Reactions to Torchwood 2x06 -- "Reset"
Feb. 15th, 2008 01:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snorkackcatcherSummary: Martha's back. And she rocks. :) (Albeit almost Sueishly.)
To be absolutely honest, Martha rocked so much in this episode she was teetering on the brink of Mary Suedom -- i.e. coming into the episode and taking over the show from the regular characters who are awesomely in awe of her general awesomeness, eh? (At least after the initial "who is this and why is she so bloody friendly with Jack?" glares of hostility. Ianto in particular seemed less than entirely gruntled at their hug.)
It's good to see that UNIT signed Martha up; there was a hint that the Doctor might have materialised and waved some psychic paper at the recruiters, although as one of his ex-companions she seems a natural for the job anyway. She's a lot more self-confident here away from the Doctor, in the way she was when pwning the Master. This is good, although she did seem a bit expert for someone only a year or so out of medical training, even allowing for the time she spent in the TARDIS. And knowing all about the EPR paradox? She's a doctor, not a theoretical physicist (apologies to Bones).
With the Jack-Martha interactions, we got what we hoped for -- he was much more light-hearted with her around than he's been with his team up to now, and it seemed to percolate through to the way he treated the others. She seemed to be over the Doctor, although there was a slight hint that she wasn't when they were talking about her recommendation to UNIT -- hopefully she won't still have the crush when she turns up in DW S4, and that the boyfriend she mentioned who saved her life is the rewound one from Last of the Time Lords not the Doctor ...
The plot? Yep, a fairly standard but solid 'mad scientist' storyline, well-paced, although with obvious nods to the Alien films, with a pleasantly creepy monster that gave Jack another chance to emote over captive aliens, and the 'reset' effect was a solid enough underlying plot concept. Let's not go into how Martha manages to get the Professor's PC to make a connection without logging in, or how easy it is for Tosh to crack it -- after all, this is standard screen-hacker fare, and it's not like the physics and medicine and so on aren't equally handwaved. Alien tech, you know.
Martha's TARDIS-affected immune system supercells were a surprise, and you do wonder if they're a one-shot plot contrivance or are going to come into the storylines again at some stage. I liked the day-saving alien gadget that Owen uses to 'de-bug' Martha -- well set up. But FFS, they let the Professor slip out of the room while all this is going on? Still working on that 'Competence 101' thing then?
Owen getting shot at the end was a real surprise -- to me, anyway; doubtless it had come out in spoilers beforehand, but then I try fairly hard to avoid those. A real Tasha Yar moment, that. I suppose there was a clue in him finally agreeing to ho out with Tosh in a scene that I thought was rather well-judged from a characterisation point of view. Basically ...
Minor points: I was hoping Ianto was going to ask Martha "Erm, you're not related to Adeola by any chance..." since he used to work at Torchwood One. Oh well, never mind.
Jack quoting Christopher Isherwood? A surprise cultural reference there -- I assume he's referring to Goodbye to Berlin, although then again that's the only thing of Isherwood's I heard of (via the film). Perhaps the scriptwriter is a fan?
That's two fine episodes back-to-back. Hopefully they'll keep it up ...
Hmm, I really need to do a Whoniverse userpic at some point ...
To be absolutely honest, Martha rocked so much in this episode she was teetering on the brink of Mary Suedom -- i.e. coming into the episode and taking over the show from the regular characters who are awesomely in awe of her general awesomeness, eh? (At least after the initial "who is this and why is she so bloody friendly with Jack?" glares of hostility. Ianto in particular seemed less than entirely gruntled at their hug.)
It's good to see that UNIT signed Martha up; there was a hint that the Doctor might have materialised and waved some psychic paper at the recruiters, although as one of his ex-companions she seems a natural for the job anyway. She's a lot more self-confident here away from the Doctor, in the way she was when pwning the Master. This is good, although she did seem a bit expert for someone only a year or so out of medical training, even allowing for the time she spent in the TARDIS. And knowing all about the EPR paradox? She's a doctor, not a theoretical physicist (apologies to Bones).
