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beccatoriaOkay, so, I have successfully moved myself, my husband, and all our stuff back into my parents house and we have started on our distance learning course. I now know the difference between the definite article and an indefinite article (see what I did there, hur hur?) and all sorts of various bloody tenses. Including the future perfect continuous. What the hell kind of name for a tense is that? "I will have been being," indeed. Pfft.
And we've only just started. Ugh. Still - eyes on the ULTIMATE GOAL!
And at least now I have decadent wireless internet and can surf the net FROM MY BED! And it only took, like, four days to get my parents to let me set it up. Go me! Sorry if I've missed anything important on my flist: I've had a brief flick through and I don't think I have, but I could well have missed something, and if so - please comment and direct me to it! :D
It's...interesting living with Kev and my parents. But...hmm. I'll discuss that later. Maybe.
On to Torchwood, which I finally got around to watching it: I didn't even know it had started!
So, it had an AWESOME start because, that place where the blowfish in the sportscar lets the old woman cross the road? THAT'S THREE HUNDRED YARDS FROM MY HOUSE! Or something like that. It's the other end of the little village (which makes me sound like I live in the countryside; I don't - it's a suburb, that's just what our shopping area is called) that's like a two minute walk from my house. I was like, "Dude! I was there an hour ago walking home after buying Coke at a ridiculously late hour!" (I should note that's Coke as in Coca Cola, not as in the Coke the blowfish was high on). And then I was like, "Dude! That was a high speed car chase right past the shop where I bought that Coke!"
All of which is probably entirely uninteresting to anyone except me, but what can I say? I don't live in New York or London so I'm not used to seeing my home turf on scifi tv! :D
Okay, on from there it gets...less good.
I'm enjoying the new, more flirty, more like his first introduction Captain Jack and it makes me feel sad I only managed to get through one episode of the 10th Doctor Captain Jack episodes because they GOT RID OF CADFAEL AND REPLACED HIM WITH SAM TYLER AND DESTROYED MY SOUL. So I guess he had some sort of transcendant experience or something? And decided that he was in love with Gwen even though that sort of came OUT OF NOWHERE.
Srsly. I approve of Gwen moving her work-crush as far away from Skeezy Owen as possible, and I suppose at least she always had a bit of a distant crush on Jack, but I remember even being a bit confused as to why it was her that got that whole "I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU *GOODBYEKISS*" scene at the end of last season because...well they seem to only be close when its convenient to the writers.
Meanwhile, at least Jack finally made an honest man out of Ianto and asked him on a proper date, though I still think how they handled that relationship last season was beyond weird. What was with all the subtext when this is the show that seems to exist to let the writers run around like seven year olds shouting, "SEX!"? It's not like they were even playing against type and subtexting it in order to be more romantic. It was truly weird. But whatever, it provides a nice segue to:
PEOPLE OF TORCHWOOD: SOME OF YOU ARE TOO GOOD FOR OTHERS OF YOU!
Ianto: I'm not sure I think you're "too good" for Jack, but you're certainly "too good" to be his second choice after Gwen turns him down. That said, you don't know that, so I forgive you for saying yes to the date. That also said, I have a sneaking suspicion that Jack's ultimate goal was to come back to Cardiff and settle down with you and Gwen at the same time. Which could work okay if Gwen wasn't such a needy whiner (albeit one I kind of like) and didn't insist on tacking Jack's name to the end of every bloody sentence.
Tosh: Tosh, I cannot stress this enough: You are too good for Owen. Everyone on this team is too good for Owen, and you're better than the rest of this team. DO YOU UNDERSTAND HOW BENEATH YOU OWEN IS? Stop crushing on him. Please. The evil alien from My Family was a better choice than him, and she tried to kill you. Also, good luck with that whole attempt to get a plotline thing. If it ever happens, page me.
Owen: Everyone is too good for you. Start dating elsewhere, preferably far away from me, and if you could swap your screen time allotment with Tosh, that'd be good too.
Jack: Explain to me again the bit where you're in love with Gwen?
