Torchwood: UNjumping the shark!

[seawasp]

I *detested* the first season of Torchwood. It was mostly a juvenile exercise in sex-focused idiot plots, and the few episodes I enjoyed seemed to be the least-liked by the fans. It seemed that Torchwood itself caused a lot of the problems rather than solving them, and the characters for the most part were simply not believable as members of this super-secret organization.

The NEW Torchwood has been much more fun. The characters are less juvenile, the organization... well, HAS organization. The characters show competence most of the time and the problems mostly stem from things that AREN'T Torchwood's fault.

It's nice to see a show which, for once, gets BETTER instead of worse as time goes by.

Comments

[midnightlurker.livejournal.com]

My fiancee has had much the same reaction. Maybe I'll give this new season a try...

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

Torchwood has organization? I've been on student newspapers that were better-administrated.

I have liked the stories, though, particularly this season. I think they may be getting better at hitting ideas which have really emotionally resonate.

[sorek.livejournal.com]

My fan-wave explanation is that Jack stopped using Torchwood as a way to kill time while waiting for the Doctor to show up. Now that he's back he's treating everything more seriously. Owen has matured, and Ianto has progressed from being a whiny wimp to being someone a bit more kickass. Tosh is still an idiot however.

On the meta-level what's interesting this season is how obviously corrosive being in Torchwood is to the team, something really emphasized in one of the "A look inside Torchwood" segments. Yes the writers tried to show it last season but it came out really poorly. Last season everyone slept around with anyone else but we never accept why. This season it's much more believable. These people are desperately trying to connect with *somebody* because connecting is what makes them stay "human". They're all locked up in a prison of their own making. Now I could see any of them going evil like the former second in command. They're all burning out and practically becoming Replicants. It's like they're all silently screaming, let me out, get me out of here.

I figure Tosh will completely lose it this season. Jack, Owen and Ianto all snapped last season and are now on the road to recovery. Gwen has Rhys, who's the "Rose" of Torchwood.

[lexomatic.livejournal.com]

:::Last season everyone slept around with anyone else

This was mentioned in at least one entry on the TV Tropes website: that, unlike many shows with one token character of alternate orientation, in Torchwood, everybody is. Having seen only part of the first season, but been bored silly by this aspect of the storytelling (what is this, Showtime's version of The Outer Limits?), I then invented the term "opportunistically sexual" to more compactly represent the show's attitude in my own head.

[muirecan.livejournal.com]

Oh so true. I kept watching Torchwood last season because it showed occasional flashes of brilliance. But it was buried in the sleaze. This season has been so much better.