Torchwood 4.08 and Rescue Me
Sep. 9th, 2011 03:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ericadawn16Oooh, we're going to get answers!
Maybe?
Probably not...
Like we didn't see THAT coming...
Esther is on an open line? Of course, the FBI are going to come.
Okay, what's the point of characters if you're going to kill them off after five scenes? At least Suzie had a major part and her death was really well done that first episode. These deaths are just coming off like, "Fire good! Explosions pretty!"
I read recently that there were supposed to be thirteen episodes. I hope that was the Monster of the Week format but I'm beginning to think it was Miracle Day and then when they cut it down, some characters were cut down as well. However, I can't imagine this going on for thirteen episodes. It's very, very, very plodding as it is without as much zip as I remember from the earlier series. I will admit that the second half seems to be an improvement on the first.
I really like some of the scene with Jack and Angelo and how it shows once again how close to the surface Jack's grief truly is...
It's subtle. It's only been discussed or alluded to a few times, but then again, that's the cardinal rule of writing, especially script-writing:
SHOW, DON'T TELL!
Unfortunately, Jack kissed Angelo which is sweet but causes his death. I know there's a certain irony and it's nice that Jack was there except I doubt he really noticed but...
It reinforces that Jack gets everyone he truly loves...killed. Isn't it bad enough that, like the Doctor, they can grow old with him but he can never grow old with them?
It's interesting though because as much as he feels he should die for what he did...he also really wants to live. He spent all those years wanting to be fixed and then in season two, he finally really embraced it. He pretended to be normal, he went on dates with Ianto and possibly got a sports car...we don't know, we never saw his car before COE. Then, COE happened and it all went to shit again so now he's having to sort of face those feelings again of wanting to be human.
So, apparently, Greece and Spain took down the EU which is kind of...uh, yeah, they're threatening to do that now without any weird global epidemic?
I guess the banks have collapsed, too?
(sighs) I just really prefer more fantasy than trying to be "real". I'm good with aliens and shape-shifters and spaceships that travel through time and all sorts of things but...you seriously think the banks are going to fail over this?
I find that highly unlikely...
Here's what I'm picturing...with more strain on resources, demand will go up and prices will go up so there could be runs on the banks as the poor and middle class have to close their accounts. Adding to the problems, and why they have to close their accounts, is that people will be purchasing less and less which will lead to even more unemployment. Once again, I'm thinking about how we still don't know how the funeral industry is coping. Are the ashes being released and funerals resuming? Are they just screwed?
However, the rich will always be rich and they will need banks and they will make sure the banks stay just like when they bailed them out...using our money, but still, it was the rich that made sure it happened.
Along these lines, if people can start volunteering to become Category 1s, wouldn't the rich push through legislation so they can buy their way out of being Category 1s or pay someone else to go in their place? Just like in the American Civil War?
I mean if Rusty does want to be so "realistic"?
Does the CIA have an integration policy I'm not familiar with? It seems that all black men have to be paired with a very white blonde woman...
Oswald's Girl:
Really? She's an escort in Washington, DC but isn't used to be taken to dinner by sleazy men?
right
So, we spent two seasons bring told how important it was that Torchwood keep alien tech out of the hands of civilians and now we find out it was all sold wherever?
nice
I still want to read the book though...
You shot Jack! You bastards!
OH! I just realized that Jack was the originally Kenny of the DW universe and now Rory is Kenny and Jack is mortal and...weirdness...
I hate that Jack's shot and mortal and we're supposed to be fearing for his life but...JACK AND ESTHER TOGETHER!!!! YAY!!!!
Okay, I've been thinking a lot about Torchwood and Rescue Me
Spoilers for Rescue Me
I mean it, SPOILERS!
BIG SPOILERS!
Well, I'll try to be nice...
The thing is that on the surface, both shows could appear very similar. They're both dramas about professions that save people but have a very rate of either disability or dying young. The main person is a family man who can be both very loving or very wrapped up in himself who's very haunted by the deaths of those around him, including a young boy.
The last ten minutes of the next to last episode of Rescue Me were some of the best ten minutes I had watched in a drama...ever.
