Just a thought on your coda: I've personally never hated on CoE because of the notion that the first two seasons were silly cracky lulz - not only do I hate the derogation inherent in that assessment, but I'm also annoyed at the idea that CoE tackled gritty, realistic concepts that the previous series hadn't squared up to, when every damned theme in CoE, from the self-serving venality of the State, the evil capacity of individual humans and collective human social groups, the dizzying power of any absolute love, suicide in desperation, the sacrifice of one innocent child to save the world, paying in the present for the sins of the past, Jack outlasting the people around him that he loves, the loss of team members... All done before and IMO done far better, because they were set in the context of more reflective, less hysterical, crowd-pleasing narratives.
But the fundamental difference - the philosophical difference - between those hard themes being addressed in the first two seasons and in CoE, is simply, crucially, that Torchwood always maintained and made explicit the possibility of hope and redemption, no matter what terrible things had happened. In the core team most of all, and at every point pretty much from Jack's first resurrection after Suzie shot him, Ianto being forgiven for Lisa and redeemed by Torchwood and Jack (and being told "there's always something left to lose"), Owen's entire arc, Toshiko's resillience in the face of every loss she endures... Jack himself, embodying the man who was forgiven and redeemed, from a selfish waste of a life and then from death itself.
Torchwood's moral coda was always the optimistic one: we carry on for as long as we can, we take comfort in those we love, we look forward with even the slightest strand of hope. It was CoE's absolute rejection and obliteration of every facet of that positive message that still makes me angry: I think that brand of crude, hate-driven nihilism maybe belongs in the Who that RTD is slowly forcing things towards, but it was never a part of what Torchwood was about from inception, and to me it was almost a desecration of a fundamental reason that the original show had held such resonance and emotional meaning for me.
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But the fundamental difference - the philosophical difference - between those hard themes being addressed in the first two seasons and in CoE, is simply, crucially, that Torchwood always maintained and made explicit the possibility of hope and redemption, no matter what terrible things had happened. In the core team most of all, and at every point pretty much from Jack's first resurrection after Suzie shot him, Ianto being forgiven for Lisa and redeemed by Torchwood and Jack (and being told "there's always something left to lose"), Owen's entire arc, Toshiko's resillience in the face of every loss she endures... Jack himself, embodying the man who was forgiven and redeemed, from a selfish waste of a life and then from death itself.
Torchwood's moral coda was always the optimistic one: we carry on for as long as we can, we take comfort in those we love, we look forward with even the slightest strand of hope. It was CoE's absolute rejection and obliteration of every facet of that positive message that still makes me angry: I think that brand of crude, hate-driven nihilism maybe belongs in the Who that RTD is slowly forcing things towards, but it was never a part of what Torchwood was about from inception, and to me it was almost a desecration of a fundamental reason that the original show had held such resonance and emotional meaning for me.