Torchwood Episode Discussion (Spoilers for all eps aired in the UK)

[BruTak]

Ok, just how many shots did Owen fire at the shapeshifter?

The magazine of a modern 9mm automatic pistol will hold maybe a dozen shots. Call it thirteen with a round in the chamber - which, incidentally, is very very dangerous ladies an' germs.

I'm positive there were more than thirteen shots in rapid succession - remember, we saw Owen reload his pistol when Jack and co. came bursting in through the door.

Sloppy work there by the sound department.

[Red Phoniex]

I think it's been assumed that Ianto takes care of Myfanwy (since he does everything else around the Hub) and that he either feeds her or she flies out to get food.

the way he was talking about looking after the whale in meat sounds like he takes care of all the aliens at the hub.

[ShadowMaat]

Saw From Out of the Rain. Once again, I'm not sure I like it.

Spoiler:

The basic premise- characters on film coming to life- felt a little too familiar, and while the Night People were somewhat sinister, they were also a bit... ambiguous? I dunno, I didn't quite understand what they were doing. Just stealing breaths so Mermaid Girl could do her act? Was it meant to be somehow keeping them alive? And if so then why aren't they still alive? Why did they have to jump out of the film in order to live? Unless it's supposed to be some kind of "film captures the soul" thing, which is dodgy beyond my ability to accept. I'm also intensely curious to know what would have happened if Mermaid Girl had tried to bring The Man Who Cannot Die out of the film.

What happened to the little girl? And how did the whole traveling show disappear in a blink? Sometimes they leave bodies behind and sometimes they don't? What?

And why, WHY was Ianto so profoundly affected by all this? Sometimes this seemed like an Ianto story with half his relevant scenes snipped out. He was in tears at the end. WHY? I know they portray him to be a bit sensitive, but he was a bit bug-eyed and freaky throughout the ep with no real explanation and that bothered the hell out of me. I kept waiting to find out that something had happened to him as a kid. Or his parents. And while I know he's a local boy and knows everything about the city, when the one nurse mentioned the psychiatric home and Ianto said he knew it- with another of those inscrutably intense looks- I kept waiting for a reveal that his Mum was there or something... or that he'd been there himself at some point. I know there was a mention of the Night People having "touched" him, but while at first I thought the old lady meant that Ianto had seen them as a kid apparently she just meant them passing him in the Electro. WTF? It wasn't that profound an encounter. In fact, Ianto was particularly weird through that whole scene. If this had been a cartoon his hair would probably have been standing on end.

Maybe I just misread the character through the whole ep, but he just seemed really off to me. It isn't as if this is the first time he's had a close encounter with something spooky, but instead of Calm and Snarky Ianto we got Total Freakout Ianto. With no explanation!

Was there something in the Declassified ep that would explain all this? Or is it really just my imagination and I'm the only one who thought he was acting odd?

Bah. I'm not really happy with the ep. And given the (IMO) bad run of eps lately I have my suspicions about next week's, too.

C'mon, Torchwood, don't lose your season-beginning high!

[Willow'sCat]

Well Out of the rain, from out of the rain... whatever!

I think it was trying to be The X-Files and failed. *shrugs*

Spoiler:

This wasn't The X-Files, heck it wasn't even a "cheeky" rip-off of The Purple Rose of Cairo. It was just lazy writing from a writer I am now more convinced then ever has no idea who these characters (the main Torchwood crew) are!

It had no real heart, many plot holes. Jack could have just sat in a comfy chair for 10 minutes and told us what the ep was about! Well he practically did!

OK so it wasn't a total fail but it was closer to the crap of last series to make it seem incredibly out of place for this series.

I did like seeing Ianto and Jack (surprise!) but it had no humour, no sense of fun, where were the cheeky one liners? The banter? This was a throw back to the worst of series one where everyone was taking everything so seriously, even when the situations were totally laughable.

And back to Purple Rose of Cairo... not one mention? What gives? OK so maybe when Allen did it, it was not original... was it Chaplin who did it first? Anyway, you would think one of them during Jack's little explanation would have said "oh like the purple rose of Cairo?" God! Was it purely because of copyright issues or was the writer seriously thinking we wouldn't have seen that film? Or the rather bad music video by Joan Armatrading? *yes I am incredibly old* Hmm, maybe she did it first!

The thing I love about TV is it often takes from movies and it will credit that by having the characters say... just like in so and so... well that was lacking here and I had trouble getting past it.

Basically I found the whole thing childish but not in a Doctor Who kinda way, more in a talk down to it's audience kind of way... yeah like series one.

This was a series one episode, obviously.

We are fast running out of episodes to impress me, we have what; three left now?

That is scary.

[Bray]

Just seen the one with the shape shifters and I thought that one was a pretty damned good episode, the shapeshifters have been the best baddy so far this season in my opinion.

[BruTak]

... was it Chaplin who did it first?

