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burtonsdoodles · 4 months ago

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My Random Overly Wordy Thoughts on Torchwood... #1: Changing the Tone…

Disclaimer: I actually started writing this a couple of weeks ago and forgot to finish it… but also never actually continued watching the show past the point I was when I started writing it (I totally chickened out - I wanted to stay in the “Ianto! We’re having a baby” moment bubble for just a little longer and used writing this as an excuse not to finish CoE: D2) so everything below still stands, except I’ve now almost finished a second rewatch of s1&2 and will not be chickening out of s3 this time… I'm scared.

I’ve officially fallen deep down into the Torchwood rabbit hole…it’s consumed my life at the minute… in the space of three days I’ve binged through the first two seasons and (with great trepidation) I’ve started Children of Earth…

At the point of writing this, I’ve just started episode two, so I haven’t gotten too far into it yet, but I gotta say, regardless of plot content, there is something so fascinating about how they totally changed up the tone of the show for s3. The first seasons were always a bit more on the jokey side of things - they weren’t comedies but it's the humour that sticks with me most when I think about them. Yes, there were dark and gritty and truly heartbreaking things that happened in the plots, but ultimately Torchwood and its characters existed in a world that felt very self-contained. It was in its own episodic reality that was more fantastical and far-fetched, where things were more easily laughed off. There was less lasting consequence to the events that happened… but then you get to s3. Suddenly Torchwood is this high-suspense drama that actually feels so grounded in our own reality it’s horrifying to consider all the implications of the events taking place… and maybe that’s something to do with the fact I haven’t got to the point where the 456 have shown up yet. Still, it’s really interesting how this show about catching and fighting otherworldly creatures has yet to show anything more than humans making choices based on the communications of this otherworldly threat.

Then there’s the change to the filming style that now captures the expanse of the wider world. Everything and everyone is coexisting whether they're focal characters or merely walking across the street. It no longer feels as enclosed, like the characters are in sets or locations with a few Extras dotted around to fill the space - or are just straight-up empty. You can see it in those very first scenes of each season…

In Everything Changes, we open on a dark isolated alleyway with a few crime scene officials who then clear out to make way for the Torchwood team. Then, it’s just them, the victim and Gwen in this enclosed space that doesn’t feel attached to the wider world. Just like Gwen, we are being brought into Torchwood's crazy world where there are Weevils and sex mists and resurrection gauntlets as the norm…

Or, in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, where the streets are comically void of life, barring one old woman wanting to cross the road during the car chase with the drugged-up blowfish in a convertible. It all feels so empty when you then compare it to the next season.

In the opening scene of CoE (after the flashback), we have multiple shots establishing the daily goings-on of a multitude of people. They’re having breakfast, going to work, walking to school, all doing the mundane. Even Gwen is simply withdrawing money from a cash machine while the world’s population exists around her. With that opening scene, everything is suddenly way bigger than Torchwood. We are not being brought into their world, the world is existing and Torchwood just happens to exist within it. Here, they do not hold all the power, they’re not commanding the scene or taking control of the sketchy situation that’s happening - it’s just Gwen getting some cash and noticing some oddness before going back to what she was doing before, just as everyone else does. It’s so fascinating to see because even though it feels different, it doesn’t take away from the characters that were already established in those previous seasons. They still work in this new style without it being jarring or needing a transition period - which is good because they do not have time for it given it’s a five-episode season.

The other thing about the characters in this different tone is that, despite having already had 26 episodes of content, it’s actually in this first episode of s3 that Jack, Gwen and Ianto all genuinely feel like real dimensional people with more to them than the base personalities they were introduced to us with. They have lives beyond the Hub, and they have anxieties about things which were either laughed off or just never explored in much depth (or at all) in the previous seasons. There's suddenly so much more weight to their actions and choices because we’re seeing that Jack is more than his charm, Gwen is more than her confidence and Ianto is more than his snark. There’s a greater sense of consequence that just isn’t there or nearly as prevalent in the previous seasons, because of both the use of humour and the more villain/shenanigan of the week episodic structure… I do think s1 is a little better at it than s2, but s3 is on a different level entirely.

