It's a Miracle I Got to Gate 7

[retsuko]

On TV:

Torchwood: Miracle Day: ... uhm. This was a really, really mixed bag of a show. On one hand, it was incredibly compelling; I hated waiting between episodes to find out what was happening, and I was genuinely worried for several of the characters, especially our two remaining heroes, Gwen and Jack. But on the other, there were some real missteps with this plot that sort of poisoned the well for me. First of all, I really, really hated that one of our major, new characters was a murderous pedophile. This goes back to my dissatisfaction with serial killers; I'm tired of giving them my psychic energy. In the case of this character, I didn't want to give him ANY psychic energy at all. This isn't to say that Bill Pullman's performance wasn't good; in fact, it was great--so great that I couldn't look away from him when he was onscreen, and was plotting his death five minutes after he appeared in the story. But I don't like that he took up so much time and energy in the story, because I felt really grossed out when I found myself rooting for him. I shouldn't identify with this man at all, and I sure as hell didn't want to feel sympathetic for him... except that I did, several times. And that's not pleasant viewing, not at all. His final words were disgusting, and I was disgusted with myself and the writers for investing in him at all.

The second thing that really felt ill done was the comparison to WWII. It was not subtle, and grew so labored that even when the material of the story was at its most horrific, I almost couldn't take it in because I was so sick of having the theme beaten over my head. I mean, we get it: in the context of this story, the U.K. and America (and the rest of the world, it's implicated) became the Nazis and committed mass murder for political gain. That's horrible, and the idea itself should be shocking. But this was hammered home again and again and again so that by the time Gwen's poor father was carted off by the SS police, I couldn't bring myself to feel any sort of rage, just a limp identification of the same theme.

But there were things this show did right. I loved seeing Gwen being so kick-ass, and the Rhys/Gwen team was great. Rhys grew on me a lot, too, although he didn't have as much to do with the story as I thought he would. I also realized how much I missed seeing Gwen and Jack banter back and forth. Jack was in fine form for most of the story, and I liked the references to the previous incarnation of Torchwood and his adventures with the Doctor. But I was a little mystified that he didn't remember his time with Angelo, especially when something so awful and terrifying happened at the end of it. You'd think that being tortured so that people could watch your immortal self die over and over again, while your lover, unable to help you, stood at the back of the room and watched, would leave an impression, but... well. I know Captain Jack have lived a lot of lives, but this beggared credibility.

The Family had a pretty far-reaching plot and I enjoyed the intricacies of that unfolding; then their plot was discovered and they rolled over pretty quickly. The Blessing Cavern of Yannic Imagery wasn't quite what I'd imagined it to be (something much more psychedelic was what I'd had in mind) but the idea was still pretty interesting. Lauren Ambrose's character was great; I kept thinking of her like Mephistofeles, especially since the costuming department kept dressing her in read.

Overall, though, is this where I thought the Torchwood franchise would go? Not exactly. I know it's a more "grown up" show than Doctor Who, and most of the time, I appreciate that. I just wished there was a little bit more levity in this, and a little less of the Horrible Political Consequences of Something Weird Screwing With Everyone's Lives. It was quite uneven. Glad I watched parts of it, and not glad about some other parts.

In Manga/Comics:

Gate 7, Vol.1, Words & Pictures by CLAMP: I want to like this. It's my favorite CLAMP setting (modern day Japan with ghost stories), it has GORGEOUS artwork, and it looks like the story could unfold in a reasonably linear fashion. I just wish that CLAMP could stop depicting characters who look underage (or who behave incredibly childishly) as sexualized. Hana, the character in question, is oddly sexual at weird points in the story, and it's jarring. To see a character go from acting like an adorable little child who loves noodles in one panel to sexually available lust object in the next panel is... creepy. It's a little too much like Chobits. The other thing I'd like to see out of this story is the main male character developing a little agency instead of letting other people run his life. It's great that he's kind of a sweet nerd who loves Japanese history and Kyoto, but if I suddenly found out that I might have a magical power that could influence a centuries old magical conflict, I'd sure be asking a few more questions. But this is only Volume 1, and I'm more than willing to wait and see where the story goes. Damn, the art's pretty. It's hard to stay mad at CLAMP.

Ultimate Spiderman, Issues 2 & 3, Words by Bendis & Pencils by Pichelli: I really love the plot this comic is exploring and Miles Morales is a great character. If I suddenly gained superheroic powers, I'd probably be terrified, too. Quick, go and out, and read this! Pichelli's pencils continue to be great, too. She has a real eye for facial expressions.

Comments

[orichalcum.livejournal.com]

Yeah, basically agree with you about Torchwood, by the time we got to the gas ovens, the Lack of Subtlety was just getting to me. Also, the sheer incompetence of the CIA was a bit hard to take - Ladybird97 has a great rant about this over on her LJ, some weeks back. Really, you give Your Own Name?

There were some good things, but I missed the lighthearted flavor of the original Torchwood, and the sex scenes that were there felt so remarkably forced.

[retsuko.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the giving the own name part was pretty preposterous, too. I liked Esther, and I knew she was distracted, but it seemed like such a rookie error! I couldn't believe it was a mistake she would have made.

The conflict with Esther and her mentally sister, though, was one of the saddest and most heartfelt parts of the whole thing. I wondered if one of the writers was struggling with similar real life issues and trying to work through them. Esther's tears when she found out her sister had been committed and the children sent into foster care were more moving than almost anything else in the entire 13 episodes.

All the brouhaha over the homosexual sex scenes was all for naught. We barely saw anything! I expected at least full frontal nudity with the way Starz was grumping over it! :S

[orichalcum.livejournal.com]

Oh, I know. As a het sex scene it would have been practically dull.

But yeah, I liked Esther's backstory, as, yes, that's a very realistic and painful problem.

[jtaylor2.livejournal.com]

It's really hard to be mad at CLAMP.

I was disappointed in the way xxxHolic ended up but I was too fascinated by how gosh darn pretty it was. :)

[retsuko.livejournal.com]

I was more surprised at the ending of Holic than disappointed; it just seemed like there were far too many loose ends, even for CLAMP! But, hey, it's their narrative, and it was so swooningly gorgeous that I couldn't really work up much anger at them. ^-^;;