With the Jack-Martha interactions, we got what we hoped for -- he was much more light-hearted with her around than he's been with his team up to now, and it seemed to percolate through to the way he treated the others. She seemed to be over the Doctor, although there was a slight hint that she wasn't when they were talking about her recommendation to UNIT -- hopefully she won't still have the crush when she turns up in DW S4, and that the boyfriend she mentioned who saved her life is the rewound one from Last of the Time Lords not the Doctor ...
The plot? Yep, a fairly standard but solid 'mad scientist' storyline, well-paced, although with obvious nods to the Alien films, with a pleasantly creepy monster that gave Jack another chance to emote over captive aliens, and the 'reset' effect was a solid enough underlying plot concept. Let's not go into how Martha manages to get the Professor's PC to make a connection without logging in, or how easy it is for Tosh to crack it -- after all, this is standard screen-hacker fare, and it's not like the physics and medicine and so on aren't equally handwaved. Alien tech, you know.
Martha's TARDIS-affected immune system supercells were a surprise, and you do wonder if they're a one-shot plot contrivance or are going to come into the storylines again at some stage. I liked the day-saving alien gadget that Owen uses to 'de-bug' Martha -- well set up. But FFS, they let the Professor slip out of the room while all this is going on? Still working on that 'Competence 101' thing then?
Owen getting shot at the end was a real surprise -- to me, anyway; doubtless it had come out in spoilers beforehand, but then I try fairly hard to avoid those. A real Tasha Yar moment, that. I suppose there was a clue in him finally agreeing to ho out with Tosh in a scene that I thought was rather well-judged from a characterisation point of view. Basically ...
Tosh:-- I actually really want to go out with you, but don't want to make a fool of myself by showing you how much I care. I shall therefore mention the hotness of Dr Martha Jones and see what reaction it gets.Hmm. Anyway, clearly he shouldn't have done it -- in dramatic terms, it's like showing your fellow soldier a picture of your sweetheart back home. You might as well just engrave your own name on the bullet. As I say, I've tried to avoid spoilers, but let's say I wouldn't be entirely surprised if he didn't stay dead for the rest of the series because of some freaky effect, especially as Martha isn't going to be there doing her medical stuff beyond 2x08. ("It's only a bullet!" ... oops, sorry, wrong show.) After all, they both were in position to absorb those alien bugs, but Martha wouldn't be affected by them ... Or of course, there's always Rift effects.
Owen:-- I actually really want to go out with you too, but don't want to unbend enough to show you how much I care. I shall therefore remind you of my deliberate misunderstanding about the 'pool tournament' and see what reaction it gets.
Tosh:-- Tournament? Not that again ... oh bugger this. I was actually asking you out, you tosser!
Owen:-- Result! I shall agree, as if making a great concession.
Tosh:-- You're just taking the piss, aren't you? Oh woe is me, I am just a poor geek-girl and no-one would ever love me, unless of course they were frozen, imaginary, or an alien murderess ...
Owen:-- Oops, overdid it No, honest, I actually want to do this. In such a way as to allow me to run screaming from anything that looks like commitment, of course.
Minor points: I was hoping Ianto was going to ask Martha "Erm, you're not related to Adeola by any chance..." since he used to work at Torchwood One. Oh well, never mind.
Jack quoting Christopher Isherwood? A surprise cultural reference there -- I assume he's referring to Goodbye to Berlin, although then again that's the only thing of Isherwood's I heard of (via the film). Perhaps the scriptwriter is a fan?
That's two fine episodes back-to-back. Hopefully they'll keep it up ...
Hmm, I really need to do a Whoniverse userpic at some point ...
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-02-15 02:51 pm (UTC)This is what happens when I don't have a working computer. I don't know these things.
no subject
Date: 2008-02-15 03:16 pm (UTC)I wouldn't have realised either if someone hadn't mentioned it in comments to an LJ post ...
no subject
Date: 2008-02-16 12:55 pm (UTC)