Torchwood
"Everything Changes"
Writer - Russell T Davies
Welcome to the start of my coverage of Torchwood, the spin-off of Doctor Who! I'm excited to see what Torchwood has to offer, as I'm pretty much going into this without any knowledge of where the show will go or really what it's like. My first impression, based on series opener "Everything Changes," is that the show seems to be playing the Angel to Doctor Who's Buffy right now - it takes a slightly darker, less overtly comical tone than its progenitor and it has the potential to tell some different types of stories in the same universe. Another realm of similarity to Angel is that both shows start with episodes that are well-constructed and promising, while simultaneously seeming a bit timid and inconsequential.
It's abundantly clear that "Everything Changes" is a pilot episode - it's nearly all set up for the series to come, and as someone looking to get a sense of the show that's both good and bad. The episode does well to establish the premise of the series and gives at least a general sense of the main characters (though because it is told from the outsider perspective of Constable Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles), the writers don't show a whole lot about the people in Torchwood), but it doesn't introduce any really compelling hooks that make me want to immediately get invested in the series. Eve Myles seems like a good fit so far, though I find myself really struggling to judge her performance or much of the other aspects of the show based on what is offered in "Everything Changes." The return of John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness was welcome, as I thought his energy and characterization was one of the highlights of series one of Doctor Who, so hopefully the show will find ways to make good use of him here. As I mentioned before, it seems as if Russel T Davies toned down the humor a bit for Torchwood, though there are definitely still some good comic pieces in the episode - specifically the whole pizza delivery scene, which was executed brilliantly.
The plot of the episode revolves around Myles' Gwen Cooper investigating the mysterious Torchwood group, and predictably joining up with Torchwood by the end of the episode. The main story was serviceable and probably necessary for introductory purposes, and I didn't mind that so much, but I was rather unimpressed by the little sci-fi touches that Davies and company came up with for this one. A glove that brings things back to life? Date rape perfume? A book scanner or something? Torchwood seems like it should be an opportunity to tell some really great stories, and I was a little disappointed that the writers didn't throw anything out there that really captured my attention. Contrast "Everything Changes" with the opener of the Doctor Who revival, "Rose," where the Doctor and Rose combated "living plastic" manikins and garbage cans - that's not something you see every day. I feel like I'm spending too much time comparing Torchwood to other shows, but the fact that it didn't really leave a unique impression or distinguish itself from the Angels or SyFy shows like Sanctuary or Warehouse 13 that are similar in concept makes it a bit hard to focus on anything else.
Perhaps an even better comparison than Angel for "Everything Changes" would be Men in Black - the whole episode felt a lot like the opening of that movie, introducing the audience to this world of aliens and strange technology, but it was missing one of the key components of MiB, which is the conflict. There was no threat to the safety of the planet in "Everything Changes," no evil Vincent D'Onofrio bug to be stopped, no real sense of urgency. That's not to say that the episode wasn't enjoyable, because it was for the most part. It just feels like a whole lot of set up without much payoff (which might have been somewhat influenced by the fact that the second episode was aired immediately afterwards for the original broadcast). My interest is piqued, but after one episode I'm not completely sold on Torchwood. Hopefully the next episode will hook me a bit more - look for the review soon!
Grade: B-
"And before we go any further, who the hell orders pizza under the name of Torchwood?"
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