:) Hilo there, and I do hope you haven't been too put of the TW fandom by the raging wars between Gwen fans/Gwen haters and various other shippers/character supporters. It is a bit mad, really.
I liked Gwen to start with, and I try not to get drawn in to the fighting and hatred that seems to surround her (hence this post, to help me understand both sides better), but as the series went on I lost a lot of my liking for her character. It seemed she was always the main focus of attention (when for one thing, there's a lovely ensemble cast, and for another I was led to believe it was Jack's show!) and usually ended up being either the damsel in distress, or the catalyst for the beginning or end of a plotline. It started to annoy me that we never saw much of anyone else. (Tosh and Ianto got one episode each. Jack got one that was really his, Owen got maybe two (at a great stretch, three) that were about him. Gwen seemed to get all the rest.) And yet the other characters of Team Torchwood all have secrets and mystery for us to explore... Gwen has a normal life with very little to uncover until she starts keeping secrets from Rhys - but we already know all her secrets. (Unless she turns out to be a Time Agent and it's all a ruse... :) )
That's the basic rundown of why I think Gwen grew to be so disliked. Now I get to answer your points in order. :) (Please, no offence intended - I'm just trying to sort out everyone's reasons and explain why I don't follow that particular line of thought, so that you or anyone else can come back with some new reasons to like her. Hopefully ones I'll have to agree with.)
1. I've been thinking about the introduction of Torchwood, actually, and wondering if it would have worked had we (for example) simply followed one of the others to work one day. And I think the audience is smart enough to pick up on what's not explicitly explained - we all knew what Suzie had done the first time we saw the glove in action, right at the beginning of episode one. We didn't really need anyone to tell us, "Yep, that thing brings people back from the dead for a limited time." We saw that. If the camera followed any one of the team on their daily routine (Ianto would be most useful, as he wanders all areas of the Hub) we get a tour as we go. Not that much is actually explained to Gwen (Jack says they don't even know where the Weevils come from. All the audience needs to know is that they're alien, dangerous, and apparently not of a high level of intelligence - and that can be shown in the same way it was originally, by one being captured) apart from the team's individual roles. And that, I argue, could easily be shown. Maybe it's throwing the viewer in at the deep end, but plenty of other shows do that, and people cope. For that purpose, then, Gwen isn't strictly necessary - she's simply one form of introduction, when there are others (arguably more unusual/interesting) available.
2. This one, I agree. You're right. Generally speaking, her reactions are what most people's would be. In the beginning of the series, at least.
(More in the next comment - I seem to have written you an essay in return! Sorry about that. ^_^')
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I liked Gwen to start with, and I try not to get drawn in to the fighting and hatred that seems to surround her (hence this post, to help me understand both sides better), but as the series went on I lost a lot of my liking for her character. It seemed she was always the main focus of attention (when for one thing, there's a lovely ensemble cast, and for another I was led to believe it was Jack's show!) and usually ended up being either the damsel in distress, or the catalyst for the beginning or end of a plotline. It started to annoy me that we never saw much of anyone else. (Tosh and Ianto got one episode each. Jack got one that was really his, Owen got maybe two (at a great stretch, three) that were about him. Gwen seemed to get all the rest.) And yet the other characters of Team Torchwood all have secrets and mystery for us to explore... Gwen has a normal life with very little to uncover until she starts keeping secrets from Rhys - but we already know all her secrets. (Unless she turns out to be a Time Agent and it's all a ruse... :) )
That's the basic rundown of why I think Gwen grew to be so disliked. Now I get to answer your points in order. :) (Please, no offence intended - I'm just trying to sort out everyone's reasons and explain why I don't follow that particular line of thought, so that you or anyone else can come back with some new reasons to like her. Hopefully ones I'll have to agree with.)
1. I've been thinking about the introduction of Torchwood, actually, and wondering if it would have worked had we (for example) simply followed one of the others to work one day. And I think the audience is smart enough to pick up on what's not explicitly explained - we all knew what Suzie had done the first time we saw the glove in action, right at the beginning of episode one. We didn't really need anyone to tell us, "Yep, that thing brings people back from the dead for a limited time." We saw that. If the camera followed any one of the team on their daily routine (Ianto would be most useful, as he wanders all areas of the Hub) we get a tour as we go. Not that much is actually explained to Gwen (Jack says they don't even know where the Weevils come from. All the audience needs to know is that they're alien, dangerous, and apparently not of a high level of intelligence - and that can be shown in the same way it was originally, by one being captured) apart from the team's individual roles. And that, I argue, could easily be shown. Maybe it's throwing the viewer in at the deep end, but plenty of other shows do that, and people cope. For that purpose, then, Gwen isn't strictly necessary - she's simply one form of introduction, when there are others (arguably more unusual/interesting) available.
2. This one, I agree. You're right. Generally speaking, her reactions are what most people's would be. In the beginning of the series, at least.
(More in the next comment - I seem to have written you an essay in return! Sorry about that. ^_^')