is so satisfying, along with the romance, friendship and crack, my attachment to Torchwood is just that strong.
I'm really looking forward to "Children on Earth", though I am very scared of what may happen.
I'm so freakin' nervous.
Torchwood, the show and the fandom, take up about the same kind of emotional and cerebral space that I thought would never be able to be shared with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and to a certain extent Harry Potter.
I've been very good about avoiding spoilers, though I watch various communities and blogs who are TW fandomy, I only got tiny details by osmosis and one big something that I hope doesn't mean what I think it means but I'm keeping my mind open to whatever happens in these five episodes.
I'll talk more at length about "Children of Earth" after I've actually viewed them, I'll even write (a) reaction post(s) before I read any other Meta and/or Fic, though I'm really, really tempted.
I think it's fairly clear that when it comes to which show I prefer, it is Torchwood and not Doctor who that stole my heart - though I love the Doctor and his Companions and will regale to anyone who will (or won't) listen about how fucking awesome New!Who is.
Torchwood however, is something else.
If I'm going to be really honest, I only started loving Doctor Who after I saw the 1st Season episode titles "The Empty Child" by Stephen Moffat, easily one of the creepiest pieces of television I've ever seen, a brilliant exploration of British history and the introduction of Captain Jack Harkness.
Yes, I very much identified with Jack, the utopian character that he is, his easy going nature and humanising flirtation with the Doctor and Rose - the way he says "Hello" and kisses "Goodbye".
When he died and was resurrected in "Parting of the Ways" I knew he's be back, but didn't know when or how. Throughout the 2nd season of Doctor Who the recurring meme of Torchwood accompanied the Doctor and Rose, much like Bad Wolf did in Season 1 and I knew it would be significant by the end of the season, but I had no idea a spin-off based on the organisation was planned.
This was before I bothered to read anything related to production and not content.
So when Israeli television began to advertise a new BBC action show called Torchwood I was like - "Wait, What?!"
Kept track of everything air dates and lo and behold... there was Jack!
My beloved Jack.
And when he was shot and resurrected again I was taken aback. Immortal? Jack can never be killed off?
The amount of *squee* cannot be described.
And then the rest of the new characters were introduced.
I never got emotionally involved with Suzie, so I hope you'll excuse me if this is the last time I mention her.
Gwen is very nice (in all meanings of the word, which is what make it a bit irritating and obnoxious with her self-righteousness at times) and it was awesome seeing her and the little in joke that crossed over from Doctor Who and the episode with Dickens "The Unquiet Dead".
Owen is the ass, the big meanie with a heart of gold. Despite being an obnoxious bastard you can't help but feel a bit sorry for him, because you know that beneath that façade of irritability and vitriol is a very wounded little boy indeed.
Tosh is such a stereotype in the 1st season it's almost painful. Being the Sexy Asian Technician Girl is such an old trope it put me off for the first few episodes, but her brilliance and emotional intelligence which is far superior to that of the aforementioned obtuse asses was very refreshing. Despite being a bit socially awkward, it came off as self-conciousness and awareness and not something that was inherently wrong in her.
I really miss her.
Ianto. Oh my god, Ianto. Beyond being one of the most beautiful men I've ever seen on television his character is just so yummy. In the first three episodes he's nothing more than a pretty face around the Hub - I was convinced that one of things he did for Jack, other than serve him coffee, was to... well... service him.
The flirtation is there from the very beginning and Ianto is very aware, despite his somewhat restrained manner, that he is attractive (to Jack at the very least). He is very mysterious and up until the end of Season 2 we do not know very much about him, we can only infer a little bit - his obsessiveness is no secret though.
After "Cyberwoman" we get to see something else in Ianto, which develops throughout the Seasons.
There is so much I can say about Jack and Ianto's relationship, about Jack and Gwen's relationship.
But really, I think I'll wait until I have all my canon to do that.
Torchwood was ground breaking in many ways. First of all, having a Queer main character that cannot die. That the gay subtext is, in fact, text is so refreshing.
The Doctor is very campy at times, I mean, Doctor!Tennant can be such a Bitch at times I expect him to have a feather boa along with his Janis Joplin coat and flick it in people's faces. The gay stuff is mainly incidental and part of the background - which is fantastic! There is visibility for all kinds of sexualities and gender variance! - but the Doctor, especially Doctor!Tennant is very Hetero and has a Type (she is Blonde, Pink, Bossy and Clever... notice) and is tolerant of Jack's infatuation with him.
Though my Slash goggles tell me there is more to that tolerance, what we are shown on screen doesn't give a whole lot when it comes to the relationship between the Doctor and Jack.
Except that the Doctor treats Jack like crap for a bit there, something that still irks me and made me think less of the Doctor for that.
Jack is a ground breaking character and his relationship with Ianto is ground breaking in mainstream Sci-Fi, which is notoriously homophobic and doesn't give a whole lot of voice and space for sexual minorities (minorities in general).
Beyond it being beautiful men being sexy with each other, they are both masculine (in very different ways) without being macho, which is very attractive and also a part of a trend in media and cultural image.
My original point was to talk about why Torchwood is such an emotional and cerebral solace for me. Despite the Sci-Fi itself being a bit meh and the utter crackiness of the plot at times (aliens on old film rolls... what?!) the characters are some of the most human I've seen, the relationships between them and the physical and emotional adventure that they go through because of the Rift, which like in Buffy is often metaphorical (and sometimes we are hit over the head with it so that we GET IT) to what is going on in people's lives (Hellmouth Hello).
The Doctor usually doesn't wait around to deal with the Fallout of the disasters that he encounters, Torchwood have no choice but to deal with it and that is the difference.
We see them deal, cry and die.
The Doctor deals by running away and Changing into someone else.
Jack dies but remains the same and has no choice but to carry the memory of what happened and because he does not die, he will not be remembered, memorialised.
Jack is a walking memorial of his life and the lives of others.
He is ultimately tragic and the classic catharsis we (well I) get from watching the tragedy play out is so satisfying, along with the romance, friendship and crack, my attachment to Torchwood is just that strong.
I'm really looking forward to "Children on Earth", though I am very scared of what may happen.
no subject
I hope that Jack and Ianto's relationship means that there are many, many more such relationships on TV in the future - that they're just the opening act for a lot more equality in the future, rather than the outlier that they are now.
no subject
I hope that Jack and Ianto's relationship means that there are many, many more such relationships on TV in the future - that they're just the opening act for a lot more equality in the future, rather than the outlier that they are now.
I agree. I'm waiting for the Lesbian relationship that does this. Willow and Tara were close, but they never had the same weight that Jack and Ianto have, simply by virtue if Jack being the main. At least, imo.
no subject