{"id":464,"date":"2011-07-18T13:00:13","date_gmt":"2011-07-18T20:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=464"},"modified":"2011-07-17T20:49:18","modified_gmt":"2011-07-18T03:49:18","slug":"mark-watches-torchwood-children-of-earth-day-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2011\/07\/mark-watches-torchwood-children-of-earth-day-one\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Torchwood: Children of Earth’: Day One"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the first episode of the Torchwood: Children of Earth<\/em> mini-series, the Torchwood team begins to track a mysterious phenomenon: something is controlling all of the earth\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s children and getting them to speak the same message at the same time, warning that, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We are coming.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s (finally) time for Mark to watch Torchwood<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Surprised you, didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t I? I know that Battlestar: Galactica <\/em>is going to take me a while, so I wanted to do a brief trip through another show before starting that, and the Children of Earth <\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153season\u00e2\u20ac\u009d fits perfectly into a single week. Since I finished watching Doctor Who<\/em> for this site, I did manage to watch the first two seasons of Torchwood<\/em> on my own. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve liked it so far. Perhaps not nearly as much as Doctor Who<\/em>, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been a fun (and fairly queer) ride so far, even if it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not the most consistent show ever.<\/p>\n

To make sure we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re all on the same page, anything that has aired before this series is not<\/strong> considered a spoiler, so feel free to discuss anything and everything pertaining to series one and two. However, anything that takes place beyond this episode will be considered a spoiler, so please be as careful as possible, ok? Thanks!<\/p>\n

DAY ONE<\/strong><\/h1>\n

More so than probably anything I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve watched for this site, the first \u00e2\u20ac\u0153day\u00e2\u20ac\u009d of the Children of Earth<\/em> mini-series felt like I was watching a British version of The X-Files<\/em>. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a secret anymore that The X-Files <\/em>is my favorite television show of all time, so when another show faithfully reminds me of it, you can accept that as a compliment. At the same time, I must admit that Children of Earth<\/em> seems a tad jarring in comparison with the past two series. The show has conquered wide-scale attacks, creepy imagery, and alien invasion many times before, but the quality of the writing, cinematography, and character interactions just feels…different? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been hard to quantify exactly what<\/em> feels so different this time around. Is the writing inherently taking itself more seriously? I get a sense of that, but that seems a bit unfair to Russell T Davies. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think Torchwood<\/em> is a joke by any means, but it is kind of campy at times, certainly more so than Doctor Who<\/em>. (Well…ok, maybe not all<\/em> the time, as both Davies and Moffat have done some over-the-top entertainment quite well.)<\/p>\n

And if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to use the trope of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Children Doing Creepy Things,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got to be something done to make sure it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s extra<\/em> creepy. So why not have every single child on the planet suddenly stop whatever they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re doing, stare into the middle distance, and then repeat the words, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We are coming,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d over and over again? That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a good start, I think!<\/p>\n

On top of that, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Day One\u00e2\u20ac\u009d continues in more interesting character developments that also keep my attention, particularly when it comes to Ianto and Jack\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s relationship. I found myself mostly enjoying Gwen Cooper over the others in terms of a favorite character, but I personally identify more with what Ianto has gone through. (Again: sort of<\/em>. Obviously my life is nothing like the Torchwood team, though I would not complain if it was<\/em>.) I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not going to lie: I was pleased to see Ianto and Jack acknowledged as an actual<\/em> couple for the first time, and I just wanted to curl up in a blankie and dream of puppy dogs frolicking in a field of cotton balls. Of course, things are not that <\/em>easy, as Jack himself doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have the same desire as Ianto to rigidly define their relationship. (When I was younger, I fell far more into Ianto\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s camp on this one, for what it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s worth.)<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Day One\u00e2\u20ac\u009d also introduces one of the most attractive dudes to ever grace my screen: Dr. Rupesh Pantanjali. Not apologizing for that one. Since Torchwood was down to three at this point, Rupesh\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s infectious excitement seemed to make him a fairly good candidate for the next member to join Torchwood, and after Gwen met with him (and they both witnessed yet another bizarre incident with the children), it seemed pretty obvious that he would<\/em> be next.<\/p>\n

