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17/1/08 10:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
minervasoloOh, Torchwood, you are still not so very good, and still brilliant.
People may object to the first half of the above statement, but three things did stand out for me:
- clunky dialogue
- dodgy CGI
- really bad macguffin at the end (DNA doesn't work like that!)
But this is Torchwood, and these are well established staples of the show, and the Jack/John and Jack/Ianto were all very good. Mmmm, James Masters. Who's chosen to stick with the Spike accent (and the Spike character, basically; from an actor point of view I think this is a mistake, but it does give me fangirl squee). As much as I dislike Jack/Gwen, the scene worked reasonably well; I just hope they don't ursu it too far and bring Rhys in more as a character instead. Looks like they're hinting at Owen/Tosh, but last series claimed that ship had sailed, so either we're teasing the audience, or falling back on good old Torchwood character inconsistency.
As the above paragraph indicates, this show is still mostly about the 'shipping. There were a lot of tongue-in-cheek moments that make me think that the increase is deliberate.
But. And this did please me. We have teamwork. A working team. With Gwen being more than just unexpectedly dumb (it's like they've remembered that she was a competent police officer or something!). Likeable, even. The team is considerably less of a trainwreck, which is nice, and they can snark at each other without too much fallout. And they've taught themselves things without Jack's help; in fact, it's clear that they don't need Jack. Which means he might be something other than "mysterious guy who explains things, but only a little at a time so that they make mistakes they wouldn't have if he was clear and honest with them". Plus, there's John, who has no problem pissing on Jack's mysterious thing (I hate the mysterious thing!). Also, loved that the office scene was clearly shot somewhere in BBC Cardiff.
Also stating this week was season 2 of Primeval, ITV's primetime Torchwood. I love that too. It is equally cheesy, with painful macguffins ("I changed something in the Permian, and now my girlfriend has turnd into someone else and we've got a bigger set! But, miraculously, nothing else at all has changed!") and CGI dinosaurs of a distinctly pre-Jurassic Park flavour. The team consist of an evolutionary expert who's assumed to also be a 'holes in time' expert (someone point out that biology and physics are different, please?), a guy who can use guns (and also science. But mostly guns), a zookeeper (Hannah from S-Club!), and a student (in a hat). Conner, our student,lives with Abby, our zookeeper. He fancies, Abby, but she fancies Stephen (gun man). If you like Torchwood, you'll probably like Primeval. Its a primtime slot, so it's less violent and sexy, but in terms of plots they're stting in eachother's laps. The big (and fairly obvious) reveal in last season of primeval is that 'anomalies' don't just open into the past; they open in the future, too!
Conner shot Abby in the leg with tranquilisers meant for the 'raptors' (the website is cunning, and points out that they are deinonychus, not velociraptors, and that since JP 'raptor' has become a fairly broad term. This smacks of 'shit, we copied their mistake', but it's a nice try), which made me squee. The reboot allows for some characterisation rejigging, so things can be re-explained for new viewers, which is irritating but not as clunky as Torchwood's "Hello, Torchwood. Would you mind just waiting a second while I recite your character archetypes to you all?" It also makes a better excuse for the new set that Torchwood's "um, you have a new set" from Jack. Primeval is very pleased with itself for getting a second season, and is going all out on it.
So, two british shows, based on holes in time and space. Two teams of diverse individuals, having sexual tension with each other (relative to their different timeslots, of course). Two sets of dodgy dialogue, CGI, and MacGuffins.
Crossover fandom, please?
I need a dinosaur icon, that I may express love for both shows simultaneously.
People may object to the first half of the above statement, but three things did stand out for me:
- clunky dialogue
- dodgy CGI
- really bad macguffin at the end (DNA doesn't work like that!)
But this is Torchwood, and these are well established staples of the show, and the Jack/John and Jack/Ianto were all very good. Mmmm, James Masters. Who's chosen to stick with the Spike accent (and the Spike character, basically; from an actor point of view I think this is a mistake, but it does give me fangirl squee). As much as I dislike Jack/Gwen, the scene worked reasonably well; I just hope they don't ursu it too far and bring Rhys in more as a character instead. Looks like they're hinting at Owen/Tosh, but last series claimed that ship had sailed, so either we're teasing the audience, or falling back on good old Torchwood character inconsistency.
As the above paragraph indicates, this show is still mostly about the 'shipping. There were a lot of tongue-in-cheek moments that make me think that the increase is deliberate.
But. And this did please me. We have teamwork. A working team. With Gwen being more than just unexpectedly dumb (it's like they've remembered that she was a competent police officer or something!). Likeable, even. The team is considerably less of a trainwreck, which is nice, and they can snark at each other without too much fallout. And they've taught themselves things without Jack's help; in fact, it's clear that they don't need Jack. Which means he might be something other than "mysterious guy who explains things, but only a little at a time so that they make mistakes they wouldn't have if he was clear and honest with them". Plus, there's John, who has no problem pissing on Jack's mysterious thing (I hate the mysterious thing!). Also, loved that the office scene was clearly shot somewhere in BBC Cardiff.
Also stating this week was season 2 of Primeval, ITV's primetime Torchwood. I love that too. It is equally cheesy, with painful macguffins ("I changed something in the Permian, and now my girlfriend has turnd into someone else and we've got a bigger set! But, miraculously, nothing else at all has changed!") and CGI dinosaurs of a distinctly pre-Jurassic Park flavour. The team consist of an evolutionary expert who's assumed to also be a 'holes in time' expert (someone point out that biology and physics are different, please?), a guy who can use guns (and also science. But mostly guns), a zookeeper (Hannah from S-Club!), and a student (in a hat). Conner, our student,lives with Abby, our zookeeper. He fancies, Abby, but she fancies Stephen (gun man). If you like Torchwood, you'll probably like Primeval. Its a primtime slot, so it's less violent and sexy, but in terms of plots they're stting in eachother's laps. The big (and fairly obvious) reveal in last season of primeval is that 'anomalies' don't just open into the past; they open in the future, too!
Conner shot Abby in the leg with tranquilisers meant for the 'raptors' (the website is cunning, and points out that they are deinonychus, not velociraptors, and that since JP 'raptor' has become a fairly broad term. This smacks of 'shit, we copied their mistake', but it's a nice try), which made me squee. The reboot allows for some characterisation rejigging, so things can be re-explained for new viewers, which is irritating but not as clunky as Torchwood's "Hello, Torchwood. Would you mind just waiting a second while I recite your character archetypes to you all?" It also makes a better excuse for the new set that Torchwood's "um, you have a new set" from Jack. Primeval is very pleased with itself for getting a second season, and is going all out on it.
So, two british shows, based on holes in time and space. Two teams of diverse individuals, having sexual tension with each other (relative to their different timeslots, of course). Two sets of dodgy dialogue, CGI, and MacGuffins.
Crossover fandom, please?
I need a dinosaur icon, that I may express love for both shows simultaneously.
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Date: 17/1/08 06:25 pm (UTC)Yeah, that I liked. And I like competant Gwen. I just want her to stop mooning over Jack and realise ... he's more interested in Ianto. ;)
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Date: 17/1/08 09:58 pm (UTC)