When I mention dissatisfaction with a movie or tv show, I'm often asked how much I knew from spoilers as if spoilers would ruin everything. Sometimes, I think they might be right but...I was warned ahead of time that the last ten minutes would have something big. It was implied people would die.
When I watched, I forgot this. I forgot everything. My eyes were riveted to the screen in anticipation of what would come next. THIS is how drama is supposed to work.
Now, how did they do it as opposed to Children of Earth?
The set-up is similar. A group of men went into a building to save some children. However, in COE and MD, Rusty has become obsessed with taking away all their equipment as though that makes them more of an underdog and we all root for underdogs right?
Well, considering how many people they lost when they DID have everything...it doesn't, not to me. It makes them incredibly sad especially when their standard kit, as evidenced in the second episode ever, included gas masks.
Anyway, Jack and Ianto basically go in with nothing and it gets worse from there.
What made those ten minutes of Rescue Me so gripping was that they WERE PREPARED. They had everything; oxygen, axes, flame retardant clothing and comm. devices. Then, as time goes on, these things are slowly stripped away through no fault of their own. This is what makes it both great drama and great tragedy. They DID do everything right and it still wasn't enough.
The fact that the last episode revealed that most of them made it out alive didn't negate any of the tragedy or drama. They were able to linger on the survivors and how they were impacted. It addressed a lot of the things that Gwen had mentioned about being a survivor and actually SHOWED US!
I have to watch 4.09 again before I do a post with it and then, of course, tonight is the finale...
Maybe?
Probably not...
Like we didn't see THAT coming...
Esther is on an open line? Of course, the FBI are going to come.
Okay, what's the point of characters if you're going to kill them off after five scenes? At least Suzie had a major part and her death was really well done that first episode. These deaths are just coming off like, "Fire good! Explosions pretty!"
I read recently that there were supposed to be thirteen episodes. I hope that was the Monster of the Week format but I'm beginning to think it was Miracle Day and then when they cut it down, some characters were cut down as well. However, I can't imagine this going on for thirteen episodes. It's very, very, very plodding as it is without as much zip as I remember from the earlier series. I will admit that the second half seems to be an improvement on the first.
I really like some of the scene with Jack and Angelo and how it shows once again how close to the surface Jack's grief truly is...
It's subtle. It's only been discussed or alluded to a few times, but then again, that's the cardinal rule of writing, especially script-writing:
SHOW, DON'T TELL!
Unfortunately, Jack kissed Angelo which is sweet but causes his death. I know there's a certain irony and it's nice that Jack was there except I doubt he really noticed but...
It reinforces that Jack gets everyone he truly loves...killed. Isn't it bad enough that, like the Doctor, they can grow old with him but he can never grow old with them?
It's interesting though because as much as he feels he should die for what he did...he also really wants to live. He spent all those years wanting to be fixed and then in season two, he finally really embraced it. He pretended to be normal, he went on dates with Ianto and possibly got a sports car...we don't know, we never saw his car before COE. Then, COE happened and it all went to shit again so now he's having to sort of face those feelings again of wanting to be human.
So, apparently, Greece and Spain took down the EU which is kind of...uh, yeah, they're threatening to do that now without any weird global epidemic?
I guess the banks have collapsed, too?
(sighs) I just really prefer more fantasy than trying to be "real". I'm good with aliens and shape-shifters and spaceships that travel through time and all sorts of things but...you seriously think the banks are going to fail over this?
I find that highly unlikely...
Here's what I'm picturing...with more strain on resources, demand will go up and prices will go up so there could be runs on the banks as the poor and middle class have to close their accounts. Adding to the problems, and why they have to close their accounts, is that people will be purchasing less and less which will lead to even more unemployment. Once again, I'm thinking about how we still don't know how the funeral industry is coping. Are the ashes being released and funerals resuming? Are they just screwed?
However, the rich will always be rich and they will need banks and they will make sure the banks stay just like when they bailed them out...using our money, but still, it was the rich that made sure it happened.
Along these lines, if people can start volunteering to become Category 1s, wouldn't the rich push through legislation so they can buy their way out of being Category 1s or pay someone else to go in their place? Just like in the American Civil War?
I mean if Rusty does want to be so "realistic"?
Does the CIA have an integration policy I'm not familiar with? It seems that all black men have to be paired with a very white blonde woman...
