Season 1
"Torchwood: outside the government, beyond the police. Tracking down alien life on Earth, arming the human race against the future. The twenty-first century is when everything changes. And you've got to be ready."
One of the first things that struck me while watching Season 1 was its representation of sexuality. Early on, multiple episodes feature positive homosexual references and activity. In Episode 2: Day 1, the lead female character Gwen, makes out with (er...snogs - I just love the differences in language and accent) a woman who has been possessed by a being addicted to orgasmic energy. In Cyberwoman, the lead male character, all bow before Captain Jack Harkness, passionately kisses Ianto in an effort to revive him (apparently kissing Harkness transfers life force or something of that nature). As the show goes on, Captain (Please Kiss Me) Jack snogs a few more men and the occasional kiss for a girl as well. Other characters also engage in same-sex fun. The characters appear to be sexually fluid. I have to say I started watching because I'm a geek for science fiction and fantasy television shows. Now, I think I'm more interested in seeing where all this leads. It's wonderful to see a tv series so progressive about sexuality without sex being the primary focus of the plot-lines.
Outside of the hot guy-on-guy action taking place in the show (er..and girl-on-girl and guy-on-girl, and well you get the picture), this show is for me what SFF should be. The stories are character driven with the aliens and technology taking a back seat to the emotions and desires of the people involved. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I am fascinated with more than just the characters' sex lives; they have to deal with love and loss, to maintain a balance between life and work, to rationalize a sense of self separate from and still part of the rest of humanity. The entire thing is just ridiculously intriguing to me.
That being said, I do have a few issues:
-At times things are a bit over dramatic, both in the acting and in the plots.
-Sexual fluidity is one thing, but these people seem to just all want everyone, and the sexual tension can be a bit suffocating.
-There is a fine line between mystery and frustration, and the secrets about Captain Jack are tenuously straddling that line.
An Admission I Hope Doesn't Get Me Lynched and a Question I'd Like Answered:
-I've never seen Doctor Who. Yep, I know. Terrible. Then again I'm an American in her late 20s so Doctor Who was not exactly my prime time. The show went off the air before I was nine, and the new version started up again during my "OMG only geeks watch scifi" stage. I have, of course, accepted my geek status since that time. Anyone have the lowdown on Doctor Who. Should I watch the original? Should I watch the remake that I hear is currently airing? How much am I missing out on in Torchwood by not watching Doctor Who?
Okay, enough with the questions. Now get yourself over to Netflix or your local video store and watch this - if you haven't already.
Challenges: 42 Challenge
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