kalleah | Torchwood reactions (Reply)

My husband and I just finished Children of Earth, and good gravy, that was something altogether unexpected. Everyone's been so delightful about not spoiling me, so I'll be equally respectful and keep everything behind a cut.

I had managed to avoid spoilers for everything going into the series, although the general WTF!BBQ spewage and James Moran's reaction raised my expectation that Shit Would Go Down. Of course, it did.

Things that didn't surprise me:

Ianto dying. After Tosh and Owen died, anyone's game.
Jack having a kid -- although, to be fair, both my husband and I first thought Steven was Jack's son. The grandson was a nice spin. Seriously though, he's been around for a long time and he lets himself get attached. The idea that he's left offspring around isn't that shocking.
A gut-wrenching ending. It's RTD, people. Did you think it would be happy?

Things that surprised me:

Gwen and Rhys making it out alive.
Another Prime Minister going down after an alien event? Okay. Just in new Who, We've got the death toll at Downing Street, then Harriet Jones, then Harold Saxon (and yes, even if the year was rewound, he still was elected and then killed in office), and now Green. One would think TPTB are cynical about government or something.
Rupesh being a spy for the other side.
Lois making it through the series alive.

A thought that occurred to me in the beginning, and resonated even more with Day Five, is that this was a much darker retelling of The Christmas Invasion. When I first saw TCI, I was absolutely floored at how dramatic the plight of the A-positives was. I had no idea if they would pull the trigger, so to speak. In that episode, the drama is soon eclipsed by the joy and lightheartedness of the Doctor's return. In CoE, there is no Doctor to wave his sword and issue a challenge. There is only fear, and bureaucracy, and jockeying for power. What would the government have done in TCI if they had no defense and no bargaining position? It also made me think of Turn Left, of Donna, Wilf, and Sylvia in the camps and how dark the world became. It's classic RTD, and as Gwen says in her recording, it's not a flattering vision of humanity.

As for Jack -- I know there's been some reaction about him behaving out of character, but I don't think so. It's Sophie's Choice. What other choice could he make? How selfish would it have been to save his grandson at the price of everyone else's children? It's a parallel choice to what Frobisher did. In a way, this is Jack's Time War. The more he ages, the more he becomes like the Doctor. He faced horrible events in Last of the Time Lords and with everything that went down with his brother, but this was pulling the trigger on an innocent to save millions. He didn't try to defend himself to Alice because he knew that he deserved every bit of hatred and anger she could direct upon him. If Jack could have used himself for the signal, he would have done so in a heartbeat.

I have compassion for Jack, who sacrificed his own grandson to save millions. I have none for the government officials who wheedled and manipulated to save their own while making decisions for the masses.

I've always appreciated sci-fi that explored the impact of the science and events on culture and individuals. It's one of the reasons that The 4400 is one of my favorite series -- they delved into what the scenario would mean for society as a whole as well as families and friends of the affected. Children of Earth didn't shy away from the ugly and the horrid in people. Think Frobisher and Johnson, just following orders, and Denise Riley as the slippery, opportunistic beneficiary of Green's fall from power. But there was good, also. Ianto's sister and brother-in-law in defense of those kids. Ianto himself encouraging Jack to stand up and defend rather than appease. Lois doing the right thing even though she was scared for her life.

It was a brilliant, thought-provoking, dramatic, and horrifying series. Just, wow.

ETA: Since I skipped over all of the reaction posts, I'd love to have a few links to your thoughts as well. :)