# Torchwood series 2 - episode 1 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 16, 2008, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-series-2-episode-1/433789 "2008-01-16T21:52:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-series-2-episode-1/433789/21 "2008-01-18T13:29:43Z")
[QUOTE=Maus Magill] Well, I can’t speak for other Americans, but if I go wandering into a discussion thread for an episode that won’t air over here for a couple of weeks, I’d be deranged if I didn’t expect spoilers. [/QUOTE] We don’t have that long to wait. The episode shows here (on BBCamerica) on January 26th. And I know where to get really good spoilers! It’s hard to remain a virgin on the internet. ---
**Author:** ![WILLASS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/54ee81/32.png) [@WILLASS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WILLASS)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-series-2-episode-1/433789/22 "2008-01-18T13:39:04Z")
If it’s any consolation I read the spoiler I posted in a TV guide just before watching it and it didn’t spoil it for me at all! ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-series-2-episode-1/433789/23 "2008-01-18T18:44:56Z")
I thought it was a really fun season premier. “Oh, look at all the little students. You can’t shoot me can you?” ::Blam!:: Captain Jack is back! Anyone catch the Primeval premier? That was kinda fun too. I’m so glad there’s programming coming out of the UK while the US TV market dries up. ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-series-2-episode-1/433789/24 "2008-01-18T19:11:11Z")
**levdrakon** - Is this season 2 of _Primeval_? How long after the end of season 1 does it pick up? ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-series-2-episode-1/433789/25 "2008-01-18T20:11:44Z")
[QUOTE=tanstaafl] **levdrakon** - Is this season 2 of _Primeval_? How long after the end of season 1 does it pick up? [/QUOTE] Yes, it’s season two. It picks up immediately at the end of season 1, and poor Jack Cutter has some weirdness to deal with. ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-series-2-episode-1/433789/26 "2008-01-18T20:38:34Z")
Great, thanks. A friend of mine in England got me into the series last season but hadn’t said anything about there being a new one. Time to drop him an e-mail. Yeah, last I saw Cutter had just found out that his thought-dead but still-alive elsewhere in time wife had an affair with his best friend and his new love interest has apparently been somehow erased from the time stream. I’d say weirdness barely starts to cover it… ---
**Author:** ![duality72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duality72/32/3910_2.png) [@duality72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duality72)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-series-2-episode-1/433789/27 "2008-01-18T20:55:38Z")
For Torchwood, I thought it was a really good episode with good promise for the rest of the season, but it had its low moments. Great, now I have to go acquire the new Primeval episode; didn’t know about that one. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-series-2-episode-1/433789/28 "2008-01-18T22:52:57Z")
[QUOTE=tanstaafl] Yeah, last I saw Cutter had just found out that his thought-dead but still-alive elsewhere in time wife had an affair with his best friend and his new love interest has apparently been somehow erased from the time stream. I’d say weirdness barely starts to cover it… [/QUOTE] As I understand it, they wanted a big honking headquarters, but how to do that with the minimalistic and covert nature of S.1? Throw him into a different timeline. I enjoyed it and thought it was tighter than last year, albeit the chase scenes in the mall went on a little too long. Still, better than first season. [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2008, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-series-2-episode-1/433789/29 "2008-01-19T01:57:31Z")
[QUOTE=Charlie Tan] As I understand it, they wanted a big honking headquarters, but how to do that with the minimalistic and covert nature of S.1? Throw him into a different timeline. I enjoyed it and thought it was tighter than last year, albeit the chase scenes in the mall went on a little too long. Still, better than first season. [/hijack] [/QUOTE] I thought it was pretty funny how Abby got dragged around like a sack of potatoes the whole ep. Oh, and earlier I should have said Nick Cutter and not Jack Cutter. I was in Torchwood mode. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-series-2-episode-1/433789/30 "2008-01-28T15:19:04Z")
Well, the episode showed on BBCamerica last Saturday & I loved it. More humor. The **Torchwood** crew exhibiting more competence. Captain John saying “Thirsty now.” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-series-2-episode-1/433789/31 "2008-01-28T16:10:21Z")
I was thrilled to see James Marsters turn up dressed as Adam Ant, though he seems to have gotten typecast as a semi-evil guy who hangs around a town with a hellmouth/dimensional portal. I’m actually not thrilled with Torchwood. The previous season seemed to be trying to be dark and edgy with its sexuality, which I found more icky than titilating. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-series-2-episode-1/433789/32 "2008-01-28T16:19:29Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny Angel] I was thrilled to see James Marsters turn up dressed as Adam Ant, though he seems to have gotten typecast as a semi-evil guy who hangs around a town with a hellmouth/dimensional portal. I’m actually not thrilled with Torchwood. The previous season seemed to be trying to be dark and edgy with its sexuality, which I found more icky than titilating. [/QUOTE] I had problems with _Torchwood_’s last season, but not from any of the sexuality. I’m het, but don’t find non M/F pairings “icky.” Generally, the character arcs were inconsistent. And we saw more of the _Torchwood_ team screwing up than working together. But this season looks promising. I’m sure that James Marsters can play boring suburbanites going through mid-life crises. But I’d rather see him having fun in a role; he plays well with others. And may well turn up again before the season is out. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-series-2-episode-1/433789/33 "2008-01-28T16:48:43Z")
