Torchwood Thinky Thoughts

[switch842]

Expanded from something qaffangyrl mentioned in a recent post. I was just going to comment on your journal, but it was going to be long and really ranty and not actually very relevant to your question in the post. :-) So, I'm snagging it and posting here and expanding my thoughts on it.

Behind a cut for Children of Earth spoilers.


qaffangyrl said:
2)RTD and JG have both said that they created TW with the mythology that everyone dies young. I don't have evidence but I have sneaking suspicion this was done for BUSINESS reasons rather than NARRATIVE reasons. Doctor Who has aired over 700 episodes since it's original premiere in 1963 and b/c of "regenerations" it has been able to turn over it's complete cast time and again. TW is BBC Worldwide's highest rated (and most lucrative) export. It would stand to reason that building a franchise that could remain viable beyond actors or characters would be a shrewd business decision. (BTW the original Law & Order is about to start it's 20th season breaking Gunsmoke's record as the longest running American nighttime drama. This was made possible in part b/c the show was able to seemlessly turn over its entire cast at least 4 or 5 times over)

Taken this as being true (which since it's coming from RTD, I have to take it as it is), then I have to say that they have failed spectacularly with this regard. If their intention was always to turn over a new cast every couple years, then why did they make the characters so integral to the storyline of the show? Why did they make us care SO MUCH that 75% of the fandom is completely outraged at the killing off the 3/5 of the cast? I realize that yes, to a certain extent, you (the viewer) need to be able to sympathize with the characters in order to help make the stories believable/watchable. But the reason Law & Order has been able to survive for so long with so many cast changes is because there's not that emotional connection with the characters. There is some, but they don't really do many personal stories for those characters. It's all about the job and solving the crime of the week.

Even with Doctor Who, it's been able to work because although the ACTOR changes, it's still the same character (to an extent). You're still watching Doctor Who even though it's now David Tennant instead of Christopher Ecceleston. But Torchwood without Ianto, Owen and Toshiko (and now quite possibly Captain Jack) just DOES NOT WORK. The writers did such a tremendous job of weaving these characters into the heart of the show and making each week's "monster" personal on some level, that continuing the show without any of them just seems impossible. Especially if season 4 becomes the Gwen and Rhys show. I love Rhys, really, but Gwen has never done anything for me.

In fact, back when I started watching season 1, I seriously considered turning it off and not watching anymore after a couple episodes because I was led to believe that Torchwood would be the Captain Jack Show, not The Random Mary Sue and Her Reaction to Captain Jack Show. I know there are lots of Gwen fans out there, and I'm not bashing her. I've just never been able to identify with her the way I was supposed to. And I understand her purpose on the show. She was "us" in the story. The outsider who would bring us along on her wild & fantastic journey. And when the whole Owen Affair started? Forget it. Then telling Rhys and drugging him to make him forget? Yeah, nice way to make her sympathetic to your audience. [/sarcasm]

So, going back, if I can. Taking what RTD and JG have said makes me "understand" the deaths of Ianto, Owen & Tosh but it doesn't make them any less needless to me. They died to serve the story. That's it. Not even their story. Just the show's story. Which, I'm sorry, is a really shitty reason to kill off characters. At least, THESE characters.

Comments

[whisper99.livejournal.com]

Dude, are they kidding?? The only reason I watch Torchwood is because of Captain Jack. I mean hell, it's the Cap'n Jack show for me. I never watched it for any of the others. I mean, I cried when we lost Owen the first and second time, I cried when we lost Tosh, I cried when we lost that poor boy they kept freezing and dammit, I even cried when we lost Ianto's Lisa!!! But all of that wasn't anything cuz I watched the show for Jack.

To quote Bobby. Idjits.

[switch842.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah. RTD is coming across as a colossal ass right now. It's just not good.

[whisper99.livejournal.com]

I mean, I'm not even mad, y'know? Cuz total AU.

If the BBC comes back with Torchwood for a 'new' season, I'm so not even there. Pffft.

[switch842.livejournal.com]

Oh, no. Torchwood is over for me.

[hatusu.livejournal.com]

I finally watched "Torchwood, Children of the Earth". The advantage I believe I had over you is that I saw the show after the show where everything was discussed. Russel T. Davies said that he knows what is going to happen next and it's all up to BBC. Evie Miles and John Barrowman emphatically said that they would come back.

As for your theory about actor turnover, money may be part of it, but I think Russel T. Davies' main motivation is to scare us and keep us on our toes.

Now what about Jack's daughter? Something has to be resolved there, but can it be resolved?

[switch842.livejournal.com]

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<i.I think Russel T. Davies' main motivation is to scare us and keep us on our toes.</i>

Which is fine. But he just went about it ALL WRONG. Why wait two full season to permanently kill off cast if that was the plan all along. People should have been dying off in season 1. Yes, there was Suzie, but she was only in the first episode, so that doesn't really count.

[hatusu.livejournal.com]

It wouldn't have the same dramatic impact. Actually, what bothered me the most was Jack's "sacrifice" of his own young grandson.

Jack, I thought you had learned.

[switch842.livejournal.com]

Have you watched Torchwood since the beginning? Or are you new with the CoE arc?

I think the thing that bothered me most about the sacrifice was how quickly it all came together. I mean, five days of build-up. 3 1/2 of those spent "fighting" the enemy and 10 minutes before the end of Day Five, they finally have their solution? It just, did not work for me at all.

[hatusu.livejournal.com]

I thought the solution was very convenient and it didn't make sense, but that was the McGuffin. The real purpose was Jack's horrible choice.

[hatusu.livejournal.com]

I watched it from the beginning. I may have been more ready for Ianto's death because I guessed it from everyone's posts on Twitter and the way he was a big focus in the show.