(BTW, just to be clear—that wasn't aimed at you, it was sparked by some comments on an article about a potential S4.)
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.
I sort of agree, and sort of don't. I thought in S1 at least the stronger leitmotif was a much more basic one, that in a universe without absolute meaning or values we have to define humanity in some positive way, or we end up killing ourselves like John in OoT, or become like Mark and the other men from the Weevil fight club, or Suzie. Or Captain John in KKBB. And the overall tone of S1 for me was very much influenced by the fact that Jack doesn't so much chose to go on, but is forced to.
It's a bit different in S2, mainly because Jack at least superficially starts to accept his immortality and snaps out of his suicidal mood, but I always felt that EW already stretched the theme of 'going on' almost beyond credibility as far as Jack was concerned, and I think the unspoken question of just how long he'd be able to go on like this was very much in the air even then.
I've rewatched both S1 and S2 after CoE, and... I'm not saying something like CoE was necessary, but the I think the show and Jack's arc especially was moving towards a point where it had to be serious about actions and their consequences; it certainly wouldn't have borne another EW without becoming a parody of itself. At the time it didn't help that I thought CoE marked also the end of the show, but as far as the story is concerned... there's hope for Gwen and Rhys, and we already know Jack will eventually come to terms with himself and find peace.
For me DW has always been the more positive, less nihilistic show, because it had a protagonist who loved life so very much and chose it, rather than one who struggled through it as best as he could because he couldn't get rid of it, although the latter is of course an equally intriguing story.
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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.
I sort of agree, and sort of don't. I thought in S1 at least the stronger leitmotif was a much more basic one, that in a universe without absolute meaning or values we have to define humanity in some positive way, or we end up killing ourselves like John in OoT, or become like Mark and the other men from the Weevil fight club, or Suzie. Or Captain John in KKBB. And the overall tone of S1 for me was very much influenced by the fact that Jack doesn't so much chose to go on, but is forced to.
It's a bit different in S2, mainly because Jack at least superficially starts to accept his immortality and snaps out of his suicidal mood, but I always felt that EW already stretched the theme of 'going on' almost beyond credibility as far as Jack was concerned, and I think the unspoken question of just how long he'd be able to go on like this was very much in the air even then.
I've rewatched both S1 and S2 after CoE, and... I'm not saying something like CoE was necessary, but the I think the show and Jack's arc especially was moving towards a point where it had to be serious about actions and their consequences; it certainly wouldn't have borne another EW without becoming a parody of itself. At the time it didn't help that I thought CoE marked also the end of the show, but as far as the story is concerned... there's hope for Gwen and Rhys, and we already know Jack will eventually come to terms with himself and find peace.
For me DW has always been the more positive, less nihilistic show, because it had a protagonist who loved life so very much and chose it, rather than one who struggled through it as best as he could because he couldn't get rid of it, although the latter is of course an equally intriguing story.