Torchwood: Miracle Day

Scary wrote:

Haven't seen any of these yet, so without spoilers could someone tell me whether or not it's worth catching up on?

Guess it all depends on who you ask Scary?...Personally, I think it's a wee bit slow. It's picking up a bit now but it's taken its time.

I will obviously get the usual backlash of naysayers telling me to not watch it if I don't like it...the usual "how dare you have an opinion that differs from mine" folk. *sighs*

Hey Ho!

Scary wrote:

Haven't seen any of these yet, so without spoilers could someone tell me whether or not it's worth catching up on?

Scary, if you like the show, then you will like this new series. If you hate the show, then I don't think you'd be asking in the first place! There's a couple of people on here, however, who have hated every year of the show up to this point, but still sit through it week-after-week, so that they can talk about how bad it is afterwards. It may sound strange, but it's true. (Sorry guys. If, on here, someone can say that it is 'weird' for people to not like spoilers---and everyone's fine with that--, I can say that I find it 'weird' to continuously watch a television show that you hate and are ashamed of watching).

Does Scary = Scarywood? 'Cause if so, you might be a little young for Torchwood, fella...

But the answer to your question isn't really so cut and dry. If you're asking if it's worth catching up on because it's an objectively good and well-written show, I'd have to say emphatically no. But if you're asking whether it's worth catching up on because you might enjoy it, that depends upon you. It's certainly possible to enjoy and/or at least derive something positive from watching a bad show, even when one realizes how bad it is. So I'd probably advise you to at least check out an episode even though it's crap. It's not unwatchable, if that helps.

kcooper76 wrote:

...I can say that I find it 'weird' to continuously watch a television show that you hate and are ashamed of watching.

Is that why you think it's weird? 'Cause I don't think any of us "haters" who post here are ashamed of watching -- if we were, we probably wouldn't post! (I don't even do so anonymously.) But people do things they hate all the time, and I'd imagine watching Torchwood is far less painless and/or harmful than most of those things.

You all hold awesome points. Thank you all. *Does the Chinese bow*

PS, yeah I'm that annoying teenager that you all love. Formerly known as 'The Scarywood.'

Another darn good episode. . .so this whole thing is somehow connected to Jack. . .which I had thought so once it became obvious that the whole world had switched places with him. . .pretty gruesome about the politician lady. . .


Anyway. . .loving it. . .can't wait until episode five. . .I think more will be revealed next week. . .

Wes Crayon wrote:

Is that why you think it's weird? 'Cause I don't think any of us "haters" who post here are ashamed of watching -- if we were, we probably wouldn't post! (I don't even do so anonymously.) But people do things they hate all the time, and I'd imagine watching Torchwood is far less painless and/or harmful than most of those things.

Well, I don't mean ashamed as in, 'embarrassed to admit'. You did mention earlier that watching it made you think, "this show is SO f'n stupid". Either way, sorry for saying "ashamed". I take it back. Sorry.

But I honestly don't do things I hate. I especially don't watch things I hate. If I hate it, it's a waste of time. I'm not going to watch something I don't enjoy with the mindset of "there's a lot worse I can be watching". Why intentionally be miserable for an hour? And please know, I wasn't talking about yourself specifically. There's others here who feel the same way.....even about DW.

I'm quite enjoying the Miracle Day series so far, but I agree that it is flawed.

Wes Crayon pointed out the major flaw earlier on - Oswald Danes. I just cannot buy the idea that anyone would accept a known paedophile as a public figure or spokesperson.
I could accept the idea that he couldn't legally be detained and had to be set free, but I don't see how or why he would get any kind of positive publicity, no matter if he said sorry, or even if he saved the Universe. It just wouldn't happen. If Russell T. Davies wanted a character like this, it would have paid to make his story a little more plausible, perhaps by having him forge his identity or something. Or maybe write him as a gangster or murderer, I could believe that a murderer could somehow attain public credibility, but not a child rapist. Maybe the "Rotating Triangle" people have some interest in him that we are yet to know about, but I couldn't believe that anyone else would want to listen to what Oswald has to say.

Nevertheless, Pullman's performance is pretty impressive. Pity that there is such a gaping hole of logic in a show that is otherwise very interesting.

rdks wrote:

kcooper76 wrote:

And.....am I the only one irked that the actress who plays Vera is not in the opening credits? I think she should be in the opening credits!! She's definitely a main character!!

I think of her as a main character. I'm surprised she isn't credited in the opening. She's going to be around the whole season (not like she can die, right?)

Well, guess I wrong. It looks like she did die. Now we know why she's not in the opening credits.

Didn't see that one coming...

rdks wrote:

rdks wrote:

kcooper76 wrote:

And.....am I the only one irked that the actress who plays Vera is not in the opening credits? I think she should be in the opening credits!! She's definitely a main character!!

I think of her as a main character. I'm surprised she isn't credited in the opening. She's going to be around the whole season (not like she can die, right?)

