Torchwood torrents are hitting.

Anyone see them yet? I only watched the first episode (as I'm an hour ahead of the UK, the second one went way past my bedtime). Will watch the second, the one with scenes of a sexual nature, tonight before bed.

If anyone had any doubts that Russell T. Davis worships at the alter of Joss Whedon, the first episode of Torchwood dispelled them pretty quickly. The whole thing started with ariel nighttime shots flying over Cardiff, for heaven's sake. OK, so Cardiff, while it's not LA, is still quite pretty from above at night. All those big roundabouts .

And then, the super, major surprise plot twist was right out of the Joss handbook. Like on page one.

I thought it did an excellent job of establishing it's position in the Whoverse, while making clear that it's separate. Loved loved loved the major revelation about Captain Jack. Otherwise, though, I think it's probably still trying to find its own identity, separate not just from Who but from the myriad other shows trying to do the same thing, but that's fair enough after one episode.

The leads are good, and all nicely established in the ep, and I like Gwen very much. (Maybe it's the Welsh accent; I've had a soft spot for Welsh since Ivor the Engine). The chemistry between her and Jack is good. Mind you, the chemistry between Jack and just about anything is good.

I'm not out-and-out happy; the atmosphere was subdued and I was tired. But they've done a pretty good job of establishing an interesting premise and I'm looking forward to seeing how they develop it.

ETA: the more I think about it, the more I think that Who is Buffy, and Torchwood is Angel, and that the comparison is fairly explicit. What do others think?

And, interesting that Brother Cavil is explaining how painful it's getting for him to download. Is this because he's a faulty (older?) model, or are all the models experiencing this, which makes Leoben's obsession just that much more frakked up.

You know, I was wondering about that. I don't think he could necessarily be a "old" in the human conception of old, but it does make me wonder why they chose a distinctly more aged model. I mean, there are obviously benefits associated with it--we saw that when he played Bro. Cavil as a Cylon agent on Galactica. It is interesting as well that it gets more painful to download--I suspect an argument could be made that the more distictive a personality a Cylon sub-model develops, the harder it is to re-distribute, re-download that personality. Cavil has obviously become unique among the Cylons, more apt to acerbically question or be sarcastic or break rank where the others wouldn't. I wonder if there was a certain trial-by-pain for the Leoben model too, where every time Kara killed him, he came back more brittle and more crazy because his distinctive model was re-downloading. It seems to be different from, like, the Xena-cylon, and the other male Cylons.

The reveal of Kasey being this woman's child was a shock to me. An enjoyable one--I didn't think I had the chance of being shocked by the end of that incredibly awesome episode.

Haven't watched Torchwood yet, it's downloading at home. Did they show two on one night? Because I only saw torrents for 101.

Did they show two on one night? Because I only saw torrents for 101.

Yes, they started the season with episodes 1 & 2, though from now on they'lle only air one new ep on Sundays. But they're repeated Wednesdays at 9pm on BBC 2.

Both are now available at the usual suspects.

ETA: Downloads completed. And now I have to wait at least 12 hours to watch them. Damn work.

Do I need to see Doctor Who before I start watching Torchwood? I've only seen the first couple of the recent Who, but y'all have got me interested in Captain Jack, what with all the sex talk.

Do I need to see Doctor Who before I start watching Torchwood?

i've only watched the first episode, but i'm going to say no.

I wonder how many people stumbled onto Angel, became fans, and then found out about Buffy? I seem to remember one or two people who definitely preferred Angel to Buffy, and now I'm wondering the overlap of those who liked AtS better, and also found it first.

ION, Worked-an-emergency-overnight-shift typing is as likely as drunk typing to make one have pithy comments regarding a show about, aparently, geometry.

I've only seen the first couple of the recent Who, but y'all have got me interested in Captain Jack, what with all the sex talk.

Not necessarily. But as a reference it would be a good idea to watch the three or four episodes he was in in the first series.

Watching Captain Jack is always a good plan.

I wonder how many people stumbled onto Angel, became fans, and then found out about Buffy?

I knew about Buffy, but didn't start watching until after I got hooked by Angel.