THIS BLOG DISCUSSES TORCHWOOD: CHILDREN OF EARTH: DAY FOUR, IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT AND DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED, STOP READING.
Hey Guys.
So I know usually we have a bit of a format to these blogs, at least we have since we started the re-watch portion. I watched today's episode which was Children of Earth: Day Four and after it was over I kept trying to figure out how to blog about it as I would any other. The truth of the matter is I can't. It's not just any episode, it's probably the most controversial episode of the whole series. Fans, myself included, have been very vocal about how it upset them that Ianto dies as well as the events surrounding his death. I don't want to get into that really.
If I start to dissect my displeasure this will quickly turn into an angry blog and I just don't have it in me. If you guys really want to know maybe I'll blog about it some other day. I did angry, when I watched the episode this morning, I found I was angry for most of the time and of course sad at the end. Now I am just sad, because of the episode and because of something else Torchwood related on my mind, doesn't matter. The bottom line is I don't think I have the words for this episode. What I do have is a picture, and if a picture's worth a thousand words this blog should be just long enough.
Here's me on my visit to Cardiff at the Ianto wall.
I miss Ianto. That is how I feel about this episode. I can't be objective, I can't grade it. I can only watch it, cry and hope to never have to do it again.
Even with my deep sadness I want to be clear. I am not the sort of fan to take my displeasure to the bad place. The online campaigns to get Ianto back are for the most part fine, more power to them. If you can see the little green bag above me in the picture, those are my favorite coffee beans I brought along. I am all for Ianto coming back but what I do not support is turning the sadness towards anger and directing it towards the creators in a personal way. It's an episode of a show, a piece of fiction, that was written to include a character death. I am sure a lot of thing went into that decision but at the end of the day the worst thing we can say, if we don't like the episode or the consequences of it. The people out there wishing RTD or John Fay ill because they don't like their work is just silly.
I had a chance to meet John Fay actually, he signed a picture for me. I've told this story before, it goes like this. 2 years ago at the "Gallifrey One" convention I got to meet John Fay, writer or Day Four. I got in line for his autograph and I devised a plot (in good fun) that played out like this:
I handed him a picture to sign, it was a picture of Ianto. Once I had his attention I asked him why Jack didn't say 'I love you' back, as that was one of my most agonizing moments from COE. His response was a joking. 'he didn't?'
I'm sure he gets a lot of negative feedback from fans, but it's unfortunate, he really was a nice guy. He also had a sense of humor about the whole thing, he signed the picture and drew in Ianto saying 'Take this Fay you Bastard!'. It was the perfect response I think to a photo of a character he helped kill, which in all likelihood wasn't his decision but RTD's, he just wrote the episode. Anyway, I'm posting that picture below for that this blog is at least two thousand words long and then some.
Even with my deep sadness I want to be clear. I am not the sort of fan to take my displeasure to the bad place. The online campaigns to get Ianto back are for the most part fine, more power to them. If you can see the little green bag above me in the picture, those are my favorite coffee beans I brought along. I am all for Ianto coming back but what I do not support is turning the sadness towards anger and directing it towards the creators in a personal way. It's an episode of a show, a piece of fiction, that was written to include a character death. I am sure a lot of thing went into that decision but at the end of the day the worst thing we can say, if we don't like the episode or the consequences of it. The people out there wishing RTD or John Fay ill because they don't like their work is just silly.
I had a chance to meet John Fay actually, he signed a picture for me. I've told this story before, it goes like this. 2 years ago at the "Gallifrey One" convention I got to meet John Fay, writer or Day Four. I got in line for his autograph and I devised a plot (in good fun) that played out like this:
I handed him a picture to sign, it was a picture of Ianto. Once I had his attention I asked him why Jack didn't say 'I love you' back, as that was one of my most agonizing moments from COE. His response was a joking. 'he didn't?'
I'm sure he gets a lot of negative feedback from fans, but it's unfortunate, he really was a nice guy. He also had a sense of humor about the whole thing, he signed the picture and drew in Ianto saying 'Take this Fay you Bastard!'. It was the perfect response I think to a photo of a character he helped kill, which in all likelihood wasn't his decision but RTD's, he just wrote the episode. Anyway, I'm posting that picture below for that this blog is at least two thousand words long and then some.
John Fay's signature on my Ianto photo. For the record he asked if he could do that.
Tomorrow's Episode: Day Five (Series 3, Episode 5). Remember I'll be live tweeting my re-watch on the @BarrowmanDay twitter at 12:00am PST (US - West coast) and 8:00am GMT (UK). Hope you all can watch with me and chat. We're at the last episode of this re-watch, which is nuts. I'll do my best to have words tomorrow. Wish me luck!
I hope this was a sufficient blog substitute I really just don't know what else to say. Maybe one day when I haven't just watched the episode I'll be able to write about it more. What about you guys? Do you have anything to say about this episode or Ianto? Feel free to comment below but let's keep the attacks against creators or fellow fans out of it, yea? xx
<3Dana
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I hope this was a sufficient blog substitute I really just don't know what else to say. Maybe one day when I haven't just watched the episode I'll be able to write about it more. What about you guys? Do you have anything to say about this episode or Ianto? Feel free to comment below but let's keep the attacks against creators or fellow fans out of it, yea? xx
<3Dana
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