Torchwood fears

[alixtii]

All the people who didn't like Torchwood for the first series for reasons I couldn't fathom are cautiously optimistic about the second series--and for some reason that has me really scared. I mean, there's a lot to look forward to. UNIT has a lot of promise to act as an effective foil to Torchwood Three, as a representation of how protecting the world should look like. But I'm afraid it's going to abandon the darkness of the first series, in exchange for--I'm not even sure what. Camp, maybe?

If Torchwood abandons the fact that Torchwood members aren't good people, then it effectively validates everything that happens in the first series--it becomes a show about why hacking into CCTV systems (still seems like an oxymoron to me) isn't so bad after all. And we really don't need another show like that (we already have 24, God help us) and I can't put my support behind a show that encourages the view that civil liberties aren't important.

The show I fell in love with is about how power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely, while acknowledging the allure and appeal of that power. If series two turns into a show about how absolute power is actually sorta cool, I'm not sure what I will do. Cry, maybe.

*crosses fingers*

ETA: I watched the first two minutes and I feel a little bit better. *still crossing fingers*

Comments

[dkompare.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't say "perfect," by any stretch! The problem is twofold, as I see it. One: the characters are ostensibly adults (albeit, with the exception of Jack, incredibly immature ones). Two: there's not enough internal consistency to sell it as such.

I could almost buy it if the team were all supposed to be, say, 22 or so, full of youthful arrogance and ego. But they're supposed to be around 30 (IMHO), which makes such behavior pathetic and/or creepy. I'm not saying they should become austere professionals; I'm just saying they should show just a bit more competence.

OTOH, perhaps Jack has some master plan. After all, if he was somehow "entrusted" with Torchwood Three (or took it upon himself very seriously) you'd think he would have assembled a much more mature team (not necessarily age-wise, just behavior-wise). But he didn't, which makes me wonder whether these particular folks (or their descendants?) have some role to play down the line that requires them to be in Torchwood now.

AFAIK, series two will lay down a few more clues about Jack's 51st century life, so maybe we'll see a bit of this as well. I swear, though, if Gwen humps another alien-infested Welsh lass out of the blue...

[alixtii.livejournal.com]

The characters are certainly biologically adults, but I'm not sure why that should affect the type of adolescent fantasy being presented: Batman and Superman are adults, as are the majority of their rogues galleries; the Doctor himself is 900+ years old, etc.

I was shocked at the high level of what I saw as thematic consistency within the show. With the exception of "Small Worlds" (Which came out of nowhere) I can't think of a single moment when the Torchwood team were what one could call good guys. There arrogance and egotism is continual. Their overall ethic seems to be based on a line of Owen's in ep 2: "We don't miss."

I'm far from convinced that Jack is not immature. Nor that his superiors (the Crown, I guess) necessarily saw Cardiff as a priority prior to the destruction of Torchwood 1.

I agree that Torchwood 3's behavior is creepy and pathetic; I think the genius of the show is exactly in the way in which it reveals the limitations of adolescent wish-fulfillment in this way.

The more competence Torchwood 3 shows, the more the message of the show as a whole becomes that a secret extragovernmental organization set up to "protect" Britain is a viable option.