Jaye (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
jayes_musings) wrote2010-05-24 01:22 pm
jayes_musings) wrote2010-05-24 01:22 pm
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30 Days of Meme -- Day 02
Day 02. A show that you wish more people were watching
Hmmm, this is a tough one because I'm very much of the opinion that people should watch what they want rather than do it because everyone else is.
That said, I do like pimping certain shows and though I don't expect any one to listen to my recommendations, it's nice to share what you like. So, the shows that I like to share my fangirling of are Being Human and Leverage. Being Human is just the coolest, and I'm in total lust with Mitchell *g*...although I have heard an American version is planned, which makes me nervous. And I just have so much love for Leverage...it's not my typical kind of show, but the characters just work so well together that it's addictive!
Hmmm, this is a tough one because I'm very much of the opinion that people should watch what they want rather than do it because everyone else is.
That said, I do like pimping certain shows and though I don't expect any one to listen to my recommendations, it's nice to share what you like. So, the shows that I like to share my fangirling of are Being Human and Leverage. Being Human is just the coolest, and I'm in total lust with Mitchell *g*...although I have heard an American version is planned, which makes me nervous. And I just have so much love for Leverage...it's not my typical kind of show, but the characters just work so well together that it's addictive!
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Yeah, "Children of Earth" pretty much ruined Torchwood for me, too...for a number of reasons, but mostly the butchering of Jack's character. And I haven't seen any of Matt Smith's Doctor yet, what with moving, so I can't judge on that. British TV series do tend to be much darker with a penchant for killing off major characters...sometimes they do it really well (Blake's 7 is a great example) and sometimes they completely mess it up as with Torchwood. *sigh*
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Heh, I have seen stills of him, and he looks very pretty. It reminds me there's a third reason I've been leary of checking out Being Human. The Twilight/True Blood/Vampire Diaries glut of pretty and angsty vampires lately also has me wary of new vampires. I've read the books the TV series True Blood and Vampire Diaries are based on and enjoyed the books, but not clicked with the shows. Makes it all frustrating too.
Yeah, "Children of Earth" pretty much ruined Torchwood for me, too...for a number of reasons, but mostly the butchering of Jack's character.
Unless/until there is a fourth season that picks up from where CoE left things, I'm writing CoE off as a Galactica 1980/After M*A*S*H debacle to be ignored as a tragic mistake. The butchering of Jack's character was one of my top three complaints after CoE aired. As appalled as I still am by Ianto's death, I hate people who take one look at me and assume that's the only thing I really cared about in CoE.
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I think I would prefer them to just take CoE as a bad dream and pretend it never happened. I think that's really the only way they can salvage Jack's character, for me at least. Admittedly, Ianto never did much for me, but after killing off Owen and Tosh in Season 2...and then Ianto, it was really (excuse the bad pun) overkill. Yes, Torchwood is a dangerous place to work, but three major characters killed off in quick succession....without any real justification, IMO. And I don't usually mind character deaths!
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That's good to hear.
I haven't braved watching Vampire Diaries or True Blood...because of what I fear will be huge helpings of angsty vamps.
I haven't watched many episodes of the Vampire Diaries TV series, or a full episode of True Blood so I don't really know how much they vary from the books they're "based on." I know in the books their are certainly non-angsty vampires. The dynamic in the books for Vampire Diaries was sort of Louis-Lestat, Nick-LaCroix, only with a pair of brothers turned by someone else. Stefan was the "Woe is me" vampire and Damon was the "get over it" one. From what I've seen of the show though, Damon is less fun in the TV show. I suspect, even though I haven't watched much Supernatural, the brother dynamic is more like the one on that series. The book series that True Blood is based on has a big cast with all kinds of not only vampires but other supernaturals as well. It's fun.
I think I would prefer them to just take CoE as a bad dream and pretend it never happened.
*Nods.* I don't see it as a "third season," and not just because of it having been a 5 episodes strip instead of a full 13 episodes or because I didn't like the story. It wasn't written by a series writer. Prior to CoE RTD only wrote the pilot. That might in copyright circles make him the creator, but it doesn't make him an active series writer. The director wasn't a series regular. Sure, there were actors from the first two series playing characters by names from the first two series, but once you look at the writing... those characters only superficially resemble the ones from earlier. However it's ultimately treated, that's how I see it.
Admittedly, Ianto never did much for me...
I didn't like him first season, actively didn't like him, but by the end of second I loved him as much as Jack. I knew it when Jack abandoned Ianto and Gwen in "The Stolen Earth" and I was just as pissed at Jack for leaving Ianto as I had been at the Doctor for leaving Jack in "The Parting of the Ways." My favorite character was Jack first season, followed by Owen. I didn't like how Ianto was written in "Cyberwoman," Countrycide," or "End of Days." I really fell for him with "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang," "To the Last Man," and "Adam." I know nothing may come of the "Save Ianto Jones Campaign," but I don't see any harm in being part of it so I am.
