Hello Everyone!
It may look like I’m posting a lot in one week but I’m not really. My previous post (where I waffle on about the excellent BBC2 offering ‘The Hour’) should have gone out last week but I’ve had birthdays (we have three birthdays on the same day in my family…) and various holiday related organising to contend with so I never got round to it but we’re back on track now!
Today I’m gonna talk about the last two episodes of ‘Torchwood: Miracle day’ which are ‘Dead of Night’ and ‘Escape to L.A’.
In ‘Dead of Night’ we find Jack, Gwen, Rex and Esther hiding out in Washington
This episode was really nice as far as ideas go and raised a lot of moral questions. It introduced ‘The Soulless’ which is an interesting idea, now that everyone lives forever what happens to the idea of religion and the human soul? Is there a case for enforced contraception? I really like that despite the obviously unrealistic storyline (not that Torchwood has ever had a realistic storyline but you know what I mean) the writers have still included some questions that makes us think ‘what if?’
In ‘Escape to L.A’ we find our heroes have done just that, ran off to the West Coast to find PhiCorp’s Headquarters. The team hatch a plan to recover some files from a server that Jilly’s records say is restricted access but Esther puts the whole team in jeopardy when she makes a visit to her sister’s house.
These are both good episodes although I preferred the latter. In ‘Dead of Night’ There weren’t any gun chases or firing rockets at helicopters but it’s still great. The episode focuses on the team dynamics, Jack’s fragility and understanding of his new mortality, Esther’s realisation that her life has changed for good, Rex’s awareness of his situation and Gwen’s sadness at being separated from her family. ‘Escape to L.A’ is more like classic Torchwood. Its more operation based, there’s a proper mission and proper danger.
I liked how, in ‘Dead of Night’ they broached the subject of involuntary birth control and of course the ultimate proposal to make all painkillers available over the counter was really interesting. In ‘Escape to L.A’ we see people trying to find a solution to the problem of mounting numbers of intensive care patients with what are essentially leper colonies being set up in disused hospitals bringing a sense of a ‘higher power’ having an ominous hand in the unfolding events.
Oswald Dane’s character is developed greatly over the two episodes which is interesting. In ‘Dead of Night’ he gets chased by some people in a cafe and gets beat up by some policemen and then finally teams up with the totally sinister Jilly Kitzinger. In ‘Escape to L.A’ we see Danes’s star on the descendant with the emerging of Ellis Hartley Monroe, a mayor and member of the Tea Party, who preaches that ‘Dead is Dead’ and that everyone who should be dead but isn’t because of the miracle should be segregated from society. The scenes with Danes are the best scenes in ‘Escape to L.A’. Bill Pullman is doing a brilliant job. He delivers a speech to the patients in the disused hospital about how they have been sidelined and how they should be treated the same as the officially living. It reminded me of the speech that I’ve mentioned before from ‘Independence Day’ the “we will not go quietly into the night” speech. He really can hold an audience, especially in those monologue type scenes.
I was talking to my cousin Elliot who is a massive fan of Doctor Who, Torchwood and general nerd fighter and he said he was put off my how Americanised it’s become. I’m inclined to disagree with him, partly because I don’t think it has become massively americanised but also because it still has those little Gwen and Jack moments that make the show. The chemistry between Eve Myles and John Barrowman has always been the glue that binds. Even through dodgy plots about purple, murderous, alien orgasm gas (series 1 ep 2, not your finest hour Mr Davies) it has been Jack and Gwen’s relationship that makes the show work, no matter how mental the story is. In both of these episodes there are the little moments and that’s what key to the whole thing.
By the end of ‘Escape to L.A’ I was completely sold on the series. I like the previous episodes but I was waiting for it to make me need to watch it. Where it goes from here looks like it could be great and I am well and truly on board for episode 5.
Now it’s about time we had some…
Reasons to be cheerful…
1. OMGANNEHATHAWAYASCATWOMAN!!!!!! Batman insiders recently said "Anne's outfit is more tactical, like the comic book, than the previous Batman movies," the source reportedly said. "She will definitely be wearing the goggles and it's going to be less sexy than Halle Berry
2. Yay more pictures! It’s the first picture of Henry Cavill as Superman in 'Man of Steel'! I dislike Zach Snyder’s films, I think ‘300’ is two hours of my life I will never get back, ‘Watchmen’ could have been good but ends up baggy and dull and the less said about ‘Sucker Punch’ the better. However, I’m putting all that aside because I really really want ‘Man of Steel’ to do well. I love Superman because, as is often cited, he’s one of the few Superheroes that does what he does for completely pure reasons. He’s not a tortured soul, there’s no dark back story, he was raised in a loving home and does what he does because it’s the right thing to do. And as far as Mr Cavill is concerned… I definitely would.
That’s it for today!
Goodbye till next time :-)
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