Neo’s written essay on TORCHWOOD: GOD AMONG US (series 6).
How does this series treat faith? What statement does it make about systems of self-appointed leadership? How are storytelling fakeouts used? And what makes this series work in so many ways the last didn’t?
Plus a ranking of the twelve episodes!
Neo’s written essay on TORCHWOOD: ALIENS AMONG US (series 5).
How does following up four TV series with an audio series work? How coherently was the chaos in Cardiff realised? Between alien refugees, police brutality, sex viruses, and a recurring motif of fake representation, just what did the series come together to say?
Plus a ranking of the twelve episodes!
Neo’s written on essay on TORCHWOOD: MIRACLE DAY (series 4).
Why did the season feel like it was plotted for five episodes, when it was actually plotted for thirteen? Was going to America an iterative move forward, or a misstep? What kind of social commentary was at play? And just how involved was Chris Chibnall?
Plus a ranking of the ten episodes!
Neo’s written essay on TORCHWOOD: CHILDREN OF EARTH (Series 3).
How did the UK’s parliamentary expenses scandal inform the reception of CHILDREN OF EARTH? How did Russell T Davies cope with using a writer’s room? Was the five-episode series a clean break from its predecessors, or a natural outgrowth of what came before? How consistently explored were the themes of muddled distinctions between humanity and inhumanity, and the unsustainability of systems that ‘pass the buck’?
Plus a ranking of the five episodes!
Neo’s written essay on TORCHWOOD: Series 2.
The show gained more consistency in its second series – but what did it lose? What did the finale mean for the show? What did it mean to cast Spike from BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER? Was the focus on open communication and relationship maintenance a worthwhile iteration over the previous year’s consideration of heartfelt mundanity and work/life balance? Did Chris Chibnall write the most nuanced script of a series?
Plus a ranking of the thirteen episodes!
Neo’s written essay on TORCHWOOD: Series 1.
What was Russell T Davies doing in 2006, setting a dark and sexy sci-fi crime drama in a city where the kebabs are velocitised? How well were the themes of the series executed, those themes of mundane life as humanising, trivium the only meaningful defence against meaningless death, and the friction of fae worlds jutting up against these mundane ones? Why do moments even beyond Cyberwoman fighting pterodactyls grate, and feel adrift with the rest of the show?
Plus a ranking of the thirteen episodes!
