CoE Review...enter if you dare!
I have to admit I was more than slightly disappointed with the resolution of Series 3/CoE. Thoughts after the cut.
I know everyone's friend's pages will be filled up with OMGIANTO posts, but I'm sorry, this has to be said.
Why RTD, why?
I'm almost certain I felt the same after the end of Series Two - two fifths of the team had been killed off, after all! And as far as I could (with Owen being a favourite character and Tosh/Owen a favourite ship), I got over it. I still prefer pre-Series Two fic over post, and I honestly think that the series (the plays, books, early CoE) was better before it. But this hasn't stopped me loving the series, reading fic, books or listening to the plays, which I think the ending of Coe might have.
I know this sounds awfully dramatic, but it's true. Ianto was without a doubt my favourite character, a strong, brave man, and yet he died in such an undignified way. Although in my head I'm in denial, I love the Owen/Tosh dead scene because by god it was beautiful.
Owen: Give me one good reason why I shouldn't keep bloody screaming.
Toshiko: Because you're breaking my heart.
That was Chris Chibnall's writing at his best, and I wish that, if he had to die, Ianto was sent out with something like this. It just seemed like such a waste... We also saw the characters dealing with their deaths - mentions of a funeral, Ianto's visions of them in Lost Souls, Gwen's greeting every morning (who else loved that?) - which I think helped us to deal with it as well. Yet all we got for Ianto was a six-months-later jump. I felt we needed to see something there.
And then his death itself. WHY? I know the Torchwood death rate is crazily high, but come on - 60% of a team obliterated in such a short amount of time? It's almost like a conspiracy - like Gwen is going around murdering everyone to get close to Jack! I smell a fic... I think I could have dealt with it had he died once we had a full team, but it almost feels like a whole new programme.
Along with keeping him alive, I think I'm also going to keep to my idea of Ianto's backstory and childhood - I've thought about it so much I just don't want to change it. But I did like the differences between what we've been led to think and what was real - it made him seem deeper.
Talking point :
Ianto: I tell you everything.
Did he tell Jack the truth about his father?
Jack. Running away. I think it's in character, but I still feel sort of cheated. Like I said above, I wanted to see a mourning period, but more than that, I wanted to see how Torchwood deals with the aftermath. I'm sure Britain wil have decended into anarchy - did Torchwood help? Did they rebuild theHub? What about Grey, Suzie, Owen, Tosh - all those hundreds of bodies we know are in the hub? Janet and Myfanwy??? I think the ending was just so (for want of a better word!) out of character for the series. Almost like they ran out of time and had to hand in the scripts before they could write something decent.
Anyway, as this seems very, very negative, have a few good points:
a) This last episode was almost unbearable to watch - apart from what I've said above, so, so well written. I really thought about not watching more because I was so upset, which is exactly what I think was aimed for.
b) I thought I wouldn't like the inculsion of so many new characters, but I think it just made it all the better. I would have liked to have seen more of Dr Patanjali though - from all the interviews I expected him to be more of a central character, and kept waiting for him to be 'gloved'!
c) I loved how (until Day Five at least) it never lost the humour! Beans, potatoes, shop-lifting - fab :)
So what do you think about everything? Does this mean the end of Torchwood? Will Jack come back? Would you watch it with only Jack and Gwen? Do you think Ianto will ever come back (please, please, PLEASE)? I enjoyed the mini-series, but I'm going to keep it seperate in my head from what I consider 'my' canon. Anyone up for a 'Bring Ianto Back' club? .