Buster Keaton in "Sherlock Jr." from 1924.

[Mr Prophet]

Bah. I'm not really happy with [From Out of the Rain]. And given the (IMO) bad run of eps lately I have my suspicions about next week's, too.

C'mon, Torchwood, don't lose your season-beginning high!

Lord love PJ Hammond, because he is a genuine maverick genius of TV sci-fi, but he is still writing Sapphire and Steel, only with a larger cast and in bigger coats. Given that an average length Sapphire and Steel assignment ran to about two hours, I think he's still writing for the original length as well.

[huntress]

: looks at reviews above from "Out of the Rain" and is baffled :

Well I for one thought they did everything right this week. They didn't try at all to be like X-Files! It felt more like a Ray Bradbury homage and I really loved the episode. I didn't feel the itch at all to switch channels like I did with "Dead Man Walking" or "Meat". This episode was more in the vein like "Small Worlds" and I had hoped for some more of that stuff.

Spoiler:

- I loved that this episode was basically Jack and Ianto with exactly the right amount of Gwen (in other words: hanging around in background and being quiet). Also little of Owen which was okay because we had a bit of overexposure of him. So this was all Jack, Ianto and a dash of Tosh in it.
- I absolutely loved the scenes with only Jack and Ianto researching the citymap. No there weren't any intimacies of any kind but it was so obvious that Jack was utterly comfortable with only Ianto around. How he told him of the days at the travelling circus and sharing his enthusiasm and nostalgic feelings with him. It was all just so intimate. Those two have such a wonderful chemistry together.
- God, Ianto is always so emotional but in a good way. When he was devastated that he was only able to save one of the souls and him being on the verge of tears when Jack brought the kid back.... oh Ianto :hugs:
- Murray Gold also outdid himself in this episode. Someone felt obviously very enthusiastic - the music when Jack and Ianto chased the creepy circus director was wonderful. I hope it will be on the CD when it finally comes out this autumn.
- Like I said, the story itself had a bit or a Ray Bradbury touch just as I assumed and was the right amount of creepy and was even a bit sad.

I don't know what you were expecting but for me this was a four ot of five stars effort from Torchwood.

[Flyboy]

Out of the Rain, was imo... nothing special. Didn't make me want to stop watching, but didn't thrill me. I don't understand why the performers stole last breaths, or even what they were, or how the film allowed them to appear...

It was mediocre.

But adrift looks steller!

[ShadowMaat]

I was expecting a good ep of Torchwood. I didn't feel I got it.

[Willow'sCat]

Buster Keaton in "Sherlock Jr." from 1924.

Oh really, well I knew someone a long time ago had done it, still not a lot of folks outside film school would have gotten a reference to that, so I still think they should/could have said something about Allen's film.

Thanks btw for the link.

I don't know what you were expecting but for me this was a four ot of five stars effort from Torchwood.

I was expecting to be entertained, thrilled and find the characters in character for series two, instead I did feel the itch to, well not change channels, *cough* but you know same difference... check my emails... *cough* I didn't feel any empathy with the victims, didn't actually give a dam about them, and also I still am confused by the whole *why and how* of the episode.

And the way they solved it, just stupid really. I would buy that "exposure" lark on Australian kids show "Round the twist" but I am not going to buy it here.

[BruTak]

Returning briefly, if I may, to "Something Borrowed".

Surely, in among all that advanced technology that Jack and co seem to have access to, you would think there'd be some sort of life signs scanner?

Something Owen could scan the wedding guests with to check for non-human bio signs.

Mind you, yon Banana Boat fella seemed barely human anyway...

BTW Shadowmaat, love the sig. The comic strip had me chuckling away like a mad thing all day.

[lonely_angel_42]

Hmm.

Well, I have to agree with Huntress, because I really loved this episode. It was to me really creepy at times but also just felt ya know right. Gwen didn't bug me at all, and all the main char's. didn't seem off or anything.

And I think that we don't need to know the how or why. Seriously, we don't always have to know every little detail, we don't have to be told everything.

Just watch it and enjoy. That's what I do. Sure, I might chat about some things with friends (and *cough*fangirl*cough* too) but maybe I'm just so hooked I don't really care but to me the creepy people just came out of the film because they were preternatural (or maybe supernatural) in the first place so that explains how they got away and them being close to that rift also couldn't hurt.

Like in Buffy how the Hellmouth was just a big magnet for all kinds of demons and devils and hellgods from other dimensions. lol.

*Shrugs, walks away and returns to the thread she came from*

[ShadowMaat]

Some things I can enjoy without question and some things I can't. This just happens to be one of the eps that nagged at me.

[Naonak]

Is it just me, or would the basic story of From Out of the Rain - bad guys coming out of films - have worked better as a Doctor Who ep? They're the same universe and all, with the same rules, but for some reason to me the story would have been more at home in Who...