Torchwood Miracle Day - episode 1

[julesjones]

First impressions: slick, glossy, well written, well acted, and suffering from much the same problem as the 1996 Who telemovie -- they've taken a show whose primary appeal was a very British humour and sense of whimsy, and stripped it of everything that made it unique, offering us yet another formulaic US sci-fi thriller series. It's better than the 1996 effort, but the thing that really struck me about it was "Where's the sense of wonder?"

This is obviously a complete reboot of the Torchwood universe, and I'm not inclined to criticise it for the way it's been detached from the Whoniverse. That was clearly always on the cards, given that its creator never wanted it to be part of the Whoniverse in the first place, and this is a new show trying to hook a new audience. But one of the things that hooked me on the first series was that sense of wonder to be found with the best sf and fantasy. Gwen's first look at the Hub in "Everything Changes" is a thing of joy, and never was an episode more aptly titled. That joy, that wonder, was sadly lacking from Miracle Day's opener.

And yes, it's been utterly Americanised. The final scene reads to me as intended to make a US audience cheer for good guy Rex. What I see is a craven act of collaboration by the British government. Rusty is smart enough to play to both audiences at once, but I don't much like the message intended for the US audience.

I'm not sure there's enough here to sustain a single storyline over ten weekly episodes. Stripping Children of Earth across five consecutive nights worked, but here people have to want to watch it week after week. I finished the episode feeling inclined to watch the next episode, but I didn't feel that sense of "Oh no, I've got to wait a whole week for the next one!" that I used to get watching the "next episode" teaser. Because this slick Hollywood show isn't what I watched Torchwood for. The first two series always felt to me like fanboys and girls getting to put their fanfic on screen with a BBC3 budget. It was crackfic on acid, it had a pteranodon fighting a Cyberwoman. They weren't afraid to throw stuff at the screen and see what worked. When it was bad it was horrid, but when it was good it was very good indeed. I never saw a single episode that didn't have something worthwhile in it, even if there are episodes I'll never bother watching a second time. The action sequences in Miracle Day are wonderful, but they're not enough. There's no risk-taking here. I'm never going to see a little old lady at a pedestrian crossing muttering, "Bloody Torchwood."

It's the first episode, so there's a need to bring the audience in and up to speed, and it may pick up in later episodes. But if this is all there's going to be -- well, sorry, Rusty, but the show I want to watch is Torchwood in all its silly, funny glory, however dear to your heart your original Excalibur concept may be.

Comments

[seawasp]

I rather like this approach, though I think RTD's LOL LOL LOL quotient is way too high. What *I* don't like are the UNNECESSARY failures of fact in the series thus far. I.e., if you're going to pretend to use facts from the real world and make a point of it, I think it's important to get the facts right, and they aren't bothering to do so either in the first or second eps.

[julesjones]

Oh, thank you for reminding me of that. I could have ranted about the population time bomb nonsense without spoilers, since they've been making a huge point of it in the publicity.

[katlinel.livejournal.com]

I'm largely in agreement with this, that it's been Americanized in a way that, for me, means the show has lost what I enjoyed about it, and it's completely encapsulated in that little old lady muttering, "Bloody Torchwood."

I didn't find it formulaic of so much as SF as an FBI/CIA/NYPD etc. cop show, and with stereotypes such as the young (glamorous, of course) girl reporter/investigator, which is how her character came across, even though she herself is an agent, and the heroic agent rising from his sickbed, quaffing painkillers etc etc to sort out the mess. And it's things like that which mean I find it not only Americanized, and made safe for a new audience, but also cliched and therefore not particularly well written. I also found a lot of the interaction between Gwen and Rhys to be cliched in a different way, in the motherhood vs career dynamic, that felt very shoe-horned in, because it came across as a conversation that the writers felt had to be in there because that's how het relationships are portrayed on TV when you have a mother who has a career, not because it arose out of the characters and their history. So it makes me feel that I'm not the audience that the show is interested in any more.

There was no joy and no wonder, just a bit of cod-philsophy arising from the 'what if' scenario and pseudo-moral dilemma that only serves to prove who is good and who isn't, not actually explore it in any nod to complexity of issue, while at the same time using the cod-philosophy and moral dilemma to make claims to being about 'adult' issues.

The final scene made me think that the use of Andy's character was a complete waste of time, and totally contradicted what we saw of him at the end of Children of Earth, one of the few things I liked in the last two episodes of that series.

I'll watch the rest but only while knitting, and I only knit and watch TV when I feel no need to concentrate or engage with the TV, or actively want something else to distract me.

[jhall1.livejournal.com]

I quite enjoyed the first episode, though it wasn't a patch on Children of Men, which I thought was really good. In style it rather reminded me of Flashforward (which I rather liked despite its faults), if not - yet - quite so convoluted in plot or with such a large ensemble cast. A lot of the actors seemed to mumble their dialogue in the manner that now seems to have become fashionable, so that I couldn't make out some of it, which annoyed me. (I suppose that could just be my hearing getting worse as I get older.) It was sad to see Rhys and Gwen being quite so paranoid, though it seems that they had good cause.

[daibhid-c.livejournal.com]

A lot of the actors seemed to mumble their dialogue in the manner that now seems to have become fashionable, so that I couldn't make out some of it, which annoyed me. (I suppose that could just be my hearing getting worse as I get older.)

I eventually switched on the subtitles.

[cat63.livejournal.com]

Thank you. You've put into words the rather vague feeling of dissatisfaction and annoyance that I felt while watching the episode. They've taken something unique (if not always uniquely good :-)) and made it pedestrian. Bah.

What I see is a craven act of collaboration by the British government

Yes. Grr. Although that was possibly the most realistic bit of the whole episode, come to think of it. :-(

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

I'm still going to give it every chance because... well... some Torchwood is better than no Torchwood. However I too will miss the old lady shaking her fist at 'Bloody Torchwood' as the fish-headed man drives past.

[daibhid-c.livejournal.com]

I'm not inclined to criticise it for the way it's been detached from the Whoniverse. That was clearly always on the cards

Not according to RTD in last month's DWM, where he claimed "Of course it's the same bloody universe" and listed a string of Whoniverse moments for us to watch out for, including "Sarah-Jane Smith's archenemy".

[vaughan-steph.livejournal.com]

We stopped watching somewhere in season two, but there's a nice interview with John in the most recent issue of Out that made me want to check it out. Re: Bill Pullman as Oswald, John is quoted as saying, "You're going to like Oswald, but be pissed at yourself for liking him."

One of the things I always liked about the original was that it took place in Wales, so I'm sad that it's being Americanized.

stereotypes such as the young (glamorous, of course) girl reporter/investigator... and the heroic agent rising from his sickbed, quaffing painkillers

The fact that the entire female cast can't seem to scrounge up a single pair of sensible shoes among them -- everyone, including on duty physicians, wearing 4" stripper heels -- had me howling throughout.

And a hospital that left a vial of pain meds sitting out to be snatched by any AMA self-discharging patient would lose its accreditation faster than you can say JCAHO.

That said, it was lovely to see Gwen's face when she first sees Jack again. That made the whole episode worth it to me.