[QUOTE=Bridget Burke] Where’s naked Jack? [/QUOTE] A very important question that has been ignored for too long! We watched it last night, and enjoyed it. I have to agree, though, the romantic relationships are just getting distracting. First of all, it seems that everyone in Torchwood is bi, and time agents tend to be “omni.” That’s a bit silly. Then I’m trying to keep track of the intra-Torchwood romantic polygons: Ianto loved Lisa, Jack killed Lisa, so Ianto hates Jack; three episodes later Ianto is fucking around with Jack, and now they are dating, despite the fact that Jack seems awfully damn disappointed that Gwen is engaged, while Gwen was really digging that congratulatory hug, despite having a fiance and just having broken up with Owen, who in turn fell MADLY in love with pilot chick, but now may or may not get started with Tosh. Have I got that right? ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-series-2-episode-1/433789/34 "2008-01-28T16:51:34Z")
I was the same with the whole romantic shennanigans. The fact that the series doesn’t float along on the strength of the plots within each episode or story arcs that don’t involve shagging says a lot, in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-series-2-episode-1/433789/35 "2008-01-28T16:51:42Z")
I think James Marsters is aging pretty well. Can someone remind me - when Jack came back, he says he came back for Gwen, but I don’t recall any sex or romance between them. Gwen was stepping out on Rhys with Owen, but they never had so much as a lingering glance that I recall. Of course, Jack promptly asked Ianto out when Gwen turns up engaged, so he obviously isn’t going to pine. Also, no one (besides Cap’n John) raised an eyebrow when he said he couldn’t be killed. I thought Gwen was the only one he’d told. StG ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-series-2-episode-1/433789/36 "2008-01-28T16:55:52Z")
> [@](#): > > I had problems with Torchwood’s last season, but not from any of the sexuality. I’m het, but don’t find non M/F pairings “icky.” It’s heterosexual relationships I’m talking about. I don’t remeber any gay ones. They mention Jack being bi, but you don’t actually see him do much more than flirt until recently. It’s the one guy with his creepy Cyber-girlfriend getting people killed. And Cooper who has a nice guy at home but ends up sleeping with the guy who might as well have “creep” tattooed across his forehead. It’s been a while since I saw the episodes, but I seem to recall that Sato came across as lonely in a way that was more off-putting than heartbreaking. They also aren’t handling Jack’s lonliness very well. In this new episode he’s not just flirting. It’s more like he’s asking everybody on his team if they’ll marry him. They could make his sense of isolation heartbreaking, but instead they just made it awkward. They need to get some of those writers from Buffy or Firefly in on this. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-series-2-episode-1/433789/37 "2008-01-28T17:05:27Z")
FWIW, as a non-fan who saw one-and-a-half episodes last year and promptly vowed never to watch Torchwood again, I did stumble across episode 2 the other day (the one about alien sleeper agents) and found myself watching it to the end. It still all feels a bit low-rent, but it was a good sci-fi romp with some genuinely chilling moments. And a lot of funny lines too. Kind of like I imagined the show would be when they announced it. So on that admittedly slim evidence, the show has improved. ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-series-2-episode-1/433789/38 "2008-01-28T18:24:16Z")
i’m still watching, but agree that the storylines need to get off the sex and on to the business of dealing with the ‘big bad,’ to quote ‘buffy.’ speaking of which, \*\*loved \*\* that marsters put in an appearance! here’s hoping he returns for more shows. it was like seeing spike wandering in adam ant drag. 😃 even sounded like spike, w/o the east end accent attempt. what’s not to love?oh, and the divemaster’s dvr quit right at the end and cut off whatever happened right at the end. it’s where he’s stepping into the time whatsit and he turned to jack and says, ‘oh, btw, i’ve found gray [sp?]’ what happened after that? ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-series-2-episode-1/433789/39 "2008-01-28T20:03:40Z")
I don’t mind the sex, and I’ve gotten to the point where I’ve just thrown up my hands on the whole relationship thing in this series. Obviously, everyone is going to fall in love/lust with everyone else for at least a week. I expect someone to do it with a weevil eventually. It was nice to see James Marsters again. He does this sort of thing very well. Does anyone besides me think that Eve Miles looks like a gap-toothed Catherine Bell? ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-series-2-episode-1/433789/40 "2008-01-28T20:21:56Z")
[QUOTE=kelly5078] I expect someone to do it with a weevil eventually. [/quote] Given that they’ve implied that Owen has become Lord of the Weevils, my money’s on him. Although I have a feeling that the skeevy Fight Club guy beat him to it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-series-2-episode-1/433789.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/torchwood-series-2-episode-1/433789.md?page=3)