Torchwood: The Ten Top Kisses...
Mar. 2nd, 2009 08:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fajrdrakoThe Ten Best Kisses On Torchwood
...Picspam of my ten favourite Torchwood kisses. As it turns out, these are not necesarily my favourite pairings or my favourite moments, though some of them are. But Torchwood more than any other show I have ever seen has a wide variety of different kisses.
Most of the kisses we see in the show, numerically, are between Rhys and Gwen. I pretty much disqualified them because I love them all, and because they aren't usually plot related: they're just part of the loving relationship we consistently see between Gwen and Rhys. It would be like listing the air they breathe. And don't I wish Jack and Ianto kissed and touched and teased so easily, freely and often!
These choices range from the tender to the torrid. Your picks would probably not be the same as mine. After all, I left out that wonderful kiss between Jack and Ianto in "To the Last Man", and I can't help thinking it belonged here somewhere, but I couldn't think where to put it. Perhaps I should have listed the eleven best kisses... No. There are so many. This has to stop somewhere.
My picks:
10. Owen/Diane in "Out of Time"
This is not the most romantic kiss ever seen in the show, or the most unexpected, but I found the whole scene of Owen dancing with Diane in the red dress delightful; it is the first time, and the last, in which we see Owen actually happy. There was so much characterization and story hanging on that kiss. For Owen, a turning point.
9. Owen/Stranger in "Everything Changes"
I include this one because it was unexpected. It was the first episode; we didn't know Owen yet. We knew (from Doctor Who) that Captain Jack was omnisexual, but we didn't know yet that all our Torchwood people would have fluid sexuality; it was a discovery and a surprise. We learned a lot about Owen from this, and a lot about the show, too. It went far beyond seeing Owen kiss a guy; it was Owen using forbidden alien tech to get sex and to get himself out of trouble. It was a hint at how far the characters would go - and how far the show would take them.
8. Gwen/Owen in "Countrycide"
A shock: I never thought she'd do it. Yet it had been so very well set up. I might have included the kiss from their earlier scene, among the trees, except that Owen didn't actually kiss her there.
That too was a surprise.
7. Jack/Ianto in "Cyberwoman"
Jack, electrocuted by the Cyberwoman. Ianto, drowned by her. Jack's kiss revives Ianto. I loved this one for its ambiguity: was this more Jack Harkness magic, or was it 51st century artificial respiration, or was it love? Further developments in the show have made me conclude that it was love, pure and simple.
Or maybe not simple. I love the way nothing about this relationship is straightforward.
That's sexual harrassment... Sir.
6. Mary/Tosh in "Greeks Bearing Gifts"
I love the combination of Mary's worldliness and Tosh's shyness.
5. Jack/Estelle in "Small Worlds"
Not a real kiss? I love this one: it says so much - how Jack loved Estelle long ago, still loves her though she has no idea of it, kisses her on the head with happy warmth of feeling. And we now know he was so very much older than she was.
Did I say something about relationships on this show not being simple?
4. Gwen/Carys in "Day One"
Hot. "Wow," said Jack, and I agree.
3. Jack/John in "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang"
My two favourite Time Agents, going at it as if they can't help themselves - or just don't want to stop.
2. Jack/Ianto in "Adam"
So tender and sweet: it was this kiss on the forehead that made me believe in the love between Jack and Ianto.
1. Jack/Jack in "Captain Jack Harkness"
The Captain and the Captain: the most romantic story of them all.
Cross-posted to my LJ and to torch_wood.
With thanks primarily to The Institute and to
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Date: 2009-03-03 02:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-03 03:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-03 03:01 am (UTC)Pretty good list, even if the To the Last Man kiss isn't mention it really doesn't matter.
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Date: 2009-03-03 03:32 am (UTC)I think a lot of good kisses are caused by pheromones, even if the people kissing don't usually realize it.
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Date: 2009-03-03 03:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-03 03:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-03 03:06 am (UTC)Maybe it's my inner shipper, but I really wish there was a Ianto/Tosh kiss somewhere in the show!
