Posted Apr 20th 2008 1:20PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Doctor Who, Torchwood, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S02E13) Well, despite some ups and downs throughout the season, to say that this second run went out with a bang, both literally and emotionally, would be an understatement. Definitely, this ranks as one of the best episodes of the series so far and so amazingly surpasses the first season finale in every way. Where that was a silly overblown giant monster romp, this one existed on a much more intimate level within the lives of our cast of characters.
The cast and crew spent all season really fleshing out this team for us and making us learn to love and care for each of them; all of it leading to this stunning finale. Now the events herein could really resonate. Now you might be asking why such a generic
Torchwood picture for such a key episode? I see it as a tribute. To what? Well, if you've seen the episode, maybe you know what. If not, what the hell are you doing here? Go watch it already.
Continue reading Torchwood: Exit Wounds (season finale)
Posted Apr 13th 2008 12:43PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Torchwood, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S02E12) The penultimate episode of the second season delivers in a big way, both setting up the season finale as a major event with huge stakes for Captain Jack as well as delivering some great looks back at what brought each member of Torchwood to the team. Using the framing sequence of a massive explosion, we spend the majority of the episode in
Lost-like flashbacks.
What's so brilliant about the stories we get is that in most cases the back-stories are nothing like I would have expected for that character, and yet at the same time it so perfectly serves the personality and drives of each individual on the team. Suddenly, Tosh's meekness, Ianto's eagerness and Owen's boorishness make perfect sense in the context of their past experiences. Even Jack's cavalier behavior and obsessive dedication to Torchwood make sense considering his own history with it. What they've managed is to add more depth to our relationship with each of the individual Torchwood members just in time for all hell to break loose in the finale.
Continue reading Torchwood: Fragments
Posted Apr 6th 2008 1:04PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Torchwood, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S02E11) "Always room for one more. We could have used you an hour ago for naked hide-and-seek." Jack to Gwen after she walked in on him and Ianto having an intimate moment
Well, it was a vast improvement over
last week's episode. And it actually revealed some significant information about the rift and its activities, but that's not to say the episode was without some logistical problems and "conveniences." As seems to be par for the course on
Torchwood, there was at least one ridiculously convenient coincidence that the emotional hook of the episode hinged on.
Speaking of that emotional hook, you know how you can tell this is a British television show? Because it didn't get all wrapped up in the end in a nice, easy bow. This is a mainstream show in the UK. How many mainstream shows in the US would allow the whole show to get wrapped up in misery and shame and leave us there?
Torchwood has always been the darker, more mature cousin of
Doctor Who, and this episode lived up to that title.
Continue reading Torchwood: Adrift
Posted Mar 30th 2008 1:36PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Torchwood, Episode Reviews
(S02E10) I guess everyone at Torchwood Creative was still exhausted from the Owen three-parter, because this episode was even more of a letdown than the previous one. While the notion of these "night travelers" somehow being able to step out of old film and into the real world is interesting enough, it seems a better fit for a show like
Supernatural than
Torchwood, which tries to explain everything away with the Cardiff rifts and space aliens.
It was cool to think of Jack exploiting his immortality by performing as "The Man Who Could Not Die" in a traveling freak show a hundred years ago or so. It would make perfect sense that he'd go into that line of work. But then we learned that he did so while investigating the "night travelers," but he wouldn't say for whom and why he was investigating. Another layer of the Captain Jack onion
almost peeled.
Continue reading Torchwood: From Out of the Rain
Posted Mar 23rd 2008 9:30AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: OpEd, Torchwood, Episode Reviews
(S02E09) Gwen Cooper finds her career intruding on her home life when she is impregnated by an alien shapeshifting carnivore on her wedding day. And you thought your wedding day had problems.
This was more of a comic-relief episode than any of the season's previous ones. It was a welcome respite from the heavy life-and-death episode about Owen from last week.
On a side note, I'm amazed Owen, since he died and was resurrected, still doesn't have the craving for human flesh that the shapeshifter from this episode had. In all other aspects he's pretty much become a zombie. Maybe that bit happens later.
Continue reading Torchwood: Something Borrowed
Posted Mar 16th 2008 5:38PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, Torchwood, Episode Reviews
(S02E08) "You get to live forever. I get to die forever." -Owen comparing his situation to Jack's immortality.
This was a very different
Torchwood episode. There were no aliens to battle and no major action sequences. In fact, Team Torchwood was mostly inactive. Instead, we got to take an episode to look deep into the psyche and situation of Dr. Owen Harper. Everything from the music to the way the various scenes were shot lent itself perfectly to the melancholy and hopelessness of the character. Burn Gorman showed tremendous depth in his portrayal of Owen this installment, and it looks like we may finally be looking at some major growth for Owen. Not that he still doesn't have some very serious issues to deal with.
Continue reading Torchwood: A Day in the Death Of...
Posted Mar 9th 2008 8:02PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Torchwood, Episode Reviews
(S02E07) The death of Owen Harper trilogy continued. But does death mean the same thing in the world of
Torchwood as it does in our world? Do you really need to ask? Aside from an incredibly hokey introductory sequence in which Jack stormed into the above scene, struck a very theatrical pose and said "Nobody touches him until I return!" before abruptly disappearing again, this was a pretty solid episode. I do have to say that the point of Martha's continuing involvement is escaping me as she didn't really have anything to add to this installment.
Continue reading Torchwood: Dead Man Walking
Posted Mar 2nd 2008 12:38PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Torchwood, Episode Reviews
(S02E06) "Let's say we were under the same Doctor." Martha Jones explaining to Owen how she knows Jack.
