Torchwood: Children of Earth SPOILERS

[dreamer_easy]

SPOILERS: Torchwood: Children of Earth

Finally found the time and courage to watch the COE Declassified. Had a little weep, of course, but nothing like the uncontrollable sobbing that accompanied the broadcast. I've called that unexpected, intense grief a "dress rehearsal" for a real life loss; it's comforting to know that, yes, it's not always as bad as it is at the beginning.

Based on interviews, I think something got changed in post: I think the 456 originally released a poisonous gas into the building's air, not a virus. That's interesting, because it ups the stakes: they probably couldn't poison everyone on Earth, but they probably could wipe us out with a germ. It gives the pollies a stronger motivation to go along with them rather than trying to fight back. (I want to check whether Ianto's line about an "anti-virus" is delivered in VO.)

Comments

[strangedave.livejournal.com]

Of course, a poison gas would have made sense, while a virus makes none. Viruses just can't work that fast. That sort of thing annoys the hell out of me.

[alawston.livejournal.com]

Not even a magic sciffy virus?

[strangedave.livejournal.com]

I can't even conceive of a way in which a magic sciffy virus would kill you that fast, without even involving technology that is vastly more complicated than creating a deadly virus (ie this virus manipulates the *flow of time itself*). Maybe if what they really meant was a nanotech infection or something, but then, you know, its not really a virus.

[kateorman.livejournal.com]

What's the world speed record for a viral incubation period? A few hours?

I wonder if, rather than relying on infection, the virus carries a surface protein which fucks with gas exchange in the alveoli, or insulin levels, or part of the brain. A huge dose would act like a poison.

(Keep in mind this is the show that brought us OH NOES IT'S THE BLACK DEATH - CIVILISATION AS WE KNOW IT IS DOOMED ETC. :)

[nexstarman.livejournal.com]

Ahem... Never mind incubation time. Less than a minute of screentime later the building is opened up and the bodies taken out, identified and laid out in a non-biohazard gymnasium. With the help of disinfectant that is effective against an unidentified virus.

One other thing: When they sent instructions for the chamber, did the 456 also send instructions for a purge and vent system so that after they were gone the chamber could be dismantled without exposing it to London's atmosphere?