5 hours of depressing television programming

[ausare]

今年の天気はメッチャ変な〜
ことしのてんきはメッチャへんな〜
Kotoshi no tenki wa meccha hen na~
The weather is weird this year.
—

It's supposed to be the hell-fire-weather period here but it's been raining every two to three days and it's bloody cold. UGH!

So after more than one month since getting the Torchwood series 3: Children of Earth, I've finally watched it yesterday. I slept at past 2a.m. the night before that and woke up at 6a.m. so I can have five hours to myself for CoE marathon before class in the afternoon. Alas, I lazed in bed a bit, was slow in washing up and having my breakfast, and had to spare precious seconds for household chores and stuff (argh, mother! D:). In the end, I managed to watch only the first three episodes. But! I finished the last two grueling episodes last night, so I'm finally done with it. Phew!

Because I'm crazy and self-indulgent-and-entertaining, I tweeted commentaries as I watched and now I'm gong to post them here. Because it will amuse me, shut up :P Only those who watch CoE will understand my tweets, though.

And yes, SPOILERS AHEAD!

(Time-stamp is in accordance to the international download version.)

DAY ONE
[Link here]

[00:56]	No! Don't go towards the bright light!! D:
[02:02]	Ooh~ They started stopping~ And the parents have no idea what to do. Well, what else is new.
[02:28]	LOL the cats are gonna get in.
[03:46]	And Gwen buys a coffee because Ianto isn't capable of brewing his really awesome coffee? Continuity error no.1!
[05:06]	Oh, Ianto. LOL. Ianto Ianto Ianto~
[06:07]	HAHAHA IANTO YOU'RE SO CUTE XD
[08:23]	That's a really short skirt for work, lady.
[13:39]	Aww team moment :D
[14:00]	D: me no likey sad!Ianto D: D: D:
[17:54]	Creepy screaming children are creepy.
[18:49]	Bleah. Chills D:
[20:23]	Run~!
[26:42]	HAHA Ianto has befuddled Jack :D
[28:15]	Aww... Rhys is smart(er than Gwen HAHA).
[40:55]	LOL human-bloodhound.
[45:08]	Wow better than a proper pregnancy test? o.0
[48:55]	Whoa. That was unexpected 0.0
[51:27]	Run, Clem, run!
[56:33]	OK that was hot and kinda sad.

DAY TWO
[Link here]

[01:07]	NO!!! Not the HUB!!! D: D: D:
[02:41]	OMG EPIC FAIL SNIPER.
[03:35]	Run, Ianto, run!!! (Oh, the amount of running in the Whoniverse.)
[06:00]	Bad-ass!Gwen is more palatable when she isn't slobbering over Jack.
[10:56]	LOL BUTT-NAKEDNESS HAHAHAHAHA ROTFLMAO.
[13:36]	What's with all the pretty (and expensive) cars running around Cardiff??
[25:27]	Eww... The problem with immortality? You look gross when being pieced together after being blown to bits.
[28:05]	No raw potatoes for you!!
[29:01]	He's screaming in agony because self-healing hasn't given him his manly bits yet XD
[42:43]	Hungry Rhys is hungry lol.
[43:33]	Tie up a man, dump him in a coffin, in the bushes on the side of the road and tell him it's for national interest. He'll be fine.
[52:43]	Torchwood. Defying the laws of physics on a daily basis.
[53:37]	Why, hello, John Barrowman's rump XD

DAY THREE
[Link here]

[02:56]	Oh hai thur, Ianto-snark :D
[06:16]	Yes, Gwen, teach thieving tricks to an ex-con-man and an ex-shoplifter. Smart.
[16:57]	Bloody beans XD
[29:34]	Man, the 456 sounds bloody eww... I suggest cough syrup. And why are they spewing their gut liquid? Or whatever that it =\
[38:43]	Unexpected hidden Captain Jack Harkness is unexpected.
[46:05]	Ah yes, the structure of governmental authority. There's always a smaller fish to take the fall.
[50:24]	LOL it's got bloody speakers LOLOLOL

DAY FOUR
[Link here]

[04:52]	Run, Clem, run!
[05:21]	Oh, Jack *wibbles* *hugs*
[10:27]	Saved by the hormones. LOL.
[15:30]	Ew ew ew. This redefines child-addiction.
[16:12]	Oh, Jack D: D: D: *hugs him*
[19:37]	Oh Ianto D: D: D: *squishes them both*
[20:24]	Bad Jack, bad! Now go back and cuddle Ianto until that sad sad look is wiped off his face D:
[35:37]	OMG that's disgusting. Low-achieving children are STILL children. They are still lives! D:<
[36:40]	Why do people ALWAYS stuff their guns into their pants? IT'S NOT SAFE D:
[48:59]	NO NO NO NO NO NO!!! OMG THE DREADED PART NO NO NO NO NO!!! D: D: D: D: D:
[50:56]	NO NO NO NOT IANTO NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!!!!! T_T
[51:28]	NO CLEM NO!!! :'(
[52:00]	Clem... I think I'm going to cry :'(
[52:27]	OMG IANTO :'(
[54:37]	NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! :'(

