Geek. Pirate. Mom

I watch Hawaii Five-O. It’s by no means a realistic show. But I sort of love that I can turn off my brain and watch some crazy TV show once a week. Let’s admit it- with the way the show was in the first season, there was no way that any case could have ever gone to trial.

The second season started on a tense note. Steve was accused of murder, the team broken up. Kono lost her badge just as Steve was cleared and Hawaii Five-O was back in action.

So while Kono brooded and was obviously doing undercover work to get her badge back (why yes, I guessed that right away, since she wasn’t acting like herself at all)… they introduced Lori. I think that’s how you spell it- I usually call her Miss Homeland Security. Why learn her name? The Lt Governor added her to the team to help keep Hawaii Five-O in check, and she’s helpful- Lori has a vague set of skills that relate to kidnappings and hostages. But she was clearly added not to put some tension in the team (she hasn’t done much of anything but agree with them), but to be a future love interest for Steve. Which is silly. He had a sexy naval officer, and that was an intriguing relationship. This just feels forced.

I don’t mind the presence of someone else on the team. I don’t even mind Steve getting a new love interest. But Lori adds nothing other than some blond hair and the tendency to do Blue Steel in any action scene. Oh, there was the scene where she talked car to the car thieves. (Can I also make a comment about her clothes? She either dresses like a skank or a grandma. And I’m really not sure what they were thinking in having her cosplay as Sandy from Grease. It just didn’t work.)

See? Nearly Blue Steel. She makes this face through 90% of the show.

There’ve been a few other bizarre things from this season. I don’t believe for an instant that Kono couldn’t have figured out a way to tell Chin Ho that she was working for IA, especially since she’d stood by him when he’d lost his badge. In the episode where they went to Korea, Danny was on board for what might be a suicide mission without even a call to his daughter? Neither of these would have taken much screen time. But they’re the little touches that keep people enjoying the show without wondering if it’s gone too far.

I don’t ask for a lot. You can continue to come up with crazy plots where they violate just about every law set in place for due process. Heck, the Korea thing was just plain nuts, but it was interesting. You can throw in just about any opportunity for Steve to go shirtless (you managed to show off his abs while he was being tortured in Korea. See pic at left). You could also make an entire episode out of the team punching Tom Sizemore’s character. Just make the characters consistent… and don’t add a love interest for Steve unless you can actually create some sort of tension. Anything that was promising about Lori vanished in her second episode- which is when she stopped questioning Steve’s methods.

As River Song would say, “Spoilers.” As in, this post will be full of them if you haven’t seen Torchwood Miracle Day. So… stop now, especially if you haven’t seen the finale.

Last chance, I warn you!

I liked it. The concept was solid, and I enjoyed the more adult yet very much Doctor Who vibe of Torchwood.

The entire series felt a bit bloated. About writing, I’ve been told time and time again that you need to cut things back to the bare bones and then add in moments here and there to keep pacing up. Miracle Day felt as though they just kept adding. Either that or they had a template in place and had a couple episodes added to the order late in the game. Either way, there were a few episodes that felt like fillers with a few important bits thrown in.

Oswald Danes was a problem. Pullman did a great job as a villain, but it felt like the series spent too much time on him- and it was all to give Jack something to do that wasn’t dangerous for the only mortal man on the planet. Instead of viewers wondering what Danes’ motivation was, it was laid out for us early on. Jack met with him and pointed out that Danes simply just wanted to die. Everything involving him (other than that great fight between him and Jilly) lost it’s steam because we had all the answers right away. Though really, his bizarre death speech was so over the top, it was great.

Another problem was the huge amount of time devoted to Jack’s lover, Italian Guy, who really only existed as the vehicle for the Family to get Jack’s blood in the past. And to later serve as the way to get Torchwood headed in the right direction. It just… felt like a huge waste of time. Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with a gay love story in a show- I just didn’t believe the chemistry, and it felt like filler.

Nor did I like the instances where the team was separated, but learned the same information simultaneously. I understood separating Gwen from the rest of the team when she went to the camp in Wales to find her father (plot-wise, there needed to be a reason for Vera to go along when she wasn’t in Torchwood. Plus, it gave us more of a global picture of how the procedures were being handled). But was it necessary to have her figure out that they were going to burn the Category 1′s at the precise moment Rex & Co in California found it out? I would argue that it would have been stronger if Gwen had found out earlier, so that we knew what the stakes were when Dr. Juarez was put in the module, and knew all along.