From something as little as Ianto's talk with his sister about his relationship with Jack… which holds way more emotional depth than was ever given them in s1/2 and acknowledges in more of a realistic light the trepidation and anxiety surrounding what’s essentially a coming out situation to a family member. I love this scene - it's why I wanted to write this post. As the relationship was only ever explored within the bubble of the Hub/by the team, Ianto only ever showed confidence surrounding his activities with Jack, he never really shied away from anything… but then in 301, there are multiple occasions where he’s faced with an outsider’s acknowledgement of them and he falters, because with this shift in tone, he's now a cog in this bigger world with tonnes of opinions and perspectives and labels and categories and you never know how someone might react to something, and suddenly this relationship is so much more than naked hide and seek in the Hub. It's something that naturally sparks curiosity and questions - questions which were never asked in any of the prior episodes. I do wish they’d actually explored the relationship to this degree in the previous seasons (or in s2 at the very least) instead of cramming as much development as they can into 4 episodes as a means to get as much emotional impact out of Ianto's death and be the final motivating influence in Jack's decision to do what he does in the end…

But it’s fine because at this point I have listened to In The Shadows, and oh my god, I love it so much! It’s brilliant and possibly my favourite piece of canon Torchwood media yet! (But that’s an entirely different post I might write at some point. Back to the current post...)

To then something more significant, such as exploring the deeper consequences of Jack's immortality. Both the strain it places on the relationship he can have with his mortal daughter and grandson, as well as the unrelenting torment that arises from nefarious individuals in power thinking of creative ways to keep killing him until he is adequately apprehended. In s3, Jack's deaths are no longer trivial. The ordeals that Jack endures in those first two episodes are horrific; he’s manipulated, violated, weaponised, tortured—he’s completely dehumanised. His immortality isn't this cool superpower anymore, as we see how vulnerable it makes him when he becomes the subject of attack. In s1&2, Captain Jack Harkness is the man with all the power. After all, he’s the immortal with all the knowledge and experience, unbothered by the world because he’s seen it all and knows he’ll ultimately outlive it all. However, in 301, he is tricked, murdered multiple times in quick succession by a government-sanctioned black ops unit, stuffed with a bomb, and nearly blows up his loved ones in their own base before being atomised by that explosion. He is utterly powerless, and that’s in just the first episode. It’s insane and horrible, yet also fascinating when considering how the tone of the media alters the writing and portrayal of the characters and situations that arise.

Obviously, I need to actually properly watch Children of Earth in its entirety before I can decide whether I like what they do with it plotwise. (Objectively speaking, that is. They kill off Ianto in it, instantly that's just an idiot move I cannot emotionally stand by!) But I do, at the minute, like the change in tone that it takes on because it brings the emotional development that I long for when I watch s1&2. The writing brings more depth to the characters and substance to the world they inhabit which creates more to latch onto and connect with as a viewer. There are 26 episodes over the span of s1&2, and it wasn't until Fragments - the penultimate episode of s2 - that the show finally (if briefly) looked into the back stories of the team... and that was most likely because they were about to kill Tosh and Owen off in the next episode and needed that emotional impact thing that s3 seems to be doing with Ianto... something it wouldn't have to do if they'd just emotionally expanded on the characters throughout those 26 episodes. Ultimately, the tone of s1&2 lends itself more to focusing on the shenanigans and the stories than it ever does the characters and their lives. They're more scooby doo - which is fun and eventful but ultimately leaves you wanting something that never really comes unless it's absolutely necessary for the week's plot being told.

And while I keep saying this, it really is just so fascinating to me, because it's not something you see happen often or ever - I certainly can't think of any examples like it. Media usually stick with the tone it chooses and then over time may evolve its tone across several seasons or if it's been off-air a while or in a spinoff of some kind... but Torchwood had a clear style for two seasons and then completely changed it up for s3 and it all still works! Of course, I still haven't finished ep 2, so could very well be proven wrong with all these observations but I stand by them for now and I think it's really cool to see and think way too much about.

Oh god...This has gotten so ridiculously long and I could honestly keep talking about it --- but I won't.

I'm gonna stop writing because I’m sure nobody’s gonna read it anyway - so I need to move on from it and finally get it out of my drafts. Also, Torchwood genuinely has consumed so much of my brain at the minute and I’ve been doing so much doodling for it that I thought it was about time to actually share some wordy thoughts and observations - because clearly I’ve got loads and no one to share them with - so here you go… (can you tell I never know how to close these! :))

Anyway...

Thanks for reading if you did <3

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polaritydisturbed · 2 months ago

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Guys, guys, please—I can't do this. This episode isn't about painting UNIT as some flawless institution under unfair attack. It’s about a deeply flawed system. One that, on little to no evidence of an actual alien threat, invades a small town in full SWAT gear. That’s not meant to be a good thing.

