Lotripper

We finally got at chance to watch parts 4 and 5 last night. But I could not watch the kids on the busses, I had to close my eyes and put my fingers in my ears and say lalalah. It's not just that the kids they chose are all right the same age as kidlet: it's also that I knew she was leaving for overnight camp this morning, on a bus with a lot of other kids. Too damn close for comfort :-(

Watched with my husband and son, who have actually been quite invested in the Torchwood stories all along, and they liked the final arc. They felt that it was the right direction to go in, rather than replicating the episodic first two seasons. They were both damp-eyed and that doesn't happen too often.

Though it had a strong flavor of Gauda Prime (Blake's 7's bloody ending) for those of us old enough to remember.

neifile7 says it very well: My gorgeous, cheesy, polyamorous lover of a show seems to have undergone a brain transplant, donated its heart to the organ chop-shop, and run off to some other system of the sci-fi universe.

Yes, for better or worse, I think that's exactly what they did. It was a different show.

from qthelights ... the way in which the fan service was done. RTD and the various PTB told us we would be happy. They actively suggested that they knew their fans, and that they were important to them. RTD and the actors and the writers all came out and said they were HUGE fanboys. The reason being, and the only reason being, that they were showing they empathised with us. That they were one of us, and that we should, therefore, trust them.

I find that really cruel. They could have hinted at heartwrenching changes, at serious themes, at hard choices. They didn't have to be coy and cute. Boooo.

Gwen was stronger as a character in this, I think they wrote her better than before, more active and smarter; badass :-) Also Welsh accent. And Rhys!

It definitely passed the Bechdel test: women talking about saving the world, not just about a man.

Ianto in general was both sympathetic and fun, especially his rescue of concrete-encased Jack, and the Welsh quarry (it's Who-verse, very right!). His family was a surprise, a bit stereotyped but still presented positively. I hated Ianto dying in such a futile situation.

Three minor things bug me: Lois's motivation for snooping; a sense of Alice as her own person, not just a daughter and a mother; and why the soldiers chasing the kids just stopped.

I seem to have run out of reactions.