Torchwood: Children of Earth: Day Five
Jul. 11th, 2009 09:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakUnspoilery: a fantastic ending to a fantastic miniseries. Depending on my schedule, I might write an overview in the next week, but I can't guarantee it. So in case I can't: hands down one of the best tv productions I've been privileged to watch.
I think what I admire most is the perfect (and in sometimes this means absolutely dark and gruesome) pay-off for all the set-ups. Given that Frobisher from the get go was introduced as someone with his own children, it was predictable that in the end, they would be in danger. Ditto for Ianto's niece and nephew. And Jack's grandson. Now, a less well written story would have it all solved by Frobisher killing the Prime Minister, and/or Jack heroically saving his grandson out of the aliens' clutches at the last second. Not so here. The only thing that played out in a predictable way were Rhiannon and the kids and Gwen going on the run with them, and even here the writing and acting was so intense that I didn't mind (plus there was one last character revelation, when it turned out Ianto had lied about his father). Given that the last episode established from the get go that now every country (and their armed forces) in the world was responding in the same way Britain had done, it would have felt false if Our Heroes had somehow managed to overwhelm all that military, and even if they could do so in England by magical means, what about the rest of the world? And as the PM tells Frobisher, if he resisted, his children would be taken by force. And Frobisher all along had been established as someone who does feel the wrongness but can't bring himself not to follow orders. So when at last an order comes he can't follow anymore, he doesn't go on the run with his family. He doesn't hand them over to become drug supplies for all eternity. He kills them and commits suicide.
(Incidentally, the 456 needing the children as a drug completely works for me and makes sense of their behaviour and unwillingness to negotiate and accept less; they're addicts. It's absolutely gruesome and all too plausible.)
The pay-off for both Johnson's short conversation with Alice at the start of Day Four and her reaction to Gwen's revelations at the end was excellent, as it didn't magically make her a better person. She remained ruthless. Alice could appeal to her to free Jack and work with him because the argument was to protect the country (something Johnson evidently interpreted differently than her employers); Johnson was willing to sacrifice Steven in the end for the same reason. But Johnson wasn't the focus here. I was just thinking that Jack had played a surprisingly minor role in CoE, the revelation about 1965 aside, when it dawned to Decker and me where this was going. The decision he had to make was both horribly wrong and horribly right, and something tailor-made for his character, as all the best pay-offs are (i.e. not interchangable; put another character in Jack's place, and it wouldn't work half as well). It was an incredibly gut-wrenching scene, and the episode did't make it easier for one second on either Jack or the audience; we got to see what being sacrificed for the sake of the world did to Stephen in gruesome detail. And the last, silent exchange of looks between Alice and Jack later was just perfect, because really, not a single verbal exchange could have done justice to what was now between them.
One of the great strengths of CoE has been the new supporting characters. Nobody felt superfluos. Everyone had three dimensions, and everyone contributed to the story. And given that RTD has a reputation of making middle-aged women into villains (not entirely undeserved, though I would like to point out he also created a number of sympathetic ones), can we have a round of cheers for Bridget Spears and the female politician whose name I must look up pwning the revolting PM? I loved this. In retrospect, the close-up on Bridget's eyes earlier was a hint, but I thought it was simply to show the depth of her loathing for the PM at the time, and while I did expect her to commit some act of revenge (because clearly "it's what he would have wanted" was rubbish, and she knew it), I didn't expect this. Woo, and also, hoo. Also the female politician is a great character; both ruthless (see her argument on how the children should be selected last episode), competent, but not yet without compassion (again, see her "do you expect me to look my brother in the eye and..." last episode and her reaction to Bridget's lie about Frobisher here). Very morally tainted, but not irredeemably so. Aaaand Britain has a female PM again!
Lastly: the ending was perfect because it works both as an overall Torchwood finale if they don't get a fourth season, and leaves the door open for a fourth season if they get it. (Jack has run off before, remember? And the man is a time traveller, and occasionally hanging out with one.) If they do get a fourth season, it'll probably start a year or so later in Gwen's timeline and who knows how much later in Jack's when he shows up again to found the next team Torchwood. But you know, I'd be okay if this was the end because Children of Earth has been so fantastic. Jack finally having hit his limit of what he can deal with and starting to wander again works (and I'll handwave that the bracelet works again, we can say the explosion did it). Gwen and Rhys, happy together, with the baby on the way? Totally works. And lest we forget, the world is saved. If that's the overall end, it's one of the best series finales I can think of, and Torchwood went out in incredible style. If it's not: given the quality of the writing of CoE, I would watch a Torchwood with not a single familiar character around (though I would miss them). Because now I know they'll make me care for whoever they'll choose to introduce then as well. And if they bring back not just Gwen, Rhys and Jack, but Alice, Lois and Johnson? I'll be an extremely happy watcher then, too.