It’s a story where the person in charge literally releases a dangerous creature to prove a point—and that same institution is being targeted by a misinformation campaign. And yet, despite those serious flaws, they do ultimately act to protect people. That’s the tension. That’s the point.

Let me be clear: this is an allegory for COVID and the online grifters and influencers who took advantage of the pandemic to spread hate and gain popularity—and who continue to do so now.

It’s about how institutions—even when compromised, bureaucratic, or short-sighted—still have the capacity to do good. They’re made of people, many of whom are trying to hold the line, trying to save lives, trying to do the right thing while the ground shifts under them.

But those imperfections? They make it easy for grifters to walk in and sell a fantasy. People like Conrad don’t actually want to protect anyone—they want control. And they know how to dress up that pursuit of power in the language of liberation. He says he’s standing up for you, for “truth,” for “the people,” but really he’s weaponizing frustration, anger, and distrust for his own gain.

Conrad always knew aliens were real. He wasn’t trying to expose lies. He was trying to punish UNIT for not recruiting him. That’s it. His whole crusade is built on a personal grudge. He rejects the Doctor’s reality not because it’s implausible, but because he wasn’t chosen.

That’s the core danger here: villains who tell you exactly what you want to hear. Who appeal to your cause, your values, your righteous anger. They frame themselves as underdogs, rebels, visionaries. But when you look closer, their plans are hollow. Destruction for destruction’s sake, dressed up in whatever narrative gets clicks and followers. People saw what they wanted to see in Conrad. Whatever oppressive system they hate, he claimed to be fighting it. He let you project your beliefs onto him—just like grifters do in real life. He made destruction feel like justice.

Ruby drank the vial, Conrad didn’t. That vial was the only thing that negated the Shreek’s vomit-based marking system, and by refusing to drink it, Conrad didn’t just risk his own life—he put everyone else in danger. Just like those that refused to take the vaccine.

And Kate, in releasing the monster, represents those who, during the pandemic, felt frustration and helplessness. She symbolizes the moment some threw up their hands and said, “If they won’t take the vaccine, let them die.” But that mindset didn’t solve the problem; it only escalated it. The monster had already shown it could mark more than one person, and there was no guarantee it wouldn’t strike again. The monster, like the virus, didn’t distinguish between those who made bad choices and those who couldn’t protect themselves. And she released it anyway.

By surrendering to that frustration, she was putting the vulnerable at greater risk, the very people who needed protection the most.

This mirrors the situation with COVID: surrendering to misinformation or personal pride jeopardizes the lives of the vulnerable, children, the immunocompromised, and those without the same choices or protections.

It was only because of Ruby that those consequences didn’t spiral out of control. Ruby didn’t just save lives—she prevented Kate’s breakdown in judgment from becoming a catastrophe.

So no, this isn’t “UNIT good, Conrad bad.” It’s a story about nuance. About how flawed systems can still serve the public good, and how those flaws are exploited by bad-faith actors who don’t care about truth or safety. It’s a warning: be careful who you believe, and why. Just because someone says what you’re thinking doesn’t mean they’re right. And just because a system needs fixing doesn’t mean you burn it all down.

The episode holds up a mirror to us and asks: what do you do when the systems meant to protect you fall short? Do you give up? Do you burn down the establishment, ignoring that it would put people at great danger? Or do you recognize that while the system is flawed, it still has the capacity to do good, and that dismantling it without a plan and without care for who gets caught in the fallout can cause more harm than reforming it ever would? It challenges us to sit with discomfort, to hold more than one truth at once.

Conrad had valid grievances, but his actions still endangered lives. UNIT made mistakes, but it still stood between humanity and annihilation. Rejecting nuance in favor of easy answers may feel righteous, but it often leaves the most vulnerable to pay the price.

That said, I do think the episode would’ve been stronger had the Shreek actually attacked or marked someone else during that final confrontation. Even just one more target could have underscored the point that the threat was indiscriminate—that Kate’s decision risked more than just Conrad. It would’ve made the stakes more immediate, and made Ruby’s choice feel even more necessary.

And yeah—I really hope we get an episode someday that digs into the tightrope UNIT has to walk. How do you hold them accountable without exposing the dangerous technology and classified knowledge they safeguard? But that's not what this episode was targeting.

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