Torchwood: Cyberwoman

First of all - yes, I am aware of the current big news of the Whoniverse (the discovery of Enemy of the World and The Web of Fear) and yes, I do intend to blog about them soon. I was up 'til midnight last night watching Enemy, which would have been fine if I didn't have to be in the city at 8 this morning gearing up to meet Simon Fisher-Becker (Dorium Maldovar) and Ian McNeice (Winston Churchill) at Lords of Time 1.5. So for the moment, you're getting a nice pre-written post.

(Originally written 5/8/13, modified 12/10/13)

This episode has a bit of a reputation for being, well, crap. I knew this going into it, especially after the amazing Ghost Machine, but I have to admit that I didn’t hate the episode - in fact, I found it an enjoyably cheesy way to spend an hour of my time. I laughed so hard at Rhys’s request for Wife Swap to be taped; and when Lisa said “This building belongs to me now”, I couldn’t help but think “All your base are belong to us”.

Comparing Ianto’s actions to, say, Suzie’s a more than a bit unfair. Sure the guy did the wrong thing, but he never wanted anyone to get hurt. He wanted to save a life, and even if that life was his girlfriend’s, you can’t call his actions totally selfish. Having said that, I do wonder if one of the reasons he was allowed to stay at Torchwood is because without Lisa, there was nothing else left for him. And now I’m going to search very hard for any hints as to why he might want to become Jack’s fuckbuddy. 

There were a couple of things that seemed to be set up at the start purely so they could be used later on. Myfanwy flies around during the basketball game so she can maul Lisa later on, and Ianto orders pizza so the delivery girl can have her head opened up. (She really took her time, btw).

And of course, there were some quite problematic elements. At the beginning when Ianto’s showing Lisa to the cybernetics experts, he exclaims, “My God!” Meanwhile, I was cringily saying, “Oh God” as I saw Lisa’s cyber-bikini line. I think it bothers me more than the breasts, because while they’re at least covered by the armour, her bikini is shaped by it.

So not only is the monster fetishised because it’s a woman, but it’s also a woman of colour. As far as I can recall this is the first black person in the series, and she’s a villain – and to be quite honest, Lisa’s facial features seem to be intended to make her look even more monstrous; an effect which I don’t think would have been achieved the same way with a white woman. Then, this is arguably repeated next season in Sleeper.

I had issues with both kissing scenes. I’ve never quite worked out whether Jack was meant to be resuscitating Ianto or not – surely he’d been lying there for too long anyway? So tonight I determined that he was “doing a Donna” and trying to shock him awake. As for Gwen and Owen, I know this is cliché, but if your characters are going to shack up whilst being forced to lie on top of each other, I’d prefer if there was some sexual tension between them first. In fact, I think Gwen’s whole arc may have been improved if it was simplified – instead of her having an affair with the bad boy while fancying the boss, why couldn’t she just fancy/have an affair with the bad boy? I reckon it would represent her decaying moral compass a lot better.

I also didn’t like the quick cutting, like when Lisa was being moved and Ianto was crying.

Okay, so the episode had its problematic elements, but I still wouldn't call it awful. The worst episode of this season remains Day One... for now.