(no subject)

[doyle]

Maybe my expectations were unreasonably high due to PJ Hammond's reputation and his episode last year, but god, that Torchwood episode was rubbish. Really nice idea, with the sinister circus folk coming to life from film - I don't mind that it was a magic plot, I'd rather leave it as 'a wizard did it' than have an "as you know, these are actually advanced aliens from planet Zipulon VI" exposition - but it would've been much scarier if we'd just seen them advancing on the woman, rather than having an interminable chat with her, then bottling her breath in the flask... it means Torchwood's about 20 minutes behind the audience, and when they finally catch up with someone who knows what's going on we have to listen to a description of what we've already seen. And wasn't that convenient, that Jack repeated the catchphrase in front of the one nurse who'd worked with the old woman and who had no niggling qualms about patient confidentiality? Then we get to see the Ghostmaster and the mermaid wandering around in daylight, looking perfectly normal and non-sinister, having more interminable chats among themselves, where they exposition about stealing people's life into the flask. Again.

No emotional continuity at all. Gwen's apparently back from honeymoon, but for all we know the wedding might have been a week ago or three years. Or maybe we've jumped back in time. The only way we know this whole episode isn't a season 1 flashback (it'd fit with the 'and loads of civilians, including children, died' ending) is that Owen's dead - which is used in exactly the same way as it was last week, with a monster going to attack him and then recoiling. There's hardly any sort of characterisation going on; you could make Gwen instead of Ianto the main character and not change a line.

Oh, and people in the dark days before TV and the internets must have been easily impressed if a woman waving her arms around qualifies her as a mermaid. She could have at least been underwater or something. I would have wanted my thrupenny bit back. Humph.

Thank god I have the OG to tell me that I'm only complaining because I'm a Jack/Ianto fanbrat crying about the lack of sex and/or hate Gaimanesque fantasy, though, because there's no possible reason that people could dislike the episode on its own merits.

Comments

[airawyn.livejournal.com]

It had so much potential. And then it was just exposition after exposition, hardly any actual plot.

Also, it's very common for old film to smell like photo chemicals. Nothing mystical about it.

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

I was annoyed that Jack in the travelling show turned out to be exactly what we already saw in the trailer - he was in a freakshow. Now, on with the exposition and let us not mention anything more about it... which I could've understood if it was a plot point that that was how he knew the woman at the home, rather than the lazy coincidence of a random nurse just happening to have the information they needed.

[airawyn.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that was the most intriguing part of the setup and it was just so Jack could exposit on the Night Travelers. I mean, Jack committed suicide on a regular basis for this freak show? Even though he'd survive it, that had to hurt.

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

It's such an interesting idea (did he always shoot himself or did they hang him, drown him, stage executions, what have you...?) but it goes nowhere.

[boji.livejournal.com]

It also makes little sense in terms of him being undercover or on the slow road historically because I can't imagine he'd draw attention to himself in such a way - the caveat being if he was still with the TA at that point and expected to vanish in time, only the immortality nixes that. Really, catching a bullet with this teeth? Yes. Risking getting hit by the knife thrower? Sure. Cranial perforation nightly? I don't buy it for a moment.

There was so little convincing plot in this it was unbelievable.

[nostalgia-lj.livejournal.com]

It ended up as more of Jack's Mysterious Mystery, which is always a bit of a jump from how, well, Earthly he is in Doctor Who. It's like he's a perfectly normal non-mysteriouos immortal on that and then has to make up with it by keeping pointless secrets back in Cardiff.

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the "I was on a TOP SECRET mission! But I can't tell you who for!" seemed needless, unless it's actually going somewhere. Can't be Torchwood or he'd've said; can't be the Time Agency because he's already immortal; can't be the Doctor because if he was planning on crossing the timelines he would've been off Earth long before Utopia; can't be UNIT because the Brig and his moustache are only a twinkle in his mother's eye. I bet he was working with amnesia!Earth Arc!Eight, actually, given that there's a line in one of the new books about 40s Torchwood getting a fancy new computer because Jack shagged Alan Turing.

[amy-wolf.livejournal.com]

there's a line in one of the new books about 40s Torchwood getting a fancy new computer because Jack shagged Alan Turing.

That, by itself, is almost enough to make me like Torchwood again.

[pontisbright.livejournal.com]

I too had bonkersly high expectations. I definitely liked it more than you (pretty! shiny! easily distracted!) but there was just something strangely incoherent about the whole thing even on first viewing, like it was two different not-very-good shows spliced together - and the more I think about it, the more I find things that were just poorly done.

