Torchwood: Cyberwoman

[catalyst2]

If some of the comments about this episode were to be believed, this represented the nadir of television programming in the 21st century. Instead, I saw a reasonably good episode that further fleshed out the back-story of another team member - Ianto - and added additional complexities to the shared histories of the team.


Overall this episode was quite good although the plot did have a couple of serious holes.

Let's get the three main ones out of the way so that we can get onto the good:
1.) How the hell did Ianto get Lisa plus all that equipment down there in the first place - in pieces (the equipment, that is, not Lisa!) because it certainly didn't look like a one person load to me
2.) If they've got all the scanning stuff that can tell power levels and where bodies are in The Hub, wouldn't routine scans show a life form down there that shouldn't be there along with a small but consistent power drain?
3.) For a top secret base, it seems to have some major security flaws considering that the pizza deliver woman could walk straight into the heart of the place with not a locked door in sight. Haven't these people heard of deadlocks?

OK, that aside, this episode showed a lot more about another character again - Ianto, this time after Owen last week. I can't say that it showed him in a good light but it did show partly his resentment towards the rest of the team for being used like a glorified flunky and partly that behind that reserved exterior lies a passionate man who can let emotions run right over the top of his rationality. It also showed some interesting interaction between Owen and Gwen which led to this funny exchange:

Gwen: What the hell was that?
Owen: What?
Gwen: Snogging me?
Owen: Last kiss for the condemned man! Embarrassing now that we haven't been killed. It's not like I fancy you or anything.
Gwen: I was on top of you - I could feel your hard on.
Owen: Yeah, well, you didn't exactly struggle, did you?

The other thing that I noticed was Jack under pressure. He is clearly willing to make the hard call and kill, if need be, if he sees enough risk there. This extends to errant team members too since I had no doubt he would have shot Ianto if that had been the only way.

The SFX were OK for this episode - I quite enjoyed the pterodactyl "snacking" on Lisa! Not sure how well one of those things would fly in such a confined space - they probably weren't capable of a powered lift off, except in a head wind or via gravity off a high point but the actual movements of it were quite well done.

Overall, a reasonable episode on most scores with only the plot slipping a bit (but even then, not too badly). I hope we see an episode that tells us more about Toshiko some time.

Comments

[electrcspacegrl.livejournal.com]

Wow, you give this episode a lot more credit than most. The biggest plot hole to me is one you didn't mention: how could Lisa cut out her own brain and live long enough to implant it into the pizza delivery girl? Huh? HOW??? Of course I can suspend my disbelief -- you have to when you watch sci fi anyway. That's the funniest part about this episode. I thought some of the acting was cheesy too, but it was really nice that Ianto got so much focus.

All of the characters get an episode or two focusing on them, so don't worry about Toshiko remaining ignored. Just you wait though, because Buffyverse-esque plots are used liberally in the writing of this show. It's fun to spot the Whedon influences!

[catalyst2.livejournal.com]

Ah , I didn;t see that as a plot whole - I assumed that Lisa cut the pizza delivery girl's brain out, put herself on the "upgrade machine" (that's not what it was called but I have forgotten the name for it) and the machine did the rest of the transfer. Hmmm, now I type it, it does seem a bit dodgy, doesn't it?