Torchwood Children of Earth: Day Five...

[fajrdrako]

Most TV shows bore me. Most TV shows... don't get me emotionally involved on any level that matters. Doctor Who and Torchwood slipped in under that barrier. I'm not sure how, or why. I've tried to analyze it and I'm still not sure.

And here's a TV show that hits me so hard with its impact that I am left stunned. I even feel a little naive for my "Children of Earth Wish List" that I posted a few days ago. I expected... well. This isn't what I expected. How did we go from there to here?

Very cleverly.

Take a deep breath here. I mean... calming down after a TV show. That's practically unprecedented. Have I mentioned how much I loved it?

I don't know how coherent this will be but... I will try to sort of my somewhat jumbled thoughts.

1. The ending. Jack leaves Earth, that he's been trying so hard to protect. It must seem useless - or is it that the cost is too high? or the pain too great? I loved it that Gwen argued and begged him to stay. I love it that he left anyway, and we'll see him next in Doctor Who. So this was a set-up for that. And we know the Doctor will die/regenerate - well. More change. More destruction. I don't know what to expect. What a powerful scene.
   
   
2. Jack got his wristband back. That made me very happy. If Gwen hadn't brought it for him, did he have another way of teleporting to the orbiting ship?
   
   
3. Six months. Where was Jack? With whom? Why? Will we ever know?
   
   
4. I'd like to think that Jack is taking the case to the Shadow Proclamation, for some sort of universal justice and action against the 456. And yet... it's a big universe, and I suspect Jack is fed up with any kind of governing organization.
   
   
5. I love it that he listed Ianto as one of those he has lost, and yet, not as the only name.
   
   
6. The death of Stephen was heartbreaking because it was clear how much it hurt Jack, and that he knew the personal cost, but he felt he had to do it. No alternative. Remember how I was comparing Jack to Lymond a few days ago? This reminded me of the chess scene in Pawn in Frankincense. And Jack knew he was not just losing Stephen, but Alice as well.
   
   
7. When the series started, I thought there would still be a Torchwood in the end. When Ianto died, I thought they'd carry on without him, taking on newcomers. I thought... I never thought things would fall apart so badly.
   
   
8. I loved, totally loved, Gwen's moral certainties. If she hadn't already won my heart, that would have done it. Loved her video about how the Doctor must turn away from Earth in shame.
   
   
9. Agent Johnson was terrific. Loved it when she shot Dekker.
   
   
10. I would have liked to have seen more of Lois. Will we never see her again?
    
    
11. Yes, Brigit Spears ended up doing something, and I loved her for it. She brings down Green. Or at least... ends his autonomy. Will these political events play out later in Doctor Who? Or is it more of RTD simply making digs at corrupt authority? Whichever - I like it.
    
    
12. PC Andy came through. By joining the fray, he redeemed himself for his actions on Day Two. And he won my heart when he asked Gwen, "So who's the father?"
    
    
13. Where did Ianto's father work, really? I love it that Ianto lied to Jack - to all of them - about his father. That there was a touch of the liar and the con man in Ianto to the end, not telling Jack everything about his past.
    
    
14. I loved it that the 456 were using the children as drugs, and wanted - of course - more, more, more. It made me think of Karen Lowachee's books about space pirates using children in the slave trade, and it made me think of the Slitheen, where a random family of gangsters acts on their own. Not that we know anything about the 456 except that they are aliens, but I like to think these are random wild outlaws, living on the edges of their own civilization.
    
    Or not.
    
    They also reminded me of the Reivers in Firefly.
    
    
15. Loved Gwen. Loved Rhys. Will she continue Torchwood on her own? After pregnancy leave?
    
    
16. I can't even pick out actors for being good. Everyone was superb. Everyone was totally convincing. Everyone had depth.
    
    
17. Loved it that Jack cared about Rhiannon's kids, for Ianto's sake.
    
    
18. Loved it that Johnny and his friends defied the army and the police.
    
    
19. Loved, totally loved, the political angle on this. The governments who don't govern, but who trade in fear and force. The hypocrisy of force.
    
    
20. Jack in handcuffs... I found that moving and disturbing. On several levels.
    
    
21. I loved it that Alice knew he could save the world.
    
    
22. Bring on series 4. Yes, really.