Oswald's Girl:
Really? She's an escort in Washington, DC but isn't used to be taken to dinner by sleazy men?
right
So, we spent two seasons bring told how important it was that Torchwood keep alien tech out of the hands of civilians and now we find out it was all sold wherever?
nice
I still want to read the book though...
You shot Jack! You bastards!
OH! I just realized that Jack was the originally Kenny of the DW universe and now Rory is Kenny and Jack is mortal and...weirdness...
I hate that Jack's shot and mortal and we're supposed to be fearing for his life but...JACK AND ESTHER TOGETHER!!!! YAY!!!!
Okay, I've been thinking a lot about Torchwood and Rescue Me
Spoilers for Rescue Me
I mean it, SPOILERS!
BIG SPOILERS!
Well, I'll try to be nice...
The thing is that on the surface, both shows could appear very similar. They're both dramas about professions that save people but have a very rate of either disability or dying young. The main person is a family man who can be both very loving or very wrapped up in himself who's very haunted by the deaths of those around him, including a young boy.
The last ten minutes of the next to last episode of Rescue Me were some of the best ten minutes I had watched in a drama...ever.
When I mention dissatisfaction with a movie or tv show, I'm often asked how much I knew from spoilers as if spoilers would ruin everything. Sometimes, I think they might be right but...I was warned ahead of time that the last ten minutes would have something big. It was implied people would die.
When I watched, I forgot this. I forgot everything. My eyes were riveted to the screen in anticipation of what would come next. THIS is how drama is supposed to work.
Now, how did they do it as opposed to Children of Earth?
The set-up is similar. A group of men went into a building to save some children. However, in COE and MD, Rusty has become obsessed with taking away all their equipment as though that makes them more of an underdog and we all root for underdogs right?
Well, considering how many people they lost when they DID have everything...it doesn't, not to me. It makes them incredibly sad especially when their standard kit, as evidenced in the second episode ever, included gas masks.
Anyway, Jack and Ianto basically go in with nothing and it gets worse from there.
What made those ten minutes of Rescue Me so gripping was that they WERE PREPARED. They had everything; oxygen, axes, flame retardant clothing and comm. devices. Then, as time goes on, these things are slowly stripped away through no fault of their own. This is what makes it both great drama and great tragedy. They DID do everything right and it still wasn't enough.
The fact that the last episode revealed that most of them made it out alive didn't negate any of the tragedy or drama. They were able to linger on the survivors and how they were impacted. It addressed a lot of the things that Gwen had mentioned about being a survivor and actually SHOWED US!
I have to watch 4.09 again before I do a post with it and then, of course, tonight is the finale...
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2011-09-09 08:14 pm (UTC)(sighs) I just really prefer more fantasy than trying to be "real". I'm good with aliens and shape-shifters and spaceships that travel through time and all sorts of things but..
Same. I liked it when people were blissfully unaware of things going on, assuming that the bad things they knew had happened were just crazy psychopaths or, as Rhys apparently thought (according to Gwen), people on drugs. It still came a bit close to "yeah right" for me - I prefer how Harry Potter and Buffy do it, where most of the WTF is confined to one area where people are either frequent guests at the Idiot Ball or they're all in that world to begin with. Torchwood and Doctor Who always came a bit close to the real world for me. But honestly, from the little I saw and the little more I've heard about MD, it's almost more a medical drama than it is a show about aliens. And CoE felt more like an ethics drama. It's one thing to have elements of those, which the show certainly always did - it's another to have a plotline taken over completely by those things.
no subject
Date: 2011-09-09 08:42 pm (UTC)--> That's because Miracle Day is a 10 episode series.
I'm still okay with miracle day as being what it is. I think the working girl's think was a I don't want to be seen in public or by other's with you about Danes, a job is a job and all but she'll only pretend within the bounds of what she is paid for.
having seen the blessing thing I'm really just stuck on naughty jokes and presuming what Jack will do with it.
no subject
Date: 2011-09-10 08:47 pm (UTC)Yeah, I was expecting naughty jokes but it seems everyone caught what it looks like except Jack?
They really did make him more gay than pansexual this year...
no subject
Date: 2011-09-09 10:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-10 08:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-10 09:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-11 06:21 pm (UTC)