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Date: 2009-03-03 03:09 am (UTC)I was thinking of making a list of the kisses I'd want to see that weren't there in the show - but it would be a rather long list! And yes, Ianto/Tosh would be in there.
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Date: 2009-03-03 04:00 am (UTC)You got my favorite Jack and Ianto kisses! I love the "Cyberwoman" kiss for the reason you state: it's delightfully ambiguous in so many ways. The clincher for is that wonderful moment when not-quite-revived Ianto begins to kiss back-- then fully awakes with a look of horror not unlike his look in "Fragments" when he pulls away from that near-kiss. And I'd say the placement of Jack's hand (and his urgency) argues for love.
The "Adam" kiss makes my tummy tingle every time, even though there's no real sexual force behind it. Ianto could not possibly be more open than he is then, unabashedly showing his heart. Jack's tender acceptance, with the kiss and caress, is just... *sigh*
Jack and John: wowza. Best fight scene ever! They are tremendously physical lovers: I can well imagine that the crockery got smashed over and over in that time loop.
Jack and Estelle: I love Estelle. If Ianto cheats Death By Torchwood, it's what Jack will face again with him.
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Date: 2009-03-03 05:54 pm (UTC)You got my favorite Jack and Ianto kisses!
What good taste you have. [g]
The clincher for is that wonderful moment when not-quite-revived Ianto begins to kiss back-- then fully awakes with a look of horror not unlike his look in "Fragments" when he pulls away from that near-kiss.
Yes. Ianto is going through so much there. He was unconscious, damaged, devasted by Lisa's transformation, and still, awakening, couldn't help responding to Jack's kiss - then remembers what's going on, remembers the horror, remembers that Jack is the Enemy - wonderful all the way. And all the more wonderful that when it was happening we didn't know all that, only knew bits of it. The scene takes on layers of meaning after "Fragments".
I'd say the placement of Jack's hand (and his urgency) argues for love.
I have no doubt. And loved him regardless of the betrayal over Lisa. Angry though he was, Jack understood how Ianto felt. (Not that this helped the situation any.)
The "Adam" kiss makes my tummy tingle every time, even though there's no real sexual force behind it.
And because there's no sexual force behind it. After that, no one could seriously argue that Jack is just using Ianto for sex. (Not that anyone could argue that Jack doesn't enjoy the sex, either.)
They are tremendously physical lovers: I can well imagine that the crockery got smashed over and over in that time loop.
Crockery wouldn't stand a chance.
I love Estelle.
I do too. And it's so clear why Jack could love her. She had a mind of her own, and a good heart.
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Date: 2009-03-03 05:29 am (UTC)Also if a kiss out of context counts, I think I'm really partial to the Jack/Ianto kiss from the series 3 trailer.
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Date: 2009-03-03 03:55 pm (UTC)Oh, yes! It looks wonderful. I can hardly wait to see it - and to see what context it's in.
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Date: 2009-03-03 11:16 am (UTC)And I should admit that I am often far more invested in the moments leading up to a kiss (or even a kiss not happening) than the actual moment, so while that tree!moment in Countrycide gets me every time that closing kiss just *doesn't*
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Date: 2009-03-03 05:58 pm (UTC)I do too. One of my favourite Torchwood moments.
And I should admit that I am often far more invested in the moments leading up to a kiss (or even a kiss not happening) than the actual moment, so while that tree!moment in Countrycide gets me every time that closing kiss just *doesn't*
I agree that the tree moment is hotter, and I was thinking of - and maybe will do - my list of Torchwood non-kisses, of which there are a surprising number. Moments where it looks as if people would kiss, but don't. But for this list, the tree moment didn't fit my criteria - I actually chose it as my scene, and then had to tell myself that it wasn't a kiss, and pick the later moment. The later moment for me has a strength of its own, not just as a kiss but as a shock and surprise. I was so busy thinking, "Gwen! No! Don't do it!" But she did.
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Date: 2009-03-03 06:07 pm (UTC)Torchwood non!kisses - now that I want to see, please?
