Okay, let's begin.
I really liked the set up of the Mini Series. I liked the introduction of Lois and Rupesh and Clement McDonald and John Frobisher. I felt all of the main supporting roles were very good.
I was disappointed when Rupesh turned out to be a double agent, but in a good way. When he is killed, however, in cold blood, by the side he actually works for, well, that seemed very poor writing. I would have loved to have seen a redeemed Rupesh throughout the series and as a new member in Season 4.
Lois was great. Clement was very convincing. Frobisher was solid.
I felt that the character of Johnson was very poor, the military leader who destroys Torchwood, kills Rupesh, puts Capt Jack in concrete, arrests Jack's daughter and grandkid, plants a one mile radius bomb in Jack's belly to blow up Torchwood in Downtown Cardiff despit ehte massive dangers to the local population, and then suddenly has a change of heart near the end. I can't see how the same character who shoots Rupesh in the back merely to end Jack's questions would be the same character who turns against her own government to assist Torchwood. poor characterization.
I felt that the emotional impact of the mini-series was lacking. I didn;t weep when Ianto Jones died. I didn;t cry when Jack sacced his grandkid. In Torchwood Season 2 I wept twice at the deaths of Owen and one for Tosh, but I didn;t feel much for Ianto or stephen's death. It was not emotionally resonant.
The introduction of jack's daughter and grandson felt like cheating since no tmention or hint has previously existed. and then to kill one off, when he didn;t have one second of character development felt simply like a plot line. This was especailly important as the MacGuffin of the series.
The MacGuffin, or in this case Deus Ex Machina, is the transmission. This is not the first time a severe invasion of Earth has occurred but turned back in teh last second because of a transmission. Remember when Doctor, at the end of Season 3, regained powe rby having all of humanity shout and concentrate on his name, gathered tthrough the Archangel network still active?
Oh, and did anyone notice that the 456 did not need a transmitter to send the signal to the children, but Jack needed one to send one back, which killed his kid? Seems a bit convenient?
It's lazy writing to put the heroes and the world to the worst possible situation, only to save them at the last second because our hero can use an innocuous object to completely destroy the bad guys. That humans always think of such things against obviously more intelligent aliens is an insult to aliens. The only reason I buy it when the Doctor does it is because of his uber cleverness and intellect.
There was a missed opportunity on the 456. They totally should have ultimately been revealed as a race from Doctor Who's world. Perhaps on old series villain, and perhaps a new series one, but it would have given the show additional emotional depth. Imagine if the 456 had been the Weevil lords and the Weevil we knew were just cattle. Imagine if the mist had parted to reveal they were the Zygons or the Silurians and not alien at all, or whatever.
I find it very odd that Earth just accepted the offer when it made no sense to do so. The alien as showed no demonstration of powe.r How did Earth know that they were any more than just a pair of aliens in a box, playign a major con game? All they ever did was...kill a building of people where they were in. And when it was discovered that the kids were a celestial drug, that should have really been the cake. What is the behavior of someone on a drug? To keep coming back for more and more, sooner and sooner. This was never going to end without a war.
I felt Capt Jack's conversation with them was totally inadequate for his character. He has been established as an ultra-T, the one guy who keeps his cool and his emotions in check when everybody else is feeling their F best. And here he is acting ultra-macho. Nah, totally not his character.
He should have pulled out the Shadow Proclamations card and mentioned that Earth is just a Class 5 world. But no, he didn;t.
The reason for Frobisher to kill all of Torchwood and the soliders at the 1965 incident were totally outside the bounds of believability. If they had not talked up until then, then just take them, incarcerate them through the disaster, and then let them go. This is especially true when he blew up Jack and all of Torchwood too. Am I to really believe that this civil servant chose to blow up Torchwood and everything in it just because the current view on Jack was that his return to life powers were linked to it and he wanted Jack out of the way to save him and his government a bit of embarassment when he could not contorl the information anyway, since the aliens were privy to it and could talk anytime? When Torchwood has all of that data and those artifacts in it? Especially sinc ethe bomb is said to have a one mile radius and you are detonating it in DOWNTOWN Cardiff? Totally unbelievable.
Where is Season 4 suposse to start, anyway? Three of the five initial character of Torchwood have died, a fourth is pregnant and mentioned being away and the fifth has left earth altogether. Torchwood Cardiff is destroyed, their vehicle is stolen (which is also unbelievable, btw) and there are no Torchwoods left. Torchwood Ireland disappeared, Torchwood London destroyed, Torchwood Cardiff destroyed and Torchwood Scotland is the original, the Torchwood Estate and not really with much. All of the characters, places, items, vehicles, and organization is gone. So where is the 4th season supposed to start?
I think they should have used this to set up season 4. A redeemed Rupesh, Lois and Capt. Jack make a good start. You could even put in Johnson, I suppose, if you had made her character more believable and Rupesh lived. Add Mickey Smith (Noel Clarke) to the moix and you have a very believable cast.
Torchwood Season 4 - Rising from the Ashes:
Capt Jack Harkness
Lois Habiba - The new Gwen Cooper role
Dr. Rupesh Patanjali - The medical officer
Mickey Smith
With occasional help from new mother Gwen Cooper and Martha Jones.
Very solid. But no, they went and ruined it.
If I had been Jack, I totally would have told Gwen to tell Rhys to let the video go. At that point, the world needed to rally against this.
If Jack was so quickly willing to sacrifice his grankid at the end, and agrees to do so in mere seconds, then why does he allow the fact that Frobisher has his daughter and grankid stop him for so long earlier? If he's willing to sacrifice them, then do so. And if he is willing to sacrifice his OWN grandkid to end it, which I buy, then why not take Frobisher's wife and kids and follow through with his threat. Why not sacrifice another kid if you are willing to do so with your own?
All and all, I felt that the beginning was let down by the end, and the show suffered from a lack of emotional depth, characterization, motivation, and an understanding of humanity.
Unlike what other review say,this was not Torchwood at its best, just its biggest. This was the worst of the three seasons. By far.
Originally Posted by TheAbe
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