Just watched the first 3 episodes of Torchwood Season 3…
Wow, I sat glued to my seat for these first three episodes of Children of Earth. We’d been catching up with Torchwood via Netflix and though things started a bit rough in season one they’ve improved steadily as the cast found their footing. I was really upset when one of the characters got killed but I cheered when one of the others finally, finally, died for keeps. So, I was looking forward to the next season.
We’d been spacing them out one disk of the show and a couple of movies between then back again to another disk. I’d forgotten just how intense British drama can be. The tension built steadily from the first to the second and now the third and ends on a shocking cliffhanger. It’s times like these that I wish we had one of the multiple disk plans but, no. Ordinarily, I’m very happy with our one disk at a time unlimited plan — but now I have to wait to send out this disk and then wait for the next one to come.
If you’ve seen the ending of Season 3 don’t spoil it for me. There are very few US TV dramas that are as nakedly brutal as some of the British shows. I’m not talking so much the story lines as their delving into the really human issues. In this case children. What kind of government would turn over 12 children to an alien race as a gift? In the setup, 12 children from an orphanage were given as a gift to an alien race 456. Now it’s the present and the aliens are back. You can guess what the first thing the government tries to do–I’m sure you got it in one. Hide the evidence of what they did in 1965.
I find myself thinking that as awful as that was — after what was done by this country under our previous government that I’m not really surprised that a government would do such a thing. I think over the last few decades I’ve seen things done by various governments that have put the bar for base and horrible acts pretty low. I’ve lost faith that government actually works for the good of the people they represent. Maybe that’s why I find Torchwood, a show about a secret government sort-of agency that works without oversight to be so absorbing. Fighting aliens and stuff — not so much. But lying to the citizens and covering up their mistakes — that, unfortunately, I don’t have trouble believing in.
Wonder what the popularity of these shows says about us — people/humans/citizens of Earth? Don’t know but I wonder if we actually learn from them and keep a closer eye on our representatives? Those who speak for us without asking us what we think about things. I know I tend to be a bit more concerned about what my leaders are saying about “us” to others and most of the time it’s attitudes that I certainly don’t want to be associated with. But then that’s me. Maybe other people really don’t care or agree with what’s going on in the world of government whatever.