Well, guess I wrong. It looks like she did die. Now we know why she's not in the opening credits.

Didn't see that one coming...

SHE CAN'T DIE! i haven't seen it yet but she can't die! Seriously i mean it she can't die because of the Miracle....

Rocco wrote:

rdks wrote:

rdks wrote:

kcooper76 wrote:

And.....am I the only one irked that the actress who plays Vera is not in the opening credits? I think she should be in the opening credits!! She's definitely a main character!!

I think of her as a main character. I'm surprised she isn't credited in the opening. She's going to be around the whole season (not like she can die, right?)

Well, guess I wrong. It looks like she did die. Now we know why she's not in the opening credits.

Didn't see that one coming...

SHE CAN'T DIE! i haven't seen it yet but she can't die! Seriously i mean it she can't die because of the Miracle....

It IS still possible to die. There's one way......same way it is done in the ep

kcooper76 wrote:

Rocco wrote:

rdks wrote:

rdks wrote:

kcooper76 wrote:

And.....am I the only one irked that the actress who plays Vera is not in the opening credits? I think she should be in the opening credits!! She's definitely a main character!!

I think of her as a main character. I'm surprised she isn't credited in the opening. She's going to be around the whole season (not like she can die, right?)

Well, guess I wrong. It looks like she did die. Now we know why she's not in the opening credits.

Didn't see that one coming...

SHE CAN'T DIE! i haven't seen it yet but she can't die! Seriously i mean it she can't die because of the Miracle....

It IS still possible to die. There's one way......same way it is done in the ep

Now I understand.

rdks wrote:

rdks wrote:

kcooper76 wrote:

And.....am I the only one irked that the actress who plays Vera is not in the opening credits? I think she should be in the opening credits!! She's definitely a main character!!

I think of her as a main character. I'm surprised she isn't credited in the opening. She's going to be around the whole season (not like she can die, right?)

Well, guess I wrong. It looks like she did die. Now we know why she's not in the opening credits.

Didn't see that one coming...

I rather liked her character, and she had such a nice @ss. But that's just torchwood for you, they always kill off their best characters. Tosh, Owen, Ianto. . .the list goes on.

timewarrior wrote:

I rather liked her character, and she had such a nice @ss. But that's just torchwood for you, they always kill off their best characters. Tosh, Owen, Ianto. . .the list goes on.

They keep killing Suzie!

couldn't resist


To me, that brings a sense of realism to the show. In too many series, you know nothing at all is going to happen to anyone in the main cast (unless you do spoilers and find out beforehand that someone is leaving the show). Which doesn't make a lot of sense at times in the show premise.

Take Firefly for instance. Barely half a season of eps, but in that short amount of time, almost every single member of the crew gets shot, stabbed, or seriously injured. Then in the movie, that happens again, and you also lose two of the crew.

In their line of work, I'd expect it.

So having a clandestine team that is supposed to go out and deal with extraterrestrial threats on a regular basis, I'd expect a good amount of decent injuries and mortality rate.

The other general level of realism that I always appreciate- not everything gets to work out and have a happy ending.

From "Lie to Me" in BVTS... Buffy asks Giles if life ever gets easy, and he asks her how she wants him to answer the question. She says 'Lie to me.'

His response:

"Yes, it's terribly simple. The good guys are always stalwart and true. The bad guys are easily distinguished by their pointy horns or black hats and we always defeat them and save the day. Nobody ever dies, and everybody lives happily ever after."

Her response: "Liar."

Mentioning that Buffy episode in a Torchwood discussion thread is almost blasphemous.

Also, survival protip: don't keep screaming insults and threats at an armed man who's already shot you once, especially when there's nobody around who's likely to help.

Wes Crayon wrote:

Mentioning that Buffy episode in a Torchwood discussion thread is almost blasphemous.

Also, survival protip: don't keep screaming insults and threats at an armed man who's already shot you once, especially when there's nobody around who's likely to help.

Not blasphemous, so sayeth the Timearrior.

You tip, however does have merit, however it does concern me that a U.S. soldier would just stand there. . .how the heck did he make the cut? The Army must be desperate.

timewarrior wrote:

Not blasphemous, so sayeth the Timearrior.

You tip, however does have merit, however it does concern me that a U.S. soldier would just stand there. . .how the heck did he make the cut? The Army must be desperate.

I don't recall what his rank was, but prolly a young impressionable newbie from the national guard or reserves that got activated when the need for manpower arose. The doc prolly realized he would be easily mind tricked, and picked him as his assistant because of it.

But still sad that the doc guns down someone and he doesn't make an attempt at anything, especially after the doc gives him his gun back and anyone can see the doc has gone off the deep end.

She does take some blame too. As soon as she got shot, she should have stopped the righteous tirade. Any verbal appeals to reason should have been aimed at newbie. She had zero chance with doc bonkers.

