Comments on: Torchwood Miracle Day, Episode Four: Escaping Cliché?

By: Bellaluna

Bellaluna — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 02:59:31 +0000

I just watched that episode earlier and I personally found that it was close to boardering on poor taste. I’m okay with Holocaust allegories, one would just need to do three things. 1. As long as one is careful about it since it’s still a sensitive subject, 2. It makes sense in the context, and 3. make sure there is a reason for it, don’t add in a allegory “just because.” Because if one does that, it will come off as in poor taste, and not only offensive to the 32 million victims, but also to the survivors and their families.

By: Aya Vandenbussche

Aya Vandenbussche — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 08:17:08 +0000

It is very clear that RTD is once again going the holocaust way. I’m not sure I like it though. I personally feel the impact is lost, or if not lost definitely not as strong as it was on CoE.

I agree with you Laurie that there’s always a personal relation to the story, which usually helps us relate and care. However with the current series I can’t say I feel the same. It might be because I can’t stand Gwen so her personal story has no impact on me whatsoever. I am curious about Jack’s connection to it all but I can’t say my emotions are moved so far. The new crew haven’t made me relate or like them as much as I did Toshiko, Owen and Ianto.

Spoiler Alert:

In this episode when Vera is shot and than left for undead in the container, it didn’t affect me as much as all that happen to the former crew. I can’t put my finger on whether they are not great actors or that the character development is a bit flawed.

I will say this Bill Pullman gives a fantastic performance so far, and I find him to be the most interesting character so far. Despite that, I am still hopeful.

By: Laurie

Laurie — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 13:12:38 +0000

The latest episode reinforces the Holocaust parallels to the nth degree, and I hear that a future episode is a flashback to one of Jack’s past relationships, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we go back to WWII Jack yet again. One of the things I’ve observed about TW is that it always tells its investigative stories in terms of how they impact the core TW crew, especially Jack. It’s not like most investigative team shows where the team investigates an episodic plot without obvious personal connections. TW always frames its stories in terms of the effect on the crew. Think “Small World” where they were ostensibly investigating the fairies, but the focus was on Jack and Estelle and Gwen figuring things out about Jack.

By: Matt Hills

Matt Hills — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 01:30:27 +0000

Thanks for the link, Aya; a very interesting argument. CoE and ‘Turn Left’ have certainly included quite clear Holocaust imagery, although with the appearance of ‘overflow camps’ TW:MD looks set to develop this beyond any of Russell T. Davies’s prior takes on the subject. Rex’s jocular nickname for Jack suddenly seems ever more relevant, and I can’t help but wonder whether Jack’s WWII experiences will become part of the MD plot.

Wasn’t Gwen’s monologue-to-camera filmed as part of the Starz promotional campaign for MD? I recall there being a set of pieces, one for almost every lead character, in which they all spoke directly to camera. So although it appears to cite or repeat CoE, I think it was a stylistically unified part of the Starz marketing. I could be wrong on that, though.

By: Matt Hills

Matt Hills — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 01:13:10 +0000

Thanks, Laurie — it’s an interesting question. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if at least one character we assume is out of the story is brought back later on; it would seem remiss not to exploit this narrative possibility generated by the Miracle. (And it’s a soap/thriller staple, after all; the Big Reveal of a character assumed to have died). Having said that, Ellis’s exact fate in 4.04 would seem to preclude any return for her, and the scary mystery man very strongly fitted into a specific set of story beats, so I can’t really see him returning either. But time will tell!

By: Aya Vandenbussche

Aya Vandenbussche — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 19:37:06 +0000

Hello.

Very interesting review and quite insightful. I look forward to see how it all unveils. I hope it improves as so far it has been a disappointment.

Interesting point you made about the holocaust aspect, and I do wonder if he can top Children of Earth. So far it looks like a second hand recycling of CoE (note that the previews for the next episode included a monologue of Gwen to the camera which looked alarmingly similar to the one she had on CoE) and the silence from the Moffat’s Doctor Who, though I hope to be proven wrong about that.

I hope you don’t mind me referring you to a post I wrote about Children of Earth that relates a lot to what you say at the beginning of this post. Would love to know your thoughts. http://notoriousvandenbussche.blogspot.com/2011/06/give-us-your-children.html

By: Laurie

Laurie — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 15:21:27 +0000

You do raise an interesting question beyond the one raised by the series. Not only: what happens to a world in which no one dies, but also what happens to a narrative when no one can be killed off? Are these characters really out of the story, or are they like Jack in Day 2? Seemingly out of it but slowly reassembling themselves into the narrative?