Torchwood even less original than I thought

[sqbr]

And I didn't think it was that original. (nb I am feeling pretty zonked, but if I don't write this now I'll forget)

EDIT: While we're talking theft of lines, from supernatural ep "Something Wicked" (paraphrase)
Dean: Has this thing struck before?
Sam: Yes, in Ogdenville, North Haverbrook...



Note that I watched Torchwood first, but it was made later.

So the Torchwood episode "Countrycide" is about a mysterious village where people go missing every ten years or so. It turns out the villagers are in cahoots to catch and eat people. The main characters are caught and freaked out by the wierdos who run the place, but eventually escape
I thought it was ok. A scene which didn't really grab me but some people like is this (5:10 in this video):
Man: *expresses concern*
Woman: I have to know. (To head cannibal) Why did you do it?
Cannibal: *creepy expression* Because it made me happy
Woman: *draws back in horror*

(Also, this video is an amusing synopsis :))

I then watched the Supernatural episode "Scarecrow" which has a very similar beginning (people vanishing in a small village every ten years or so) and it turns out there's a conspiracy amongst the villagers, but it's a supernatural one. The end is quite different.

This reminded me of the Torchwood episode, but I decided it was forgivable since it wasn't that similar.

Just now I watched the Supernatural episode "The Benders". It's about a town where people vanish at a slow but steady rate, and it tuns out there's a local family who catch people and turn them into hunting trophies. The main characters are caught and freaked out by the wierdo hicks who run the place but eventually escape. The "crazed psychos chasing people through dark trees" and "Wait, there's nothing supernatural, it's just people?" scenes were quite similar to "Countrycide" but I guess it wasn't TOO similar.

But at the end you have this line (4:44 in this video)
Man: *expresses concern*
Woman: (to head hunter) Just tell me why
Hunter: *creepy expression* Because it's fun!
Woman: *draws back in horror*

...and then she shoots him, because she's not a main character we have to remain sympathetic to (I get the feeling Supernatural's not big with the long-term sympathetic female characters)

I guess I shouldn't be surprised after all the wholesale lifting of ideas and plots from Angel and Buffy, but there you go. Or am I being overly picky? The scenes certainly aren't quite as similar as I remembered, now that I watch them side by side.

Comments

[tevriel.livejournal.com]

Supernatural fandom, though, is not Down on people who kill the crazy evil people. I'm not sure how Torchwood fandom would have taken it, really. We like our characters strong, male and female...

Edit: Also, yeah, Supernatural did it better. Countrycide is, imo, a really crap episode of Torchwood, while The Benders is a decent episode of Supernatural except for one line.

*is not remotely surprised to see you guys are the first two people to comment*

[alias_sqbr]

I think the idea loses impact on the second viewing either way, but yeah the Supernatural one was a bit better (In my opinion Supernatural > Torchwood in general, in terms of quality)

Supernatural fandom, though, is not Down on people who kill the crazy evil people

Hmm, ok. I tend to assume any sort of cold blooded killing of someone who has been captured and offers no future threat would be considered a bad thing under any circumstances (though understandable in some cases, like hers)

Which is not to say I'd expect people to dislike the character, just that it's not something I would expect a long running sympathetic character on a mainstream tv show to do (Giles killing Ben was a pretty big deal, and he was a future threat).

Of course, I also wouldn't tend to expect a long running sympathetic character on a mainstream tv show to have on-screen gay sex either, so I guess my expectations may be out of line with modern tv :D

Re: *is not remotely surprised to see you guys are the first two people to comment*

[tevriel.livejournal.com]

To a certain extent, yeah, that's not how it works, really. Like, even on a show as violent as Supernatural, the boys don't kill humans, even if they kinda deserve it. (I don't want to spoil you for later seasons, here, so I won't go into any more depth on this point and the ramifications of who killed who in various situations.) Having a once-off character kill a human lets the human get killed in a less lingering way.

Also, of course you got the Tevriels jumping in on this one. Who else do you know who fangirls both Supernatural and Captain Jack Torchwood as hard as we do? ;)

Re: *is not remotely surprised to see you guys are the first two people to comment*

[alias_sqbr]

Also, of course you got the Tevriels jumping in on this one. Who else do you know who fangirls both Supernatural and Captain Jack Torchwood as hard as we do? ;)

Noone else come to mind :)

[kadeton.livejournal.com]

In my opinion Supernatural > Torchwood in general, in terms of quality

My immediate reaction to this was "That's rubbish, Supernatural is one of the worst TV shows ever made", but then I realised that the only reason I don't put Torchwood in the same category is that most of the characters have British accents instead of American. I'll settle for "Supernatural and Torchwood are roughly equally terrible."

[alias_sqbr]

The subconsCious anglophilia resulting from an australian upbringing raises it's ugly head! :)