See, you guys blame the characters for acting irrationally and ineptly; I blame the writers for writing irrational and inept (and, for me, largely unbelievable) characters! That whole scene just smacked of the poorest writing from the worst soap operas, only worse because you can't have characters randomly calling each other "limp-dicked" on daytime television.

Oh, kcooper76! I was trying to find a succinct way to explain my continued viewing of Torchwood and many other terrible shows (I sent Cruel Angel a much longer PM about it -- still mean to write you back ), and it came to me as I was reading posts in the toy thread: I guess I'm a completionist when it comes to the viewing of TV series. (Watching bad shows also doesn't make me miserable as a rule -- sometimes, given that I often find it easier and more interesting to analyze a show's negatives than its positives, watching a bad show can be even more stimulating to me than watching a better one.)

Part of me wishes TORCHWOOD should have died after COE. I wasn't to happy to hear about TW:USA, but I reserved judgement. I do admit to a few "squee" type moments in the beginning, but most of that was just hearing the TW theme again. The actress playing Esther Drummond has no emotional range at all. She had a scene where she had her head up against a boarded up door, and the good-one-side plywood stole the scene. The nudity is forced, the swearing is forced, and the shocks are shoehorned in. If all we get is this Season, oh well. I hope they don't keep flogging a dead (red clothespeg) horse, if it means expanding on the astounding character of Esther Drummond. (She reminds me of a cross between Kelly Ripa and Cheryl Hines)
All that said, I still watch every week. I don't consider it to be a waste of an hour. It has its moments, and I enjoy the corniness. And of course, seeing Captain Jack/The Coat again can NEVER be bad!

To be honest, while this series has a great story, I'm not loving it.

I find myself rivetted the entire hour. . .no complaints. . .but then when it comes to doctor who and torchwood I am easy to please.

i like the series overall, however, there have been some episodes that have not been that great (already stated). however, as far as bad writing goes, i could see a reall person like vera, pompous and cocky, and thinking that nothing bad would happen to her. wrong. dead wrong actually.

and it's funny, because i called what was going to happen to level 1's episodes ago (my girlfriend hates it that i'm right.). the only reason i knew is because i watched the movie "the crazies", and it's the same thing the govt. did there too.

i completely believe the storyline so far (govt. taking over, "work camps", inept management). just hoping for a big payoff with phicorp and oswald and jack.

So, in England (of all places) there have been complaints of too much "Gay" in TORCHWOOD:MD. Too much "Gay"? I do not see this new TORCHWOOD as being more "Gay" than the old one. Sure, we saw some bare man-on-man bum, and I think I saw some lady side-boob, which was a bit more than the old TW... But I seem to remeber a whole bunch of "Gay" in the old series. Have peoples' sensibilities gone back in time? Do they not remember who Captain Jack is?! Too much "gay"?! So, would it be better if, after X number of years, Jack has "learned" himself straight, and he's now a "normal" hetero man wanting to have it off with all the babes?! Holy crap man, get a grip! The day I complain that Captain Jack is "Too Gay", is the day I burn my DWFCA membership card. I can't even think about how you would start that letter?

Dear BBC

I am concerned with the level of "Gay" which is being portrayed by, one John Barr...

neonlogo wrote:

So, in England (of all places) there have been complaints of too much "Gay" in TORCHWOOD:MD. Too much "Gay"? I do not see this new TORCHWOOD as being more "Gay" than the old one. Sure, we saw some bare man-on-man bum, and I think I saw some lady side-boob, which was a bit more than the old TW... But I seem to remeber a whole bunch of "Gay" in the old series. Have peoples' sensibilities gone back in time? Do they not remember who Captain Jack is?! Too much "gay"?! So, would it be better if, after X number of years, Jack has "learned" himself straight, and he's now a "normal" hetero man wanting to have it off with all the babes?! Holy crap man, get a grip! The day I complain that Captain Jack is "Too Gay", is the day I burn my DWFCA membership card. I can't even think about how you would start that letter?

Dear BBC

I am concerned with the level of "Gay" which is being portrayed by, one John Barr...

Exactly.

You have a series created by a gay guy, the main star is a gay guy, and he plays a character that is pretty much openly omnisexual (guys, girls, aliens... and who knows what else). Somehow, I get the feeling that "gay" is going to show up in the series

Jack has been like this from the get go. Just his first scene in DW - "Nice bum." and then tells the male soldier he has a nice one too. He's never let up since.

Only difference this time around is that the show is on a cable network, and it was pretty much a given that they would try and put in a little more visual stuff. Rather contrived how they set it up, but oh well.


And I wonder if they would have gotten as many 'gay' complaints if instead of Jack and his one nighter it was Gwen and Ester...

My dad went nuts about the show being too gay, but he's an ultra right-wing homophobe religious fanatic, which is exactly why I "recommended" the show to him in the first place.

rdks wrote:

My dad went nuts about the show being too gay, but he's an ultra right-wing homophobe religious fanatic, which is exactly why I "recommended" the show to him in the first place.

You rock