Torchwood: Children of Earth (BBC, 2009)

[madali]

Torchwood: Children of Earth (BBC, 2009)
IMDB Link

The first two seasons of “Torchwood” were entertaining if campy and silly sometimes. But the third season takes it to a whole new level. Structurally, it is different than the first two seasons. Those were episodic episodes with thirteen of them in each season. However, in Season 3, it is only five episodes, making up a single storyline, and episodes broadcast every day instead of week, coinciding with the timeline of the episodes, as each episode is supposed to be a day.

That is five days of the season named “Children of Earth”. It starts with all the children on earth suddenly stopping. After a minute or so, they go back to normal.

Weird.

The government and the Torchwood are on top of it, but the people just go back to normal. But then it happens again. The children stop again. And they all scream, every child in the world screams at the same time. Then they talk in one voice. “We are coming.”

Fucking weird!

People are getting freaked out now. Who is coming? What is going on? The government seems to know something, and the first episode ends with another message from Them. It is not simply “We are coming” but “We are coming back”. They were here before?

The episode is full of twists and it is dark and grim, and cynical on the level of some of the more cynical episodes of “Battlestar Galactica”. The show is not about Torchwood saving the day but the world under threat, and the government being involved in behind the scenes political maneuvering , acting in selfish and immoral ways, but the best thing about it is that it is not that they are evil characters (even though that is how it may appear to viewers initially), but they act out of necessity. Their selfishness is normal, and their more difficult, unethical decisions are ones that a leader might be forced to make for the greater good. I’m being vague here but I think I have to be. The events that occur need to be presented in their normal sequence to be as powerful. I feel guilty as it about even revealing the children stopping part, but I had to talk about something, otherwise I’d have to ramble about other subjects.

If you have not watched the first two seasons and have no interest in watching the two, you probably still should give this one a chance. You’ll be left a bit lost since3 you don’t know the characters, but I think you’ll catch up soon enough. At least, you’ll be lucky not knowing the characters well enough, because the show not only has the characters making tough decisions but so does the writer of the show. It is a five episode arc with some major, unexpected sacrifices…

4/5

[fizz]

Interesting...sounds like a comic book! What exactly is the Torchwood of the title?

[madali]

Secret British organization that deals with X-files kind of shit (aliens, etc). Its a spin-off from Dr Who.

[fizz]

Dr Who spin-offs! Woah...

[kaytee]

So you reckon we only watch Season 3?

[madali]

I cant really recommend 1 & 2 too much, thats why. Its a bit cheesy and silly, but 3 is actually good.

Here's a brief so in case you watch 3, you don't need to watch season 1 & 2. Putting it under spoilers for anyone who wants to watch S1 & S2.

[spoiler]Torchwood is a secret organization that is involved in aliens and stuff. The government knows about it and they have dealings together. By now, even most of the public know about it, through rumors and stuff.

Gwen is the newest member of the team, joining in Season 1. Initially, she kept it secret from her husband, but by S3, he knows about it.

Jack, the leader of the team, is immortal. He can't age nor die. We don't know the full story of him. He's the one that makes some difficult decisions during the first 2 seasons, for the greater good. He's flamboyant and has sex with women, men, and aliens, without a second thought. He also wears vintage army clothes.

Ianto was minor part of the team, but became more prominent as the show went on. He's now having sex with Jack.

Two other members of the team were killed off in the finale of Season 2, so you'll hear reference to them.

There will be also references to the Doctor. Which is Dr Who, but I know about him as much as you do, because I never watched that show.

I dont think more needs to be known about that.

 [/spoiler]

[fizz]

Mad, I just read that spoiler bit and it sounds EXTREMELY similar to a comic book i just finished - Planetary. I will be reviewing it for the site over the weekend, but I did a quick google and others seem to agree. Comics and graphic novels have been providing indirect fodder for TV shows and movies for years and this is further proof. I will be picking up this show just because of how intriguing it sounds (I mean, both the show and the book I'm talking about have a 3 member X-Files like team with their leader being an immortal!).

[madali]

I've been meaning to check out comic books, but I can't get into it. I get through them too fast