DAY FIVE
[Link here]

[06:50]	Ew ew ew. Ugh, aliens shooting up on pre-puberty children? Ew D:
[11:40]	Oh, Jack D: stupid writers. Oh, wait, it was RTD. Stupid arse D: D: D:
[23:33]	WTH?! Why is RTD writing these epicly depressing crap?! :'(
[28:21]	Yes, RTD. Go ruin the memory of a dead man and paint him as a liar, on top of everything, why don't you.
[42:25]	Man. That's creepy.
[43:05]	WTH. No. No, Jack. NO NO NO NO NO NO!!!
[44:23]	Yes, leave behind the Chinese girl, why don't you. Don't mind me, I'm just seeing racial discrimination. Humph.
[46:20]	WTH I don't think I'll ever be watching Torchwood if RTD is still writing it. Too depressing for me D: D: D:
[49:35]	Decker is an ass, and RTD should be ashamed of himself, degrading Jack's character to such a level that I'm starting to hate him D:
[55:39]	Yes, everything is all for Gwen. Bah. Save your Gwen-love for yourself RTD. We don't want it.

So that was the end of it. And quite frankly, that's the end of the road for me where Torchwood is concerned. Or more specifically, where Torchwood is concerned IF Russell T Davies continues to write for it, which is sort of his plan for now other than his "wanting to test out American media" one.

Gone is the Torchwood of 2006 and 2008, where it's scifi-crack, the team dealing with daily alien threats and their relationships with the people they meet at work and work with, and really brilliant acting. Now... it's all just... depressing. I mean, the acting is brilliant, as usual, and Gareth David-Lloyd and John Barrowman were awesome at what they do, but the downright-serious end-of-the-world situation that no one has the power nor wit to get everyone out of, and the pointless deaths in the name of progressing the plot that the old Torchwood didn't use the way RTD did in CoE? DO NOT NEED.

Also, The character and relationship development of Ianto and the Jack/Ianto dynamic, respectively, that was promised us in the many months since filming of series 3 started never happened. Jack as a character had changed so much that he felt like a stranger, and not the free-spirited but responsible leader I knew back in series 1 and 2. And wasn't he supposed to be the flirtiest flirt to have ever flirted? Omni-sexual? Does that ring a bell? Why isn't he doing anything with Ianto? Why is Ianto having to constantly trying to reach him and was the one who propositioned him instead? The Jack us fans know wouldn't care if Rhys or anyone else was watching - hell, he'd probably want to be watched - he would have jumped Ianto because he wanted to, and that subtly, throughout series 2, the two of them were steadily growing closer and forming an intimate and trusting bond. Why was Jack so scared of commitment? Because of Alice? Because he had to be separated from his real 21^st century family as a result of what he is now? That's bull. Mpreg isn't possible, no matter how scifi the show is. He wouldn't have had a child to worry about in the future, so there's nothing to worry about if he was more committed and caring towards Ianto. If his distraught when Ianto died in Day Four was meant to be the true indication of his feelings, then RTD did a shite job of expressing it in the scripts prior to that episode.

Ianto was just. Heartbreaking. To think that in series 2 he was starting to be more self-confident, in himself and in his relationship with Jack, and then us the viewers were given this whiplash of "oh, I don't know, we didn't specify anything, we didn't say anything, I don't know where we are, it's not men it's just him", well screw that. It was mentioned in the show's novel The Twilight Streets that he is bisexual. One would think that it's logical that you check with other parts of the canon-verse, regardless of whether it fits with what you had in mind or if you will really take it into consideration for the tv-series-canon in the end. It's called "being responsible to your fans and viewers" and "being meticulous and serious about your own bloody show".

It's just. I know RTD was going for a big BANG! into BBC1 and to attract more mainstream viewers. But should that be done at the risk of the loyal ones who stuck through since the first uncertain series that was pretty much held up by the cast's acting skills and the novelty of this new genre/depiction of a serial? Was it a satisfying enough justification for all the bleakness displayed, regarding humanity, governmental structure of authority, and to press forth the point that "a man who can't die has nothing to lose" to the point that he would sacrifice his own grandson, who we can tell that he does care for deeply and want to spend more time with than he was allowed, and ultimately subject him to the painful and agonising death we saw at the end? The Jack we knew would never sacrifice one of his own. He would find a way that didn't require using a real child to defeat the alien. It was... just so detached from the premise set up in the first two series that I was unable to see CoE as a continuation, but only as a separate and different show altogether.

