Torchwood: Children of Earth (aka Season 3)

[Lior Knight]

This thread contains spoilers for those who yet to watch 5 episodes of the season.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I just finished watching all 5 episodes in one go (with short breaks between the episodes) and while I'm amazed my the quality of the season I'm also utterly disappointed with its finale.

First of all, it was a good mini season, even though its 8 episode short than the previous two, each episode was longer (about 60 minutes long) and definitely qualifies for 4 of the best written episodes of the show. The writers managed to show us how human each character was and pretty much reflect the world we all live in. Acting was also good by all cast members, they really out done themselves.

But as I mentioned, this came before the finale because in one single episode I lost all respect for the character of Captain Jack and for Russell R Davis for taking such a bad direction.

I understood Ianto death, it was needed to reflect how bad things got and to influence Jack's character to evolve. But I never imagined the writers would turn Jack into a kid murdering person. Their very own "deus ex machina" aspect revolved around Jack using his own grandson to destroy the big bad and save the day while in the process killing the kid. I mean of all the things they could think of they choose this one turning Jack not only to a murder but to the most disgusting character of the show.

Perhaps its only me, but the final episode really ruined a lot for me and I really didn't expect the show to turn this way. Seeing what RTD did with Jack, I'm really worried he'd ruin the remaining bits of Dr Who as well but guess only time will tell.

[stakey]

I thought the twist was extremely dramatic and dark, a massive shock.

I didnt think hed actually go through with it but he didnt really have any other choice...his grandson dies...or millions of children across the world get abducted.

I dont think it destroyed his character however, it was certainly a horrible thing to do but again, he had no choice.

I think RTD wanted to give the character some sort of catalyst to give up and leave Earth, and killing a family member to save the world certainly did that.

My only complaint would be the final scene on the hill with jack and gwen...hardly a memorable final scene and by the looks of things this 'series 3' will be the last so I was expecting a bigger finale in general.

[Lior Knight]

I think Jack had choice simply because using the kids would have been the easiest doesn't means he had to do so. Not to mention being the kids relative gives him no right to play god.

All they had to do was to transmit the sound - which they could have done either by sending a copy to Unit or logging to satellites and such. Considering the soldiers where still chasing kids they had more than enough time to manage it.

But RTD decided he wanted more drama so he presented it as if Jack had no choice...so turning Jack from a hero to a murderer was only to provoke the audience. Because loosing Ianto would have been bad enough for Jack to leave earth but it won't have made his character look as a brutal murderer in the process.

[sueworld2003]

I gotta say I adored all of COE. I thought it was brilliant and disturbing, and what I always hoped TW would be and which it never was until now (ie. sci fi for grownups).

[Haephestus]

I really enjoyed COE, although I thought the first three episodes were better than the final two.

I don't mind Ianto dying, but I thought the death scene was poorly handled (mainly the part where they start shooting the alien's cage instead of just opening the door if they truly wanted to release the alien's toxic gas which it used to breathe) and I also thought the constant switching/editing between Ianto's death and Clem's death detracted from the emotional resonance of Ianto/Jack's final moments (particularly as Clem was just a "new" character).

I also thought it was poor form for Jack to just invade level 13 without any plan for defeating the aliens apart from empty threats. I didn't really understand what Jack expected to happen. I *think* the intention may have been to show Jack copying the Doctor's normal tactics, but the Doctor is typically able to resolve the problem whereas Jack's bluff was called and everyone in the building died as a result - including Ianto. I guess the "lesson" Jack was meant to learn was to be reminded that everyone else isn't as immortal as he is and therefore he can't go blustering about and making threats against invading aliens if he doesn't have the means to actually carry through those threats.

I quite like the basic idea of Jack having to use his grandson to stop/kill/destroy/defeat the aliens, but I didn't like the techno-babble explanation for "how" it worked. I didn't quite understand how "reversing" the alien's signal which they used to kill an adult human back at the aliens (albeit fed through the brains of millions of children) would "kill" the aliens. I was also unclear whether the aliens in the tank were actually killed (there was "blood" splattered on the walls - unless that was the child's blood) or whether they teleported away (since we saw their "pillar of fire" teleportation activate and there didn't appear to be any remains in the tank afterwards).

All in all, I probably enjoyed all the political wrangling and immoral dealings far more than I did the resolution of the "alien" storyline. BUT that is a recurring issue for me with RTD scripts and I happily accept that with RTD it is the journey that matters, not the destination.

Cheers.

[stakey]

I agree with you haep'...reminds me of stephen king in a way...the journey is tremendously entertaining but the final conclusion can sometimes be out of nowhere and quickly wrap things up.

for example, I loved the finale of series 4 with the huge reunion of the cast vs davros but the eventually climax of the episodes was rather quick and out of the blue.

[Dementor]

So I just finished watching this mini season. I had only watched a couple of episodes from Season 1 of Torchwood before watching this...I will watch the first 2 seasons eventually.

I was quite shocked to say the least. The first episode to me was shocking with the whole Torchwood blowing up. The second and third episodes were kinda moving the plot along a bit...nothing too shocking there. And then there was the fourth episode. Holy crap! People suddenly start dying everywhere! I had my hand over my mouth the entire last few scenes. I was so shocked Ianto died. I wasn't expecting it even though the previous episodes had been strongly hinting towards it. Those final scenes were tear jerking and so emotional. So I thought "Wow. How can this get any more shocking?" Bring in episode 5. That was one of the most shocking episodes of any TV Series I have ever watched before. It was fantastic in a repulsive way. What they did to Jack's character had me hating him by the end of the episode. His last scene portrayed him as weak, selfish, and clueless. To just run off like that and leave behind people who love and care about you and to think you can just run away and "be a different person" was just so wrong. I hated it so much!

I am hoping we get a Season 4...I would like to see Gwen's baby, the return of Jack, Martha, Micky, and Lois, and maybe even Ianto's sister become involved somehow in Torchwood. But the ending seemed to tie the show up. Jack ran away and now Gwen is having a baby so she won't be fighting aliens any time soon. And everyone else died so...who knows...

[buffyfannumerouno]

It was stated that as long as Season 3 did well (which it did) that a 4th Season would be a go. Apparently the writer knows exactly what direction to take the characters that are left in.