Yeah, it's really a shame that I have trouble recommending the first episode as anybody's introduction to Torchwood due to the alien roofies, since (despite the roughness) there really are some nice scenes in it, and a lot of interesting background for what happens later. Regarding Suzie, I was surprised to find out when I went to check out the audiodramas that some of my favorites are the Suzie ones. (I will definitely have recommendations there, by the way, when you're ready for them, if audio-only is a dramatic format you enjoy - it really isn't for me, but they are good enough I've made an exception for them.) It's partly that her actress has a lot more range than she gets to show off on the actual show and is really delightful to listen to, but the biggest aspect is that Suzie is really different from the rest of the team - I don't really like her as a person, but she has a very interesting "outsider on the inside" view of Torchwood, where she's the pathologically self-sufficient and isolated one. In a team full of people who are learning how to pull together, Suzie is the one who never could, and it's really interesting to see an earlier Suzie in the audiodramas, because you can see how she ended up where she did, and you can also see how she could have pulled out of it, but didn't. She is terrible, and tragic, and relatable, and even likable at times. I like that we see so much more of her in the audios than we got to see on the show.
The third episode felt like it suddenly snapped into focus: I could see how we got there from here. I recognized the Tosh who guides her comrades by CCTV and cheers Gwen for snagging the alien artifact even if she lost the suspect, the Owen who does his doctor's best to save the life of a man against whose face he was holding a knife a moment ago.
Yeah, it feels that way to me too. The third episode is where you can abruptly see them as themselves, and Owen in particular suddenly feels much more like his "real" self - I particularly liked his turnaround from trying to kill the guy, to trying desperately to save his life when it became necessary. That's very, very Owen. And also his instant sympathy for the girl who was killed, and his obsessive search for justice for her, even in the face of his teammates telling him to give up.
Oh, rewatching this episode reminded me what a jerk early-season-one Jack frequently is. Jack is really holding himself back from the team in season one, and then in late season one/season two he just gives up and decides to love these people, or rather, I guess, to admit that he already loves them, but that's one of those areas where knowing where it's headed is helpful in not hating him early on.
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The third episode felt like it suddenly snapped into focus: I could see how we got there from here. I recognized the Tosh who guides her comrades by CCTV and cheers Gwen for snagging the alien artifact even if she lost the suspect, the Owen who does his doctor's best to save the life of a man against whose face he was holding a knife a moment ago.
Yeah, it feels that way to me too. The third episode is where you can abruptly see them as themselves, and Owen in particular suddenly feels much more like his "real" self - I particularly liked his turnaround from trying to kill the guy, to trying desperately to save his life when it became necessary. That's very, very Owen. And also his instant sympathy for the girl who was killed, and his obsessive search for justice for her, even in the face of his teammates telling him to give up.
Oh, rewatching this episode reminded me what a jerk early-season-one Jack frequently is. Jack is really holding himself back from the team in season one, and then in late season one/season two he just gives up and decides to love these people, or rather, I guess, to admit that he already loves them, but that's one of those areas where knowing where it's headed is helpful in not hating him early on.