Tuesday, May 27, 2008



I skimmed through the season finale for Torchwood--a couple of heroic deaths, handled in the typical contemporary sentimental manner, proper to RTD or Joss Whedon. As it is a universe with no God, there is no mention of Him (except by one character facing death, with "Oh God"), no satisfactory preparation for death. And so it strikes a believer as being incredible, that is, unbelievable. How can man face the 'great unknown' without fear, if he doesn't believe that the end is the beginning of eternity, and that his choices in life, culminating in his last choice, determine his fate? His reaction would be even worse if he believed that death is extinction. When one character starts yelling in frustration and anger as death approaches, that is more credible.

While the show aspires to be a sci-fi/fantasy show aimed at adults, the drama and the plots doesn't really attain that level. It isn't appropriate for children because of the moral values of the characters, but the writing isn't much better than your typical soap opera, with some aliens thrown in. I wouldn't consider Buffy to be serious drama for adults, either.

Will there be new additions to the cast next season? It doesn't really matter to me, since I don't think I will continue watching the show. The show is over-wrought, and most of the characters have an attitude... kind of like Xander in Buffy, the smug adolescent know-it-all superiority and overconfidence that is manifested in how the actors talk and act.

Access to the BBC site for those not living in the UK has been restricted. The BBC America site.

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