Oh Capt. Jack...

A day later and I realize that the title of this post may be misleading. Sorry, but nothing about pirates here.


I recently watched the series Torchwood (Doctor Who spinoff) over the span of a week. How this was accomplished was by:

1. I clearly have no life
2. I spent a weekend in bed (I really was sick)
3. I'm a tad obsessive when I like a show

So as I was watching the show I discovered the following:


1. Season 1 & 2 were amazing  (James Marsters guests!). I loved every episode and loved the cast. I found it fun and entertaining, and I loved the mystery they tried to embrace with the first season. If you were to have never seen Doctor Who, you wouldn't have the background of the main character Capt. Jack Harkness (John Barrownman). This is what made it interesting, I was able to watch knowing the history of the character, but also see the writers try to keep the mystery of who he is, so that the audience could figure it out along with the other characters in the show.

Ianto you're so badass!

James makes great even better!!

2. Season 3 was good, but they changed the format of the show. We got shafted on the amount of episodes, and half the cast was gone. I for one am not sure how you can call it a season when there are only five episodes. The premise of the season was intriguing, creepy, straight-up sci-fi, and I loved it. I just wish they would've extended the season. Oh well still worth the watch.

I miss the other half!

3. Season 4 was eh. They stuck with the same format as Season 3 wherein the entire season was hinged on one arc story line, requiring you to watch every episode, or you would be lost. The first two seasons weren't like this at all. Each episode was a different story, and there was the typical small arc that carried throughout the season. I like this concept better for this show. The worst part about season 4 is that they Americanized the show. This was a bad idea! The charm of Torchwood was that it was based in Wales, and had the awesome British feel to it that I've grown to love. I felt it was cheapened by bringing it to America and trying to make it far more dramatic then it really was (typical American thing to do). I will say the bright part of this season was that "Q" was a guest star (I don't recall his real name, he will always be "Q" to me), and The Doctor references were pretty nice too.

Just not the same....

4. If you were to have met Capt. Jack in Doctor Who as I did, you would know that his character's sexual preference is all over the map. He's not gay, straight, bi or anything else. He just loves anyone that will give him the attention he enjoys (including aliens). In Torchwood the first season hinted that he liked men, and toward the end of the second season you see him carrying on a same sex relationship (albeit not monogamously). But by the fourth season, they made his character full blown gay. I have no problem with a gay character (or in reality), but I do have a problem with consistency. This to me was just another thing that took away from the grandness of what this series was. I understand that Starz fronted the money for this particular season, thus reviving the show (thank you), but I feel that they had a lot more say in the production and writing than they should have. 'nuff said.

Gwen is a serious ass kicker, which makes her awesome.
Plus I lover her hair in the first three seasons, then she
had to go and screw it up in the fourth season

Overall I would most definitely recommend this series, and I have. But I would say don't expect much out of the fourth season.