Exactly why people seem to hate or otherwise not "get" Torchwood may well be an enduring mystery.
I've heard the series called juvenile, unoriginal, full of plot holes, yadda yadda, so when it began airing here in Canada few months ago I expected it to be a train wreck.
Instead, I discovered that Torchwood is not only one of the best shows I've ever seen, but it on several occasions it has actually surpassed the quality of its parent series, Doctor Who! From the brilliant performances, to the creative stories, to the fact the show isn't afraid to push the envelope, this is a mature, well-written, well-thought-out series. I've studied some of the criticisms and compared them directly with the episodes being lambasted, and I honestly don't see the problem. If it was just me, I'd chalk it up to me having tastes that differ from others (hey, I liked Star Trek: Enterprise, what more can I say?). Yet every week as another TW episode airs here in Canada, I hear people telling me they can't understand why people hate this show, either.
Perhaps it has to do with the fact that this show has introduced many concepts that were strictly forbidden in the family-friendly Doctor Who franchise up to now: people swear, they have sex (though not nearly as much in this series as critics would have you believe), there's an acknowledgment of LBG lifestyles, and it features a lead actor who is not against killing people in cold blood when necessary. Oh, and according to the Torchwood universe, there is no afterlife, so I could see that upsetting some viewers.
My advice: ignore the critics -- both positive and negative -- and watch Torchwood with an open mind, and you may be pleasantly surprised at how good a show it really is. And you don't even need to have watched any Doctor Who to understand it - thought it helps, especially at the finale of the first season, as well as an episode that serves as a sequel to the Doctor Who episode "Doomsday".
Every episode has been terrific so far, but so far the best episodes include "Countrycide", an episode unlike anything ever produced in the Doctor Who franchise, "Random Shoes", an episode that actually provoked tears when I watched it (Doctor Who has only done that once before and that was the end of Doomsday) and "Out of Time", another emotionally powerful episode (and critics who claim it's a rip off of Star Trek TNG's "The Neutral Zone" simply have never watched that episode nor "Out of Time". Full stop.).
If I had to compare TW to any other show, I'd have to compare it to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, another series that was condemned by certain fan factions for straying too far from the template set by its parent program. Yet over time it became the most critically acclaimed of the modern Treks. I'm confident that Torchwood has potential to eclipse its parent program if it lasts long enough and if viewers just give it a chance.
I've heard the series called juvenile, unoriginal, full of plot holes, yadda yadda, so when it began airing here in Canada few months ago I expected it to be a train wreck.
Instead, I discovered that Torchwood is not only one of the best shows I've ever seen, but it on several occasions it has actually surpassed the quality of its parent series, Doctor Who! From the brilliant performances, to the creative stories, to the fact the show isn't afraid to push the envelope, this is a mature, well-written, well-thought-out series. I've studied some of the criticisms and compared them directly with the episodes being lambasted, and I honestly don't see the problem. If it was just me, I'd chalk it up to me having tastes that differ from others (hey, I liked Star Trek: Enterprise, what more can I say?). Yet every week as another TW episode airs here in Canada, I hear people telling me they can't understand why people hate this show, either.
Perhaps it has to do with the fact that this show has introduced many concepts that were strictly forbidden in the family-friendly Doctor Who franchise up to now: people swear, they have sex (though not nearly as much in this series as critics would have you believe), there's an acknowledgment of LBG lifestyles, and it features a lead actor who is not against killing people in cold blood when necessary. Oh, and according to the Torchwood universe, there is no afterlife, so I could see that upsetting some viewers.
My advice: ignore the critics -- both positive and negative -- and watch Torchwood with an open mind, and you may be pleasantly surprised at how good a show it really is. And you don't even need to have watched any Doctor Who to understand it - thought it helps, especially at the finale of the first season, as well as an episode that serves as a sequel to the Doctor Who episode "Doomsday".
Every episode has been terrific so far, but so far the best episodes include "Countrycide", an episode unlike anything ever produced in the Doctor Who franchise, "Random Shoes", an episode that actually provoked tears when I watched it (Doctor Who has only done that once before and that was the end of Doomsday) and "Out of Time", another emotionally powerful episode (and critics who claim it's a rip off of Star Trek TNG's "The Neutral Zone" simply have never watched that episode nor "Out of Time". Full stop.).
If I had to compare TW to any other show, I'd have to compare it to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, another series that was condemned by certain fan factions for straying too far from the template set by its parent program. Yet over time it became the most critically acclaimed of the modern Treks. I'm confident that Torchwood has potential to eclipse its parent program if it lasts long enough and if viewers just give it a chance.