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Date: 2009-03-03 07:18 pm (UTC)Yes, I will do a list of non-kisses. That will be fun. Question: what should be the definition of a non-kiss? Scenes like the Gwen/Owen tree scene are easy to classify, but what about the scenes where we have a kiss without desire or reciprocity? (Example: Jack's last kiss on the cheek from John in "Exit Wounds".) I'm not sure whether to count those as non-kisses or make another category for them.
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Date: 2009-03-03 06:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-03 10:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-03 08:54 pm (UTC)I hear my mother in my head going 'oh gag me' when she sees them both. Yes, we're not a romantic bunch lol.
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Date: 2009-03-03 11:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-04 05:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-04 12:25 pm (UTC)Yes. Too bad that turned out badly.
It's a show full of great kisses. Let's hope that doesn't ever stop.
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Date: 2009-03-04 05:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-04 12:27 pm (UTC)I agree: not only did the Owen/Diane and Jack/Jack relationships work - in terms of character, story, and emotive power - they also both seemed very realistic to me, in ways television romance (or television sex) seldom does.
Lovely icon!
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Date: 2009-03-05 07:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-08 03:34 pm (UTC)Distinctly possible, but there's also something unusual (besides vortex power) in his body chemistry. Have you seen "Fragments" yet? He says something to Ianto about the power of 51st century pheromones.
Cute.
with reviving Ianto, I think (just my own conjecture) that it was part Jack's own energy doing it, and part some chemical or pharmaceutical kick-start as well. Hm?
Could be. But I must say that I like the romantic idea that Jack kisses him simply because he wanted to. He was saying: "You've messed with me and with Torchwood and betrayed me for another lover but I don't care, I love you anyway." I may not be big on the Jack/Ianto relationship, but it has its lovely moments.
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Date: 2009-03-12 01:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-12 03:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-17 02:40 am (UTC)I'll have to look back over Season One. I never have cared for Owen, not the least bit. His looks continue to put me off (having it turn out to be an in-joke that he resembles TinTin did not help at all -- ugh), and his character is now insubstantial; you're right, being dead was not very deep or useful, sadly only something of a gimmick. The best part of it (haven't seen the last two or three yet, mind) was when he ends up talking the young woman out of jumping off the building. That entire story was good. Except for the TinTin references. But you know what I mean. However, also think they could have found another way past the heat sensors. Sometimes, the show forgets how clever they can inherently be, no? If you can whip together a DNA-cloak in under five minutes, as was done for Captain John, then other bizarre things should also be routinely do-able, no? At this point, if they can imagine it, they can accomplish it, is what I am thinking... which can be a plot-killer, too, so maybe that's why it is not utilized all the time.
Well, if I wrote Tosh....
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Date: 2009-03-17 12:32 pm (UTC)That was very annoying. For one thing, there's no reason she should believe in the concept in the first place - like a teenager from the 1950s. And then there's the gender issue. And then there's the embarrassment factor of acting like a thirteen-year-old in Owen's company. Then there's the added embarrassment factor that he isn't very nice to her or to anyway.
I think they were playing on the 'socially inept geek who's a genius' stereotype but it just made Tosh look silly. Nor can I make it make sense in my head: the girl who bravely survived a UNIT cell wasting emotional energy on such a pointless situation? I don't think so!
Naw, in my imagination Tosh was really secretly in love with Gwen or Jack and just acting that way with Owen because it was a distraction.
It isn't the show can't handle unrequited or unrealized relationships. I think they handle the love of Jack for Gwen (and vice versa) very well. Or Jack's love for Ten, or Martha's - they left them their dignity.
Yes, Owen's looks put me off, too. And I don't think he does resembled Tintin!
There was nothing about the living-dead Owen theme that I particularly liked, though I didn't hate it. But I thought Owen surprisingly uninteresting through all of it, at least until we got to his flashback in "Fragments" which was interesting because it was so shockingly unexpected. So unexpected, in fact, that it's taken me about a year to fit it into my sense of Torchwood reality.