I will, from this point on, be very very afraid if anyone says that their programming will be "darker" in the coming series/season, if this was to be the outcome. (Oh, please, not Merlin, please. We all know that the Arthurian legend will all but hit the fan in the end, what with the IMPENDING DOOM of Morgana's powers, Mordred, Guinevere's infidelity and ultimately Arthur's death. I do NOT need it to be any darker.)

And I must say something about the "saving Ianto" campaigns going on ever since CoE ended. I haven't been too passionate about it, although a year or more ago I would have been. What with all that I've been seeing and learning in my university modules about public relations and public affairs, media, programming, ownership structures and where the money really comes from, I can't help but see something more to Ianto's death. It can't have escaped their notice that majority of the viewers love his character more than they do Gwen. They can't have not predicted the backlash from killing off Ianto. This is what I think:

With some twist of plot, Ianto is brought back to life. Maybe in this year's Doctor Who special? It has been disclosed that Jack and the previous companions in the revived series will be reuniting, so him disappearing among the stars at the end of CoE can't be permanent (unless it's just one more lie that RTD is spouting, ugh). This way, they are able to placate the angry fans and say that they did it for them because they have been supportive and that "they hear their plea"; the fans are satisfied because they think their campaigns have worked; BBC and the show's producer(s?) and RTD get to maintain the "drama" by bringing back a well-loved character and reuniting him with Jack; and Jack, no longer (severely) depressed and guilty, will return to rebuilt Torchwood 3 and series 4 thus begins. Because we all know the show is unable to survive with only Gwen and merely RTD's love for her. Because we all know that Jack is Torchwood and you can't take one away from the other. But, what I mean is, this whole heartbreak and backlash and salvaging effort is all planned. Yes, a huge publicity stunt. I wouldn't put it pass RTD to do it. He's ruthless enough to do whatever he deems necessary for his own programming, as evident in CoE. But of course, we wouldn't know because we're all falling over our indignant selves over Ianto's death, so he could just slip it all pass us. I will be very, deeply, furious if my theory is true. I half want it to be (since it meant that we get Ianto back) and half denying it (I hate feeling like I've been played for a corporate gain). I suppose only time will tell.
 

Yes, I registered for this year's JLPT 4.

lovryu had been suggesting I take it, and a friend from work was saying the same thing, despite me thinking that my proficiency at Japanese is still too basic for even the entry level test even though I've been learning on-and-off since about 10 years ago (wow, that long ago?). Then K.Ying told me that if I don't take it by this year, when they change the test syllabus next year, I'll have to sit for five test levels instead of four. And um. I applied this year because each test level costs $45-$55 to register and I didn't want to spend an additional $50-odd for that additional test level. Yes, I'm being cheap, I know. At least it's going to force me to be more consistent in learning Japanese (until December this year). I hope =\

I was desperately searching for last year's passport photo (for registration) because I've ran out of my better looking ones taken in 2005 (HAHAHA LOL XD) and I DO NOT want to take any passport photos now because I have three pimples on my face (I blame the aftermath of last trimester's crazy assignment period and my work-binge). But, ugh. I found last year's photos and I look UGH. I can never look right on a passport photo. Still, that's better than them having my three-pimpled-face in the system forever.

Ugh... I've been typing this entry (very slowly) since this morning in class (oops :P) and my dry eyes are killing me. Also, I need a shower. Ugh.

*Backs away from Albus*

—
以上、Chii です。

Comments

[lausi-gm.livejournal.com]

LOL...you're such a genius! Seriously, babe, I love you :)))

I followed your tweets and had a good laugh and I think it's brilliant that you post it here too.

You hang in there - regarding boring classes and dry eyes and too less sleep and all-in-all everyday-craziness!!!!

You rock, girl! :)

[ausare.livejournal.com]

Aww XD ILU too XD
(Shh... don't let your hubby find out LOL!)

I think I'm getting a very bad addiction to Twitter. And to think I used to label it as stupid :P

Ugh, dry eyes. I think I need to buy a bottle of eye drop soonish =\

You hang in there, too. For work, that is :)

[lovryu.livejournal.com]

JLPT FOR THE WIN! you can do it bb!

[ausare.livejournal.com]

THANKS!!!
I hope I pass! I hardly have time to study it already D:

*Crosses fingers*