I honestly don’t mind not understanding what the Blessing really was or how it worked. The whole point was understanding that you could reverse it. Though it was explained that it was the giant hole in the earth that somehow emitted the morphic fields that allowed “the Miracle” to take place.

I actually liked Rex, though I could have done with a little less typical American, and a little more of the tough guy struggling with still being alive. No, I don’t mind him being immortal now, too. Considering how the Blessing worked… there was no other logical outcome for him. Besides, it ended the season with a laugh.

I am mad that they killed Esther. I wouldn’t have minded her dying in the first four episodes (mostly because she just couldn’t seem to wrap her head around what clandestine meant), but I really enjoyed seeing her finally get her act together and grow up. I am mad that they killed Vera Juarez, a smart & sexy woman, by making her suddenly unaware that the skeezy man who’d been making misogynistic comments to her might be about to snap. There was nothing about him that didn’t scream “I hate women” in a skin wearing sort of way. To add insult to injury, both of their deaths were less about them and more about motivating Rex to do something. Forget Women in Refrigerators, here we have a Woman in an Oven. (And yes, I do realize it would have been weird for the entire team to survive.)

I know, it sounds like a lot of things I didn’t like. But all in all, there were a lot of things I loved. I fell in love with Gwen immediately. Having not seen her in anything but the brief appearance in Doctor Who, I had no frame of reference for who Gwen was- but I never doubted that she could be badass, yet soft. And funny. You got a sense of how close she and Jack were without having to see all the seasons of Torchwood. I still love Jack, and Barrowman deftly handled Jack becoming fully aware of how mortal he was (much like Matt Smith has done in Doctor Who).

But most of all, I loved the concept. In this day and age where we’re already aware of how finite resources are, where the pitfalls of healthcare have been shown- it felt very timely, and a very accurate reaction by the world to the problem of a population that still became sick, but never died. I liked the reactions of the population, people marking themselves as outcasts, people declaring those still alive as freaks of nature, and people hanging on the word of a child molester simply because he was notorious- based on who we are now, it all seemed extremely plausible. Not to mention that I liked the Family’s motivations of wanting to be able to control the world by toppling the current systems.

Because of the things I enjoyed, I do hope that Torchwood gets another season. The concept was solid, but the execution was hit and miss. It’s entirely possible for a show have multiple episodes with intricate plots, fast pacing and still be filled with lots of heart. Look no further than Doctor Who.

I remember ABC promoting JJ Abrams new show. About a plane crash on an island. It seemed like an odd premise, like a dramatic Gilligan’s Island or less scripted Survivor. But I watched it, and was hooked. Never once did my belief in the show falter. I played the ARGs, I watched the shows and mused about where it was all headed. I acknowledged that some seasons weren’t as interesting as the others (sorry Tailies, I really could have cared less about you, except that it meant we got Mr. Eko, Bernard and Libby).

But all through it, there was an interesting story. For all the polar bears, smoke monster and Dharma stations, it was the story about the people. How the Island changed them, and how they grew closer and further apart. They were real people, who reminded me of people that I’ve met in the real world. The snarky guy who uses humor to keep people at arm’s length. The cuddly big buy with the heart of gold. The sneaky weasel who’s in it only for himself. And the eternal optimist, who believes that everything has a meaning.

And I cared. I cried when Boone died on Jack’s makeshift operating table. I cried when Shannon died in Sayid’s arms, and when Charlie drowned in the hopes that it would save Claire. It hurt to see Locke so shaken in his faith in the Island. (Though I admit, I laughed with Nikki and Paolo’s death. I didn’t like them, but temporary paralysis and them being buried alive? That was harsh)

As the final season progressed, I reminded myself not to try to expect answers. The producers were pretty clear about saying that the show wasn’t about the mythology, but that we’d get some answers.

So what did I think? Non-spoiler review: I liked it. Just as the producers had said, the show wasn’t about the mythology at all. It took place on this mysterious island, but it was ultimately about the people. I thought that they found a very smart and yes, sentimental way to conclude the show, and didn’t feel shortchanged in the answer department.

Spoilers behind the cut. Read More…