Gwen: Treat Rhys better. Let's forget, for an instant, the fact that I found the line, "Well nobody else'll have me," really funny in its deliver, and get back to the fact that while - due to your job - I might be able to forgive you the lying and emotional infidelity, you've also been physically cheating on him, and have abused and violated him by mind-wiping him uneccessarily and in an attempt to use him as an object: a path to cheap forgiveness. I don't doubt you love him, Gwen. You screaming over his dead body at the end of last season was probably one of the most real moments you've had on this show. So much so I almost wish he'd stayed dead; the price of your decisions and how you treated him, and something you'd always have to live with. Rather than still being here, but of both in- and out-of-universe jokes, and a convenient McGuffin for romantic problems. The guy deserves more respect, dude. And loving him doesn't mean you're treating him right. The fact that you love him isn't enough. And that's hard, and scary, but it isn't enough.
If you've all noticed that I haven't really been commenting on the plot...well...what's there to say? Another evil dangerous plot that revolves around money. That comes down to people throwaway lining explanations at the last minute about why they can't just cut of Spike's arm (it'd be my first idea) despite the fact that it makes no sense (srsly, Tosh might as well have shouted in response, "Can't do that, it'll detonate the plot!"), and the bizarre fact that the uber bomb actually exploded five seconds after it was removed, not, as advertised, instantly. Okay, screwed up DNA, etc. I know, I know.
It just...eh. It was all right, I guess. But mostly it was functional.
I suppose Captain Spike was kind of fun. Though it makes me wonder if he and Jack were con-artists during their time with the time-police (which would tell us a lot about that outfit including why Jack runs Torchwood the way he does?) or if that was afterwards? It's all so confuseded.
The thing at the end with "I found Grey," was cheap, too. But again, I expect no less of this show.
Oh, also, paralysing lip gloss? How, exactly, doesn't it paralyse you when you put it on? (And perhaps Jack ought to have said, "Never let him kiss you because he's wearing paralysing lip gloss," instead of just, "Never let him kiss you?")
So, yeah. Lots of headdesky interpersonal relationships, though I am genuinely a little interested in the fact that they're all pissed at Jack for buggering off. And a rather dull but vaguely entertaining plot. Hoorah.
ETA: And I'm a moron because I also wanted to add another facet of being-in-Cardiffness to this post:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
hmpf sends you awesome packages full of literature and chocolate and cookies! So - yes, I got it safe and it rocks and thank you! :)
And we've only just started. Ugh. Still - eyes on the ULTIMATE GOAL!
And at least now I have decadent wireless internet and can surf the net FROM MY BED! And it only took, like, four days to get my parents to let me set it up. Go me! Sorry if I've missed anything important on my flist: I've had a brief flick through and I don't think I have, but I could well have missed something, and if so - please comment and direct me to it! :D
It's...interesting living with Kev and my parents. But...hmm. I'll discuss that later. Maybe.
On to Torchwood, which I finally got around to watching it: I didn't even know it had started!
So, it had an AWESOME start because, that place where the blowfish in the sportscar lets the old woman cross the road? THAT'S THREE HUNDRED YARDS FROM MY HOUSE! Or something like that. It's the other end of the little village (which makes me sound like I live in the countryside; I don't - it's a suburb, that's just what our shopping area is called) that's like a two minute walk from my house. I was like, "Dude! I was there an hour ago walking home after buying Coke at a ridiculously late hour!" (I should note that's Coke as in Coca Cola, not as in the Coke the blowfish was high on). And then I was like, "Dude! That was a high speed car chase right past the shop where I bought that Coke!"
All of which is probably entirely uninteresting to anyone except me, but what can I say? I don't live in New York or London so I'm not used to seeing my home turf on scifi tv! :D
Okay, on from there it gets...less good.
I'm enjoying the new, more flirty, more like his first introduction Captain Jack and it makes me feel sad I only managed to get through one episode of the 10th Doctor Captain Jack episodes because they GOT RID OF CADFAEL AND REPLACED HIM WITH SAM TYLER AND DESTROYED MY SOUL. So I guess he had some sort of transcendant experience or something? And decided that he was in love with Gwen even though that sort of came OUT OF NOWHERE.
Srsly. I approve of Gwen moving her work-crush as far away from Skeezy Owen as possible, and I suppose at least she always had a bit of a distant crush on Jack, but I remember even being a bit confused as to why it was her that got that whole "I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU *GOODBYEKISS*" scene at the end of last season because...well they seem to only be close when its convenient to the writers.
Meanwhile, at least Jack finally made an honest man out of Ianto and asked him on a proper date, though I still think how they handled that relationship last season was beyond weird. What was with all the subtext when this is the show that seems to exist to let the writers run around like seven year olds shouting, "SEX!"? It's not like they were even playing against type and subtexting it in order to be more romantic. It was truly weird. But whatever, it provides a nice segue to:
PEOPLE OF TORCHWOOD: SOME OF YOU ARE TOO GOOD FOR OTHERS OF YOU!