This was probably the most anticipated episode of the season for die-hard
Doctor Who fans. It marked the arrival of The Doctor's most recent companion, Martha Jones, for an extended run on the series. As fans of that series know, Jack met up with Martha during his most recent bout with The Doctor on
Doctor Who. At the end of that show's fourth season, Martha made the decision to leave The Doctor and stay behind on Earth. As such, it makes perfect sense that she would be available now to appear on the spin-off. And she fit in pretty seamlessly with the gang, even serving to lighten up Jack a lot.
Continue reading Torchwood: Reset
Posted Feb 24th 2008 3:00PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, Torchwood, Episode Reviews
(S02E05) If you're one of those people who believes what I tell you then I apologize. As was corrected in the comments last week, this episode was not the one that featured the start of Freema Ageyman's run on
Torchwood, reprising her
Doctor Who role of Martha Jones. That one is next week. Instead we got a fantastic one-off episode that not only got into the inner workings of the personalities that make up the Torchwood team, but that also showed us some of Jack's mysterious past.
Continue reading Torchwood: Adam
Posted Feb 20th 2008 8:57PM by Erin Martell
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Battlestar Galactica, Lost, Family Guy, Stargate, Supernatural, Doctor Who, Celebrities, The Closer, Eureka, Kyle XY, Heroes, Dexter, Torchwood, Awards, Pushing Daisies, Journeyman, The Sarah Connor Chronicles
The Saturn Award nominations are in, and many popular sci-fi and fantasy shows made the cut. Returning favorites like Lost, Heroes, and Dexter were recognized by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films, as were newcomers Pushing Daisies and Journeyman.
With seven nominations, Lost is ahead of Dexter and Heroes, which received five and four nominations, respectively. Heroes was the big winner last year, taking home awards for Best Network Series as well as acting awards for Masi Oka and Hayden Panettiere. Both actors received nominations this year, along with co-star Greg Grunberg.
Continue reading Lost leads the pack with seven Saturn nominations
Posted Feb 17th 2008 3:31PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Torchwood, Episode Reviews
(S02E04) When Gwen first joined Torchwood, she brought with her an element that none of the other team-members had, namely a significant other in Rhys. Since that time she has struggled to keep those two worlds separate, insisting to Rhys that she was still working for the police department and keeping him in the dark as to the otherworldly doings of Torchwood. Seems that would be difficult to maintain, right? Well, Cardiff is only so big so inevitably it would become impossible.
Continue reading Torchwood: Meat
Posted Feb 10th 2008 5:05PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Torchwood, Episode Reviews
(S02E03) The adventure starts in 1918, featuring the Torchwood of its era. We get to see the future from the perspective of the past and the end of the episode from the perspective of the beginning. Confusing? Good. It's time travel, you're supposed to be confused.
Torchwood continue its string of excellent episodes this run with this Tosh-centric installment. The inner struggles between team members seem to be a thing of the past, resolved while Jack was away, and what we have now is a real solid force that I can believe is prepared for whatever is coming.
Continue reading Torchwood: To the Last Man
Posted Feb 9th 2008 10:00AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Doctor Who, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Torchwood, Episode Reviews
Did you really think Captain Jack wouldn't be back? Now in its second series/season in both the UK and the US, we're going to do things a little differently with our
Torchwood reviews this year. The fine folks on both sides of the pond finally got things squared away so that new episodes air much closer in the US to their initial UK airing. The third episode airs this Saturday, February 9, on BBC America, which is a little more than a week after the UK airing. To minimize any "spoilery" concerns, the episode reviews will follow the US airings.
But before we can get to that, we need to play a little bit of catch up, so look for an overview of the first two episodes of Series/Season Two after the jump. And about that image up there spoiling the first episode? Hey, that might just be a flashback sequence. That's right, I got you there.
Continue reading Torchwood: The season so far
Posted Feb 5th 2008 8:04AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Programming, Doctor Who, Pickups and Renewals, Torchwood
In the No Duh News category,
Sci Fi Channel has reported that they've acquired the fourth series (or season) of
Doctor Who for air beginning in April. What's great additional news is that they've also picked up
The Sarah Jane Adventures as well. The latter series focuses on Elisabeth Sladen's Sarah Jane, one of the most popular and famous "companions" in Who History, as she battles to keep Britain and the world save from alien encounters and invasions.
Sarah Jane is aided by a small group of children in her quest. And while the series has a lower budget than
Who and is geared more towards a children's audience, I still found it to be tremendously fun. And any opportunity to see K-9 is worth it in my book!
Continue reading Sci Fi brings back The Doctor, and Sarah Jane, too
Posted Dec 16th 2007 6:01PM by Richard Keller
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Industry, OpEd, Festivus, The Wire, Torchwood, TV Squad Lists, Life, Samantha Who?
...Four TV shows you should be watching
Let's not beat around the bush -- television is a humongous, bloated wasteland. Granted, it's a humongous, bloated wasteland that I adore and worship any chance I get, but it is a humongous, bloated wasteland nonetheless. Due to the copious amount of crap that is placed on the airwaves many good shows are pushed aside, waiting for an unknowing viewer to tune into them and get hooked. Sometimes, these shows grab a few people, develop a following, and become a hit. Other times, they disappear down the television toilet, never to be seen again.
So, in order to save them from the Great Flush, here are four (plus a few more) shows that you should be watching.
Continue reading On the 4th day of Festivus, TV gave to me...
Next Page »
The Upfronts: FOX
Carter Bays of How I Met Your Mother: The TV Squad Interview
The Upfronts: CBS
