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[beccaelizabeth]

Book says: "Either Prospero, Ariel, or both are involved in every scene: Shakespeare structurally foregrounds their control of events."
(I can't comment on specific example because I'd have to, er, read Shakespeare)

So if presence => control
then absence => lack of control
and suddenly there's a structural reason for 1-05 to have so very much of it have no Torchwood people in it, because that's a situation where they've got bugger all control.

The fact that it was also kind of boring watching all those one offs have stuff happen to them is from that way of looking at it an unfortunate side effect.


1-09 has a reason too - the way the alien has knock on effects in ordinary lives, the extent to which Torchwood does not conceal or control things, and in a sideways sort of way the extent to which it does. I mean, his alien stuff is so lame because Torchwood got all the good stuff. And yet he has alien stuff. The idea is powerful even when the evidence is supposed to be controlled. Torchwood are not in control but they're a sort of black hole and things swing around the absences they create.



Or, you know, they maybe needed an episode with not so many main cast in it.

But using lit tools to find shiny in the otherwise boring is part of the fun.
... shaky, difficult to support fun, but fun.

Comments

[alixtii.livejournal.com]

and suddenly there's a structural reason for 1-05 to have so very much of it have no Torchwood people in it, because that's a situation where they've got bugger all control.

But then how can we account for all the episodes that do have many Torchwood people in them, since it's nice like they're actually all that in control in those episodes, either (or, like, ever)?

[beccaelizabeth]

... we can't.
*theory go splat*

... but then the absence of people goes back to being really annoying.