Ianto: I'm not sure I think you're "too good" for Jack, but you're certainly "too good" to be his second choice after Gwen turns him down. That said, you don't know that, so I forgive you for saying yes to the date. That also said, I have a sneaking suspicion that Jack's ultimate goal was to come back to Cardiff and settle down with you and Gwen at the same time. Which could work okay if Gwen wasn't such a needy whiner (albeit one I kind of like) and didn't insist on tacking Jack's name to the end of every bloody sentence.
Tosh: Tosh, I cannot stress this enough: You are too good for Owen. Everyone on this team is too good for Owen, and you're better than the rest of this team. DO YOU UNDERSTAND HOW BENEATH YOU OWEN IS? Stop crushing on him. Please. The evil alien from My Family was a better choice than him, and she tried to kill you. Also, good luck with that whole attempt to get a plotline thing. If it ever happens, page me.
Owen: Everyone is too good for you. Start dating elsewhere, preferably far away from me, and if you could swap your screen time allotment with Tosh, that'd be good too.
Jack: Explain to me again the bit where you're in love with Gwen?
Gwen: Treat Rhys better. Let's forget, for an instant, the fact that I found the line, "Well nobody else'll have me," really funny in its deliver, and get back to the fact that while - due to your job - I might be able to forgive you the lying and emotional infidelity, you've also been physically cheating on him, and have abused and violated him by mind-wiping him uneccessarily and in an attempt to use him as an object: a path to cheap forgiveness. I don't doubt you love him, Gwen. You screaming over his dead body at the end of last season was probably one of the most real moments you've had on this show. So much so I almost wish he'd stayed dead; the price of your decisions and how you treated him, and something you'd always have to live with. Rather than still being here, but of both in- and out-of-universe jokes, and a convenient McGuffin for romantic problems. The guy deserves more respect, dude. And loving him doesn't mean you're treating him right. The fact that you love him isn't enough. And that's hard, and scary, but it isn't enough.
If you've all noticed that I haven't really been commenting on the plot...well...what's there to say? Another evil dangerous plot that revolves around money. That comes down to people throwaway lining explanations at the last minute about why they can't just cut of Spike's arm (it'd be my first idea) despite the fact that it makes no sense (srsly, Tosh might as well have shouted in response, "Can't do that, it'll detonate the plot!"), and the bizarre fact that the uber bomb actually exploded five seconds after it was removed, not, as advertised, instantly. Okay, screwed up DNA, etc. I know, I know.
It just...eh. It was all right, I guess. But mostly it was functional.
I suppose Captain Spike was kind of fun. Though it makes me wonder if he and Jack were con-artists during their time with the time-police (which would tell us a lot about that outfit including why Jack runs Torchwood the way he does?) or if that was afterwards? It's all so confuseded.
The thing at the end with "I found Grey," was cheap, too. But again, I expect no less of this show.
Oh, also, paralysing lip gloss? How, exactly, doesn't it paralyse you when you put it on? (And perhaps Jack ought to have said, "Never let him kiss you because he's wearing paralysing lip gloss," instead of just, "Never let him kiss you?")
So, yeah. Lots of headdesky interpersonal relationships, though I am genuinely a little interested in the fact that they're all pissed at Jack for buggering off. And a rather dull but vaguely entertaining plot. Hoorah.
ETA: And I'm a moron because I also wanted to add another facet of being-in-Cardiffness to this post:
hmpf sends you awesome packages full of literature and chocolate and cookies! So - yes, I got it safe and it rocks and thank you! :)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-01-22 11:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-23 06:18 pm (UTC)...I need a grammar icon.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-22 12:27 pm (UTC)for some reason, torchwood was always the lesser of the two shows (the other, of course, being dr who) in terms of writing, plotting, and acting - and lets face it, with some of the dross thats been served up on dr who, thats saying something!
instead, the writers seem to have gone for a "bring your own 'ship" approach, which seems to be alienating the mainstream viewers, anda fair chunk of the genre fans who dont do the whole 'fic thing.
which is essentially what this show is turning into - a massive, televised, fanfic wankathon.
and not very well done either - im fully expecting a charecter called "mary sue" to turn up and shag jack, ianto, and **tosses a coin** josh.1
hmmm - possibly called martha, to try and stop people from noticing right away, but still...
the plot?
can be summed up with the phrase "oh FFS!" **headdesk**
not surprising with the writer, though - he came up with some of the crappest torchwood eps, and this was another in a long line.