...after killing off Owen and Tosh in Season 2...
While I'd found "They Keep Killing Suzie" funny, I wasn't amused by they're killing Owen twice. The only reason I even bothered to watch CoE was that I'd come to love both Captain Jack Harkness and Ianto Jones deeply. I've come to really hate Gwen Cooper. I wasn't happy that of the two female characters on the team Gwen was the one to survive "Exit Wounds." I'd be disgusted by CoE even if all it had done was kill Ianto Jones off and butcher Jack's character. RTD of course didn't actually confine himself to that. I still love Torchwood when it was just Torchwood. I reserve my hatred for Torchwood: Children of Earth.
...it was really (excuse the bad pun) overkill. Yes, Torchwood is a dangerous place to work, but three major characters killed off in quick succession....without any real justification, IMO. And I don't usually mind character deaths!
*Nods.* I'm glad to hear you say that. I know you don't have my issues with character death so it's good to know someone who doesn't have my issues feels RTD used overkill and killed off all of those characters without any real justification. I mean I have issues with CoE right off in the first episode before RTD has done much literal or figurative character assassination, but Ianto's death is one of my big problems. The assassination of Jack's character is another. In the first episode, RTD tosses out a lot of what I liked in Torchwood. SUV-gone. HUB-gone. Myfanwy and the weevils-gone. The Rift, having not reacted to the explosion or the destruction of the Rift Manipulator-inert if not gone.
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You see, even before CoE aired, I had my reservations about this 5-episode "season", and I just don't see it as such. Like Highlander 2, it just doesn't exist. And I agree with everything you say about RTD...it should not have been given to him to write.
It's funny that despite the fact that I don't care for Ianto much, I do think that GDL is a very good actor and played him well, especially in "Adam"...it's the character that somehow falls flat for me. Admittedly, some of my disappointment post-"Exit Wounds" is from the fact that aside from Jack...my favourites were Owen and Tosh. Killing Owen the first time was good, and to bring him back was an excellent plot idea. But to then just kill him again for no good reason.
I think, it's not so much that I love character deaths, but it's how the show in question does it. Blakes 7, IMO, did it very well indeed...Torchwood totally effed it up. And then they went and effed it up even more.
Yes, they took everything that was Torchwood and threw it into the bin...Hub, Myfanwy, SUV, Rift, Ianto and most of all Jack...
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*Nods.* Like you said, the less said about any of the Highlander movies after the original the better, though 2 with Zeist is the classic example. I'd like for mention of CoE to be banned like the word Zeist.
And I agree with everything you say about RTD...it should not have been given to him to write.
Thanks! I was afraid for Torchwood when I heard Chris Chibnall was leaving the position of head writer, and that may have been before "Exit Wounds" aired. I knew a change of head writer on a successful show was bad news. Changing head writers is risky regardless of how successful a show is or isn't, but it's especially bad when it's a successful show.
...I do think that GDL is a very good actor and played him well...
I had no idea what I was getting into going to Torchsong, not only from the whole business of John's not being able to physically attend it and Peter's stepping in, but because I'd never seen GDL in person before. As much as I love Ianto Jones I love GDL even more. If RTD has managed to kill Torchwood off completely I hope I'll be able to see more of both John Barrowman and Gareth David Lloyd in other things.
...it's the character that somehow falls flat for me.
For me Tosh is the character that falls the most flat. I mean I love Jack, Ianto, and Owen. I hate Gwen. Those are strong emotional reactions. For Tosh I mostly just feel pity that she had such a crap love life on the show.
Killing Owen the first time was good, and to bring him back was an excellent plot idea. But to then just kill him again for no good reason.
I hated them killing Owen the first time because of my dislike of character death. That they promptly brought him back shouldn't have surprised me with their having had multiple appearances by Suzie and Lisa, not to mention their treatment of Rhys in "End of Days." I didn't care for how they brought Owen back, and wasn't surprised by their killing him off again for "no good reason." I was frustrated by their killing him twice because it remind me of the writers on Charmed killing Cole Turner repeatedly. No self-respecting show should be reminding me of Charmed.
Yes, they took everything that was Torchwood and threw it into the bin...Hub, Myfanwy, SUV, Rift, Ianto and most of all Jack...
I've heard speculation RTD thought he was making the show over to something that would appeal more to the American market, and when his attempt to sell it to FOX was first reported by the Hollywood Reporter they called it "24 with aliens." Captain Jack Harkness shouldn't be written as Jack Bauer. I have my doubts that RTD understands that even now that FOX has passed on his efforts at revamping Torchwood.