TV: Torchwood Season 1
I finished season one of Torchwood
I knew a little bit about Torchwood going in. I knew it was a team concept and that the tone and storylines were going to be more violent and more sexually explicit than those of Doctor Who.
On these two points, Torchwood did not disappoint. I wasn’t totally taken with the show though. At episode four, “Small Worlds,” I did turn from tolerating it to enjoying the episodes, but I don’t yearn to watch more, like I do with Doctor Who.
On this, I commiserate with Captain Jack. I, too, am just waiting for the wolf, wolf of the Tardis. [Is it just me? or has everyone already figured out that "wolf" gets you closest to imitating the sound of the Tardis?] Come on, season four DVD release date. Where are you?
But before “Small Worlds,” I didn’t think I would keep watching. I didn’t particularly like any of the characters, Captain Jack included. In “Cyberwoman,” I disliked, and perhaps hated, them all. I had little hope and little sympathy for them as a team. The episodes didn’t seem to have a purpose and a drive.
Throughout season one, we got more character pieces that led me to know the characters better but not necessarily like them more. The individual episodes’ stories, however, got better. I think the episodes themselves became very fine short stories that engaged me, sometimes quite emotionally.
But at the end of season one, I still don’t care that much about the characters. There are flashes of the roguish charm I associate with Captain Jack, and perhaps the intent is to portray his ill-fit at the head of this team, but he’s not all that interesting. Not even with his mysterious backstory.
Still, I will continue on to season two. Netflix makes it so easy, and I have heard that the show finds its footing. And the vingnettes that are the episodes already supercede the character shortfall in this early season. As a characters-drive-the-series believer, I’m softening my stance. Yes, I think the stories themselves are that good.