Okay, let’s see… So this is Torchwood. The show has a certain Doctor Who feel to it, so it’s justifiable to call it a spinoff. But that’s pretty much where the similarities end.
When I realised what Torchwood was about and who was going to play the leading role, I was excited. After all, Captain Jack Harkness was quite a charmer in the Doctor Who episodes he was in – why wouldn’t I want to see more of him, whole episodes nothing but him (well, you know)? Unfortunately, what I came to notice, was that neither John Barrowman nor Captain Jack have the intensity, the appeal to keep a complete series running. He was tremendously entertaining as a random ‘quest’ in the Doctor Who series but this is just not working.
Of course, after Doctor Who my expectations were a bit too high, but this show just has nothing much to give. It seems that whenever the writers fall short on new things to write about, they try to cover it up with sex or other relationship related mumbo-jumbo. This series relies so much on sex it gets dull after awhile. At first it was kind of interesting, the open bisexuality that was going around, and I was rather ecstatic over Gwen and Owen’s little ‘relationship’ but really, too much is just too much. Got me thinking what do the writers think of us viewers, throw in a couple of snogging scenes and a lot of sexual innuendoes and we’re happy? (well, in some cases maybe yes, but this is a Doctor Who spinoff we’re talking about here!)
Gwen totally grew on me during the series but I’ve got to say she was very badly written on the first episodes. Such a nuisance, annoying and nosy, I definitely wouldn’t have hired her. Why does she get so much more priority over the others? She’s not that special in any way, yet she’s often portrayed like she was second to Jack. Of course that’s just the way her part is written but I still don’t get it.
I thought I had a huge crush on Owen but I think not, after all. He got all brooding after ‘his lover’ left him and that’s just boring. Besides, he’s sometimes a bit too vicious and quick-tempered, not sure how good a thing that is in the end.
All in all, I’m not completely disappointed but this could have been so much better. I think I’ll still watch the second season, who knows, it might surprise me. In a good way.