In conclusion: I hope the writers and actors are partying like madmen and -women this weekend, because they really earned it. Awesome, awesome, awesome!
I think what I admire most is the perfect (and in sometimes this means absolutely dark and gruesome) pay-off for all the set-ups. Given that Frobisher from the get go was introduced as someone with his own children, it was predictable that in the end, they would be in danger. Ditto for Ianto's niece and nephew. And Jack's grandson. Now, a less well written story would have it all solved by Frobisher killing the Prime Minister, and/or Jack heroically saving his grandson out of the aliens' clutches at the last second. Not so here. The only thing that played out in a predictable way were Rhiannon and the kids and Gwen going on the run with them, and even here the writing and acting was so intense that I didn't mind (plus there was one last character revelation, when it turned out Ianto had lied about his father). Given that the last episode established from the get go that now every country (and their armed forces) in the world was responding in the same way Britain had done, it would have felt false if Our Heroes had somehow managed to overwhelm all that military, and even if they could do so in England by magical means, what about the rest of the world? And as the PM tells Frobisher, if he resisted, his children would be taken by force. And Frobisher all along had been established as someone who does feel the wrongness but can't bring himself not to follow orders. So when at last an order comes he can't follow anymore, he doesn't go on the run with his family. He doesn't hand them over to become drug supplies for all eternity. He kills them and commits suicide.
(Incidentally, the 456 needing the children as a drug completely works for me and makes sense of their behaviour and unwillingness to negotiate and accept less; they're addicts. It's absolutely gruesome and all too plausible.)
The pay-off for both Johnson's short conversation with Alice at the start of Day Four and her reaction to Gwen's revelations at the end was excellent, as it didn't magically make her a better person. She remained ruthless. Alice could appeal to her to free Jack and work with him because the argument was to protect the country (something Johnson evidently interpreted differently than her employers); Johnson was willing to sacrifice Steven in the end for the same reason. But Johnson wasn't the focus here. I was just thinking that Jack had played a surprisingly minor role in CoE, the revelation about 1965 aside, when it dawned to Decker and me where this was going. The decision he had to make was both horribly wrong and horribly right, and something tailor-made for his character, as all the best pay-offs are (i.e. not interchangable; put another character in Jack's place, and it wouldn't work half as well). It was an incredibly gut-wrenching scene, and the episode did't make it easier for one second on either Jack or the audience; we got to see what being sacrificed for the sake of the world did to Stephen in gruesome detail. And the last, silent exchange of looks between Alice and Jack later was just perfect, because really, not a single verbal exchange could have done justice to what was now between them.
One of the great strengths of CoE has been the new supporting characters. Nobody felt superfluos. Everyone had three dimensions, and everyone contributed to the story. And given that RTD has a reputation of making middle-aged women into villains (not entirely undeserved, though I would like to point out he also created a number of sympathetic ones), can we have a round of cheers for Bridget Spears and the female politician whose name I must look up pwning the revolting PM? I loved this. In retrospect, the close-up on Bridget's eyes earlier was a hint, but I thought it was simply to show the depth of her loathing for the PM at the time, and while I did expect her to commit some act of revenge (because clearly "it's what he would have wanted" was rubbish, and she knew it), I didn't expect this. Woo, and also, hoo. Also the female politician is a great character; both ruthless (see her argument on how the children should be selected last episode), competent, but not yet without compassion (again, see her "do you expect me to look my brother in the eye and..." last episode and her reaction to Bridget's lie about Frobisher here). Very morally tainted, but not irredeemably so. Aaaand Britain has a female PM again!
Lastly: the ending was perfect because it works both as an overall Torchwood finale if they don't get a fourth season, and leaves the door open for a fourth season if they get it. (Jack has run off before, remember? And the man is a time traveller, and occasionally hanging out with one.) If they do get a fourth season, it'll probably start a year or so later in Gwen's timeline and who knows how much later in Jack's when he shows up again to found the next team Torchwood. But you know, I'd be okay if this was the end because Children of Earth has been so fantastic. Jack finally having hit his limit of what he can deal with and starting to wander again works (and I'll handwave that the bracelet works again, we can say the explosion did it). Gwen and Rhys, happy together, with the baby on the way? Totally works. And lest we forget, the world is saved. If that's the overall end, it's one of the best series finales I can think of, and Torchwood went out in incredible style. If it's not: given the quality of the writing of CoE, I would watch a Torchwood with not a single familiar character around (though I would miss them). Because now I know they'll make me care for whoever they'll choose to introduce then as well. And if they bring back not just Gwen, Rhys and Jack, but Alice, Lois and Johnson? I'll be an extremely happy watcher then, too.
In conclusion: I hope the writers and actors are partying like madmen and -women this weekend, because they really earned it. Awesome, awesome, awesome!
