Ok, must try to trim the excessive notetaking I did while watching
and put in only the most important bits . . .
First off, the visuals were very very nice. All the overhead / above the city shots and the moments on the tops of buildings - lots of looking up or looking down, emphasizing the idea of someone watching from above. Like, I don't know, from space?
Also, the first image? With the rain and the dead kid and then, boom, the lights come on? Pretty! I mean, as pretty as a dead body in the rain can be, I suppose.
Cop wants to know what's up with this "special ops" Torchwood team, goes up above to look.
Interesting first speech we hear from Captain Jack. "Contraceptives in the rain. Love this planet. Still, at least I wont get pregnant. Never doing
that again." ;D Yay! Love my omnisexual, bravadoish, life-loving, yet cynical "been there done that", suspicious, flirting with everyone, Jack.
Ahem. Back to the story.
They bring him back? But can only do it for a short while. Interesting to see how they each react. Wanting to know what he saw, arguing about what they said to him, etc. And Jack wants to know what he saw
after he died. Interesting! And the guy is all "nothing" and then panic-y, "OMG, there's nothing".
"Maybe there's no right way to do it. What do you think?" and he looks right up at the cop. Oh, nicely done! Got me to jump almost like she did! ;D
So, she doesn't tell boyfriend or hubby or whatever he is. Says she didn't have anything to do with the murder investigation. Just because of the creepy thing, or does she routinely not tell him what she does at work?
She gets a friend to look up Jack, in the classic tradition of maverick TV / movie cops, who have to investigate the mysterious whatever.
Heee! On dissing the CSI style cop stuff. ;D
Ouch! Nasty bump on the head while trying to break up a bar fight.
Oooh, of course there are no coincidences - is that Capt Jack on the stairs? Area all taped up and if the cops didn't actually do it, then . . . yep, she goes to investigate.
Oh, nicely done, with her walking toward the figure, can't tell what's different at first. And then, when she does see, she doesn't think "alien", because, who would, really? She's suspicious and hesitant but still keeps thinking it's someone dressed up. Well, until cheerful hospital guy gets all bitten up.
(And actually that was a damn good bit of make up. The alien face was very realistic.)
Then it's run run run, Jack gets her out and chase, chase, chase, she goes after the team's car. And gets to hear that Capt Jack disappeared in 1941. Well,
we knew all about that.
Tells her guy that she's working that night, but I'll bet not really. Yep, she's investigating on her own. Classic!
Heh!! No pizza delivery to Jack in any of his permutations, but Torchwood? Oh, we do them all the time! ;D
Ticky tacky storefront and, yep, there goes the door locking and the wall opening and off she goes, down the dungeonish halls, through the fortress-y vault door and into the mad scientist lab.
Heeeee! Love love love the whole "ignore her, silent as she walks up . . . then, can't keep a straight face start giggling" bit. Turn the whole scene on it's head from the standard expected thing. Plus, we get "who the hell orders pizza under the name of Torchwood anyway" bit.
Oh, and now we see that Torchwood isn't all puppies and roses. "He was murdered." "Yeah." "And you covered it up?" "That's my job."
Jack makes her admit what actually happened - you brought him back to life. "You saw the murder. Come and see the murderer."
Ick Weevil, or whatever it really is. Ah, and he uses it to force her to see the reality. Aliens, etc. And she, rightly, wonders why. Or, rather, what's going to happen to her, because why let her know and see all this?
"I'm getting tired of following you." "No, you're not."
He's got your number! Curiosity enough for twelve folks, she's got.
Perception filter - cool!! Like . . . sort of like a "Somebody Else's Problem Field". It doesn't make you invisible, just makes people kinda look right past you.
Heeee! "That is
so Welsh. I show you something fantastic, you find fault."
Jack telling her all about it at the pub. I gotta say, he's right about the whole "what does it take" thing. I mean, big ol' spaceships crashing and landing all over the place, hoards of killer cyborgs and what not, what does it take? It's like the Earth is one big "I don't see that la la la" Sunnydale or something.
