TV Club: Torchwood - Day One

Honestly, I think Torchwood Season 1 is better with this than some people are giving it credit for

For example, Sex Gas isn’t a great concept, but I’ll hand it to them that I really like the actual design, the pink lighting is so vibrant and otherworldly compared to everything else in the episode. Well, everything in the episode apart from the nightclub, which I think adds to it even more as a design choice.

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I really like the lighting in Torchwood, but maybe it’s just because I’m comparing it to how horribly dark everything is these days. I especially love how often they go in with the bi lighting.

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This episode is just kind off odd to me. There’s some good bits and then there’s all the weird bits. I like how the mystery around Jack is played. The characters are just all such a mess and it is entertaining to watch that. Also I never noticed the pins on Owen’s labcoat before, they’re an amazing character choice

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Day One Live Watch Thoughts Part 2
  • Hell yeah Gwen, you beat up Owen
  • Also remembered that with the next episode, they do sort of set up an arc for Owen semi-getting his comeuppance at what he’s done, or at least feeling more remorseful, but because it’s played for laughs here and in Everything Changes rather than being taken as a serious character flaw, it doesn’t work as well as it could
  • Love the chinese scene, the banter that’s clearly so true, but how they fade into whispers when Jack leaves, and then bantering over what they know of Jack including his sexuality and that, it’s great
  • “Period military is not the dress code of a straight man” - It’s really not lmaoo
  • But yeah, how the tone shifts so dramatically as we see Carys again, how much Gwen cares, how detatched Jack is, Gwen calling him out on it
  • Gwen again detectiving, half helping Carys, half trying to teach Jack to be human again
  • The sudden absence of Owen when they’re discussing important info leading to finding him naked in the cell… I mean it’s not great, Owen really is written as just such an unlikeable git
  • The ‘Are you alright now or are you still feeling a bit of a cock’ is great though, Owen is awful and it’s often played for laughs, but at least characters consistantly call him out on it and he gets punished for it
  • Why does jack telling her to put the hand down sound so ADRed lmao
  • “Need me to do any attacking sir?” - Ianto is super underrated in early Torchwood
  • The little buit of the doctor’s theme when the hand jar is smashed is great
  • I love the medbay set!
  • Also Rat Jam is a great moment
  • And here’s the other bit I wanted to talk about as a highlight of the episode, the scene of Carys going around Cardiff, trying to fight the alien. The closeup with the camera moving with her face, the wide shots of the street and the focus on the couple, the zooms and close ups on hyper sexual advertising, the camera is never still, the shots are constantly changing. You can really feel the disorientation Carys is feeling, genuinely, as far as the sex gas portion of the episode goes, this half a minute is the best the story has to offer. Everything about how it’s shot, performed, directed, it all comes together together perfectly in a way to show that overstimulation
  • Carys just letting it out at her ex also feels real to me, she’s hurt and confused but also knows she’s in a position of power and the way she plays it works well for me
  • “Do you love me Eddie, did you ever love me” “No” the way he looks away as she asks, the tone in his voice as he answers, how genuinely heartfelt her question is, the way he shakes his head
  • “You could have saved yourself” This episode really does have it’s moments for me!
  • The profiling coming in useful with Tosh’s checking her current location, showing how Gwen really can be useful to the team again
  • Also something about the fact the end destination is a fertility clinic, the writers could have gone for a club, a brothel, anywhere, but something about the fact it’s a fertility clinic just makes it feel more… Torchwood? I don’t know how to put it, it’s not the faux glitz and glam of a club, it’s not the seedy nature of a brothel, it’s just a place like any other. It makes it feel more real I guess?
  • The glimpses of Carys assaulting the men at the clinic are obviously horrific especially the fact it’s played for laughs which makes it even worse. That said, something about the delivery of the “I don’t think so love, I’m gay” is just very funny to me.
  • Everyone pointing guns at Carys apart from Gwen really does go a mile to show why the team needs her
  • Wow they’re not great at acting when there’s not something there lmao
  • And that kiss really isn’t great
  • Gwen going back to her mundane life here though, she’s trying so hard to keep a hold of both side of her and it’s so clearly so hard for her. Semi-related but I’ve been reading Slow Decay recently which takes place not too long after this (between Small Worlds and Cyberwoman), only on chapter 5 or so, but that’s been doing a great job of showing this period of the relationship in more detail and I highly reccomend it

Overall, I’m actually raising my rating on a rewatch, I remember disliking a lot more of this than I do. It’s still not great but I had it at a 3/10 and imo it’s a 5/10 for me, maybe even a 6

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You really hit all the points of why I enjoy this episode despite its well-deserved reputation.

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I watched this again last night.

I actually don’t think it’s as bad as everyone says. Sure, Alien Sex Gas is pretty juvenile but did you know there is also a movie about that, which I’m sure Chibnall got his inspiration from (Species. It’s actually a whole series of movies!)

I loved how Gwen taught the Torchwood team how to care about fellow humans. Wish we saw more of that going forward.

My husband was watching this with me (well, he was in the same room, on his laptop) and he had plenty of chuckles. It’s funny because he goes to Wales a lot with work, and so he finds the accents and the references brilliant.

I just love Gwen :smiling_face_with_three_hearts: and Ianto! Love seeing him here where he’s all sweet and “innocent”.

I caught that too, loved it. Little did Jack know that the hand would save the world… twice! (Once from Davros and the Daleks, and again from Beep the Meep!)

Underrated episode. 3.5/5

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Yes! But Species has Natasha Henstridge & designs by HR Giger!

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…I hate how I want to watch this Movie Series now, especially if it is attached to HR Giger. Why shauny, why did you have to mention it?? :sob: :sob: :sob:

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The first two are fun.

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