Children of Earth: Day Two

[shapinglight]

Not a lot to say, and have to run in a moment, but...

slight spoilers behind cut for the episode.



....is it just me, or did that get a bit silly? I mean, in the old 'stop that, it's silly' way of the last two seasons of TW? Lots of stuff I liked, but the last five minutes with the improbable rescue of Jack had me rolling my eyes. The UNIT special ops (or whoever the nasty lady in black and her cohorts are) are a bit rubbish, aren't they? So easily tricked and beaten by a wee little slip of a girl with huge eyes and a couple of rather chubby Welsh blokes.

Lots to enjoy, but in typical RTD fashion, the best bits were the mundane bits (Rhys and the pies, the hoodies on the estate helping Ianto's sister escape, Jack's daughter trying to phone him, Frobisher's two daughters and their chants of "We want a pony!" Heh!). When it comes to the action scenes, it all just gets a bit - well, silly, as I said. Plus, I still don't believe Lois would be trusted the way she is when she's only just arrived in the office. It makes no sense at all.

Fun, though. And Captain John is still enjoying watching the chaos from his bar stool in Wherever.

Comments

[vampirefever.livejournal.com]

As a life-long sci-fi buff, it's the sheer twaddle of the TW plots that have always put me off. At least Buffy/Angel were total fantasy and not meant to be in the realm of believability but, being TW is now on in a prime time BBC1 slot, the silliness is even more bizarre. But, as you say, still a lot of fun and the good characterisations are carrying it along regardless.

[booster17.livejournal.com]

For me, the eye-roller was the escaping in a very slow-moving-concrete-block-carrying mover happily trundling off the military base that previously had been shown to have an armed guard on the main gate.

And the whole we must kill all members of Torchwood, except for Gwen Cooper when we have her trapped in a corridor with lots and lots of rifles pointed at her thing.

And was that a dead PC Andy?

[shapinglight]

Unfortunately, plotting is not RTD's strong point. However, they have managed to inject a nice degree of menace into the aliens plot, and I'm pretty sure that the reason for trying to get rid of Captain Jack will turn out to be he had something to do with the previous 456 incident in the 60s.

But, as you say, still a lot of fun and the good characterisations are carrying it along regardless.

Yes, and the character driven scenes are lots of fun. I should have mentioned PC Andy's obsession with health and safety. That was funny.

[sammywol.livejournal.com]

Except that Aunty Terrorist is a classic super villain, grandstanding idiot. She just has to watch her targets squirm, like the idiot doctor. But yes, generally familiar plot holes big enough to drive a large yellow heavy lifter through - literally. It's familiar TW territory and genuinely in the Whovian tradition. I think the fans are and long have been divided into two camps: those who love it in spite of the faults and those who seem to love it because of the faults.

[shapinglight]

For me, the eye-roller was the escaping in a very slow-moving-concrete-block-carrying mover happily trundling off the military base that previously had been shown to have an armed guard on the main gate.

I thought the whole escape was just silly really, from hijacking the funeral director onwards. It just made these supposedly super-efficient army (or whatever) people look so rubbish, because despite what they keep saying about how much they know etc, TW always come across as such a bunch of amateurs.

And was that a dead PC Andy?

Surely not. Wouldn't Gwen have recognised him? Or didn't she look at the body? I can't now remember.

[shapinglight]

those who love it in spite of the faults and those who seem to love it because of the faults.

I don't really fit in either camp,then. It's fun, but I don't love it.

[sammywol.livejournal.com]

I concur, which I why I don't call myself a 'fan' exactly. However I was certainly not trying to dictate to anyone. 'Fun fans' are fun too and a lot less scary than some of the the diehards I have met online.

[gillo]

PC Andy asking for a risk assessment had me hooting with laughter.

The plot is what RTD tends to describe,

approvingly

, as "bonkers". I enjoyed the fun of Jack in concrete and the JCB - you just can't expect our earth logic there. But it's the little exchanges that work particularly well, as you say.

[rahirah]

My thing was, that amount of concrete would never have set in that amount of time, would it? It ought to have still been half-damp!

[trepkos.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm still enjoying it.
The stupidest part was Rhys taking half an hour to do up his trousers, and yet having time to pick up some light reading.

[shapinglight]

Oh, I'm enjoying it, but I think we'll have to disagree about which was the stupidest part.

[trepkos.livejournal.com]

Well, perhaps we can give separate awards - Stupidest Plot Device, Stupidest Cutting, Stupidest Direction, Stupidest Behaviour by a Character, Stupidest Run, Stupidest Outfit etc.

[shapinglight]

That's a great idea. We'll do it when the series is over.

I thought today's ep was back to ep 1 standard, btw. I think it helps when they cut back on the action sequences.