Heee! Funny "you're an alien catcher" babble. And then we get all the lovely phrases they've been using to advertise the show. "Arming the human race for the future" - which just sounds damn cool, doesn't it? And "the 21st century is when it all changes" (which should tip her off about time travel and what not, really). And explaining that Torchwood is not just the/one government, has larger aims and goals.
So, she's going to somehow become part of all that, isn't she? And she'll end up being the "asker of uncomfortable questions". 'Cuz when he says no government can be trusted with alien technology and how they might use it, she very logically points out that they could too. And so we get the very nice edit cut from him saying the stuff never leaves the lab to seeing them all taking stuff out.
Heee! Like his rundown of the other Torchwoods. One is lost but "we'll find it!" And they're in Cardiff because there a dimnensional rift thingee.
More hints that Torchwood is not going to be simple white-hat territory. They weren't trying to catch the murderer, just testing the glove. Bringing people back for 2 more (very scary) minutes of life just to test some equipment.
Ohhh. Amnesia pill - now I know what becca's story was based on!! Ah, she's going to forget?
Interesting montage. Cop trying to get it all down before she forgets (you should write it, not put it on computer - they could come and get the computer or something!) while we see what's up with the gang. Owen using a spray to get everone to want him (which is funny until you think about it and then it's ooky - I mean, yes we get nummy kissing, but really, think of Warren and Katrina) and Toshiko reading books (which doesn't look evil on the surface, but she still wasn't supposed to steal the stuff) and Susie bring a fly back to life (sorta awesome and yet creepy).
Ah!!!! Ianto wiped her computer.
Which is . . . scary, sort of. And I told you she should have just written it down! Low tech is the way to go sometimes.
MmmmmmmcaptnJack posing all so very pretty and . . .
Ahem.
Oooh. She's starting to have memories? If the weapon "rings any bells, give us a shout". She saw it at lab? Did they get the weapon somehow?
Woot! She did write something down! You go, girl!
Susie? Someone should liason with the police. But then . . . whoa! She's going to hurt her? "You'll put up a fight" . . . She thinks she needs to run? "How can I do any other job after this?" (Will they
let me run, is what I'd be wondering.) Very interesting babble from Susie. "How come we get the weevils . . . must be better stuff out there . . . beautiful . . . this planet is so dirty (hmmmm intriguing), that's all we get, is shit". A
whole lotta stuff that would be worth investigating in there.
Whoa. She
killed the people to get samples. Because violent death worked best . . .
Jack! The filter doesn't work on her and. Whoa. Dude! She just shot Jack!
But then he just gets up and . . . (does he still have nanobots? And they're really really good??)
Damn. "Susie, it's over." And she kills herself.
Well. I really never saw that coming. The whole "Susie killed people" thing. I mean, I could see they were making sure to show us that using the technology was ethically iffy (with the making people want you stuff and so on), but damn.
And they all bring the stuff back in. Sobered them up a bit, I'll bet. Locked away, not for use. Hmmmm. Can you put the genie back in the bottle? There's a lot of other gadgets lying about their lab.
So, are there other bodies in the same place he put Susie?
Interesting. The other TW folks don't know he was shot and healed. "I can't die. I was killed and then I was brought back to life. Ever since then, I can't die." Ah! So that's why he was asking the dead guy about what he saw after he died. He either thinks he'll never know now, or he wants to compare to what happened when he died.
Yay! He hired cop to be on the team! (Good, 'cuz I liked her a lot.) "Maybe you were right. We could do more to help." Ah, so she'll remind them of the human factor, remind them there are other things than just their big giant mission. Nice.
Excellent beginning! They let you know right off in the first ep that this is gonna be adult - and by that I don't mean sex (although hopefully they'll be lots of that) but that things are going to be dark and ethically twisty and angsty.
So, yay! 'Cuz I love that stuff.