Sean Reiser

Since the end of last week I’ve been absorbing Torchwood: Children of Earth and think I’m willing to now come out and write some thoughts on it.

Also there are spoilers for the Dr Who Episode “The Parting of The Ways”

Warning there are spoilers, If you want to stay spoiler free til the US release please stay away.

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WHen I say Spoilers… I mean even the Big Ones! Stay away if you’re waiting for this to be seen in the US… one last time

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OK, if you’ve gotten this far, it’s you’re fault if you get spoiled..

First off, I think the is probably the most compelling 5 hours of TV that RTD has produced. For the first time I felt there was an ending that wasn’t forced or a copout (something we’ve all come to expect from RTD). I feel that CoE is Torchwood at it’s best; a dark, serious and creepy universe where all actions have consequences. Not necessarily today or tomorrow, but every thing you do comes back and costs a price down the line.

Ianto Jones

In order to make a story of this magnitude work there must be a threat that is realistic to the audience and as Joss, JMS and Ron Moore have taught us, killing a cast member is the easiest way to make us think that perhaps no one will make it out alive. On some level it’s the same way in real life. The death of thousands of people in a disaster has far less meaning to us then a friend or family member who was shot in a mugging. On some level we need to be connected for it to feel “real”.

If killing someone off is a given, then there were only 2 regular characters who were expendable Ianto and Rhys. As the show is partly centered around Gwen, killing her off wasn’t likely. The worst they could do to Jack is turn him into a giant Face, and quite frankly I’d like to never see the prop again. And, where he was important to the team and to story color, Ianto’s contributions to the team were such that it doesn’t hurt the story if he’s gone (I know that will anger fans).

To all the folks criticizing killing Ianto as homophobia, I have a secret for you, Ianto was bisexual, not homosexual. (Remember that rather hot cyber chick in metal bra, panties and high heeled cyberboots? I do!). And, quite frankly the makeup of Who fandom is so slated towards homosexuality, us heteros are the minority.

It’s been suggested that other characters could’ve been introduced to be killed off. I personally think there’s no way we could’ve established the emotional attachment we have to Ianto to new characters. That’s why this was so powerful a moment in the show. I knew at that moment that nothing would be the same.

Where I don’t condone people’s actions, do you think James Moran would’ve gotten this horrible response from fans if it was a new character who passed on? The goal was to make us feel, and it did.

Jack Harkness

As I’ve meditated on this episode I’ve come appreciate the parallels to the Dr Who episode “The Parting of The Ways”. I that episode, 9 is presented with the opportunity to wipe out all the remaining Daleks in the Universe (at the cost of also destroying all live on Earth). Considering the potential damage the Daleks could do across the universe, destroying life on earth might be an acceptable price. The Doctor, chooses he can’t do it and the universe is saved by a literal Deus Ex Machina.

In many ways Jack is given similar choices twice in Children of Earth, first in 1965 and later in the present day. The first being to sacrifice 12 children to save all of humanity and the second being to sacrifice his Grandson to save 10% of the earth’s children.

I find it interesting that Jack, who considers the Doctor an inspiration, decides to take the opposite approach to the problem and it goes back to their nature. The Doctor is not only a hero, but since the Time War believes he is the authority on right and wrong. Jack is not naturally a hero, his nature is that of a former con man who’s looking for redemption and redemption requires a sacrifice (in this case the loss of his grandson).