1 not neccesarily all at once - but you never know with these writers.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-22 12:53 pm (UTC)Shit story. Shit acting. Shit dialogue. It is, as you say, a televised fanfic wankathon written by teenagers.
I don't have any problem with people enjoying it I might add, hell, I used to quite like Andromeda, which was also deeply shit. It's perfectly okay to enjoy crap tv. But what I don't understand is how people are arguing that Torchwood is actually ~good~...
no subject
Date: 2008-01-22 01:50 pm (UTC)Me either. If people watched it in the 'It's so bad it's funny!' way that would be one thing, but to argue it's merits? What merits??? And while John Barrowman may have a terrific singing voice and be easy on the eyes, he's not much of an actor. It terrifies me that he was up for the role of Lee Adama.
Btw, love your icon!
no subject
Date: 2008-01-23 06:02 pm (UTC)And thank you! :)
no subject
Date: 2008-01-23 06:54 pm (UTC)jack is great as the doctors sidekick/foil, but leading his own team... not so much...
having said that, it could be because theyre having to keep the wank down to a minimum in dr who, seeing as its still fairly rooted in the genre mainstream.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-24 02:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-24 02:34 pm (UTC)*shudders*
no subject
Date: 2008-01-25 02:23 am (UTC)BBC America is running the episodes here about two weeks behind their British debut. Since I really don't like the show, I'm not bothering to download and will just bitch two weeks behind everyone else. ;p
no subject
Date: 2008-01-25 12:18 pm (UTC)And apparently an evil alien managed to knock out the countries communications system by blowing up what appeared to be a sub-post-office.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-23 06:26 pm (UTC)Indeed, the spoof moment was mighty!
for some reason, torchwood was always the lesser of the two shows (the other, of course, being dr who) in terms of writing, plotting, and acting - and lets face it, with some of the dross thats been served up on dr who, thats saying something!
I think it irritates me because that shouldn't be the case; the two are trying to do something very different, but while they've found a style that (largely, or at least conceptually) works well for DW, just adding swear words and lots of sex doesn't immediately make the style any different, doesn't make it more mature, and certainly doesn't stop it from jarring with the original style. :(
instead, the writers seem to have gone for a "bring your own 'ship" approach, which seems to be alienating the mainstream viewers, anda fair chunk of the genre fans who dont do the whole 'fic thing.
HAHAHA! I'd never thought of it that way, but that's great.
hmmm - possibly called martha, to try and stop people from noticing right away, but still...
I dunno, I quite like Martha and think the problem, if anything, is that she wasn't enough of a Mary Sue to compete with Rose (who I also liked, mind you). I feel bad for her all kicked off of DW and dispaced to TW, so I hope she at least gets to break SOMEONE'S heart!
(That said, I've seen her in a grand total of three episodes, so I suppose I might change my mind about her likeability. That said, that said, I think Torchwood can write anyone to be unlikeable...)
no subject
Date: 2008-01-22 01:46 pm (UTC)::uses my grammar icon in your honor::
no subject
Date: 2008-01-23 06:50 pm (UTC)To be honest, I think that this episode isn't going to change anyone's opinions of the show. All the stuff you might have liked or disliked about the show is there still and...and while it's closer to They Keep Killing Suzie than Countrycide, it's not close enough to impress me.
However, as you say, writers strike = some amount of desperation. (Though who are we kidding; I'd watch this show however bad it got, I think, because it's WELSH SCIENCE FICTION and that's just...awesome. Even if it's awful. Plus it tells me that if I walk down the road at the right time of night, I might see a coked up blowfish in a sports car).
no subject
Date: 2008-01-24 02:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-22 05:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-23 06:50 pm (UTC)That is all. ;)
It should be noted...
Date: 2008-01-22 07:07 pm (UTC)Re: It should be noted...
Date: 2008-01-23 06:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-27 12:07 am (UTC)The Old lady the Blowfish allowed to cross the road used to play a nutty old psychic women on Pobol y Cwm a year or so back.
Now after this fish speeds off and Torchwood pulls up and ask her have you seen a bullfish she gives directions and exclaims "bloody torchwood!"
No old women should know about such a top secret organisations so she must be psychic hence Pobol y Cwm cross over!
no subject
Date: 2008-01-27 01:13 pm (UTC)