That scene in the hospital with the Exposition Nurse was unspeakable.

Oh, poo.

[lonelybrit]

Oh good it wasn't just me who was disappointed.

It was a really, really good premise and I love the idea of a creepy ghost story. But it needed a sense of team to go with it, and the dialogue made me wince - again it worked on paper, but onscreen not so much, there's only so many times I'll forgive the characters repeating what has just happened. And as you say, no character was really individual, anyone could have been anyone.

I have to say, what really got my got was the nurse overhearing a snippet, and then volunteering the patient name, patient history and the place of treatment. I'm sorry but just... no. The most basic editor should have picked up on that and at least inserted some line wherein the staff are told that TW have clearance or something to explain why they are happy to share everything without question. By the end of the ep I was just turning off my brain and just enjoying the pretty visuals, because that was all there really was for me. (Okay, that's a bit harsh - I did actually like the mermaid and ghost master, thought they were genuinely creepy and very very good, but even those actors couldn't rescue this one.)

[boji.livejournal.com]

Oh good it wasn't just me who was disappointed.
No, not just you *g*

[cedara]

Thank you for voicing what was missing.

[violetisblue.livejournal.com]

Pity, the premise sounded fascinating. (On paper.)

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

The premise is definitely good enough that I'd be interested in checking out Sapphire and Steel (if the DVDs weren't seemingly impossible to get hold of), it's just poorly executed. IMO.

[violetisblue.livejournal.com]

It will never stop being odd to me that it's far easier to get hold of S&S DVDs over here than in the UK (thank you, Arts and Entertainment Network).

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

I tried to order it for one of my friend's birthdays (with sneaky intentions of watching it myself) but at that time I think the region 2 had been deleted? And it was only available for about £80, which is extortionate considering the number of episodes.

[violetisblue.livejournal.com]

It's hideously overpriced here too--over a hundred dollars!--but I was able to find a secondhand copy for twenty bucks.

[beccaelizabeth]

it means Torchwood's about 20 minutes behind the audience
yeah, this ep did a different thing with pov than other eps this season, like Small Worlds had the most minutes with no Team Torchwood in them at all, and it just doesn't work right.

and *nods* a lot.

[invaderwitch.livejournal.com]

Right there with you.

Also, why couldn't Owen, Gwen, and even to an extent Ianto, figure out what Jack was doing in the freak show? I mean, it was blatantly obvious that he was shooting himself in the head, yet Gwen was joking about him doing stand-up, and Ianto was all 'ahh' when Jack revealed that he had been the man-who-can't-die. Like with the images of the Ghost Maker and Mermaid- they were so obviously missing when they played the film back, but it took Ianto several minutes to determine what was different. Felt like the prop people (or whoever) made the film without paying much attention to the dialog in the script- I can't really phrase this right, but I think I'm saying what I mean. It's too early...

But, yea. After the episode ended, I said it would have worked better as a Supernatural episode, only Sam and Dean would have handled it better. To which my boyfriend responded that yes, they would have determined the monsters were made of film, and got some film-dissolving acid to throw at them at least. Torchwood Master Plans = asdkfjhksfh huh?

[randomalia.livejournal.com]

I agree completely. And I felt like the script was plodding and overwritten. The emotional aspects, what there was of them, were shoe-horned in at the end (yay, we saved a child!) and everyone was melodramatic and useless. It just had no point. And I'm actually not surprised that this was written by PJ Hammond - from his two scripts I'm thinking he has cool ideas but poor execution.

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

I expect 10,000 post-episode fics where Jack and Ianto adopt the kid.

[giglet.livejournal.com]

You know... I've been showing season 1 to my husband, explaining that the show isn't *good*, but it does provide fanservice: basically fanfic with high production values.

And given that view of Torchwood... I think we need a remix of this episode, double quick.

[tehomet.livejournal.com]

It was quite a dull episode. Normally, with Torchwood, it may not make sense but at least it's wacky/fun. This was dull.

The previous episode, with the alien!baby wedding, was hilarious. Especially the stalling chainsaw!

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

I loved Something Borrowed, but then I have a weakness for wacky wedding hijinks. I would have happily ditched this one in favour of Gwen and Rhys's comedic attempts to go on honeymoon...

[ofparsnip.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad I'm not alone in not liking this one! (I'm friending you, btw -- your comments about Torchwood are fun to read!)

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

You're certainly not alone - to my surprise, the poll on the Doctor Who Forum would indicate that this was easily the least popular episode of the season (nearly 20% of people voting gave it 1 or 2 out of 5, far more than for any other episode)

And thanks, will friend back!