Oh, red herrings!<\/p>\n

I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want this to seem like any sort of criticism of the writing, but I found myself far more intrigued by the subplot involving Lois Habiba, UNIT, and the Home Office. I have no qualms about liking this specific trope, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a fan of stories that hint at a larger conspiracy by giving us tiny, seemingly unimportant clues that then get larger and more out of control. Hey, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a simple dude sometimes! Of course<\/em> Lois was going to use her superior\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s login to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153spy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d on what was going on the office, but what does it all mean???<\/em> In a way, the Torchwood team were actually behind<\/em> on everything throughout all of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Day One.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d They acted mostly as the audience up until the UNIT plot began to reveal a lot more of the story to us. Because of this and my insatiable desire to know these stories since I watch things in such an unnatural manner, I found myself aching to return to Lois and John Frobisher\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s stories.<\/p>\n

Well, until the team found out about Timothy White. I am a bit tired of the idea of using someone in a mental institution to solve crimes. Not only has it appeared in science fiction and drama a quarter of a billion times, it just seems silly<\/em> that people who are mentally ill can only appear in shows like this if they exist solely to aid people in an investigation, only to be forgotten or then murdered later on. To be fair, though, I did find the character of Timothy White to be played believably and with a dash of charm to him. I was also completely fascinated by the revelation that he<\/em> was one of the boys on the bus in the cold open of the show. If all those children were taken, how did he get away? I wondered. I think White\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \/ MacDonald\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s story line could have been completely forgettable, but I adored that Gwen treated him with respect and trust, as I imagine that Clem \/ Timothy had not received that sort of attention in a long while. I think that was part of the reason Clem was comfortable enough to tell Gwen that she was pregnant. Which…WHAT THE HELL<\/em>. That came out of nowhere!<\/p>\n

But how was all of this connected? We learn that a group of aliens named \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The 456,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d after the frequency they had previously sent information on back in 1965, appear to be the ones behind these messages and child control. But what are they doing this for? Why use children? Since Clem escaped, is he susceptible to the messages as well? Whatever the answer is, the show does an incredibly job showing us just how serious<\/em> this situation is. Even though I felt as if they were speaking in code, the conversation between Frobisher and Mr. Dekker was electrifying. Bless Peter Capaldi, who played Frobisher, for having such an expressive face when acting. I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what a blank page was, but in the moment Frobisher realized he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d have to ultimately be responsible for it, he looked as if he was about to throw up. What was he being told to do???<\/p>\n

I now feel that Lois is going to have a much bigger part in the coming episodes. When she discovers that the blank page is an order for assassination, we never see her actually<\/em> contact Jack to warn him of the coming danger. Instead, I get all sad to discover that Rupesh was actually a spy the whole time, purposely sent to infiltrate Torchwood. (Was he working for the Home Office? Or another organization? I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know quite yet, unless I was just awful at paying attention.) I also found myself still<\/em> shocked every time that Jack Harkness is murdered, even though I know he can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t die. Is this silly? Yes. 100% absurd<\/strong>. I flinched both times that he was shot, which is a ludicrous concept. IT DOESN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T MATTER, MARK, JUST CALM DOWN. why does my brain work this way<\/em><\/p>\n

Then Rupesh is shot (THIS SCENE COMPLETELY GUTTED ME. He is so sad to realize he is disposable!!!), and some woman named Johnson orders her men to put something<\/em> inside of Jack. A homing device? Something to infiltrate Torchwood with?<\/p>\n

The end scene of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Day One\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (before the chaos) is touching, as Gwen confirms her pregnancy and both Ianto and Jack are ecstatic to hear the news. The best part, though, is the fact that Jack doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think twice about telling her that she doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to worry about her position in Torchwood. That<\/em> is pretty awesome, if you ask me.<\/p>\n

BUT OH WAIT THERE IS A BOMB IN JACK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S STOMACH AND…ok, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not fooling myself this time. He can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t die! Right? Right?<\/em> But has he been blown up before? Is this an exception??? How does he put himself together after that? Oh, christ, maybe he can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t<\/em> survive. Either way, HOLY HELL, WHAT A KISS. Right? I mean, imagine some guy you just started dating kisses you like that<\/em> before he…um…blows up? Ok, I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t imagine that. STILL. Why blow up Torchwood? Is the Home Office or the MI5 interested in allowing<\/em> this alien invasion to take place? I AM CONFUSED.<\/p>\n

Seriously, though, what a cliffhanger. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m guessing all these episodes will have them, won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t they? \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We are coming\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.back.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d OH GOD THEY WHERE HERE BEFORE WHAT IS GOING ON<\/em>.<\/p>\n

THOUGHTS<\/strong><\/p>\n