Owen is good in "Exit Wounds", but... I don't want to say more till you've seen it, when you'll know what I'm talking about.
Ah, I wish you'd written the Tosh of the show - you'd have done so much better.
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Date: 2009-03-18 03:51 am (UTC)The "socially inept geek who's a genius" is such a useless character-model. Look at Adrian Veidt (yikes! he scares me) (but he's so hot!). Toshiko showed flashes of this very coolness, now and then. And then would once again be relegated to tapping keys and staring at a computer screen, ugh. And I now know that Naoko Mori played Tosh like that: her bits in the outtakes segment were brilliant. She's so quick and clever and "on"! If only more of that had been allowed into Toshiko.
Gad, now I want to do an entire Toshiko arc. (I hear your cheers from there....)
I have seen up to the final episode. I saw the one with the returned Rift-stolen people, and I jumped ahead and watched "Fragments" the first day I got the DVDs. I guess I now have only the last one...! And I've been saving it. But I must watch it. I saw one little clip of it in the "Lives and Deaths of Captain Jack Harkness" piece, with Jack holding the wounded Toshiko while Gwen injected something into her... and she dies. But I already knew she would not get out of Season Two alive. And I saw a tiny bit in the Deleted Scenes segment, something about Gwen and Ianto and Jack all arm in arm and walking away/towards.
The challenge, now... could I write Owen? Uh, yep, I think so. I love the idea of a medical doctor who's a nonconformist. We'll see.
Ah, I wish you'd written the Tosh of the show - you'd have done so much better. Thank you so much for the compliment. Now I have extra reason to write you a lovely story.
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Date: 2009-03-18 12:50 pm (UTC)Chuckle. Yes, yes, and yes.
Toshiko showed flashes of this very coolness, now and then.
Yes. I loved her action scenes. I loved the scenes where she really was being smart. I loved her scenes where she was not just being clever, but also creative - like setting up the website in "Combat" to portray Owen as an eel salesman (or whatever it was).
I hear your cheers from there....
You do.
I haven't seen any of the specials, outtakes or deleted scenes yet. You're ahead of me there.
now... could I write Owen? Uh, yep, I think so. I love the idea of a medical doctor who's a nonconformist. We'll see.
I do too, and the times I have written Owen, I've enjoyed doing it.
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Date: 2009-03-27 04:39 am (UTC)So, I now know when to look away from the screen. Four times, I think.
Strangely, this time I had a harder time seeing Veidt in the person who broke into the Comedian's apartment. The first time, I clearly remember that I saw his face (3/4 of it) once, and chin and cheekbone in profile two other times. That, and his build: clearly, the actor was the one there doing it, and if we knew it, then good for us. The Comedian certainly knew it.
Here's something I noticed, and am still trying to link up: a major motif of falling broken glass. Not just broken glass itself, but -- falling broken glass. ???
Also... those moves Rorschach pulled when he and Nite Owl broke into Veidt's sanctum?... when he dropped from the top of the polished marble by the stairs, caught himself wiht one hand, landed safely...? I could do that, when I was young. I can still remember the feeling of balance it would give me to do something like that. (If I tried it now, I'd pull my elbow out of place!!)
I found a new Doctor Who fan. At work. Terri. She vaguely remembers Captain Jack from the Blitz episodes... see, she has kids and so sometimes watches bits of an episode between naps! (her own) I'll be lending her DVDs soon. Life is good.
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Date: 2009-03-27 01:11 pm (UTC)I didn't count my eye-covering moments. I'm pretty sure there were more than four.
Falling broken glass. Interesting visual notion.
Nice to meet up with another Doctor Who fan.
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Date: 2009-03-28 03:59 am (UTC)American Doctor Who fans are scattered far and wide. Yes, great fun to find that another one works in the same building!
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Date: 2009-03-28 02:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-03 05:03 am (UTC)DVD should be outstanding, yep.
And stop scaring me with Ozymandias, there. Brrr!
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Date: 2009-04-03 01:39 pm (UTC)